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ONTARIO - Jim Furyk became the first golfer for 56 years to win successive Canadian Opens yesterday after an early hole-in-one gave him a lead he never relinquished.
Following birdies on the first and third holes, Furyk aced the par-three 191m fourth with a five-iron at the Angus Glen course to eliminate a three-stroke deficit and grab the lead from Fiji's Vijay Singh.
Furyk went on to card an equal best-of-the-day seven-under 64 to finish on a 16-under total of 268, one clear of Singh and three ahead of fellow-Americans Ryan Palmer and George McNeill.
"You dream of a start like that," Furyk said. "Basically to have that happen and to put yourself in good position in the tournament. I was basically starting even with the leaders at that point."
Furyk was in control the entire round but a late bogey, his only one of the day, nearly put him into a playoff. The American world No 3 walked to the 18th hole with a two-stroke lead over Singh, but a three-putt left the door open for the Fijian to force a playoff.
But Singh, who had four birdies on the back nine to stay close, missed the birdie putt of about 6m to give Furyk his 13th PGA Tour victory.
Jim Ferrier was the last person to win successive Canadian Opens in 1950-51.
Furyk needed only seven strokes on the par-three fourth hole for the tournament, knocking in birdie putts in the first three rounds before the ace on Sunday.
By comparison, Singh was three-over par on the par three for the tournament with three bogeys and a par.
It was Furyk's third competitive hole-in-one and the 21st on the PGA tour this year.
The low round of the day belonged to Furyk and Germany's Alex Cejka, who charged up the leaderboard after firing a seven-under round that left him tied for tenth overall after starting the round in 44th place.
* Meanwhile, American Tom Watson survived a double bogey on the final hole to win the Senior British Open by one stroke at Muirfield.
Watson, taking the title for the third time after wins in 2005 and 2003, carded a 73 to finish with a level par 284, edging overnight leader Stewart Ginn, of Australia, and American Mark O'Meara, who ended the day on one-over.
They were followed three strokes further back by Jay Haas, Lonnie Nielsen and Loren Roberts, of the United States, with Argentine Eduardo Romero. It was the same course where the 57-year-old Watson won one of his five Open titles, back in 1980, when he saw off the challenge of fellow American Lee Trevino.
- REUTERS
