An American threatened 59, but all eyes are on the Canadian frontrunners heading into the weekend at the RBC Canadian Open.
In all, six Canadians made the cut at Hamilton. Toronto’s Ben Silverman, a former Golf Town employee who has struggled in his second year on the PGA Tour, started on the back nine, making three birdies and an eagle to make the turn at 30. The only blight on his card was a bogey on the 10th, as he made three birdies and another eagle on the back nine to shoot 31. After shooting 1-over during the first round, his 61 on Friday moved him up over 100 places. He sits in a six-way tie in seventh.
Mackenzie Hughes, who grew up in nearby Dundas, Ont., continued his strong play, shooting 4-under for the second consecutive round. And while the scores were the same, Hughes said his second round was a bigger challenge.
“Yesterday I struck the ball great and never really had much stress for par,” he said. “Today I don’t think I hit very many greens, but I was able to get up and down. I made a lot of five, six- footers for par. That was big to keep momentum going and stay bogey-free today. But I think more than anything I’ve just been able to limit the mistakes.”
Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor also continued their solid play on Friday, with Nick Taylor sitting one shot off the lead and Adam Hadwin two back of co-leaders Scott Brown and Matt Kuchar, who both shot an impressive 7-under today.
2013 RBC Canadian Open winner Brandt Snedeker has great affection for Hamilton Golf and Country Club and its classic greens—and that love translated into a near-historic round. Playing off the back nine first, Snedeker made four birdies, but started going really low on the front nine, including an eagle on the par 5 4th. He made birdies on the fifth and sixth hole, which led to the consideration of a possible run at 59.
“I thought about it on 17 for the first time,” he said. “I was kind of still in the zone, still going through it. I didn’t think about it until I got to 17 tee. Had a great up and down on 16 and realized, ‘Oh, gosh I got a chance on the last two.”
He’d record one last birdie on the ninth hole—his 8th of the day—to finish at 29 on the back nine and 60 on the day. Snedeker sits at 11-under overall.
After seemingly dismissing the importance of the RBC Canadian Open prior to the start of the event, four-time major champion Brooks Koepka rebounded after a lacklustre opening round to shoot 4-under and jump up the leaderboard. This time around, Koepka said he was focused and wasn’t changing anything with the U.S. Open looming at Pebble Beach.
“I don’t change anything because it’s a major championship,” he said. “I know everybody keeps asking what’s the difference, but there really is none. I just treat it just like every other golf tournament. Just zoned in so much more and focused and really concentrating on making sure I’m fully committed.”