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HAMILTON, Ontario (AP) — David Skinns had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday at Hamilton Golf and Country Club to take the first-round lead in the RBC Canadian Open.

Playing in the afternoon with the greens still mostly receptive after rain earlier in the week, Skins pulled ahead with a 47-foot birdie putt on his 17th hole — the par-3 eighth. The 41-year-old Englishman was a stroke ahead of morning starters Sam Burns and Sean O’Hair.

“Drove it pretty well. I left myself in a lot of good spots,” said Skinns, winless on the PGA Tour. “Around here, it seems like that’s half the battle, to give yourself birdie looks. I was able to attack some pins that maybe if I wasn’t in such a good spot, I wouldn’t have been able to. ”

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland had a 64 in the afternoon. Ryan Palmer opened with a 65, and two-time Canadian Open champion Rory McIlroy was another shot back with Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Erik van Rooyen, Nick Hardy and Trace Crowe.

Defending champion Nick Taylor shot a 72, playing alongside fellow Canadian Taylor Pendrith and McIlroy. Last year at Oakdale in Toronto, Taylor made an 80-foot eagle putt in a playoff to become the first Canadian to win the event since 1954.

“Usually the morning round for me on a Thursday there’s not that many people there,” Taylor said. “The energy was high, which was great, gets the adrenaline going, which is fun that early in the morning, gets you focused on what you need to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way, but the crowds have been amazing.”

McIlroy won the Canadian Open in 2019 the last time it was in Hamilton and again in 2022 at St. George’s in Toronto.

“One of the main reasons I love coming back here is because of that atmosphere,” McIlroy said. “Playing with two Canadians today, it was exactly what I expected.”

Pendrith opened with a 72.

“We had fun,” Pendrith said. “Rory played, scored, really nicely. It was fun to play with Nick.”

Skinns is a former Canadian tour player.

“I had a couple of great years up here.” Skinns said. “It’s one of my favorite countries to come visit. I’ve seen it from West Coast to East Coast and kind of loved every part of it.”

Skinns birdied the par-4 12th — hitting a wedge from 104 yards to 4 feet — and began his big run on the par-5 17th. He followed with a 189-yard shot to 2 1/2 feet on the par-4 18th and made a 14-footer on the par-4 first. He holed a 35-footer on the par-4 third and added birdies on the par-5 fourth and and par-4 sixth.

“The golf up here is pretty cool,” Skinns said. “The bentgrass and the way this golf course looks, it’s one of the best looking courses I’ve seen. Definitely, a joy to be back.”

Burns eagled the par-5 17th and fourth.

“I think with all the rain we had early in the week the greens are still pretty receptive,” Burns said. “It makes a big difference on par-5s when you have a long iron or a wood coming in there to be able to stop the ball pretty quick.”

David Hearn was the low Canadian after a 67.

“Hey, how about that?” the 44-year-old Hearn said. “Maybe experience still has something.”

Fifty-four-year-old Mike Weir shot 68.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

3c:Td71,

McIlroy won the Canadian Open in 2019 the last time it was in Hamilton and again in 2022 at St. George’s in Toronto.

“One of the main reasons I love coming back here is because of that atmosphere,” McIlroy said. “Playing with two Canadians today, it was exactly what I expected.”

Pendrith opened with a 72.

“We had fun,” Pendrith said. “Rory played, scored, really nicely. It was fun to play with Nick.”

Skinns is a former Canadian tour player.

“I had a couple of great years up here.” Skinns said. “It’s one of my favorite countries to come visit. I’ve seen it from West Coast to East Coast and kind of loved every part of it.”

“The golf up here is pretty cool,” Skinns said. “The bentgrass and the way this golf course looks, it’s one of the best looking courses I’ve seen. Definitely, a joy to be back.”

Burns eagled the par-5 17th and fourth.

David Hearn was the low Canadian after a 67.

“Hey, how about that?” the 44-year-old Hearn said. “Maybe experience still has something.”

Fifty-four-year-old Mike Weir shot 68.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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HOUSTON (AP) — Scottie Scheffler made double bogey from what he thought was a good shot, responded with back-to-back birdies and finished with a 4-under 66 on Saturday to be part of a five-way tie for the lead in the Houston Open.

