News: RBC Canadian Open

How/Getty Images

Matt McQuillan is hoping to end Canada’s drought in its national championship.

It’s been well-documented that a Canadian hasn’t won the RBC Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher did it in 1954.

After a 2-under 68 Thursday, though, Matt McQuillan, who is playing in his first RBC Canadian Open, is hoping to change that.

“It was definitely nerve-racking,” McQuillan said of his opening tee shot. “But made a good swing right off the bat.”

He made plenty more after that, too. McQuillan had five birdies and three bogeys on the difficult Shaughnessy G&CC.

That hasn’t been the case for most of the season for the Canadian, however. In 13 starts, McQuillan has missed the cut 10 times. It wasn’t until the John Deere Classic, where McQuillan tied for third, that he finally got something out of his game after working on a swing change this season.

“I kind of made the fatal flaw earlier in the year,” McQuillan said. “I started to change my swing, but I’ve been sticking with it, and I knew I was working on the right things and it’s finally clicked at the John Deere.”

What was the problem?

McQuillan has always hit a low draw, and that’s not a shot that necessarily works on TOUR very well. So he straightened out the flight, and the results.

“It’s actually falling a little right, a little higher,” McQuillan said. ”So starting to feel good.”