Kiwi Ryan Fox and Scot Robert MacIntyre are tied for the lead at the RBC Canadian Open after strong rounds at Ontario's Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
MacIntyre shot a four-under 66 early in the day to be the first to reach 10-under 130 for the tournament. Fox got hot in the afternoon and tied MacIntyre at 10 under by shooting a six-under 64.
Fox started on the back nine and birdied four holes going out. Consecutive birdies at the fourth and fifth got him to 10-under and after a bogey at the next hole, Fox rolled in a 14-foot birdie - his seventh of the round - on the par-four ninth to match MacIntyre again.
"To be honest, almost everything has," Fox said, when asked what had gone right for him so far this week.
"I drove it great, I hit my irons really good and had a few more putts drop today. It could have been really silly, but I still had a lot of good putts.
"If you would have given me 64 to start the day, I certainly would have taken it."
The duo is two shots ahead of Joel Dahmen, whose bogey-free 65 pushed him into third place at eight-under.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes matched Fox's 64 for the round of the day and moved into a tie at seven-under, with Andrew Novak (67) and first-round leader David Skinns of England (71).
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy - the highest-ranked player in the field and a two-time Canadian Open champion - struggled to a two-over 72 and dropped to two-under for the tournament.
The projected cut line was even par. Defending champion Nick Taylor of Canada (three-over) did not reach the weekend.
Others projected to miss the cut included Cameron Young (one-over), Canadians Mike Weir (one-over) and Adam Hadwin (two-over), and world No. 12 Sahith Theegala (five-over).
Reuters/Newshub
