Italian veteran Matteo Manassero is poised to problem for his first US PGA Tour title after conjuring seven birdies in a six-under par 64 to share the 54-hole lead on the Canadian Open with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
Fox additionally fired seven birdies and a bogey at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, their 14-under par whole of 196 placing the leaders one stroke clear atop a congested leaderboard, with 22 extra gamers inside 4 strokes of the lead.
On a day when as many as 11 gamers shared the lead at one level, Manassero was the primary to achieve 14-under along with his sixth birdie of the day on the fifteenth.
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He bogeyed 17, the place he was within the left tough off the tee and missed a four-footer to save lots of par, however he birdied the par-five 18th.
“It was a extremely good spherical,” Manassero stated. “I missed the quick one on 17, and I did miss a pair extra quick ones at the moment. I strive to consider them similar to a shot actually, like a driver, like a six-iron, no matter. It’s only a shot.
“It wasn’t that arduous for me to remain targeted into what I used to be doing and never ruining (it) on the finish.”
LEADERBOARD: All of the scores from the Canadian Open
Manassero, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, is looking for his first US tour title.
The 32-year-old Italian has revived his profession after briefly strolling away from the sport within the midst of a protracted hunch. He claimed his first DP World Tour victory in additional than a decade in March of 2024.
“It’s undoubtedly made me extra mature and a lot better perspective in the direction of golf, which at one level was every little thing,” he stated of the ups and downs of his profession.
“I’ve a greater perspective in the direction of, for instance, a day like tomorrow.”
Fox, 38, is aiming to construct off his first US PGA Tour title, captured in a playoff on the Myrtle Seaside Basic final month.
He launched his spherical with three straight birdies and had 5 on the entrance 9, bouncing again from a bogey at 11 — the place he was within the water — with birdies at 12 and 18.
– Stress-free golf –
“To be trustworthy, every little thing went fairly proper,” Fox stated. “I drove it nice. I feel, in the event you try this spherical right here, you give your self plenty of possibilities.
“Had quite a lot of good wedge pictures, holed a number of putts early. Simply performed actually strong type of stress-free golf for essentially the most half.”
Individuals Lee Hodges and Mat McCarty and Taiwan’s Kevin Yu have been tied for third on 13-under 197.
Hodges bookended his seven-under 63 with eagles on the first and 18th, with three birdies in between.
Yu had eight birdies and a bogey in his 63 whereas McCarty had seven birdies in his 64.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and Individuals Jake Knapp and Andrew Putnam have been tied on 12-under, one stroke away from a gaggle of seven gamers on 11-under 199.
Eire’s Shane Lowry headlined a gaggle of 9 gamers on 200. Fox stated his victory final month had him feeling “extra comfy in my very own footwear,” however he with so many inside placing distance he stated that Sunday promised to be a shootout.
“Clearly there’s quite a lot of good gamers behind me,” he stated. “I really feel prefer it’s going to take a reasonably low (rating) to get the job executed.”