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Ben James certainly doesn’t look like someone who is making their pro debut through two days at the RBC Canadian Open.
The 23-year-old who recently graduated from the University of Virginia fired a Friday 63 to vault into the lead at TPC Toronto. And even James is a bit surprised by his position.
“I didn’t even—yeah, probably not,” James said when asked if he could have envisioned being the 36-hole leader in his maiden start after accepting PGA Tour membership for finishing No. 1 in this year’s PGA Tour University standings.
“I wasn’t really thinking about really results at all this week,” James continued. “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. Obviously I have some stuff to work on, just trying to see where everything goes. Because this is just the baseline, it’s my first professional debut. Obviously had a great two days, but just trying to get better.”
Last Monday, @UVAMensGolf senior Ben James secured the No. 1 ranking on @PGATOURU, earning his TOUR card.
Today, he leads in his professional debut @RBCCanadianOpen. pic.twitter.com/LUWGZvGiZG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 12, 2026
James, 23, just wrapped up a stellar collegiate career in which he became the first player in a quarter century to earn First Team All-America honours for all four years in school. He won seven times while at UVA, and he qualified for a third U.S. Open start on Monday.
James opened his second round with an eagle on No. 1 at TPC Toronto, the second day in a row he’s eagled the par 5. He added five birdies and no bogeys as he climbed to 10 under.
“It all kind of came together today,” James said. “It was just one of those days, the putter was good, hitting fairways, had good numbers, and was able to capitalise on a pretty tricky scoring day.”
James is currently one shot ahead of a group at nine under that includes Sam Burns and Haotong Li as he heads into the weekend. So how will the young man sleep tonight knowing he’s got a great chance to win and earn some serious money in his first pro start?
“I got no clue because I’ve never been in this position, so I’m very excited to find out,” James said. “One thing I wanted to do I was, like, let’s try and get in that last group. I just want to feel what that feels and kind of just see what happens out there in that situation. Being so young, I’m just excited. I have no expectations. I’m going to play the best I can like I did the last two days.”
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Main Image: Minas Panagiotakis
