Canadian Open Round Two: Furyk is checked as Hamilton course finally finds some bite

Form an orderly queue. The wind and drying conditions flattened a few reputations Friday and enhanced others, but the end result was a logjam at the top.

It all seemed to happen so suddenly. One moment everyone was bumbling along nicely, Nathan Green three under on the day, Tom Pernice Jr crusing nicely in his wake, when suddenly bogeys started peppering the scorecards as frequently as the birdies. The Hamilton course at last found some bite.

Fears about the afternoon session were well founded. By the time Jim Furyk came out to play he had the field at his mercy. No one had been able to break free and all he had to do was fire two or three under to give himself some breathing space. Instead he stuttered to a very disappointing one over on the day. Given that it leaves him a shot behind four people and rubbing shoulders with nine others, a price of 5 is particularly mean.

You can only wish for such a tightly bunched pack come Sunday, hopefully also being menaced by Vijay Singh, although he took his pedal off the gas a bit Friday. I’d rather Trevor Immelman was not among them, but happy Brett Quigley is after matching the course record 63, and pleasantly surprised to see Camilo Villegas among the leaders. He is a relatively big hitter, but he also seems to have got a grip on his putting.

The weather forecast suggests the wind might not be so troublesome Saturday, but it doesn’t look as if those greens are going to play any easier. I don’t see a winner just yet.