RBC Canadian Open 2017: 5 Players Tied for Lead After Round 1

Weather problems at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open couldn't prevent less chaos as five players ended the first round tied for the lead at seven-under par on Thursday. 

Hudson Swafford, Brandon Hagy, Kevin Chappell, Ollie Schniederjans and Matt Every all fired identical rounds of 65.

Things didn't get any more settled from there, as 11 players finished one shot off the lead, including Tyrone Van Aswegen, James Hahn, Smylie Kaufman, K.J. Choi, Chad Campbell, Vijay Singh, Peter Malnati, Jim Herman, Jhonattan Vegas, Martin Flores and Bubba Watson. 

Play was suspended for nearly two hours from 3:45 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. due to rain and lightning in the Oakville, Ontario area. That delay also caused play to be suspended due to darkness with 22 players still needing to finish the first round, which will resume at 8:20 a.m. local time Friday.

Here's the full leaderboard after the first day at the RBC Canadian Open:

Swafford and Hagy were among the players to get on the course before the weather hit. 

Hagy is still getting his feet wet on the PGA Tour. The 26-year-old isn't technically a rookie after competing in eight tournaments two years ago, but this is his first full season on tour. He has yet to post a top-10 finish in 22 events in during the 2016-17 season. 

Per Evin Priest of the Associated Press, Hagy's driving distance has been his calling card:

On Thursday, however, Hagy put himself in a tie for the lead thanks to his short game. He gained 5.408 strokes with the putter and fired eight birdies with just one bogey. 

Swafford matched him with eight birdies and one bogey, though he was more successful off the tee and getting on the green in regulation. His driving accuracy was 78.6 percent, while his greens in regulation percentage was 83.3.

Watson needed a round like the one he posted Thursday. The 38-year-old has had a difficult season with just two top-10 finishes, and he hasn't finished inside the top 25 in any of his last five tournaments. 

The key for Watson will be maintaining his momentum from round to round. He's started each of his last four tournaments, including the Canadian Open, by breaking 70. Only once in the previous three events was he able to repeat that feat. 

Kaufman started the round seemingly ready to run away with the lead. He was three-under par through two holes thanks to a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on No. 2:

A stumble on the seventh hole with a double-bogey five dropped Kaufman down to three-under par for the round. He would come back with three birdies on the back nine to keep pace with the leaders. 

Another surprise on the leaderboard is Singh, who has only made four cuts in 16 tournaments this season. The three-time major champion's 66 on Thursday was the first time he has broken 70 in his last 11 rounds. 

Based on the early results from Ontario, expect a lot of changes to the leaderboard Friday and over the weekend. 

The number of players who are in the lead or within one shot of it speaks to the level of competition from the field. 

Stats per PGATour.com unless otherwise indicated.