RBC Canadian Open Round 1: Del Solar and Olesen Shoot 61 as Osprey Valley Gets Torched

The RBC Canadian Open moved into a brand new home this week, and on day one the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley got treated like a driving range with flags.

Cristobal Del Solar and Thorbjorn Olesen each shot 9-under 61 on Thursday to share the first-round lead in Caledon, Ontario. Cameron Champ was one back after a bogey-free 62, and Jake Knapp sat alone in fourth after a 63. Shane Lowry, Rasmus Hojgaard, Trey Mullinax and Ricky Castillo were all at 64, and the scoring was so deep that a 5-under 65 only got you into a tie for ninth.

Mr. 57 Goes Looking for 59

Del Solar arrived in Canada with a nickname most golfers would trade a limb for. The 31-year-old Chilean rookie, a Florida State product who came up through the Korn Ferry Tour, shot 57 in the first round of the Astara Golf Championship in Colombia in February 2024, the lowest score ever recorded in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event. On Thursday, the number started to look familiar.

Del Solar made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch through the middle of his round. A 6 1/2-foot birdie at the par-3 14th and a 15 1/2-footer at the par-4 16th got him to 10 under with two to play. That is where the 59 watch got loud, and that is where it ended. At the 17th, Del Solar found a greenside bunker on the right, blasted about 10 feet past and missed the par putt. Needing an eagle at the par-5 18th for 59, he drove into the left rough, laid up about 80 yards short and settled for par.

A 61 is hardly a consolation prize. Still, Del Solar's approach to a round like that was refreshingly simple. "I just want to go and execute each shot," Del Solar said.

Olesen's Putter Catches Fire

Olesen's 61 had a very different engine. The Dane, who owns eight DP World Tour titles and is still chasing a first win in the United States, made eight birdies, one bogey and an eagle. The eagle came at the 18th, his ninth hole of the day, when he holed a long putt that set the tone for everything that followed.

Olesen did not need to be modest about it. "Don't think I missed any putts really out there," he said.

The timing is notable. Olesen was not exactly coasting into this week. On Monday, he holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole of a U.S. Open qualifier at Lambton in Toronto to punch his ticket to Oakmont. Thursday looked like a player still riding that putt.

Both co-leaders came up one shot shy of the tournament record of 60, set by Carl Pettersson in 2010 and matched by Justin Rose in 2022, both at St. George's.

Soft Greens and a Late Wave Advantage

Rain fell Wednesday night and lingered into Thursday morning, leaving the greens soft and receptive. The afternoon wave clearly got the better end of the draw. Late starters held the top eight spots on the leaderboard and 15 of the top 18.

That made Champ's 62 one of the cleanest stories of the day. Champ, a three-time PGA TOUR winner who has not won since 2021 and has fallen to No. 420 in the world, was not even sure he was playing this week. He got into the field off the alternate list after Sahith Theegala withdrew with an injury, then went out and played 18 holes without a bogey.

Knapp, who shot 59 in the first round of the Cognizant Classic in March, added another low card to his 2025 file with a 63. Lowry made the turn in 5-under 30 on the way to his 64.

Canada Shows Up

The home crowd had reasons to cheer. Taylor Pendrith posted 65 in the morning wave, briefly holding the clubhouse lead before the afternoon players went to work. Pendrith is the low Canadian, tied for ninth with defending champion Robert MacIntyre and a big group that includes Kevin Yu, Danny Willett and Alex Smalley.

Nick Taylor, who won this event in 2023 at Oakdale to become the first Canadian champion in 69 years, opened with 66. That put him in a crowded group at 4 under alongside Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark and Ryan Fox.

A Slow Start for McIlroy

The biggest name in the field had the quietest day. Rory McIlroy, the Masters champion and a two-time winner of this event, shot 1-over 71 in the morning and finished with bogeys on his final two holes. That left him tied for 119th and 10 shots off the lead in his first start since the PGA Championship.

"Missed a couple of greens and didn't get them up-and-down, especially those last couple holes," McIlroy said.

On a day when 64 barely cracked the top five, a 71 is a deep hole. McIlroy will need something special on Friday to be around for the weekend.

What Comes Next

This is the final stop before the U.S. Open at Oakmont, and the contrast could not be sharper. Osprey Valley gave up birdies by the bucket on Thursday, while Oakmont is famous for punishing everything. For now, the question in Caledon is whether the scoring keeps coming once the course firms up. With roughly 30 players within five shots of the lead, Friday's cut line could be uncomfortably low for a lot of good players.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap and leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media, CBS Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.