Scheffler is trying to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three consecutive PGA Tour starts, and he would appear to be in the pole position among players with so little experience at winning on tour.

David Skinns, a 42-year-old from England, had a 65 and was the first to post at 9-under 201. He was joined by Stephan Jaeger of Germany (66), Thomas Detry of Belgium (67) and Alejandro Tosti of Argentina (68), all of them trying to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.

Three others with one PGA Tour win, including U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap, were another shot behind.

Tony Finau, who had a two-shot lead going into the third round, didn't make a birdie until the 13th hole on another blustery day at Memorial Park. He salvaged a 72 and was still in the thick of it, just two shots behind.

Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player, is coming off victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

“Winning the last two doesn’t help me do anything tomorrow,” Scheffler said. “I think it’s going to be another pretty challenging day out there with high winds. Stick to my process and control what I can control out there.”

Some things were out of his control at Memorial Park.

It was crowded at the top for so much of the day. Scheffler joined the chase with four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, and looked to be on the verge of seizing control. But he turned a birdie chance into bogey when his pitch on the reachable par-4 13th went over the green and he was fortunate his next chip didn't come back to his feet.

But what flummoxed him was the par-3 15th, with the tee and pin moved forward, making the hole play a mere 121 yards with narrow margins for the miss. Scheffler's tee shot landed about 6 feet from the hole and he heard the gallery cheers — and then groan.

The ball spun back just enough to catch a slope, then a steeper slope in front of the green, and it kept rolling right through the rough and into the water. Scheffler covered his mouth with his hand and then began to laugh.

“What are you going to do?” he said to his caddie.

The only option was to take a penalty drop, and he failed to get up-and-down for his second double bogey in two days.

“I didn’t expect it to spin back, I didn’t expect it to spin back off the green and I didn’t expect it to be in the water,” he said.

But he answered with a 4-iron to the green on the par-5 16th and another great shot to a tough pin to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.

Tosti, trying to become the fourth PGA Tour rookie to win this early in the season, overcame a double bogey on the par-3 second when he four-putted (the first one went off the green), and he had plenty of passion and fire the rest of the way.

Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour at The American Express in January, turned pro and it has been a struggle since then. He was at dinner with his caddie Friday night trying to figure what needed to be better. He found a solution.

“All I tried to do today was play perfect with what I had, not necessarily like perfect golf but getting the easy ones up and down, not three-putting,” Dunlap said.

Part of that equation was seven birdies for a 63, and he goes into Sunday with a chance to win. Also at 8-under 202 were Taylor Moore, who won the Valspar Championship a year ago, and Akshay Bhatia, who won the Barracuda Championship last summer. They each shot 67.

Finau was about the only player who couldn't get anything going. One day after making just about everything, he kept missing with the putter — two par putts from inside 10 feet and two birdie chances from about the same range.

He drove the 13th green and two-putted for his first birdie, only to hit into the water on the 15th, escaping with bogey. And then on the par-5 16th, his second shot bounced left and into the water, spelling more trouble. But he chipped in for birdie after his penalty drop and was well within range of Scheffler and everyone else going into Sunday.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

3e:T1197,

Three others with one PGA Tour win, including U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap, were another shot behind.

Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player, is coming off victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

Some things were out of his control at Memorial Park.

“What are you going to do?” he said to his caddie.

The only option was to take a penalty drop, and he failed to get up-and-down for his second double bogey in two days.

“I didn’t expect it to spin back, I didn’t expect it to spin back off the green and I didn’t expect it to be in the water,” he said.

But he answered with a 4-iron to the green on the par-5 16th and another great shot to a tough pin to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.

“All I tried to do today was play perfect with what I had, not necessarily like perfect golf but getting the easy ones up and down, not three-putting,” Dunlap said.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Shane Lowry nearly won at PGA National two years ago. The Irishman has given himself a big chance to get a victory there Sunday.

Lowry, David Skinns and Austin Eckroat were tied for the lead Saturday after third round of the Cognizant Classic. Lowry and Skinns had rounds of 66 to and Eckroat shot a 68. They were at 13-under 200.

