| Pos. | Player | Scores |
| T1 | John Duthie (U.S.) | 32-32—64 (7-under) |
| T1 | Cooper Musselman (U.S.) | 32-32—64 (7-under) |
| T1 | Rhett Rasmussen (U.S.) | 34-30—64 (7-under) |
| T1 | Samuel Saunders (U.S.) | 31-33—64 (7-under) |
| T1 | Brian Carlson (U.S.) | 29-35—64 (7-under) |
| T1 | Ian Holt (U.S.) | 32-32—64 (7-under) |
| T7 | Wil Bateman (Canada) | 32-33—65 (6-under) |
| T7 | Jared du Toit (Canada) | 32-33—65 (6-under) |
| T9 | Carter Jenkins (U.S.) | 33-33—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Joe Highsmith (U.S.) | 33-33—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Eric Lilleboe (U.S.) | 34-32—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Luke Schniederjans (U.S.) | 34-32—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Ryan Hall (U.S.) | 34-32—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Danny Walker (U.S.) | 32-34—66 (5-under) |
| T9 | Parker Coody (U.S.) | 34-32—66 (5-under) |
SPRUCE GROVE, Alberta — Blustery wind and rain early in the week gave way to wild first-round action at the ATB Classic presented by Volvo Edmonton. The weather, as it turned out, was almost ideal on Thursday as PGA TOUR Canada’s second tournament of the season got underway at the Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club.
A clear picture, though, wasn’t in the cards as six players are tied for the lead after 18 holes—all Americans. Brian Carlson, John Duthie, Ian Holt, Cooper Musselman, Rhett Rasmussen and Samuel Saunders sit atop the leaderboard after shooting 7-under scores of 64.
Adding to the tight bunching are several players in close pursuit. Canadians Wil Bateman and Jared du Toit are one stroke back, at 6-under, while seven others (Parker Coody, Ryan Hall, Joe Highsmith, Carter Jenkins, Eric Lilleboe, Luke Schniederjans and Danny Walker) are only two behind.
Among those leading the charge is Carlson. After starting his round on the back nine, the former Purdue University standout caught fire on the front side. He recorded five birdies and an eagle to climb into contention. It was the first time in his career that Carlson had broken 30 over nine holes, finishing with a 29 to end the day.
“I was thinking about it, too,” he said about getting on the final green. “I was kind of nervous even though I’ve been putting pretty good. But, still, when you have a goal in mind and you have to beat (it) and accomplish it.”
Carlson connected on a four-foot putt to seal the deal.
“So, goal accomplished,” he said.
Arriving Monday night and then not being able to play Tuesday because of the inclement conditions, Carlson’s only practice on the course was limited to the back nine Wednesday.
“I’m really astonished that they got this course ready because it wasn’t looking too pretty,” said Carlson, who wrote a thank-you letter to the superintendent.
Among others with impressive play was Duthie, who was one of three players to record a hole-in-one in the round. All the aces came on the par-3 13th hole. Duthie used a wedge on a 120-yard shot that landed 15 feet from the pin. It rolled along a ridge and into the hole.
“I played pretty well all day,” said Duthie.
Confidence was rampant among the leaders.
“I feel I’m in a good spot and I’m going to do my best to play as well as I did today on [Friday],” Rasmussen noted.
How the Canadians are faring
After one round of play, Wil Bateman and Jared DuToit are representing Canada well. They are tied for seventh at 6-under, just one shot behind the six American leaders. Here is a look at all the Canadians in the field this week.
