Canadians Nick Taylor and Taylor Pendrith each rebounded from difficult opening rounds to post scores under par Friday in the second round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Taylor shot a 3-under 68 Friday while Pendrith finished one shot below par at 70.They sit at 3-over for the week, one shot outside the 2-over cutline, but are hoping heavy rain in the forecast for the final part of the day can bring the cutline to +3.

Matt Fitzpatrick held the outright lead at 9-under Friday afternoon with Brian Harman and Li Haotong tied for second place at 8-under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is also lurking near the top of the leaderboard at 7-under. 

A native of Abbotsford, B.C., Taylor bounced back in a big way from an opening-round 77, finishing nine shots better on Friday. Taylor bogeyed his first hole in Round 2 but played a clean round the rest of the way, carding four birdies with no further blemishes on his scorecard. 

Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., followed up an opening-round 75 with a steady 1-under Friday, making two birdies and one bogey on the day.

Corey Conners (2-over) and Mackenzie Hughes (8-over) make up the other two Canadians in The Open Championship field and were each on course as of Friday afternoon in second-round action.

Watch Open Championship coverage LIVE Saturday morning beginning at 4:35am ET/1:35am PT on TSN+. Full network coverage begins on TSN1 and TSN3 at 7am ET/4am PT.