Lowry is looking for his third victory on the PGA Tour. Skinns is trying for his first top-10 finish in 33 tour starts. Eckroat is seeking his first tour win in his 50th start.

“Even though the scoring is pretty good this year, I like playing tough golf,” said Lowry, who has shot in the 60s all three days. “I like when everything is on the line a lot out there. You’re standing there over a lot of shots on this golf course, a lot that mean a lot, as in one bad swing can lead to a big number. I feel like I just know how to play the golf course. I feel like I’ve figured it out.”

Jacob Bridgeman (65), Min Woo Lee (66), Martin Laird (66), Kevin Yu (70) and Victor Perez (70) were 10 under. Andrew Novak (70) and C.T. Pan (70) were another shot back.

This is the 18th time that the tournament — known as the Honda Classic until this year — has been contested at PGA National. And it’s proven to be hard to rally for a win there on Sunday: in the previous 17 tour events at PGA National, 11 eventual winners had at least a share of the lead after 54 holes and 16 were no worse than tied for second.

The exception was Sungjae Im, who was fifth entering the final round in 2020. And the only players to rally from more than one stroke back entering the final round to win the Honda at PGA National were Sepp Straka (five back in 2022 when he prevailed over Lowry), Im (three back in 2020), Padraig Harrington (three back in 2015) and Russell Henley (two back in 2014).

“I would say when the course gets tricky like that, in a sense you have maybe a little bit more freedom not being in the lead, not having to kind of protect anything,” Perez said. “So, maybe that does play to an advantage for the guys coming from behind. I don’t know what the stats are with 54-hole winners. At the end of the day, whoever is going to shoot the least amount of strokes is going to win.”

Lowry went to the 72nd hole at PGA National in 2022 tied with Straka for the lead. Straka, a group ahead, hit his drive 334 yards on the par-5 hole. And moments later, it began pouring — a storm out of nowhere, as tends to happen in South Florida.

Lowry had to tee off in the worst of the rain and win, and his drive was 90 yards behind Straka. He had no chance of reaching the green in two, laid up and watched Straka make birdie. Lowry had a long birdie putt, it missed and Straka got his first PGA Tour victory.

“It’s funny because I didn’t know Sepp at all at the time,” Lowry said. "I used to tell him at the Ryder Cup that I used to not like him after that tournament, and I’ve become really friendly with him now, and he’s a great guy, and I get on very well with him.

“I always say golf never owes you anything. I came up short that day. I’ve come up short before. I’ve been on the better end of things before. You just go out there and do your best and what will be.”

Twenty-five players are within five shots of the lead — with a 15-way tie for 11th at 8 under. Among the players in that logjam: Rickie Fowler (who shot a second consecutive 67 on Saturday) and second-round leader Bud Cauley (74). Rory McIlroy was in a group another shot back at 7 under.

40:Te5e,

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Shane Lowry nearly won at PGA National two years ago. The Irishman has given himself a big chance to get a victory there Sunday.

Lowry is looking for his third victory on the PGA Tour. Skinns is trying for his first top-10 finish in 33 tour starts. Eckroat is seeking his first tour win in his 50th start.

Jacob Bridgeman (65), Min Woo Lee (66), Martin Laird (66), Kevin Yu (70) and Victor Perez (70) were 10 under. Andrew Novak (70) and C.T. Pan (70) were another shot back.

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McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Jordan Spieth thought the course for his hometown Byron Nelson would play more difficult after yielding more birdies in its debut than any other tournament on the PGA Tour last season.

The three-time major winner says he couldn't have been more wrong, and is frankly surprised over how little he thinks was done the first two days to make TPC Craig Ranch a stiffer test.

Ryan Palmer, one of the Dallas-area players in the shadow of Spieth and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, shot a 10-under 62 on Friday and was tied at 15 under with Sebastián Muñoz and 40-year-old tour rookie David Skinns.

Muñoz, a Colombian who lives in the Dallas area and went to college at North Texas, was even through 13 holes coming off his second 60 of the season — a first on the PGA Tour — before birdies on three of four holes for a 69. Skinns shot 63.

Justin Lower, another older tour rookie at 33, was alone in fourth, a shot behind the leaders after a 66.

