SELKIRK, Man. — Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., scored a deuce in the opening end and never relinquished the lead to win 5-2 over Glenn Howard, from Penetanguishene, Ont., in Draw 7 Thursday at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling.
The two rinks exchanged singles through the second and third ends. Howard added another point in the fourth to close the gap 3-2 before Gushue blanked the fifth, scored a single in the sixth and stole one in the seventh.
Gushue now holds a 2-1 record while Howard fell to 1-1 in the tournament.
Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen nailed an impressive takeout to score two in the final end and lift his rink to a 4-3 win over Switzerland’s Sven Michel (2-1). McEwen is now 2-0 at the Masters and is 30-1 overall on the season.
Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock improved to 3-0 after scoring a deuce in the final end and win 6-5 over Jim Cotter, of Kelowna/Vernon, B.C. Cotter dropped to an 0-2 record.
Scotland’s David Murdoch (1-2) earned his first win at the Masters winning 7-6 in a back-and-forth battle with Calgary’s John Morris (1-1). Murdoch stole one in the first and two in the second but Morris bounced back from the 3-0 deficit with a deuce in the third and single steals in the fourth and the fifth ends. The two rinks traded deuces through the sixth and seventh ends and Murdoch scored another two in the eighth to win.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin (1-1) scored three in the fourth and stole two in the fifth during a 7-3 win in six ends over Edmonton’s Kevin Koe (1-1).
The Masters continues with Draw 8 action at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT live on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West & Pacific featuring Jennifer Jones against Val Sweeting.