Two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson has surprisingly struggled to get his 2017 season going, with just two top 10s in 17 official Tour events, but after he shot a season-low 6-under 66 in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open, his better form may be coming.

 
Watson, who was the Canadian Open runner-up in 2015, was bogey-free in his first round at Glen Abbey.

Bullets

• Bubba Watson shot a 6-under 66 in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday, his best round of the season. He ranked third in the field in greens in regulation, hitting an impressive 16 of 18. He was also fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
• For the 2017 season, Watson has fallen well below the standards he has set during his career. There was a belief that we close to turning it around after a T6 at The Memorial Tournament, but since then has finished CUT, CUT, T70, T44, T27. He missed the cut at his first two majors and currently sits 117th in the FedEx Cup Standings.
• While Watson ranks an impressive 6th on Tour in strokes gained: off-the-tee this season, largely due to his typically strong driving distance, he ranks 141st or worse in the other three strokes gained statistics.
• Watson has a second round tee time of 1:25p, with Graeme McDowell and Matt Kuchar.

Quotable

“Yeah, we’ve been working — I got out of position with my swing over the last, man, probably about a year. You know, who knows why. Maybe because of losing weight. But that’s why I wanted to play so many round. That’s why I wanted to play six tournaments in a row so I can keep building on it and try to get better for the Playoffs.”
–Bubba Watson, on his struggles.