“I mean, a 60 yesterday and a lot of 8s (under) and 7s all over the board,” said Spieth, who shot 65 and was three shots off the lead in a group that includes defending champion K.H. Lee.

“It's just, a lot of tees are up, it was very surprising,” Spieth said. “I think they were looking at the weekend as a lot less wind and so they used more of the easier pins the first two days because I can only name one or two pins on this golf course that were not the easiest two locations that are on the greens. I'm a little surprised at how, on a not-so-difficult golf course they have also set it up a little easier for us, too.”

The Nelson was the only 2020-21 tournament with more than 2,000 birdies (2,007). There were 38 eagles in the first round Thursday, the most for a single round this season.

Charl Schwartzel had one of the Friday eagles in a round of 65 that put him at 13 under. The 2011 Masters winner drove into a greenside bunker on the 316-yard, par-4 14th and holed out from there.

The top-ranked Scheffler, who came in with four wins in six individual events capped by the Masters victory, shot a 68 and was 9 under after two rounds alongside his fellow former Texas Longhorns in Spieth and Lee.

Palmer, who finished his opening round with an eagle on the par-5 18th, started on the back nine and birdied six of the last seven holes on that side, then added four more on the front in a bogey-free round.

The 45-year-old hasn't won an individual event since 2010 in Hawaii. Palmer lives in nearby Colleyville and is a member at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, where the tour returns in two weeks after the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Palmer had a two-shot lead halfway through his last Texas stop in San Antonio in early April before shooting 7 over on the weekend. He is a four-time winner, including the 2019 Zurich team event in New Orleans with Jon Rahm.

“I spent 19 years doing this, unbelievable that I’ve been here that long, and these young guys ... you got to play such great golf to beat ’em,” Palmer said. “We’re in position again and we’ll learn from what we learned in San Antonio and try and do it here.”

Lee won the rain-plagued Craig Ranch debut at 25 under while Spieth tied for ninth, his personal best in a tournament he badly wants to win because of his remarkable pro debut at the Nelson as a 16-year-old Sunday contender in 2010.

There's no hint of rain this time in McKinney, about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, and the wind was brisk the first two days. Combine that with the expectation of the rough being more of a factor a year after a February deep freeze wiped it out, and Spieth figured scores would be higher.

Instead, he found himself calling out the moved-up tee box on the par-5 ninth, which played just 474 yards and an average nearly three-quarters of a stroke below par Friday. It was the easiest hole on the course.

The Tom Weiskopf-designed course also has wide fairways and large greens.

“Some familiarity to me with some of the courses I played back in South Africa,” said Schwartzel, who tied for third at 21 under last year. “I don’t feel claustrophobic off the tee. It gives me a bit of space, and once I can get it in play, iron play is not much of a problem. So just really comfortable.”

Skinns, an Englishman with no top-25 finishes in 20 PGA Tour appearances spread out over nearly a decade, had five consecutive birdies starting on the par-3 seventh in his career-best round.

Lower hasn't finished higher than tied for 15th in an individual event. He paired with Dylan Wu to tie for 10th in the team event in New Orleans.

The ninth-ranked Spieth and No. 17 Joaquin Niemann, also at 12 under, lead the list of 10 among the world's top 30 in the field.

No. 13 Hideki Matsuyama was 11 under, a shot better than eighth-ranked Justin Thomas, who spent the first two days in the group ahead of Spieth, his good friend and house guest for this week.

No. 11 Dustin Johnson was 7 under, and 12th-ranked Xander Schauffele rallied from 3 over for the tournament early in the second round with eight birdies over 10 holes to make the cut on the number at 5 under.

The rest of the top 30 players missed the cut: 10th-ranked Sam Burns, the runner-up to Lee at the Nelson last year; Will Zalatoris (28th), another player in his hometown event; and Kevin Kisner (30th).

___

More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

42:T165e,

David Skinns

David Skinns

Skinns opens with a 60 to lead Sanderson Farms Championship

Skinns fires 62 to take 1st-round lead at Canadian Open

Scheffler overcomes late double-bogey to join 5-way tie in Houston

Lowry, Skinns, Eckroat tied for lead entering final round of Cognizant Classic

Palmer shoots 62, joins lead at low-scoring Byron Nelson