Taylor, Hadwin leading the way at WM Phoenix Open

Canadian snowbirds were all over the leaderboard in the first round of the WM Phoenix Open.

Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, who both spend their winters in the Scottsdale area, were tied for top spot when the first round was called due to darkness. Both ended their days at five under.

Taylor’s round included a back-nine 30 thanks to six birdies, starting with four in a row on the 10th.

“To kind of see some putts roll in on 10 and 11 was nice,” said Taylor, “and obviously to continue that on 12, was lucky to make a nice relatively easy birdie with a nice chip on 13. I wanted to keep it going because I knew I was swinging nice and hit a bunch of greens. To make birdies on 16 and 17 to cap it off was nice.”

His front side saw him trade an eagle on the third hole for a double on six.

Hadwin, who started his round on the back nine, made a bogey on the 11th hole, but followed that with six birdies the rest of the way to match Taylor’s score.

His putter was his greatest asset on the day, using it only 27 times and when he finished, he was first in Strokes Gained: Putting.

“We did a great job all day,” stated Hadwin. “I hit it really solid all day. Made a bunch of putts and just kind of stayed steady all day.”

Both Canadians are true snowbirds. In the summer Hadwin lives in Wichita, Kansas, his wife’s home town, while Taylor heads back to Abbotsford, B.C. That’s the home town where both he and Hadwin grew up, honing their games at the Ledgeview Golf Club.

There was a frost delay that pushed tee times back 90 minutes and a cool wind buffeted the course all day. That made scoring tough on the course that usually gives up more red numbers.

“Tricky conditions for sure,” said Hadwin. “We definitely found the wind to be swirling a little bit. It was kind of bouncing all around between north and east, and it just depended on a little bit what gust you got. You had to stay patient, had to try and just pick your shots, execute, and if you got gusted, it is what it is.”

Taylor plays and practices at TPC Scottsdale and said the wind the players faced on Thursday, which came from the north, was unusual and difficult.

“It's definitely the tougher of the winds, I feel like, especially coming down the stretch. All those holes are playing a lot longer than typical. I've seen a lot of wind conditions, but this was one of the toughest stretches I've played out here.”

The performance of the two players continues a good stretch for Canadian golf. Brooke Henderson won on the LPGA Tour last month and Ben Silverman took top spot in a Korn Ferry Tour two weeks ago. Meanwhile on the Champions Tour, Stephen Ames held the first-round lead at this week’s tournament in Morocco.

ON the PGA Tour, hardly a week goes by without a Canadian near the top of the leaderboard. This season two Canadians, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson, have notched wins and the group of seven golfers with status has seven top 10s.

“Canadian golf has been in a great place for a while now,” said Hadwin. “Corey and Mackenzie kind of leading the way. We had Adam Svensson winning this year, as well, along with Mackenzie. It's a great group to be a part of. I'm really disappointed I didn't get to 6-under because I saw Nick up there, and I wanted to hold it over him tonight. But yeah, it's fun. It's a great group to be a part of, and we share a lot of laughs together.”

Taylor said he follows all the Canadians, wherever they happen to be playing, and certainly keeps his eye on Henderson.

“I'm a big fan,” he said. “She's obviously leading the way with all the wins she's been racking up the last handful of years. I've met Brooke a couple times, but no, she's playing phenomenal. She's fun to watch.”