OAKVILLE, Ont. — Ladies and gentlemen, meet long-hitting Luke List.
List, a 2015 graduate of the Web.com Tour and one of the longest hitters around, went out early Thursday and, thanks in part to his length off the tee, tamed a dried-out, fast track at Glen Abbey with a 6-under par 66 to grab the clubhouse lead.
Going low guaranteed him nothing but a trip in front of the media and a sound night’s sleep but List, ranked 309th in the world, was happy to take advantage of a course that got considerably tougher as the day went along.
“Got off to a great start and hung on at the end and had a couple of good up and downs,” said the 31-year-old from Seattle. “I’m trying to use my length the right way. With my length, I tried to get it in play off the tee and have a smart iron into the par 5s. If I can play them 4-under every day, all week, that would be great.”
World No. 2 Dustin Johnson stole a bit of List’s spotlight.
Johnson posted a 66 of his own as the afternoon drew to a close to take a share of the lead. He threatened to top List, getting to 5-under with five holes to play, but gave back two shots on the 14th before closing with an eagle on the 18th to get to 6-under.
List tore it up on the par 5s, making birdie on all four (he started on the 10th hole and was 5-under in the back nine), to take the clubhouse lead. Not surprising he did so well on the par 5s, given that he is ninth on the tour in driving distance at an average of 305 yards.
But when the wind kicked up a bit in the afternoon, and the course got a little more sun-baked, nobody, not even Johnson, could scoot past him on the leaderboard.
Heading into the second round, the faces in his rear-view mirror aren’t exactly familiar, either.
Chesson Hadley, Kelly Kraft and Canadian amateur Jared du Toit are in a group one stroke behind List at 67.
Former Canadian Open champ Brandt Snedeker of the U.S., Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge and Americans Cameron Tringale and Steve Wheatcroft are in a group two shots behind List at 4-under 68. Defending champ and world No. 1 Jason Day had an up and down opening round and finished at 3-under 69.
Du Toit, a 21-year-old collegiate golfer and member of the national team who is making his PGA Tour debut, was the top Canadian.
Another Canadian amateur, NHL referee Garrett Rank, turned in a tidy 3-under 69. Adam Hadwin carded an even-par 72, while David Hearn, the third-place finisher here last year, opened with a 74.
Graham DeLaet, thought to be Canada’s best hope to win this year, might have trouble just making the cut after carding a 5-over 77, while the struggles continued for former Masters champion Mike Weir, who shot a 78.
dpollard@postmedia.com