WATCH ABOVE: Emiliano Grillo fired the lowest score at the RBC Canadian Open while Robert Allenby fired his caddie mid-round. That’s when Tom Fraser got the thrill of a lifetime. Rob Leth reports.
OAKVILLE, Ont.—European tour pro Emiliano Grillo almost didn’t get into Canada on Monday, but after the first round of the RBC Canadian Open, he finds himself leading the tournament.
Grillo shot an 8-under 64 on the morning of the first round to lead the tournament by a single shot over Vaughn Taylor and Brian Harman on a breezy day that saw scores rise in the afternoon.
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Grillo, who has split his time between the European Tour and the PGA Tour, finished in a tie for 10th at last week’s Barbasol Championship, a PGA Tour even that ran concurrently with the British Open. Without status on the PGA Tour—despite losing the Puerto Rico Open in a playoff earlier this year—the finish got Grillo into the RBC Canadian Open.
The problem was the golfer, who is from Argentina, needed a visa to enter Canada and he didn’t have one.
“Then came the more complicated part that was flying to Buffalo and trying to get a permit to get over to Canada because I need a visa,” Grillo said after his round. “And they told me that I wasn’t able to get a visa in time, so I kind of had to go to the Canadian border and ask for permission to play this tournament.”
After two hours of discussion, Canadian officials agreed to provide Grillo with a visa and let him come to play his first RBC Canadian Open.
WATCH ABOVE: Rob Leth and Robert Thompson recap the first day of the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.
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The 16 Canadians in the field, all trying to become the first golfer from the country to win their national open since 1954, had mixed results. Weyburn, Sask.’s Graham DeLaet was even par, three shots behind the two low Canadians, Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn and new pro Adam Svensson. Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan were both 2-under par.
One of the most interesting stories of the day was the play of Ryan Ruffels, a 17-year old Australian amateur who carded a 6-under 66 to sit in a tie for fourth.
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“I think this course kind of suits me,” Ruffels said after his round. “I was very positive coming into the week.”
Ruffels spent the practice round meeting his heroes—he got the chance to chat with Jason Day and get a lesson from Korean veteran K.J. Choi about bunker play—and seemed at home with playing on the PGA Tour.
“All these sorts of things that you don’t quite get in an amateur tournament and I’m getting to meet my idols and play against them,” he said.
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