CALEDON, Ontario (AP) — Ben James holed a 25-foot eagle putt to start his round and never let up until he had a 7-under 63 for a one-shot lead in his professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open.
James was an All-American all four years at Virginia and led the PGA Tour University ranking to earn a card through the 2027 season.
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Matthew Anderson, of Mississauga, Ontario, putts on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Golf Canada logo is seen on the tee box during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Nick Taylor, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, hits a shot out of the bunker during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
China's Haotong Li putts on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ont., on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
England's Tommy Fleetwood looks down the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ont., on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
“It all kind of came together today. It was just one of those days,” James said. “The putter was good, hitting fairways, had good numbers, and was able to capitalize on a pretty tricky scoring day.”
James was at 10-under 130, one shot over a group of five players that included Sam Burns, who played in the final group at the Memorial last week and tied for fourth.
Brooks Koepka had a 68 and was two shots behind, along with Tommy Fleetwood.
James played bogey-free on the Osprey Valley course at TPC Toronto and goes into the weekend having not made a bogey in his last 33 holes. This is his 10th PGA Tour event, including two U.S. Opens, but first one as a pro.
“I wasn’t really thinking about results at all this week. Just worried about getting comfortable, making new friends and having fun, and just seeing where everything kind of falls,” James said. “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. Had a great two days, but just trying to get better.”
Burns had a 67 and was at 131 along with Jackson Suber (65), Haotong Li (64), Keith Mitchell (64) and Jesper Svensson (65).
Tommy Fleetwood, who lost in a playoff at the Canadian Open three years ago when Nick Taylor holed that memorable 72-foot eagle putt, had a 65 and joined Koepka in the group two back that included defending champion Ryan Fox (66).
Koepka was slowed at the start of his round when he lost his tee shot on the 13th and had to scramble for double bogey, and then bogeyed the par-3 14th. He also had four birdies and an eagle on the back nine — he started on No. 10 — the latter coming off a 379-yard drive on the par-5 18th.
He was thinking more of the drive that went sideways.
“I would like to have that tee ball back on 13,” Koepka said. “I just stood there for 10 minutes and tried to hit a low fade and then it turned into a high draw. When you stand there and start thinking too long, that was kind of the issue. I would love to have that one back. But other than that, played solid, it was fine. The ball striking hasn’t been phenomenal, but it’s good.”
Eric Cole, who was part of the six-way tie for the lead after 18 holes, started with a triple bogey and his day never got much better. He shot 76 to miss the cut, meaning he will have no chance to play in the U.S. Open next week. Cole came into the week at No. 63 in the world, and the top 60 earn an exemption to Shinnecock Hills.
James made it through 36-hole qualifying in New York to earn a spot in his third straight U.S. Open. His focus now is on the fifth-oldest championship in golf — the Canadian Open dates to 1904 — and his professional debut.
“I’ve never been in this position, so I’m very excited to find out,” James said about the weekend. “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 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.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Matthew Anderson, of Mississauga, Ontario, putts on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Golf Canada logo is seen on the tee box during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Nick Taylor, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, hits a shot out of the bunker during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ontario, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
China's Haotong Li putts on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ont., on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
England's Tommy Fleetwood looks down the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Caledon, Ont., on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Andy Burnham was officially declared leader of Britain's governing Labour Party on Friday, promising to bring hope to the British people and purpose to the floundering government as he cleared his final hurdle to take office as prime minister next week.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester was the only contender in the center-left party's leadership contest to replace departing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was forced out by a rebellion within his party. Friday's announcement was a foregone conclusion after Burnham secured nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons.
Burnham pledged to serve “people and places who have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again.”
“We’re going to give them hope back,” he told an audience of lawmakers, party activists and trade union leaders in his first speech as leader. “I am ready.”
“I have a plan,” he added, in a bid to reassure a party that has seen its popularity nosedive since winning a landslide election victory two years ago. He pledged to end Labour's factional disputes, saying “we won’t beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions.”
Burnham has been prime minister-in-waiting for weeks, since winning a special election for a seat in Parliament a month ago, but he has revealed little detail about his policy priorities. He will arrive in Number 10 Downing Street largely unknown to voters outside Manchester.
He sketched out some priorities in Friday's speech, promising to deliver “hope in every heart” and “good growth in every post code,” in part by transferring power from central government in London to local leaders in cities and regions.
“We will take power back from Westminster and Whitehall and give it to the place you live,” he told the audience. “More power over life’s essentials so you can make them work better.”
Starmer announced last month that he would resign after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Labour regularly trails behind anti-immigration party Reform UK in opinion polls, and the governing party had catastrophic results in local elections in May, triggering pressure on Starmer to step down that he couldn’t resist.
Burnham brings a more relaxed style of leadership than the rather stern Starmer, and is regarded as one of the Labour Party’s best communicators. But he faces many of the same problems as his predecessor, including a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living squeeze fueled by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and overstretched public services.
And his promises of a new, less divisive politics are not too different to what Starmer pledged when he took office in 2024.
“I will work to build a new politics. The country is crying out for it,” Burnham said. “How can politicians point fingers when living standards are falling and politics as a whole isn’t working for them? It infuriates them and makes them switch off.”
He said he would have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected,” such as tackling the patchy access to social care for those who need it because of age, illness or disability. It’s a pressing issue in a country with an aging population, and one that has foxed previous Labour and Conservative governments.
He highlighted plans to focus on economic renewal, more public control of key sectors and creating new modern industrial jobs, arguing that Britain took “a series of wrong turns in the 1980s” when “political power was centralized and economic power privatized.”
That’s the decade when Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher oversaw policies of privatization, deindustrialization and political centralization that transformed the U.K. economy.
“Slowly, at times imperceptibly, over four decades, political and economic power drained away out of our communities in every region and nation of the U.K.,” Burnham said, calling Britain's change of prime ministers — for the sixth time in a decade — “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years.”
Starmer will remain prime minister until Monday, when he formally tenders his resignation to King Charles III. The king will then ask Burnham to form a government.
Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029.
New prime ministers have come with increasing frequency in recent years. Burnham will be the U.K.'s seventh leader since 2016.
He faces strong and sometimes conflicting pressures.
Unions welcomed his focus on living standards but said the test would be whether he can deliver. Business group the Confederation of British Industry praised his emphasis on economic growth, but also aid that “the challenge is execution.”
Associated Press Writer Brian Melley contributed to this story.
Andy Burnham hugs his wife Marie-France van Heel as he is confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader and the country's next prime minister, during 'Labour's Special Conference' in central London, Friday July 17, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Andy Burnham speaks after being confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader and the country's next prime minister, during 'Labour's Special Conference' in central London, Friday July 17, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Andy Burnham, the newly declared leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party, leaves after a Labour Party leadership special conference in London, Friday, July 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Andy Burnham speaks after being confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader and the country's next prime minister, during 'Labour's Special Conference' in central London, Friday July 17, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Andy Burnham speaks after being confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader and the country's next prime minister, during 'Labour's Special Conference' in central London, Friday July 17, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
