Shane Lowry is hovering at the edge of the top-10 after carding a one under par 69 in his second round at the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto.
After carding a blemish-free 65 in his opening round, Lowry made more unsteady progress on Friday.
Starting on the 10th, Lowry began with seven successive pars and then fell back to three under with back-to-back bogeys on 17 and 18, the former following a three-putt and the latter a consequence of a wayward drive into the trees at the par-5.
Lowry gained back the lost ground in one swoop, pitching in for eagle at the par 5 first hole (his 10th).
There was further frustration on the greens, however, as a birdie opportunity lipped out on the sixth before he finally recorded his first and only birdie of the day at his penultimate, draining a 13-footer to reach the midway point at six under.
It’s been a memorable week for Ben James, who holds the outright lead on 10 under after a stunning round of 63.
The 23 year old, making his first start as a PGA Tour member, opened with an eagle and carded five further birdies en-route to a round of 63.
James is one stroke clear of a trio of players in second spot, US Ryder Cup player Sam Burns, Li Hoatong and Jackson Suber.
Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka is two strokes off the lead on eight under after a colourful front nine.
Starting on 10, Koepka, who returns to the site of his last US Open triumph at Shinnecock Hills next week, posted an outward nine of 32, which included an eagle, a double-bogey, four birdies and a bogey. This gave way to a more sedate and underwhelming inward nine, with a dropped stroke at second and eight pars.
Lowry is part of a large grouping on six under which also includes his Ryder Cup teammate Bob MacIntyre and Sahith Theegala.
At the time of writing, Seamus Power is just outside the projected cut line despite a bogey-less second round of 68 which brought him back to one under par for the tournament – one stroke outside the projected mark.