Newly minted U.S. pro Ben James leads Canadian Open through 2 rounds

Ben James certainly knows how to make a splash.

The 23-year-old American had an eagle on his first hole and didn't slow down in a bogey-free 7-under round on Friday to put him a shot ahead of the field at 10 under overall at the Canadian Open. James officially turned pro on Thursday when he teed off in the PGA Tour event's first round.

"I wasn't really thinking about results at all this week," said James after signing his scorecard at TPC Toronto in Caledon, Ont. "Just worried about getting comfortable, making new friends and having fun, and just seeing where everything kind of falls. Just seeing where my game stacks up."

China's Haotong Li (67) and Americans Sam Burns (67) and Jackson Suber (65) were in a three-way tie a shot behind James after the morning wave. Sweden's Jesper Svensson (65) and Keith Mitchell (64) of the United States caught up to them in the afternoon for a five-way tie for second.

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Li said that he had to keep clearing his mind as he fought to play on the weekend.

"Especially on the last few holes, I just keep telling myself [to clear my mind]," said Li, who has missed the cut at his last two events. "'Bad thoughts don't come to me,' 'don't talk to me,' 'leave me alone,' and it's kind of worked so far."

James and fellow American Bud Cauly are the only players to have 7-under rounds so far at this year's Canadian men's championship.

"It all kind of came together today, it was just one of those days," said the 23-year-old James, who just completed his senior season at Virginia University. "The putter was good, hitting fairways, had good numbers, and I was able to capitalize on a pretty tricky scoring day."

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