The China Mail - Closing charge lifts Scotsman MacIntyre to Canadian Open lead

The 27-year-old from Scotland, seeking his first US PGA Tour title, fired a four-under par 66 to stand on 14-under 196 after 54 holes at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in suburban Toronto.

Sharing second on 200 were Canada's Mackenzie Hughes, New Zealand's Ryan Fox and American Ben Griffin with England's Tommy Fleetwood sharing fifth on 201 with Americans Trace Crowe, Sam Burns and Joel Dahmen.

Fox and Griffin seek their first PGA triumphs while Hughes seeks his third PGA title on a course 10 miles from where he grew up.

MacIntyre has two wins on the DP World Tour, most recently at the 2022 Italian Open, but his best PGA finish was as runner-up in last year's Scottish Open.

Fox, who shared the 36-hole lead with MacIntyre, had two birdies and an eagle in the first five holes but squandered a four-stroke lead with four bogeys and no birdies thereafter.

MacIntyre made his first bogey of the week on the opening hole, closed the front nine with two more and had another at the par-3 13th after missing the green, but from there was spectacular.

"I just stuck in there," said MacIntyre, who also scattered three birdies over his first 10 holes. "I didn't have it great at the start, but I feel like whenever I dropped a shot I bounced back with maybe two good shots into the green, and I would pick up a shot back.

"It never got away from me. A bit of luck, a bit of myself being staying in the moment, staying calm. I got my reward with the putter in the end."

World number 76 MacIntyre sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole and rolled in a stunning 50-foot birdie putt at the 15th to grab the lead alone at 11-under.

After Hughes tapped in for birdie at the par-5 17th to match MacIntyre for the lead, MacIntyre sank a 10-foot putt at the par-3 16th and took the solo lead again at 12-under with a third consecutive birdie.

MacIntyre, whose father served as his caddie, snapped his birdie run with a spectacular 30-foot eagle putt at 17 and parred 18 to finish ahead by four after trailing by four at one stage.

"I tried to flip the negatives into positives," he said. "Just started to find momentum. I holed a putt, holed a long putt, and when it gets rolling it's nice."

- McIlroy in the hunt -

World number 91 Griffin, whose best finish in 59 prior PGA starts was a share of second in last October's Sanderson Farms Championship, closed with a bogey to shoot 65. He had seven birdies and two bogeys on the day.

"I made some long putts that are almost unexpected, and when those drop you know you have things going your way," Griffin said.

Fox, ranked 63rd, settled for a 70. The four-time DP World Tour winner, most recently at last September's BMW PGA Championship, had his best PGA finish sharing fourth last month at Myrtle Beach.

Hughes, ranked 68th, shot 67 with a closing bogey. He won the 2016 PGA RSM Classic and 2022 Sanderson Farms Championship, both in playoffs.

World number three Rory McIlroy, a two-time Canadian Open champion and four-time major winner, shot 65 to share 11th on 203. He won in 2019 at Hamilton with a final-round 61.

"I got off to a great start," McIlroy said. "I did a quick range session last night and I felt like that sort of reset me, which is nice. Definitely played better.

"Coming back to a golf course where I've had some success and good memories, it was nice to go out and post a good one."

T.Wu--ThChM