Golf: Canadians Taylor, Hadwin lead Phoenix Open
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Nick Taylor (left) and Adam hadwin were warmly embraced by fans at the typically raucous event.
PHOTOS: AFP
LOS ANGELES – Nick Taylor of Canada is no longer used to playing in cold conditions, but he is still able to fire himself up to surge to the top of the leaderboard at the Phoenix Open on Thursday.
The 34-year-old and compatriot Adam Hadwin, 35, carded five-under 66s to share the lead as darkness halted the first round of the PGA Tour event.
The duo – who both live in Arizona – were warmly embraced by fans at the typically raucous event.
Neither was disturbed by the frost delay that pushed back the start of the round by nearly two hours, or by the blustery winds that greeted golfers once they got under way.
“I feel like a lot of guys that grew up in the cold, we get asked (if we’re used to these conditions) a lot,” Taylor said.
“We did it a lot, but we probably prefer the heat now because we’ve moved south.
“I’ve played enough in it where I kind of know what to expect.”
Taylor, who practises regularly at TPC Scottsdale, made a bright start with an eagle at the third hole, but a double-bogey at the sixth and a bogey at the ninth saw him one over at the turn.
Things warmed up nicely from there as he nabbed four birdies in a row from the 10th, then added two more at the 16th and 17th.
Taylor, whose two PGA Tour titles include the 2020 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, said his second nine was all the tougher in the unusual winds.
He said: “I’ve seen a lot of wind conditions, but this was one of the toughest stretches I’ve played out here.”
Hadwin teed off on the 10th shortly after Taylor and after a bogey at the 11th, he birdied the 12th and 15th before stringing together three birdies around the turn at 17th, 18th and the first.
He added one more birdie at the fifth, but could not find another.
“I’m really disappointed I didn’t get to six under because I saw Nick up there, and I wanted to hold it over him tonight,” said Hadwin, who claimed his only PGA title at the Valspar Championship in 2017.
World No. 6 Xander Schauffele was in the clubhouse on four under. Jim Herman and Jason Day were both also four under when darkness fell.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy struggled off the tee
“I wouldn’t say that this is a golf course that sets up terribly well for me,” the Ulsterman said. “But it’s a challenge and I’m trying to embrace that challenge.” AFP
