`Mr. 57' Cristobal Del Solar flirts with 59, settles for 61 and share of Canadian Open lead

CALEDON, Ontario (AP) — Cristobal Del Solar came off the Korn Ferry Tour with the nickname "Mr. 57.” He flirted with a 59 late Thursday afternoon in the RBC Canadian Open.

Ten under with two holes left on the par-70 layout, Del Solar bogeyed the par-4 17th and parred the par-5 18th for a 9-under 61 and a share of the first-round lead with Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark.

“I was just trying to hit good shots.” Del Solar said. “I was just trying to stay in the present and have fun. That’s what I was trying to do.”

Del Solar, the 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Chile, and Olsen took advantage of soft greens on the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley after rain Wednesday night that continued into the morning.

Del Solar earned the "Mr. 57" moniker in February 2024 when he shot a 13-under 57 in the first round of the Astara Golf Championship in Colombia for the lowest score in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

On Thursday, Del Solar had seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch in the middle of the round. The former Florida State player made a 6 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th, and ran in a 15 1/2-footer on the par-4 16th to get to 10 under.

On the 17th, he hit into a right greenside bunker, blasted 10 feet past and missed the par putt to the right. Needing an eagle on 18 for a 59, he drove into the left rough, then hit his second about 80 yards short of the green.

“I just want to go and execute each shot,” Del Solar said. “I think everyone kind of sometimes gets ahead themselves and thinking of the result or whatever. You just want to go out and just hit the golf shots.”

Olesen eagled the 18th — his ninth hole of the day — and had eight birdies and a bogey on the course hosting the national championship for the first time.

“Obviously, I played great, but my putting was exceptional today,” Olesen said. “Don’t think I missed any putts really out there. I definitely holed some long ones as well. It was nice to see everything go in.”

Olesen qualified for the U.S. Open next week at Oakmont on Monday, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Lambton in Toronto.

“I took a lot from that last putt,” Olesen said.

Afternoon starters held the top eight spots and 15 of the first 18, with Masters champion Rory McIlroy bogeying the final two holes in the morning in a 71.

“Missed a couple of greens and didn’t get them up-and-down, especially those last couple holes,” said McIlroy, the tournament winner in 2019 at Hamilton and 2022 at St. George’s.

Del Solar and Olesen were a stroke off the tournament record of 60 set by Carl Pettersson in 2010 in the third round at St. George’s, and matched by Justin Rose in the fourth round in 2022, also at St. George’s.

Cameron Champ shot a 62, Jake Knapp had a 63, and Rasmus Hojgaard, Shane Lowry, Trey Mullinax and Ricky Castillo were at 64. Knapp shot 59 in March in the first round of the Cognizant Classic.

Canadian Taylor Pendrith was at 65 with defending champion Robert MacIntyre. Alex Smalley, Paul Peterson, Danny Willett, Rafael Campos, Kevin Yu, Alejandro Tosti and Paul Waring. MacIntyre won last year at Hamilton.

Canadian Nick Taylor, the 2023 winner at Oakdale, opened with a 66.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Cameron Champ hits his approach shot from the 18th fairway during the first round of the Canadian Open golf tournament in Caledon, Ontario, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland ,reacts after missing a putt on the ninth green during the first round of the Canadian Open golf tournament in Caledon, Ontario, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen smiles after putting out on his final hole during the first round of the Canadian Open golf tournament in Caledon, Ontario, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Cristobal Del Solar smiles on the 18th hole during the first round of the Canadian Open in Alton, Ontario, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Cristobal Del Solar waves to the gallery after putting out on his final hole in the first round of the Canadian Open in Alton, Ontario, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry said Saturday the country would release dozens of prisoners, as the United States ramped up pressure on leftist President Daniel Ortegaa week after it ousted former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua said Venezuela had taken an important step toward peace by releasing what it described as “political prisoners.” But it lamented that in Nicaragua, “more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or disappeared, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly.”

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that “dozens of people who were in the National Penitentiary System are returning to their homes and families.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who was freed and under what conditions. Nicaragua’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government has been carrying out an ongoing crackdown since mass social protests in 2018, that were violently repressed.

Nicaragua’s government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions. Since 2018, it has shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, largely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country. Nicaragua’s government often accused critics and opponents of plotting against the government.

In recent years, the government has released hundreds of imprisoned political opponents, critics and activists. It stripped them of Nicaraguan citizenship and sent them to other countries like the U.S. and Guatemala. Observers have called it an effort to wash its hands of its opposition and offset international human rights criticism. Many of those Nicaraguans were forced into a situation of "statelessness."

Saturday on X, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs again slammed Nicaragua’s government. “Nicaraguans voted for a president in 2006, not for an illegitimate lifelong dynasty,” it said. “Rewriting the Constitution and crushing dissent will not erase the Nicaraguans’ aspirations to live free from tyranny.”

Danny Ramírez-Ayérdiz, executive-secretary of the Nicaraguan human rights organization CADILH, said he had mixed feelings about the releases announced Saturday.

“On the one hand, I’m glad. All political prisoners suffer some form of torture. But on the other hand, I know these people will continue to be harassed, surveilled and monitored by the police, and so will their families.”

Ramírez-Ayérdiz said the liberation of the prisoners is a response to pressure exerted by the United States. “There is surely a great deal of fear within the regime that the U.S. might completely dismantle it,” he said.

FILE - Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega waves after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro for a third term at the National Assembly in Caracas, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)