Mr. 57 went low again.
Christobal Del Solar, a 31-year-old Chilean, birdied seven holes in an eight-hole span and shot a blistering 9-under 61 at TPC Toronto’s Osprey Cove (North Course) in Caledon, Ontario, to share the lead with Thorbjorn Olesen after the first round of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open.
Last year, Del Solar set the PGA Tour scoring record with a 13-under 57 in the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship.
This time, he took advantage of a course softened by overnight rain that extended into the morning and forced the Tour to allow preferred lies. Del Solar birdied the first and after three consecutive pars, he began his birdie-fest in earnest at No. 5. Few were better than the one he made at the 227-yard par-3 seventh. Del Solar stuffed a long iron at to a foot for a kick-in birdie. He poured in a 34-foot birdie at the par-3 11th and wedged to 10 inches at the 12th.
The 59 Watch was in full effect as he reached 9 under through 14 holes and tacked on a birdie at 16 to reach double digits. But he bogeyed 17, missing a 10-foot par putt and failed to convert his 15-foot birdie putt at the last. Still, it was a heckuva start for the rookie who has two top-10 finishes in 10 starts this season and entered the week ranked No. 117 in the FedEx Cup.
“I just hit the ball great, plain and simple,” he said.
Olesen, a 35-year-old Dane and nine-time winner on the DP World Tour, credited his exceptional putting for his lowest round on the Tour. He gained more than 5 ½ strokes on the green and ranked first in Strokes Gained: Putting. It didn’t hurt that he canned a 34-foot putt at No. 10, his first hole of the day.
“Don’t think I missed any putts really out there,” he said. “I definitely holed some long ones as well. It was nice to see everything go in.”
Olesen made it through 36-hole Final Qualifying for the U.S. Open in Toronto on Monday thanks to holing a birdie putt on his final hole and it carried over to Thursday.
“Took a lot from that last putt,” he said. “I didn’t putt that well that day actually. I felt like I played really good, but like holing a putt like that when you know you have to make it, it gives you a lot of belief in yourself. Yeah, I definitely took that with me.”
Del Solar and Olesen weren’t the only ones to go low in the afternoon wave. Cameron Champ, who didn’t get into the field until Sahith Theegala withdrew on Wednesday, shot a bogey-free 62 with four birdies on each side. Jake Knapp, who shot 59 earlier this season, carded 63 thanks to birdies on three of the last four holes.
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