Two share Canadian Open lead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Lucas Glover, in his second year on the PGA Tour, made eight birdies and shot a 5-under 65 to share the first-round lead in the Canadian Open on Thursday with veteran Mark Calcavecchia.

Glover and Calcavecchia took advantage of near-perfect afternoon conditions on the tight, tree-lined and rough-rich Shaughnessy course.

Jasper Parnevik, who played in the morning, shot a 66.

Defending champion Vijay Singh didn't make a birdie and had three bogeys in a round of 73. The world's second-ranked player and leading money winner the past two years again struggled with his putter, missing several birdie putts from inside 15 feet.

It has been a feast or famine year for Glover, who has six top-10 finishes but also has missed the cut 11 times. It was more of the same Thursday.

He had the lead alone at 6 under, but bogeyed the par-4 15th, where his drive found the rough. He then missed 8-foot birdie putts on 16 and 18.

"I had a couple of chances late and didn't make the putts, but you can't be disappointed with 65 around here," Glover said.

Glover double-bogeyed the par-4 ninth, where his second shot out of a fairway bunker ended up behind a grandstand. He then holed a bunker shot for birdie on the 485-yard 11th hole, the toughest hole on the course, then birdied the next three holes. He also made a 35-footer on the par-5 seventh.

"I came in thinking this is more of a major course and everybody is going to have some foulups, so just stay patient," Glover said.

Calcavecchia, winless since the 2001 Phoenix Open, got a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-4 ninth -- his final hole -- where his second shot left him with a 2-foot putt. In a less dramatic round than Glover's, Calcavecchia had six birdies and one bogey.

Calcavecchia said his confidence soared after hitting 13 of 14 fairways in Wednesday's pro-am.

"The one I missed, I missed by about a foot," he said. "That gave me a lot of enthusiasm coming into today's round because if you don't drive it well here, you're cooked."

Parnevik credited a seven-hour session on the driving range after his practice round Wednesday for his low round.

"My game didn't feel that great after the practice rounds," Parnevik said after his opening round of six birdies and two bogeys. "I spent, six, seven, eight hours on the range last night. I found something."

When Parnevik did find the rough, his short game bailed him out.

"The key was the front nine," Parnevik said. "The game felt pretty good but somehow the ball jumped jut out into the rough or I just missed the greens. So I scrambled like crazy. Two under on the front is amazing. It could easily have been 3- or 4-over-par."

Four players were two shots off the lead, among them Todd Hamilton, the 2004 British Open champion. The others were Scott Dunlap, a Nationwide Tour player who got into the tournament through a Monday qualifier, Brandt Jobe and Ted Purdy.

Canadian Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was 5 over after six holes, then birdied four of the five holes in a back nine of 31 to salvage a round of 71. Weir, who lost the Canadian Open last year to Singh in a playoff at Glen Abbey, made a 38-footer for birdie on 18. He could have finished with five straight birdies, but missed a short putt on 16.