CALEDON, Ont. — Nick Taylor’s son, Charlie, is almost six years old and, as many 6-year-old boys do, he found a puddle Friday night and he would not stop stomping in it. His all-white shoes turned a beefy shade of brown in just a few minutes, much to the chagrin of Taylor’s wife, Andie. Taylor picked him up, laughed, and was on his way.
Another successful day at the office for the Canadian, who now finds himself firmly in the mix at the RBC Canadian Open once again.
Taylor, who had the drought-busting Canadian victory two years ago at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in a playoff, shot a 5-under 65 Friday and will head into the weekend tied for third (with fellow Canadian Richard Lee amongst the others in that group). He’s just three shots back of Cameron Champ, who magically was able to get into the field after a collection of withdrawals, as he started the week as the eighth alternate.
Champ sits at 12 under through two days at TPC Toronto.
Taylor ripped up the leaderboard Friday with five birdies on his opening nine holes. He was grouped with fellow Canadians Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith for the opening two rounds, and they were able to feed off each other nicely for the first 36 holes.
Taylor added a birdie on No. 10 before a couple of stumbles on Nos. 13 and 15, with two mishit approach shots leading to bogeys. He cleaned things up with a tidy two-putt birdie on his closing hole to get one back.
“Those first 10 or 12 holes, everything was really, really solid. I was hitting fairways, hitting greens. The wedges were nice and close today, so I was taking advantage and making those putts. Honestly, the first 10 holes, all of us were playing so great, just kind of feeding off each other, had a good mojo,” Taylor said. “The long, tough par-4s are on the back nine, so you know you're going to have less chances, probably those last six, seven holes. Hung in there. Making a birdie on the last was important to end the day nicely.”
Now, this is not just the second Canadian Open Taylor has been in the mix for lately, it’s the second Tour event in as many weeks he’s been near the top of the board. Taylor finished solo fourth last week at the Memorial Tournament (a signature event on the PGA Tour), riding a hot putter.
That’s continued this week, as he’s 14th on the greens so far at TPC Toronto. He’s also fourth in strokes gained: approach to green — something he’s been solid at through the whole of 2025.
The Canadian trio of Hughes, Pendrith, and Taylor (the latter two are also inside the top 20 heading into the weekend) all gave the fans plenty to cheer about Friday and now, Taylor especially, is eager to keep it going through the next two days.
“The fans are phenomenal. The ovation on the 1st hole alone, we had the National Anthem, it felt like almost every tee box. It was fun. The Rink Hole was buzzing,” Taylor said. “It was a fun day.”
Lee, who is tied with Taylor, shot a 6-under 64 and made his first-ever cut at the Canadian Open.
With a laugh, Lee said his wife told him that with the new update to the PGA Tour mobile app, if a golfer makes three birdies in a row, then a fireball appears next to their name.
Lee, who was born in Richmond Hill, Ont. and moved to Vancouver when he was one, did one better Friday — he had a stretch of four birdies in a row as he made the turn.
“Just had a perfect scorecard today and just love being out here in front of the Canadian fans,” Lee said. “It's been a while.”
Lee, 34, is playing the RBC Canadian Open for the fourth time in his career. His debut came in 2009 when he was a celebrated youngster after he earned his way into the 2007 U.S. Open at just 15 — becoming the second youngest participant in the history of the tournament. He turned pro after that week and won for the first time almost a decade later, in 2014.
Lee plays primarily in Asia. He has three wins on the Asian Tour, including in November last year, and has four wins on the Korean Tour, including in April of this year.
He hasn’t had any success on the PGA Tour, but didn’t seem fazed by the atmosphere through 36 holes at TPC Toronto — despite acknowledging that it’s the biggest stage he’s been on.
“It's the PGA Tour. Any kid out there wants to play out here and perform the way of all the best players out there,” Lee said.
Lee, who opened with a 3-under 67, had a steady start to his second round, going 1 under for his first nine holes. After making the turn (he started on the back nine), he birdied Nos. 1-4 and added another on the par-3 7th after knocking his tee ball to just three feet. In all, Lee was first in strokes gained: approach to green on Friday, gaining about nine shots on the field with his ball striking.
Lee missed qualifying for the U.S. Open on Monday but said his game was “trending pretty well” and had just missed a few putts. If his putter got hot, he said, he’d be ready for a good result this week at the Canadian Open.
One golfer that both Lee and Taylor will not have to chase down through the weekend is two-time Canadian Open champion Rory McIlroy, who struggled mightily Friday with an 8-over 78 en route to finishing 149th — his worst career result on the PGA Tour.
The cut came at 3 under, with eight Canadians finding the weekend.
