World No. 38 Harold Varner III sized up a 5-under 31-34=65 in R1 of the RBC Canadian Open to sit T3 on the board, two adrift of leader Wyndham Clark.
Clark fired his 63 from the early wave while Varner III tossed his together from the late wave, posting the best lap among the later starters, fueled by a birdie-birdie-eagle run around the turn. On seven (of 13) fairways and 10 greens in regulation, he posted 0.272 SG: Off-the-Tee, 1.826 SG: Approach, 0.988 SG: Around, and 3.357 SG: Putting with 25 total putts, buoyed by four par-savers from between six and 17 feet. The 31-year-old’s lone bogey was a 5 at 12 (failed scramble), camouflaged by four birdies at 3, 4 (from 22'11"), 9 and 10 (hole-out from 38'1" away), and an eagle-3 at 11 from 47'9". This is his sixth time this season in 17 events that he’s in the top 10 after 18 holes, second straight after the Charles Schwab two weeks ago, where he was an 18-hole co-leader before fading to T27 (66-68-68-78). See link below to post-round comments.