After falling just short of qualifying for the U.S. Open earlier this week, Adam Svensson has started strong at his national championship.
The Surrey, B.C., golfer shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 to sit one off the clubhouse lead held by Sahith Theegala of the U.S. toward the end of the morning wave of the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont., on Thursday.
Svensson, 32, is looking for some momentum after not finishing in the top 25 in 12 events on the PGA Tour this season prior to this week.
His lone win on tour came at the 2022 RSM Classic.
Svensson missed out on a U.S. Open qualifying spot in an 8-for-3 playoff on Monday in Toronto.
The Canadian ended up being one of three players competing for the final spot, but after Max McGreevy made birdie, Svensson picked up his ball marker instead of going for his par putt.
That prevented him from having a shot to be the first alternate at one of the strongest U.S. Open qualifying sites, potentially costing him a spot in the major next week.
Meanwhile, several other Canadians had solid starts Thursday.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., shot 4 under, while Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont.,, Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Toronto amateur Eric Zhao were at 2 under.
