RBC Canadian Open leaderboard updates: Ben James, making debut as PGA Tour pro, leads – Golfweek

The Canadian Open is through the second round. Golfers who navigated the right side of the cutline on Friday (only the low 65 and ties advanced) can now look to the weekend tee sheet.
Get caught up on all the second-round updates, highlights, leaderboard changes and breaking news at the 2026 RBC Canadian Open.
See the entire leaderboard through Friday’s second round. Here’s the top of the board at the end of 36 holes.
Did you know: James was once on Suzy Whaley’s PGA Junior League team? That nugget was revealed during the PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ stream during Friday’s coverage. James’ 63 had him tied with Li, who later fell back to 9 under, giving James the solo lead. He was asked about looking ahead to the weekend after his round.
“I got no clue because I’ve never been in this position, so I’m very excited to find out,” he told the gathered media. “One thing I wanted to do I was, like, let’s try and get in that last group. I just want to feel what that feels and kind of just see what happens out there in that situation. Being so young, I’m just excited. I have no expectations. I’m going to play the best I can like I did the last two days.”
The question prior to that was did he think there was any way he might be the 36-hole leader.
“I wasn’t really thinking about really results at all this week. 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,” he said. “Obviously I have some stuff to work on, just trying to see where everything goes. Because this is just the baseline, it’s my first professional debut. Obviously had a great two days, but just trying to get better.”
Mitchell shot 64 to become the fifth golfer to 9 under and tie for second. Mitchell had a stretch of four birdies over five holes (with a bogey in the middle) and then a closing birdie to shoot 31 on his second nine.
The 14th at TPC Toronto is where the rowdies go.
Burns, who lost the RBC in a playoff a year ago, birdied his final hole of the day Friday to get to 9 under and tie Ben James atop the leaderboard. Haotong Li is also tied at 9 under.
James opened with an eagle Friday morning and has since tacked on four birdies and has it to 9 under at the “Rink Hole”, good enough for the outright lead at the RBC Canadian Open. James is playing in a PGA Tour event for the ninth time but this week mark’s his debut as a member of the Tour. And what a first event it’s been so far.
James has a veteran caddie on the bag for his PGA Tour debut. And now, after a birdie on No. 12, James has made it a three-way tie for the lead at 8 under at the RBC. Through 30 holes, James has more eagles (2) then he does bogeys (1).
The first nine of the day for Brooks Koepka proved a wild ride as he made four birdies, a bogey, a double and then an eagle on the 18th hole (he started on the back), to make the turn at 32 and surge into the lead of the RBC Canadian Open at 9 under as of 10 a.m. ET. Koepka, 36 and a nine-time PGA Tour winner, returned to the Tour earlier this season from LIV Golf. He has made 11 starts and eight cuts this season, recording six top 25s and one top 10, a T-9 at the Cognizant Classic in March.
David Lipsky missed the cut in each of his last two events (the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge), but with more shots like the one he made on the 14th hole on Friday, he’ll likely reach the weekend. Lipsky moved to 2 under for the tournament after making an ace on the 115-yard par-3.
There are six – count ’em: six – co-leaders, who all share the lead at 6 under. There’s a long list of golfers tied for seventh at 5 under. Datagolf’s early projected cut is 40 percent for 3 under.
According to AccuWeather, the high on Friday should reach 80, but there is about a 60 percent chance of rain, likely in the morning hours.
Four of the world’s top-10 ranked players are signed up, with Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa all teeing it up at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course in Caledon Village, Ontario. Also in the field: Brooks Koepka, Wyndham Clark, Padraig Harrington, Robert MacIntyre and defending champion Ryan Fox. J.T. Poston, last week’s winner at the Memorial, decided to take the week off after his signature event title.
The total prize fund this week is $9.8 million, with the winner earning $1.764 million.
75 percent. That’s how many of 2025 champ Ryan Fox’s shots favored a left-to-right shape, with an average curve of 79 feet. In fact, 10 of the 12 players that finished inside the top 10 of the leaderboard last year favored a left-to-right tee shot shape for the week at TPC Toronto.
Here are the hole locations for the second round.
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