The headliner of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open field will not be playing on the weekend. Rory McIlroy’s week went from bad to worse on Friday at TPC Toronto, as he followed a opening-round 71 with a second-round 78 to miss the cut by 12 shots. McIlroy’s round unraveled with a quadruple bogey on the par-4 5th when he caught a flyer out of the rough and flew his approach over the gallery and into the hazard on the left. He later admitted that he was resigned to his fate of missing the cut by that point, and it showed in his play as he stumbled all the way down to 149th place at 9 over.
McIlroy’s driver issues continued. His hopes of finding comfort with a new club — after his trusty gamer got pulled before the PGA Championship — took another hit this week. On Friday, he hit just four of 14 fairways and fought a two-way miss, noting after the round that he’ll be testing plenty of drivers this weekend. He didn’t shy away from his concern about showing up at Oakmont with accuracy issues off the tee.
While McIlroy was digging his way to the bottom of the leaderboard, Cameron Champ darted to the top of it, backing up his 62 on Thursday with a terrific 66 on Friday to lead the field at 12 under. Champ, who was the ninth alternate this week, stands two shots ahead of Andrew Putnam, who fired a round-of-the-day 62. Champ enters the weekend with plenty of confidence, proud that he found a way to score despite not having his best stuff.
“I would just say I’m honestly just proud of myself and how I played,” Champ said. “Yesterday, I felt like was pretty flawless; today, I didn’t hit it my best but just kind of stuck with our game plan, picked good targets, picked the right clubs for the most part, left myself in spots to get it up and down if I did miss shots. It was nice to see that to keep the round going even though I didn’t feel like I was hitting it my best.”
While Champ is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, he last lifted a trophy in 2021. He is making just his sixth start of the season. This performance is coming out of seemingly nowhere, but his Friday 66 was, as he noted, arguably more important to confirm his quality play than the opening 62. Especially considering we often see players shoot to the top of leaderboards fairly often with one great round — those on the PGA Tour are always capable of a low score on any given day.
The leader
1. Cameron Champ (-12): Standing third in strokes gained off the tee isn’t a shock. When Champ has been on his game, his driver has always been his biggest weapon. However, Champ being eighth in strokes gained putting feels like a much bigger deal; that success on the greens has allowed him to go bogey-free through his first 36 holes. If he can maintain that combination of strong play off the tee and on the greens through the weekend, he may well add a fourth PGA Tour win to his resume.
Other contenders
2. Andrew Putnam (-10)
T3. Thorbjørn Olesen, Richard Lee, Nick Taylor, Victor Perez (-9)
T7. Ryan Fox, Jake Knapp, Shane Lowry, Cristobal Del Solar, Sam Burns, Matteo Manassero (-8)
Putnam’s 62 moved him from cut line drama into the final pairing Saturday. He’ll want to find a little more off the tee on Moving Day as he’s losing strokes with the driver, but he was lights out on the greens Friday making 95 feet of putts in his second round. He was also second in strokes gained around the greens as well.
Olesen, Del Solar and Knapp all got stuck in first gear, unable to back up their incredible first rounds the way Champ did. They now find themselves chasing the leader. Two Canadians surged into the top five, but one is not a name you would expect. Taylor being in the hunt comes of little surprise given he won this event in iconic fashion two years ago, but Richard Lee is a stunner. The 34-year-old has never made a cut on the PGA Tour only to now remain in the mix for his national open with 36 holes to play.
Lowry and Burns are the biggest names lurking on the leaderboard at 8 under. Ryan Fox is the only one in the top 10 with a win this season. This could set up a wide open weekend as most of the players in contention are seeking either their first career win or first win in a few years.
Notable players who missed the cut
- Max Homa (-2)
- Justin Rose (-1)
- Tom Kim (-1)
- Nicolai Højgaard (-1)
- Luke Clanton (-1)
- David Ford (-1)
- Sungjae Im (E)
- Gary Woodland (+1)
- Rory McIlroy (+9)
The cut ending up at 3 under made for a sweaty Friday for some top names in the field. Ludvig Åberg flirted with the cut line in the same group as McIlroy — thanks to his own quadruple bogey –but a birdie at the last moved him to 4 under and safely into the weekend. Not as lucky were Homa, Rose and Clanton, who made his pro debut in the same group as Åberg and McIlroy.
2025 RBC Canadian Open updated odds, picks
Odds via BetMGM
- Cameron Champ (5-1)
- Andrew Putnam (9-1)
- Nick Taylor (9-1)
- Shane Lowry (9-1)
- Sam Burns (10-1)
- Thorbjørn Olesen (10-1)
- Victor Perez (16-1)
- Ryan Fox (18-1)
- Taylor Pendrith (18-1)
- Jake Knapp (20-1)
it does feel like it will be a wide open weekend. Oddsmakers remain a bit skeptical of Champ as he’s still at 5-1 despite a two-shot lead, and the chase group odds are pretty well bunched up. Fox is live at 18-1, and Taylor at 9-1 will have a ton of support behind him given his great memories at this event.