OAKVILLE, Ont. — Tournament leader Hunter Mahan withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open on Saturday after his wife went into labour.
The 31-year-old American was at 13 under after 36 holes and had yet to tee off in the third round.
“I received exciting news a short time ago that my wife Kandi has gone into labour with our first child,” Mahan said in a statement. “Kandi and I are thrilled about the addition to the Mahan family and we look forward to returning to the RBC Canadian Open in the coming years.”
The sudden departure now puts the spotlight on John Merrick, who finished the second round two strokes back of Mahan after tying the course record with a 62 at the par-72, 7,253-yard Glen Abbey Golf Club.
Dustin Johnson shot 63 in rainy conditions on Saturday and also sits at 11 under after 54 holes.
Johnson didn’t get news that Mahan, whose wife’s due date was still a month away, was returning to Dallas until late in his round.
“It’s one of those situations where you probably wouldn’t expect him to have to leave. But sometimes that’s just how it works,” said Johnson, who played with Mahan through the first two rounds. “He’s playing really well right now, but yeah, I mean, things happen.
“I don’t think he had any plans on leaving this week until probably today.”
Mahan charged into the lead Friday with an 8-under 64 to improve on his 5-under 67 performance from the first round.
His start time had initially been set for 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday before play was suspended for 80 minutes because of the threat of lightning in the area.
Mahan had been rescheduled to tee off at 2:50 p.m. but never made it to the course and instead rushed to the airport. With Mahan’s withdrawal, Merrick played his round Saturday without a partner.
Players who began their rounds early in the day benefited from calm conditions on the par-72, 7,253-yard course, including David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., who shot 68 to move to 5 under.
Hearn made Friday’s cut by birdieing his final three holes to finish the first two rounds at 1 under. He kept that strong play going on Saturday with a birdie on the first hole and six overall.
“I felt good yesterday finishing the way I did,” said the 34-year-old Hearn. “I didn’t play my best getting to the weekend but it’s a pretty tight leaderboard.”
Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 72 and sits at 2 under after three rounds.
The 26-year-old, who plays on the Web.com Tour but earned an exemption to the Canadian Open, played with Canadian Open champion Vijay Singh, who was 8 under through 13 holes before settling for a round of 66.
“He was just a gentleman. He was a real class act,” said Sloan. “It was real nice to play with him, and he keeps the game real simple: Fairways, greens and putts. Pretty simple game.”
Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., was 1 over on the day through 11 holes to slip to 3 under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch was forced to withdraw before the round with a back injury to cut the number of Canadians remaining in the field to three.
“That’s really unfortunate,” Hearn said. “He’s been playing so solid all year, and I think everybody in Canada is just pulling for him to have a good weekend and kind of lock his card up for next year. So that’s really disappointing.”
