MONTREAL -- Two-time winner Jim Furyk birdied two of his last four holes Friday in the Canadian Open to match the Royal Montreal record at 7-under 63 and tie Tim Petrovic atop the leaderboard.
The 44-year-old Furyk, the 2006 winner at Hamilton and 2007 champion at Angus Glen, matched Petrovic at 10-under 130 on the tree-line Blue Course.
"Winning any event is special," Furyk said. "I've had a lot of success (in Canada) and really a lot of support here. But we're only at the halfway point."
The 47-year-old Petrovic followed his opening 64 with a 66. He missed the cuts in his last five events.
"I have been hitting the ball really well for about the last three weeks," Petrovic said. "I've seen signs of some good rounds coming. Am I surprised? Maybe a little."
Canada's Graham DeLaet, playing in a threesome with Furyk and Matt Kuchar, was two strokes back along with Kyle Stanley. DeLaet, trying to become the first Canadian winner in the event in 60 years, also had a 63.
"They're fun to play golf with," Furyk said about DeLaet and Kuchar. "We chatted a lot out there. And then to have everyone play well, you're seeing birdie putts going in, it's a lot of fun. And I think you can feed off that a little bit. Those guys are making birdies, you feel like putts are going in, it's a good vibe."
Stanley shot 67.
The 32-year-old DeLaet, winless on the PGA Tour, had nine birdies and two bogeys.
"I felt I was in control of my game all day, with a couple of little hiccups," said DeLaet, from Weyburn, Saskatchewan. "I mean, all three of us played great. I never saw so many putts rolling in. It was a lot of fun. We were feeding off each other. When you see putts rolling in from everywhere like it was in our group, you just feel like putting's easy or something and you just start holing them."
Pat Fletcher, born in England, was the last Canadian winner, taking the 1954 event at Point Grey in Vancouver. Carl Keffer is the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Albert Murray, a Canadian also born in England, won in 1908 and 1913.
Furyk and DeLaet matched the course record set by David Morland and Scott Verplank in the second round of the 2001 Canadian Open. Verplank went on to win that week.
"To share a course record here is pretty special and to have two guys in one group do it is pretty amazing," DeLaet said.
Senior British Open
RIDGEND, Wales -- Bernhard Langer has a seven-stroke cushion to take into the third round of the Senior British Open after shooting a 5-under 66 Friday to add to his opening 65.
The German is on 11-under 131 overall at a sunny Royal Porthcawl with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and South African-based Englishman Chris Williams tied for second on 4-under 138.
Montgomerie shot 66 while Williams added a 70 to his opening 68.
Spaniard Pedro Linhart (69) was a further shot back in fourth, while Americans Bob Tway (73) and Tom Watson (66) shared fifth on 2-under 140.
Watson had a faultless round of 66 with three birdies, an eagle at the 18th and no dropped shots.
Langer was beaten in a playoff by Mark Wiebe of the United States in last year's championship at Royal Birkdale after blowing a two-stroke lead on the final hole when he failed to get out of a greenside bunker.
"It still hurts when I think about it," Langer said. "If you put me in that situation a hundred times, I think I would win 98 or 99."
Sports on 07/26/2014