CALEDON, Ontario >> Masters champion Rory McIlroy tumbled out of the RBC Canadian Open on Friday with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the U.S. Open.

McIlroy shot an 8-under 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey 8 in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No. 11, four bogeys and two birdies.

“Of course it concerns me,” McIlroy said. “You don’t want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn’t.”

At 9 over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.

“Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways,” McIlroy said. “Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee.”

Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey.

“It’s firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday,” Champ said. “The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday.”

The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed.

“I definitely didn’t think I was getting in,” Champ said.

Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title.

“I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire,” Putnam said. “Pretty much did everything right. Didn’t really make many mistakes.”

Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 drop into a tie for third at 9 under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65) and France’s Victor Perez (65).

Taylor won the 2023 event at Oakdale.

“Hung in there,” Taylor said. “Making a birdie on the last was important to end the day nicely.”

Del Solar was 8 under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was 8 under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65).

Szokol, Lee shoot 62s to share the lead in the ShopRite LPGA Classic

Elizabeth Szokol birdied the first five holes and shot an 8-under 62 on Friday for a share of the first-round lead with Ilhee Lee in the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Playing in the afternoon on Seaview’s Bay Course, Szokol followed her opening birdie run with a bogey on No. 6, then added birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 13 and 16.

“Happy to get off to a great start and really looking forward to the weekend,” Szokol said. “Lots of golf left. Really excited to see good golf and hard work paying off today.”

The 30-year-old American teamed with Cheyenne Knight to win the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational for her only tour victory.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda opened with a 71, and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul had a 68. Maja Stark, the U.S. Women’s Open winner Sunday at Erin Hills, shot 70.

Lee birdied three straight holes three times — on Nos. 3-5, 8-10 and 16-18 — and had one bogey in her morning round. The 36-year-old South Korean won the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic for her lone tour title.

“I don’t have expectation,” Lee said. “I just play golf. I just come out, have fun. That’s all I do.”

Akie Iwai of Japan was third after a 65 in one of only two 54-hole tournaments left on the LPGA Tour schedule. The other is the Walmart NW Arkansas Open. “Normally four days, so I feel fast, shorter tournament,” Iwai said. “That’s why we must make a lot birdies.”

Wei-Ling Hsu was at 66 with Aline Krauter, Ayaka Furue, Polly Mack, Saki Baba, Dewi Weber and Gurleen Kaur.