Overnight rains left Glen Abbey Golf Club soft and gettable on Friday, and the scores certainly reflected that. Despite wind gusts of over 30km/h at times, the Tour’s best seemed to have little trouble making birdies in bunches for a second day in a row.
The Leaders
Kevin Tway
After opening with 66 on day one, Kevin Tway was out with more of the same on Friday morning, putting up eight birdies on his way to a second-round 65 (-7). He holds a one-shot lead at 13-under par.
“I was hitting it pretty long, so I had a lot of wedges, and made a couple puts,” said Tway. “Everything was going pretty well.”
Tway’s father, Bob Tway, won the Canadian Open in 2003 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club—the tournament will return to Hamilton next year. Tway says that he talks to his father every day, even when he’s on the road, and that, being an eight-time PGA Tour winner, he’s a great asset to have.
“We talk about every round,” said Tway. “He can probably tell you what kind of shots I’m hitting just by watching on TV. He’s been there throughout, so he’s a big key for me.”
Whee Kim
Matching Tway’s 65 on day two was Whee Kim, who put together a bogey free round to sit one behind the leader at 12-under. Kim set a blistering pace, playing his first 11 holes in 7-under, but could only muster pars throughout the rest of his second nine.
Keegan Bradley
Keegan Bradley stormed up the leaderboard on Friday, firing a 9-under par 63 to sit just one shot off the lead. Bradley carded three eagles on his round, and played his last four holes birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle.
“Yeah, that was wild,” said Bradley. “It turned kind of an average day into something really special. There’s not many courses you can do that on like you can out here. That’s what makes it such a great event.”
The Canadians
Nick Taylor
Trying to end the drought of winless Canadians at the Canadian Open, Nick Taylor climbed into contention on Friday with a 5-under par 67. Taylor put up eight birdies against three bogeys to climb into a tie for 9th at 9-under. Despite the solid round, Taylor knows that it could have been better.
“Every time I felt like I got something going, I felt like I made a silly bogey,” he said. “Two of my bogeys could have been avoidable for sure.”
Taylor enters the weekend as the low Canadian, but he says that he’s much more focused on moving up the leaderboard.
“I’m four back, so that’s kind of my main focus,” said Taylor. “If I play well and I’m low Canadian, that’s great, but I’m trying to win a golf tournament. That could take care of it.”
Ben Silverman
After struggling in the first round to a 1-over par 73, Ben Silverman came out on fire on day two. In a bogey-free round, Silverman made nine birdies en route to a 63 (-9).
“It feels awesome to play this well again,” said Silverman. “I haven’t gotten this low since last year when I won on the Web. Things were clicking, I knew exactly where the ball was going, and putts were falling. It was awesome.”
Silverman said that playing in front of a hometown crowd was great motivation for his round.
“I couldn’t have scripted it any better, really,” he said. “I’ve got the Canadian shoes on, red and white, and got to play 40 minutes from where I grew up, so it was awesome.”
Chris Crisologo and Roger Sloan
Amateur Chris Crisologo and fellow Canadian Roger Sloan both put up matching rounds of 69 to sit at 7-under par for the tournament. Playing in his first-ever PGA Tour event, Crisologo is proud of his play so far, and he’sexcited for what the weekend might hold.
“You just never know what to expect out of these things,” he said. “Obviously it’s my first Canadian Open, so really I’m just out here to enjoy the moment and make the most of this opportunity.”
Mackenzie Hughes put together his second consecutive round of 69 (-3), to sit at 6-under for the tournament. Hughes had his highlight of the day on the par 3 seventh hole, nicknamed “The Rink.” Donning a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey on the way up to the green, Hughes chipped in for birdie, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“I was trying to figure out if I could do it—if I could hit a chip without the sleeves getting in the way,” said Hughes. “I was like…if I do it with the jersey on, it’s way cooler, so I was like, just leave it on, and sure enough, it went in. So that was pretty cool.”
Notables
Looking to finally capture victory at the RBC Canadian Open, Dustin Johnson is making moves up the leaderboard on Friday. With an eagle on the second hole, Johnson played his first eleven holes in 5-under par to climb within a few shots of the lead.
Jhonattan Vegas
Two-time defending champion Jhonattan Vegas will likely need some weekend magic to make it three-in-a-row. He sits at 5-under par through two rounds and is eight back of leader Kevin Tway.
Wesley Bryan looked to be moving in the right direction on Friday, birdieing the par 3 15th hole—his sixth hole of the day. But on the very next hole, Bryan proceeded to send three straight tee shots out of bounds on his way to making a 12 on the par 5. Bryan would later be disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.