After tying the course record, Jim Furyk now finds his name atop the leaderboard as he looks to win the RBC Canadian Open for the third time since 2006. Here’s how things stand after two rounds in Montreal, where Furyk shares the lead with overnight co-leader Tim Petrovic:
Leaderboard: Jim Furyk (-10), Tim Petrovic (-10), Graham DeLaet (-8), Kyle Stanley (-8), Graeme McDowell (-7), Scott Brown (-7), Justin Hicks (-7), Andrew Svoboda (-7)
What it means: Furyk won this event in back-to-back years in 2006 and 2007, and the veteran is again in the mix after tying the Royal Montreal course record with a 7-under 63. He’s tied with Petrovic, who is in search of his first PGA Tour win since 2005, with a number of big names still within four shots of the lead.
Round of the day: Furyk began off the back nine and reeled off four straight birdies on Nos. 11-15 to get his round heading in the right direction. After a solo fourth-place finish at the Open Championship, he is again playing well and added three more birdies on his second nine to complete a bogey-free effort at Royal Montreal.
Best of the rest: Playing alongside Furyk, DeLaet also grabbed a share of the course record with a 7-under 63. He carded nine birdies against two bogeys, surging into contention as he looks to become the first Canadian to win his national Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954.
Biggest disappointment: Last year, Hunter Mahan held the 36-hole lead at Glen Abbey before withdrawing for the birth of his first child. This time around, he’s again headed home after two rounds, as Mahan followed his opening 68 with a disappointing 75, a round that included four bogeys in a row on Nos. 2-5 and caused Mahan to miss the cut by three shots.
Main storyline heading into Saturday: Furyk has certainly been in this position before, but the burden of trying to break out of a winless drought that dates back to September 2010 has weighed on him in tournaments past. DeLaet will certainly have significant crowd support in Quebec, but veterans like McDowell and Matt Kuchar (-6) cannot be overlooked.
Shot of the day: Furyk opened with a par on the 10th hole, then was facing a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 11. When that lengthy effort found the bottom of the hole, it sparked him to a run of four straight birdies en route to a record-tying performance.
