Teenager Ryan Ruffels has given himself a legitimate shot at the Canadian Open with a second consecutive 67 at Glen Abbey Golf Club near Toronto.
On another day of sizzling scoring at the picturesque Ontario layout, Ruffels, 19, moved to 10 under par, in a jogjam for fifth, but just two off the pace of American Martin Flores.
Only Melbourne veteran Cam Percy (71 to be -5) and rising New South Welshman Brett Drewitt (72 for -4) made the cut among the other Aussies, with Curtis Luck left to rue a rollercoaster second round that left the West Australian ace one shot on the wrong side of the cut line at +3 after a 73.
Luck, after an opening 68, reached seven under with three early birdies in his second round, but suffered a bogey on 17 and double-bogey on 18 to hand back his edge after starting his round on the 10th.
A bogey on the third counteracted a birdie on the second, but the hammer blow came with another double on the sixth, meaning his closing birdie was not quite enough.
Greg Chalmers (69 for -3), Matt Jones (68 for -2), Geoff Ogilvy (69 for -2) and Cam Smith (69 for +2) were all victims of the hot scoring and will also have the weekend off.
But the Aussie focus will be on Ruffels, with the 19-year-old playing on sponsor’s exemption and chasing a place to play next season.
The Victorian closed his first round with a birdie to turn at five under, then sparkled early in his second round to race to eight under through four holes.
A bogey on nine was eased by three more back-nine birdies and Ruffels, in his sixth US PGA Tour start this season, joined four others at 10 under.
Ruffels’ first priority this weekend will be to finish in the top 10 to earn an automatic start next week to help build his all-important FedEx Cup points.