Dufner Leads Soggy Canadian Open

Jerry Kelly of Madison, Wisc., watches his tee shot on the 7th hole during the first round of the Canadian Open Golf championship in Oakville, Ontario on Friday July 24, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

(AP)

Jason Dufner flirted with a 59, then settled for a 9-under 63. Mark Calcavecchia made a PGA Tour-record nine straight birdies. And there were two more aces in perfect scoring conditions Saturday at the Canadian Open.

The fun didn't last long, giving way to 1.8 inches of rain on the already-saturated Glen Abbey course. Soon after Dufner finished the second round in light showers, the heavy rain forced tour officials to postpone the third round until Sunday morning.

Four inches of rain have fallen since the event began Thursday.

"If you had a sponge underneath the faucet, the water just starts running off. That's the case we have right now," PGA Tour tournament director Steve Carman said. "Surface water is just running off. So we're anticipating the golf course will be very similar to where it was this morning, still saturated."

In an attempt to get 36 holes in on Sunday, the tour cut to the low 60 and ties instead of the usual low 70 and ties, leaving 64 players in the tournament. The players will go off in threesomes and won't be regrouped for the fourth round.

Dufner eagled the par-5 13th to reach 9 under for the round, but played the final five holes in even par — birdieing the par-5 16th, dropping a stroke on the par-4 17th and saving par on the par-5 18th after hitting into the water.

"I played very well, hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. Made a couple more putts," Dufner said. "It started raining at the end, conditions got a little tougher, but 63 is a pretty good score, and leading after two rounds is always great."

At 13 under, Dufner had a one-stroke advantage over Jerry Kelly (67) and 2001 winner Scott Verplank (67). Nathan Green (65), Peter Tomasulo (68), Martin Laird (69), Pat Perez (67), Bob Estes (67), Retief Goosen (69) and first-round co-leaders Camilo Villegas (71) and Kevin Na (71) were 10 under.

"If you've been out here long enough, you're used to this," Verplank said. "There's no reason to get all worked up about it because there's nothing you can do about it. I think everybody wants to play 72 holes and get a good tournament in. This is a big tournament for me, so we'd just like to do it the right way and, if we have to stay here a little longer to get it done the right way, then so be it."