Canadian Open Round One: Which do you want first Tom, the good news or the bad?

If I was America’s Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman my brow would be ever so slightly creased at the moment. Sure, I can see Jim Furyk in mean form and riding high atop the Canadian Open leaderboard. But when I look down the other end I see one of my footsoldiers, Vaughn Taylor, already in all sorts of terrible trouble. He’s showing every sign of shell shock, before any have actually been fired.

A round that included a triple bogey and a double bogey would have ended over by double figures had it not been for a consolation birdie at the last. What’s puzzling is that the only stat where he shows up badly is distance, which shouldn’t be a factor here. Maybe it’s a cunning ploy to lull the Europeans into a false sense of security. On the surface, about the only positive that can be taken from it is that Taylor looks likely to be well rested for Ireland since he’s set to miss the cut here.

Poor Tom can’t be too excited by the performance of two of his other team members either. Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson hardly set the fairways alight Thursday, although I admit that would be near impossible in the current soggy conditions.

Still, Furyk’s electrifying assault on the Hamilton course must be a source of comfort. He took full advantage of the pristine morning conditions to fire his course record seven under. First for accuracy and fourth in putting tell the story. He must have been miffed when that pesky Englishman Justin Rose matched his score. No worries. Justin still has to prove he can go the distance.

Furyk may find birdies a bit harder to get Friday going out in the afternoon. And one of those going out in the morning is Nathan Green, a rookie who is no stranger to Sunday showdowns. Tom Pernice Jr at three off the pace could well figure in affairs come Sunday. Mark Calcavecchia is putting up a spirited defence of his title and Vijay Singh, five shots back, will presumably step on the gas a little.

But what poor Taylor will do is anyone’s guess. He should take heart from Jesper Parnevik, who has missed the last five cuts in a row yet suddenly comes out blazing Thursday to finish just two shots off the pace. Where there’s golf there’s hope, even for Tom Lehman.