B.C. amateur Jared du Toit 1 shot behind leaders at Canadian Open

Jared du Toit still can't beat his friend and university teammate Jon Rahm.

The 21-year-old Canadian closed out the second round of the RBC Canadian Open on Friday with three consecutive birdies to tie for third with Rahm and American Kelly Kraft at 6-under par. Dustin Johnson and Luke List share the lead at 7-under par. 

• LEADERBOARD: Canadian Open

Rahm and du Toit were teammates at Arizona State University last season and were roommates when the team was on the road.

"I'm playing out of my mind and I still can't beat him," said du Toit, with a laugh. "That was school, that was last semester, just in a nutshell right there."

Du Toit, from Kimberley, B.C., is the low Canadian and low amateur at the PGA Tour event, hanging with seasoned professionals. For three holes he was tied for first with superstar Johnson and List at 7-under par. A triple bogey on the par-5 No. 2 hole at Glen Abbey Golf Club knocked du Toit down the leaderboard, but he climbed back up thanks to the steady hand of Sean Burke, his caddy for the week.

"He kind of, you know, theoretically cracked me in the head and said 'hey, get your head back in the game and stick to the game plan and keep doing what you're doing,"' said du Toit of his caddy's advice.

Rahm and du Toit shared a brief moment together outside the official scorer's tent on Friday as they crossed paths. Rahm, who was finishing with the morning group as du Toit was heading out to the course, gave the younger player some advice.

"It's so cool, it's a great feeling," said Rahm of being on the leaderboard with his college friend. "Last time we played together and last time we were both on the leaderboard, it was still a college event. (...) To see him like that, it's a great feeling."

List pulls even on 18th hole

List made a nine-foot putt on the 18th hole to draw even with Johnson, meaning the two will be paired for Saturday's third round.

"If I can just forget about what everybody else is doing and stay in my mind set," said List on what it will take to stay on top of the leaderboard. "I've had a really good frame of mind the last couple days.

"Just my attitude right now, if I can keep that up, I'll be happy with the way I finish."

Johnson got off to a slow start in the morning group, including a double bogey on his third hole, before recovering with four birdies in his back nine to take a one-shot lead over List, his co-leader from Thursday's first round.

"I really don't know what happened the first four holes. Just got off to a bad start. Hit it in a couple awkward spots. Made some bad bogeys," said Johnson as List began his afternoon round. "But fought back and turned it around and felt like I played really nicely from 14 on in."

List cruised through the front nine, opening with a birdie on the first hole then holding par all the way to the 11th, which he bogeyed. Back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14 seemed to take List out of the running, but he recovered with birdies on 16 and 18.

"Two more days of this golf course, it's a challenge out there," said List of the fairways and greens that have been baked dry, making them firm and fast. "Those valley holes, 11 through 13, 14, really play tough.

"Looking forward to taking aim at those tomorrow."

Although they've had identical results in the first and second rounds of the Canadian Open, Johnson and List's experiences at Glen Abbey have been very different.

Canadian Olympians miss the cut

Only three other Canadians out of a field of 14 home-grown players made the cut on Friday.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was much sharper, improving on his first-round par performance with a 2-under 70 to tie for 21st. Amateur Garrett Rank (75) of Elmira, Ont., was tied for 36th at par, while Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., just made the cut at 2 over.

Conners shot a 3-over 75 on Thursday and thought he'd played his way out of the event Friday after he double bogeyed on No. 9, his final hole of the second round. He finished with a 1-under 71 on Friday, putting him at 2-over par on the tournament, which, at the time, was a shot over the cutline.

"It's over with now, but yeah, a little sour taste I guess on the final hole," said Conners, who left the course before the projected cutline was moved, extending his weekend.

Adam Cornelson (73) of Langley, B.C., was at 4-over par. Nick Taylor (74) of Abbotsford, B.C., Graham De Laet (72) of Weyburn, Sask., and David Hearn (75) of Brantford, Ont., all tied at 5 over.

"It's obviously disappointing but it's another golf tournament, and I'm able to kind of get over it a little bit easier now than I used to be probably," said DeLaet, who will represent Canada in men's golf at the Rio Olympics along with Hearn. "Obviously I wanted to play well here this week, but there's more tournaments to play."

Ottawa's Brad Fritsch (74) was 7 over, Branson Ferrier (74) of Barrie, Ont., wrapped up at 8 over, Mike Weir (75) of Brights Grove, Ont., was 9 over, amateur Blair Hamilton (79) of Burlington, Ont., was 12 over, amateur Hugo Bernard (76) of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., was 13 over and Montreal's Dave Levesque (75) finished at 16 over.