2014 RBC Canadian Open scores: Tim Petrovic, Michael Putnam lead but Taylor Pendrith steals show

An unknown amateur goes low at Royal Montreal, emerging as a (very) early option to perhaps end Canada's 60-year drought at the Canadian Open.

The first round of the Canadian Open is in the books at Royal Montreal, and we have a two-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. The course was receptive to plenty of red numbers and mid-60s rounds, and the duo of Tim Petrovic and Michael Putnam are out in front at 6-under. Putnam did not make a bogey all day, and caught fire on Royal Montreal's front nine for a 31 to bolt to the top of the board with a 64. Petrovic also did his damage on the front nine with a matching 31, and then picked up an eagle at the par-5 12th to post his 64.

But the story of the first day is probably the Canadian amateur Taylor Pendrith, who just finished up at Kent State and posted a 65 in his first ever PGA Tour round. Pendrith rolled in a birdie on the 18th to move within a shot of the lead, an amazing story given his lack of experience and the 60-year drought that Canadians have endured at their national championship.

The best options to end that 60-year losing streak are probably Graham DeLaet and David Hearn, who are both in the red and in position, but Pendrith is the early and best Canadian story. It will be tough to stay near the top, but a great first day story nonetheless.

Graeme McDowell, one of those world-class players in that RBC stable I mentioned this morning, is one of the bigger names under-par. McDowell had the shot of the day on the hardest hole at Royal Montreal, holing out from about 215 yards for an eagle two.

That shot would be the difference for McDowell, who finished at 2-under. The Ulsterman is under a little bit of pressure to make a late run and lock up his spot on what will be a loaded Euro Ryder Cup team. A strong showing here to pair with his French Open win earlier this month would do it for one of the better match play golfers in the world.

Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, and Jim Fuyrk are also part of that RBC-backed group, and they're all under-par as well. Furyk is in at 3-under, along with Hearn, the top Canadian option in the field. Defending champ Snedeker is 1-under and in a tie for 44th. It's a bunched-up board for now, but with low rounds out there, someone could get hot on Friday and get a little distance on the rest the field.

Here's where the field stands after 18 holes:

Place	Player	Score	Round 1
T1	Michael Putnam	-6	64
T1	Tim Petrovic	-6	64
T3	Kyle Stanley	-5	65
T3	Taylor Pendrith	-5	65
T5	Charlie Wi	-4	66
T5	Justin Hicks	-4	66
T5	Greg Chalmers	-4	66
T5	Nick Watney	-4	66
T5	Robert Allenby	-4	66
T5	Troy Merritt	-4	66
T5	Dicky Pride	-4	66
T5	Bo Van Pelt	-4	66
T5	Charl Schwartzel	-4	66
T5	Jason Bohn	-4	66
T5	Joel Dahmen	-4	66
T16	Tim Wilkinson	-3	67
T16	Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano	-3	67
T16	Matt Bettencourt	-3	67
T16	Jerry Kelly	-3	67
T16	Tim Clark	-3	67
T16	Scott Brown	-3	67
T16	Ken Duke	-3	67
T16	Bryce Molder	-3	67
T16	Andrew Svoboda	-3	67
T16	Nathan Green	-3	67
T16	Alex Prugh	-3	67
T16	David Hearn	-3	67
T16	Ben Curtis	-3	67
T16	Charlie Beljan	-3	67
T16	Jim Furyk	-3	67
T16	J.J. Henry	-3	67
T32	Pat Perez	-2	68
T32	Stewart Cink	-2	68
T32	Hunter Mahan	-2	68
T32	Daniel Chopra	-2	68
T32	Mark Calcavecchia	-2	68
T32	Eric Axley	-2	68
T32	Andrew Loupe	-2	68
T32	Chad Campbell	-2	68
T32	Ryuji Imada	-2	68
T32	Woody Austin	-2	68
T32	Graeme McDowell	-2	68
T32	Will Wilcox	-2	68
T44	Danny Lee	-1	69
T44	Jeff Overton	-1	69
T44	Retief Goosen	-1	69
T44	Brandt Snedeker	-1	69
T44	D.H. Lee	-1	69
T44	Tim Herron	-1	69
T44	Luke Guthrie	-1	69
T44	Jamie Lovemark	-1	69
T44	Kevin Foley	-1	69
T44	Miguel Angel Carballo	-1	69
T44	Steve Marino	-1	69
T44	William McGirt	-1	69
T44	Roberto Castro	-1	69
T44	Sean O'Hair	-1	69
T44	Aaron Baddeley	-1	69
T44	Graham Delaet	-1	69
T44	Matt Kuchar	-1	69
T44	Vijay Singh	-1	69
T44	Charley Hoffman	-1	69
T44	Joe Durant	-1	69
T44	Morgan Hoffmann	-1	69
T44	Tyrone van Aswegen	-1	69
T44	Eugene Wong	-1	69
T67	Troy Matteson	E	70
T67	Mark Wilson	E	70
T67	Jonathan Byrd	E	70
T67	Ernie Els	E	70
T67	Carl Pettersson	E	70
T67	Geoff Ogilvy	E	70
T67	Sang-Moon Bae	E	70
T67	Adam Svensson	E	70
T67	Kevin Carrigan	E	70
T67	Alex Aragon	E	70
T67	Kevin Kisner	E	70
T67	Robert Streb	E	70
T67	Josh Teater	E	70
T67	Ricky Barnes	E	70
T67	Derek Ernst	E	70
T67	Mike Weir	E	70
T67	Tommy Gainey	E	70
T67	Thomas Aiken	E	70
T67	Jim Herman	E	70
T67	Adam Hadwin	E	70
T87	Nicholas Thompson	1	71
T87	Andres Romero	1	71
T87	Johnson Wagner	1	71
T87	Tag Ridings	1	71
T87	Heath Slocum	1	71
T87	Timothy Madigan	1	71
T87	Patrick Rodgers	1	71
T87	Bronson La'Cassie	1	71
T87	Wes Roach	1	71
T87	David Lingmerth	1	71
T87	Martin Laird	1	71
T87	Ben Crane	1	71
T87	Luke Donald	1	71
T87	D.A. Points	1	71
T87	John Merrick	1	71
T87	John Peterson	1	71
T87	Michael Gligic	1	71
T87	Robbie Greenwell	1	71
T87	Hudson Swafford	1	71
T87	Beon Yeong Lee	2	72
T107	Jim Renner	2	72
T107	Kevin Chappell	2	72
T107	John Rollins	2	72
T107	Justin Leonard	2	72
T107	Jhonattan Vegas	2	72
T107	Scott Piercy	2	72
T107	Martin Flores	2	72
T107	Kevin Tway	2	72
T107	Russell Knox	2	72
T107	Brian Gay	2	72
T107	K.J. Choi	2	72
T107	Seung-yul Noh	2	72
T107	James Hahn	2	72
T107	Doug LaBelle II	2	72
T107	Edward Loar	2	72
T107	Brad Fritsch	2	72
T123	Brian Davis	3	73
T123	Jeff Maggert	3	73
T123	Trevor Immelman	3	73
T123	Lucas Glover	3	73
T123	John Huh	3	73
T123	Cameron Beckman	3	73
T123	Brice Garnett	3	73
T123	David Duval	3	73
T123	Camilo Villegas	3	73
T123	Robert Garrigus	3	73
T123	Eli Cole	3	73
T123	Billy Andrade	3	73
T123	Peter Malnati	3	73
T123	Benjamin Silverman	3	73
T123	Dave Levesque	3	73
T138	Stephen Ames	4	74
T138	Richard Lee	4	74
T138	Y.E. Yang	4	74
T138	Dustin Johnson	4	74
T138	Corey Conners	4	74
T138	Oliver Goss	4	74
T138	Kevin Stinson	4	74
T138	Bill Walsh	4	74
T138	Chris DiMarco	4	74
T138	Ted Potter, Jr.	4	74
T138	Jason Allred	4	74
T138	Josh Persons	4	74
T138	Chris Hemmerich	5	75
T151	Chad Collins	5	75
T151	Stuart Appleby	5	75
153	John Daly	6	76
T154	Scott McCarron	8	78
T154	James Driscoll	8	78
156	Erik Compton	9	79

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