| Pos. | Player | Score |
| T7 | Wil Bateman | 65 (6-under) |
| T7 | Jared du Toit | 65 (6-under) |
| T16 | Riley Wheeldon | 67 (4-under) |
| T16 | Tony Gil | 67 (4-under) |
| T16 | Cougar Collins | 67 (4-under) |
| T29 | James Allenby | 68 (3-under) |
| T29 | Chris R. Wilson | 68 (3-under) |
| T29 | Drew Nesbitt | 68 (3-under) |
| T29 | Jeevan Sihota | 68 (3-under) |
| T29 | Thomas Giroux | 68 (3-under) |
| T41 | Jamie Sadlowski | 69 (2-under) |
| T41 | Max Sear | 69 (2-under) |
| T41 | Michael Blair | 69 (2-under) |
| T60 | Étienne Papineau | 70 (1-under) |
| T60 | Jimmy Jones | 70 (1-under) |
| T60 | Joey Savoie | 70 (1-under) |
| T60 | Chris Crisologo | 70 (1-under) |
| T60 | Max Sekulic | 70 (1-under) |
| T84 | Austin Ryan | 71 (even) |
| T105 | Brendan Leonard | 72 (1-over) |
| T105 | Andrew Harrison | 72 (1-over) |
| T105 | Daniel Kim | 72 (1-over) |
| T105 | Brendan MacDougall | 72 (1-over) |
| T119 | Kade Johnson | 73 (2-over) |
| T119 | Lawren Rowe | 73 (2-over) |
| T128 | Logan Graf | 74 (3-over) |
| T128 | James Colin Davis | 74 (3-over) |
| T138 | Tyler Saunders | 76 (5-over) |
| T144 | Tristan Mandur | 77 (6-over) |
| T144 | Blair Bursey | 77 (6-over) |
| T149 | Braden O’Grady | 78 (7-over) |
| T149 | Matthew Kreutz | 78 (7-over) |
| 154 | Marc Bourgeois | 82 (11-over) |
| 155 | Spencer VanderMey | 88 (17-over) |
Fortinet Cup Standings
(Through Royal Beach Victoria Open)
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | Scott Stevens (U.S.) | 500 |
| 2 | Jake Knapp (U.S.) | 300 |
| 3 | Cooper Dossey (U.S.) | 190 |
| 4 | Joey Savoie (Canada) | 135 |
| T5 | Étienne Papineau (Canada) | 105 |
| T5 | Nolan Ray (U.S.) | 105 |
| T7 | Brett Bennett (U.S.) | 85 |
| T7 | Jeffrey Kang (U.S.) | 85 |
| T7 | Cooper Musselman (U.S.) | 85 |
| T10 | Michael Blair (Canada) | 70 |
| T10 | Chris Crisologo (Canada) | 70 |
| T10 | Ian Holt (U.S.) | 70 |
EDMONTON – SPORTS – Jorge Villar eagled his final hole of the day Thursday to post a 4-under 67. He’s tied for 16th after 18 holes. Villar, a Lynn University product from Miami, who plays under the Mexico flag, played three tournaments on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica earlier this season, making one cut (a tie for 18th at theEstrella del Mar Open in Mazatlan, where he began the final round a stroke off the lead held by leaders
Matt Ryan, Armando Favela and Anthony Paolucci. Villar stumbled to a Sunday 74 to tie for 18th. Jorge Villar and South Africa’s Kieran Vincent are the two highest-ranked players through 18 holes not from either the U.S. or Canada.
Seven of the 10 PGA TOUR University graduates, players who earned PGA TOUR Canada membership by their performance this past college season, are in the field this week. Leading the way are Joe Highsmith, Ryan Hall and Parker Coody. Highsmith, the former Pepperdine All-American, playing his first official round as a professional, fired a 5-under 66, and later in the day, Hall and Coody joined him. The others in the field are Trent Phillips (tied for 16th), Jackson Suber (tied for 41st), Noah Goodwin (tied for 60th) and Cameron Sisk (tied for 84th).
PGA TOUR University graduate Chris Gotterup is not in the field this week at Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club after qualifying for the U.S. Open. Through 18 holes at The Country Club outside
Boston, Gotterup, a collegian at both Rutgers and Oklahoma, is tied for 79th. He began his country’s national open with a 3-over 73. England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and American Aman Gupta, the other two PGA TOUR University grads, both elected not to play this week.
PGA TOUR Canada is back in the Edmonton area for the first time since 2019 when Taylor Pendrith captured the 1932byBateman Open, also at the Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club.
After winning the season-opening event in Victoria two weeks ago, American Scott Stevens struggled in the first round of the ATB Classic. He’s 2-over after and in a tie for 119th place. Jake Knapp, who Stevens defeated in a three-hole playoff two weeks ago, is tied for 41st after opening with a 2-under 69.
Jarod du Toit is the defending ATB Classic champion, of sorts. The former Idaho and Arizona State star took home the title last year in an event that was primarily limited to players living in Canada because of the pandemic. The tournament was part of an abbreviated 2021 series and not an official PGA TOUR Canada tournament. Du Toit opened this week’s tourney with a 65 Thursday and is tied for seventh.
Australia’s Danny List withdrew from the tournament after six holes due to injury.
The Players say…
“Hopefully I can pull from some past experiences and finish strong in this thing.” — Rhett Rasmussen
“It’s actually dried out more than I thought. I thought it would be much wetter. The greens, they’ll take one bounce or skip first. So that’s pretty good considering the rain.” — John Duthie on the stormy weather earlier in the week
“It’s just golf. I know it’s my pro debut, but at the end of the day we’re still just playing golf.” — Joe Highsmith after going 5-under in the first round
“I’m just comfortable here, and I’m staying five minutes away. So, yeah, it’s just a good week.” — Wil Bateman, who grew up near the course and played at it regularly from ages 6 to 12
“It’s a good day. (We) got lucky with the weather today. It was perfect this morning.” — Cooper Musselman
“It was a great round. I played pretty solidly, nothing too crazy out there. The course is pretty easy right now with these conditions and the greens are soft and there’s no wind. So, it nice to take advantage of the morning wave.” — Joe Highsmith
First-Round Weather: Overcast and pleasant. High of 22. Wind variable at 4-9 kph.
