Times Colonist Open: Round One - An The Leader Is

The 22-year-old recorded a blistering 8-under par 62 to help kick off the 2010 summer-long swing through Canada for the international Canadian Tour.

One shot back at 63 is Scott Harrington of Scottsdale, Ariz., making his first Canadian start in five years while five others, including Canadians Kent Eger, Jordan Irwin and Richard Lee, sit at 4-under 66.

Fifty-year-old Jim Rutledge, Victoria's favourite golfing son, opened with a 68.

Victoria marks just the third Canadian Tour start, and first in Canada, for An, who finished tied for 21st at the Riviera Nayarit Classic in Mexico in April.

Starting his round on the 10th tee, An was 3-under par before finding another gear on his back nine. He took over sole position of top spot with a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 seventh and for good measure rolled in another birdie on number eight, his 17th hole of the afternoon.

"It's always great to get a good start," said An, who was born in Korea, raised in New Zealand and now calls Arizona home. "I hit a lot of shots close today, and that always makes things easier.

"I really like how this tournament is set up. It has a big-time tour feel to it."

Originally joining the tour back in 2005, Harrington took a half-decade hiatus from the Canadian Tour, before re-joining the circuit at Florida Q-School earlier this year.

"It's nice to be back," said Harrington with a smile. "Anytime you can put up a number like that in the first round, it's going to help you. I love it here, especially with my Northwest roots (growing up in Portland, Ore.). Canada is a pretty great place to spend the summer."

Taking on an Uplands course that is anything but a pushover, Harrington was the clubhouse leader all day before An came in with his late 62. He birdied the par-4 third before giving that shot back with a bogey on the next hole.

On the par-5 seventh, Harrington crushed what he referred to as his "best drive of the day" and knocked his second shot from 185 yards to 10 feet before cashing in the eagle putt. He followed up with a 20-foot birdie putt on the next hole and made a clutch par save on the ninth. After missing a couple of birdie attempts on his way in, Harrington hit it to 15 feet on the par-3 17th to set up another birdie.

"That got me happy again," laughed Harrington, referring to his putt on 17. "I think I could have made a couple more, but all in all there's not a lot to complain about after a day like that."

Like Harrington, the 24-year-old Irwin, who represented Canada at the 2008 World Amateur Championship, struggled in his rookie season and was unable to retain his card for 2010.

"It feels really good to get an early one under the belt," said Irwin. "It was one round, so I won't get too far ahead of myself. Anything can happen over these next three days."

Harrington said after he saw the increased Canadian Tour purse sizes this season, he booked a trip to Florida for Q-School. Between $250,000 events in Victoria, Saskatoon and Edmonton, the $300,000 Players Cup in Winnipeg and the $325,000 Canadian Tour Championship, players will compete for $1.375 million in those five events alone.

$250,000 Times Colonist Open,
Uplands GC - Yardage: 6,420, par-70
(a-denotes amateur)
CANADIANS in BOLD

Jae An 62 ----- 62
Scott Harrington 64 ----- 64
Jordan Irwin 66 ----- 66
Kent Eger 66 ----- 66
Brock Mackenzie 66 ----- 66
Randall Hutchison 66 ----- 66
Richard Lee 66 ----- 66
Aaron Goldberg 67 ----- 67
Josh Geary 67 ----- 67
Brad Fritsch 67 ----- 67
Mitchell Gillis 67 ----- 67
Mike Roters 67 ----- 67
John Ellis 67 ----- 67
Mauricio Molina 67 ----- 67
Andy Walker 67 ----- 67
Stuart Anderson 68 ----- 68
Jim Rutledge 68 ----- 68
Andrew Parr 68 ----- 68
Clint Rice 68 ----- 68
Ryan Williams 68 ----- 68
Clayton Rask 68 ----- 68
Rob Grube 68 ----- 68
Jeff Rangel 68 ----- 68
Garrett Frank 69 ----- 69
Tom Stankowski 69 ----- 69
Wes Heffernan 69 ----- 69
Erick Justesen 69 ----- 69
Matt Daniel 69 ----- 69
Steve Saunders 69 ----- 69
Eugene Smith 69 ----- 69
Wil Collins 69 ----- 69
Mike Grob 69 ----- 69
Greg Machtaler 69 ----- 69
Josh Habig 70 ----- 70
Dong Yi 70 ----- 70
Paulo Pinto 70 ----- 70
Brian Unk 70 ----- 70
Liam Kendregan 70 ----- 70
José Trauwitz 70 ----- 70
Rafael Ponce 70 ----- 70
Cole Nondorf 70 ----- 70
Mike McRae 70 ----- 70
Louis-Pierre Godin 70 ----- 70
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez 70 ----- 70
Matt Johnston 70 ----- 70
Alex Coe 70 ----- 70
James Lepp 70 ----- 70
James Allenby 70 ----- 70
Jeff Cuzzort 70 ----- 70
Ramon Bescansa 70 ----- 70
Oliver Tubb 70 ----- 70
Robbie Greenwell 70 ----- 70
Hoyt McGarity 70 ----- 70
Adam Hadwin 70 ----- 70
Joel Dahmen 70 ----- 70
Scott McNeil 70 ----- 70
Tyler Mancini 70 ----- 70
Jason Humphrey 70 ----- 70
JC Deacon 71 ----- 71
Jim Lemon 71 ----- 71
Daniel Im 71 ----- 71
Byron Smith 71 ----- 71
Chris Wall 71 ----- 71
Ryan Horn 71 ----- 71
Barry O'Neill 71 ----- 71
Nick Cullen 71 ----- 71
Brad Heaven 71 ----- 71
Russell Surber 71 ----- 71
Adam Speirs 71 ----- 71
David Dragoo 71 ----- 71
Devin Carrey 71 ----- 71
Adam Short 71 ----- 71
David Jackson 71 ----- 71
Roger Sloan 71 ----- 71
Jae Woo Im 72 ----- 72
Jason D'Amore 72 ----- 72
Iain Steel 72 ----- 72
Vince Jewell 72 ----- 72
Derek Oakey 72 ----- 72
Mark Leon 72 ----- 72
Carlos Sainz Jr. 72 ----- 72
Nick Kenney 72 ----- 72
Lindsay Renolds 72 ----- 72
Cesar Coello 72 ----- 72
Kyle Yonke 72 ----- 72
Joe Greiner 72 ----- 72
Andrew Kelly 72 ----- 72
Danny Mijovic 72 ----- 72
Zack Shriver 72 ----- 72
Alex Quiroz 72 ----- 72
Lee Curry 72 ----- 72
Thomas Petersson 72 ----- 72
Tyler Pitt 72 ----- 72
Kane Hanson 72 ----- 72
Jeff Puska 72 ----- 72
Tyler Matthews 72 ----- 72
Mario Tiziani 72 ----- 72
Ryan Kings 72 ----- 72
Edd Boudreau 72 ----- 72
Germain Francoeur 72 ----- 72
Mac McLeod 72 ----- 72