Ben James certainly knows how to make a splash.
The 23-year-old American had an eagle on his first hole and didn’t slow down in a bogey-free 7-under round on Friday to put him a shot ahead of the field at 10 under overall at the Canadian Open. James officially turned pro on Thursday when he teed off in the PGA Tour event’s first round.
“I wasn’t really thinking about results at all this week,” said James after signing his scorecard at TPC Toronto in Caledon, Ont. “Just worried about getting comfortable, making new friends and having fun, and just seeing where everything kind of falls. Just seeing where my game stacks up.”
China’s Haotong Li (67) and Americans Sam Burns (67) and Jackson Suber (65) were in a three-way tie a shot behind James after the morning wave. Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (65) and Keith Mitchell (64) of the United States caught up to them in the afternoon for a five-way tie for second.
LEADERBOARD: Canadian Open
Canada’s Matthew Anderson topped leaderboard after first round
Li said that he had to keep clearing his mind as he fought to play on the weekend.
“Especially on the last few holes, I just keep telling myself [to clear my mind],” said Li, who has missed the cut at his last two events. “‘Bad thoughts don’t come to me,’ ‘don’t talk to me,’ ‘leave me alone,’ and it’s kind of worked so far.”
James and fellow American Bud Cauly are the only players to have 7-under rounds so far at this year’s Canadian men’s championship.
“It all kind of came together today, it was just one of those days,” said the 23-year-old James, who just completed his senior season at Virginia University. “The putter was good, hitting fairways, had good numbers, and I was able to capitalize on a pretty tricky scoring day.”
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, the reigning Canadian Open champion, had his second consecutive day with a 66. He was in a five-way tie for seventh after two rounds.
“My goal for the week was to be patient, and you’ve definitely got to be that [at TPC Toronto],” said Fox. “You’ve just got to accept that you can hit a good shot that doesn’t end up where you think it’s going to and that that’s OK, move on to the next one.
“Thankfully, the greens are soft enough and they’re not that quick, so you feel like at least if you got it up near the green you gave yourself an opportunity to get up-and-down.”
As rare opening emerges on schedule, Olympic medallists converge at Canadian Open
Led by Sudarshan Yellamaraju, new wave of Canadian talent lands at national open
Matthew Anderson (69) of Mississauga, Ont., and Taylor Pendrith (67) of Richmond Hill, Ont., were the low Canadians, sitting in a group tied for 13th at 7 under. Both players are regulars at TPC Toronto and they agreed it had helped them as the course firmed up and the wind gusted up to 30 km/h.
“Definitely on the back nine I thought the long holes were playing downwind,” said Pendrith, who birdied the par-4 17th and par-5 18th holes. “I think this is the prevailing wind here and a wind that I’ve played a lot, so yeah, I felt good with it.”
Anderson, who typically plays on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour, said the conditions at TPC Toronto could be a little unpredictable.
“It’s windy out there, so you’re going to hit some good shots that aren’t going to quite get rewarded or end up where you think they are, and your misses are going to be a little exaggerated,” said Anderson. “You have to hit some quality shots out there, tee balls and approaches.”
The cutline was projected at 2-under 68.
