Mackenzie Hughes said a Canadian Open victory "would mean everything" to him. On Thursday, he took a big first step toward realizing that dream with an opening-round 67 at the RBC Canadian Open.
"I'd be lying if I said it was a normal week," Hughes told pgatour.com after the round. "You see a lot of familiar faces in the gallery, people calling your name. That's not a week-to-week thing for me on the PGA Tour."
The Dundas, Ontario native began his round with a birdie at the par-4 10th, then strung together six straight pars beginning at No.11, before dropping his only shot with a three-putt bogey at the par-4 17th. The 26-year-old would quickly rebound with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 18th for an opening-nine 36.
Hughes would shave strokes at Nos. 1 and 2, then watch his birdie attempt at the par-4 third just miss finding the bottom of the cup. Hughes didn't have to wait long to make his fifth budgie of the round, dropping a 10-foot birdie putt at the fourth, then trimmed another shot at the fifth.
The former two-time Canadian Amateur champion found 11 fairways, missed only two greens in regulation, totaled 31 putts, and sits two back of leader Hudson Swafford.