(Toronto) Corey Conners of Ontario avoided the bogey and shot 67 on Thursday to share the lead with three rivals at the RBC Canadian Open.

A golfer from Listowel, between London and Toronto, he is looking to become the first Canadian winner of the tournament in 69 years.

Aaron Rai, Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley also dropped five shots from par.

Winner of the tournament in 2019 and 2022, Rory McIlroy started with a 71, at the Oakdale club.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who will be looking to defend his U.S. Open title next week in Los Angeles, is among nine golfers at 68.

Ranked 29th in the world, Conners is the highest ranked of the 21 Canadians at the tournament.

The last Canadian player to win the event was Pat Fletcher in 1954 at the Point Gray club in Vancouver.

Conners did not speak to reporters after his round, due to an urgent personal matter.

Both of his PGA wins came at the Texas Open, including in April this year.

“We were really disciplined from the start. We didn’t try to do too much, said Conners caddy Danny Sahl. He put tons of ball in the fairway and he did well on the greens. Just good golf in general. »

Mike Weir, in 2008, was the last Canadian to lead after the first lap. Now 53, he brought home a 72 on Thursday. This is his 30th appearance at the event.

“He’s got enough experience to know that one round doesn’t mean a whole lot,” Weir said of Conners. I’m sure he just wants to keep going. »

Canadians Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith and Roger Sloan are part of the group at three.

“You don’t win a tournament on Thursday, but you can be kicked out of it,” Hughes said. It’s really good to be in a good position, but it will take four pretty solid scores and consistency. »

This is the first PGA event since the announcement of the merger with LIV Golf.