Garrett

Rank

The 28-year-old amateur who makes a living as an NHL referee is making his second career PGA TOUR start, the first coming at this same event last year (missed cut). It wasn’t pretty to start today as he doubled the par-4 sixth to break the streak of five pars. Other than that lone blemish, he played bogey-free, 5-under golf. That included a 25-foot birdie bomb at the par-4 ninth and a pair of chip-ins on the back nine, with the second resulting in a walk-off eagle at the par-5 18th hole. It would mean a lot for the Canadian to win or even contend over the weekend at his national championship, but he’s a bit of a long shot to repeat this performance over the next three rounds.

The Canadian swallowed seven bogeys today at Ansley Golf Club. Luckily he had a highlight reel of scoring to offset those blemishes. That included a run that went BIRDIE-EAGLE-bogey-bogey-bogey-EAGLE from holes 3 thru 8, in his opening lap. Rank is a full-time NHL referee but still plays golf as much as possible. He is 1-for-3 in his PGA TOUR career, all coming at the RBC Canadian Open. Others making their way through the sectional were Michael Hebert (-2) and Roberto Castro (-1). Notables to miss out are Stephan Jaeger, Jason Bohn, and D.J. Trahan.