CALEDON, Ont. — Richard T. Lee had the day of his life on Friday and got to do it in front of those who mattered most.

The 30-year-old fired a spectacular six-under, 64 in the second round of the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto and finished tied for second in the tournament at nine-under.

Coming off the ninth green (his 18th hole of the day), the Richmond Hill-born, Vancouver-raised golfer was already on cloud nine, but there was another surprise waiting for him.

His father, Jeff, watched the whole thing.

“I didn’t even know my dad was here, to be honest,” said Lee, in a post-round media availability. “If I just perform the way I did today, I think it would probably make him pretty happy.”

Lee’s opportunities to play in front of his family in his home country have been rare. He has only played this tournament three previous times, and this will be the first instance he gets to play all four days.

The golfer has never made the cut on a PGA Tour event, but suddenly finds himself as the low Canuck, along with Nick Taylor, and sits three shots back of the lead in the country’s national open.

“I’m feeling great,” said Lee. “Just had a perfect scorecard today and just love being out here in front of the Canadian fans.”

While many of those Canadian fans may not know who Lee is, he does come to this event with some interesting golf lore.

The Canadian was the second-youngest golfer to play at the U.S. Open back in 2007 at just 16 years old. and has spent most of his career playing overseas on the Asian and Korean PGA Tours, mustering seven total victories.

It has been a long time since he even thought about trying to make the PGA Tour.

“I can’t even remember. At least 10 years, to be honest,” he said.

That could be changing soon.

“It’s going to be kind of tough going back and forth, but hopefully, if I go to Q-School (qualifying) this year and make it, we’re going to probably make our way out to the U.S.”

Coming back to North America would give Lee’s relatives more chances to have memory-making moments.

Any time one of his six birdie putts on the day dropped, a group of about 10 ecstatic friends and family adorned with Canadian flags were seen cheering him on.

Lee’s uncle, Ken Hong, couldn’t be happier with the day his favourite golfer put together.

“It’s amazing,” said Hong, in an interview after the 30-year-old wrapped up his round. “I’m so proud of him.”

Whether Lee can continue his newfound success, one thing’s for certain: his uncle has no doubts.

“He’s going to go all the way.”