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By Dave Perkins
Special to PGATOUR.com

MARKHAM, Ontario -- Jim Furyk didn't want to tempt the golf gods by wishing for the wind to come up for the leaders Friday afternoon at Angus Glen North. But it surely wouldn't bother him or any of the men who made a morning move up the leaderboard at the Canadian Open presented by Franklin Templeton Investments.

Jim Furyk. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

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"Wishing ill will probably doesn't work. There's got to be some bad karma in doing something like that,'' the event's defending champion said after his round of five-under-par 67 lifted him into the thick of contention at golf's third-oldest national open championship. "You'd like to see it even out, but obviously you can't control it.''

Furyk, playing in calm morning conditions after battling Thursday afternoon's winds, started on the back nine, birdied his first two holes and turned in 4 under. He shot 1 under on his second, breezier, nine holes to stand at 135 at the midway point of the tournament. He finished his round tied with Brandt Snedeker, who posted a morning 68, Cliff Kresge, who finished a 6-under 65 and Doug LaBelle II (68). The foursome is tied for seventh, trailing co-leaders Steve Allan and John Mallinger at 10 under by three shots.

"When you get that real windy afternoon, you're hoping to come out the next morning and see it a little bit more calm,'' said Furyk, who won last year's Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, about 70 miles southwest of Angus Glen. "Not a lot of wind and real fresh greens today and I got off to a good start, four under on my first nine. So I was happy to take advantage.''

Furyk said he wasn't sure how good 135 would prove to be by the end of the day, but was satisfied with the first half of his title defense.

"I'm in decent shape. I really can't control what the leaders are doing,'' he said. "Sometimes you don't know if you got the better end of the tee times or not and until tonight we won't know what that better end is. Maybe it will be good. I was on the better end of it last week at the Open Championship. By the end of the year, you hope it always evens out.''

Furyk is one of golf's tougher competitors, but he said there's really no extra level to seek while defending a championship.

"I think I keep the same approach,'' he said. "It's nice to come back to a place you've won, or a tournament you've won before, especially the previous year. This year, not going back to Hamilton, to the same golf course, is a little different, but I think it's great for this event to rotate courses, to showcase Canada and some of the nice golf courses.''

Playing with Furyk was Jeff Sluman, the recently named assistant captain for the U.S. Presidents Cup team, who assembled his own 6-under 65 to move to 5-under 137 and into contention. The third member of the group was John Rollins, who shot 69 to get to even par 142, to miss the cut by a single shot. Rollins currently is 11th in the Presidents Cup standings.

"I'd like to see the wind blow a little this afternoon so the guys who are even par, like John Rollins, can make the cut,'' Sluman said. "I know he's trying hard and he's 11th for the President Cup. It means a lot to him.''