But the 23-year-old Dundas native somehow found a way to control the nerves that consumed him – carding a birdie on the par-four first hole and following that up with another birdie on the par-four second.

Ross, who turned professional last year, sat two strokes under par after his first two PGA holes. And that’s where the wheels fell off a bit in his introduction to the toughest professional golf tour in the world.

“I made a crucial mistake within myself,” Ross said in a telephone interview Monday morning, three days after missing the cut for the Open’s third round by a single stroke.

“I was too relaxed.”

Despite all the build-up, shooting a 68 three days before the first round in an 18-hole qualifier to take one of four spots open to field of 150, and all the stress anticipating his first PGA appearance less than an hour from home, Ross calmed down too much after two successful holes.

“I was okay with pars,” he said. “That’s not how I’ve had success in my other tours. I wasn’t hitting it that well. My mind slipped a bit. I took things for granted.”

Ross bogeyed the par-three third hole, then rang up a string of pars to finish the front nine one under par.

Lost focus But after six more pars and one bogey in the back nine, Ross lost his focus and carded a two over par six on the seventeenth hole.

He came out of his first round at a PGA Tour event two over par, leaving himself a tough job to score three under or better the next day in order to make the cut and play on the weekend.

But Ross had been there before, in other professional tours over the past two years, needing a strong second round to make the cut. He’d been successful before and knew not to give up.

Starting on the ninth hole on Friday, Ross opened the second round with a mixed-bag of scores. After a couple of pars, he birdied number 11 but followed that with bogeys on 13, 15 and 16, to sit two over par.

But he stormed back, with birdies on 18, 2, 3, 5 and 6 –muddied only by a bogey on the fourth hole, to end up finishing the second round with a two under par 68.

The strong second round left him with a total two round score of 140. That was even par and one stroke off the -1 score needed to play Saturday and Sunday in the final two rounds.

“It was tough. But I still gave myself a chance,” Ross said, looking back on his first challenge on the tour. “Mine ended earlier than I wanted, but I surpassed people’s expectations a bit.”

He really felt he belonged, the long dream of playing in the PGA seemed much more realistic, while he was stringing together those five birdies in his final 10 holes.

Ross said the hair on the back of his neck was standing up during those final holes.

With the strong two straight birdie start on day one and string of birdies over the final 10 on day two, Ross learned a lot about himself and his game at the Canadian Open.

“Doing that for 12 holes is not going to cut it,” he said.

But the thrill of the big crowds cheering him on with every putt left a strong impression.

“I had a lot of fun. I had an incredible time,” he said. “It’s what I want to do, obviously. It makes it more realistic when I handle myself the way I did.”

Father Stephen Ross, a former executive director of the Royal Canadian Golf Association and currently managing partner of Oak Gables Golf Club in Jerseyville, carried his son’s bag as caddie at the Canadian Open.

With the elder Ross’ experience as a referee at PGA events, he added a calming influence at his son’s initiation.

“At that level, you have to believe that you’re good enough,” Ross said. “It’s a new stage for him. The first day, we saw that. He played tentative.”

Despite the great start, the all-important confidence was not there on the first day. Yet in spite of the obvious nervousness, dad noted his son “pounded” a three wood 310 yards off the first tee to open the tournament.

Though he doesn’t consider the opening round 72 a bad score, Ross said his son clearly wasn’t comfortable.

“I’ve seen him play better,” he said.

And the caddie saw the tentativeness continue for the first nine holes of the second round. Then the younger Ross decided “to throw caution to the wind, and release it –with confidence,” the elder Ross said.

Working on his “belief system” and confidence is now the key for his son, Ross said.

“It’s a game of inches, and in some cases less than inches,” he said. “Confidence is so important.”

Chris said he will play two Canadian Tour events in August, then heads to pre-qualifying for the PGA’s rigorous Q-School in September.

The tough test to qualify for the PGA Tour continues with three stages over two months, followed by the final stage in the first week of December.