PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Entering the final round of the second annual Guardian Championship, Kendall Dye (Edmond, Oklahoma) trailed by two shots, but a 6-under par 66 performance this afternoon erased that deficit and helped claim her fourth career Symetra Tour title.

The University of Oklahoma alumna concluded the 19th event of the Symetra Tour season at 16-under par overall to raise the trophy, one shot ahead of Ruixin Liu (Dalian, China) and Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, Republic of Korea).

“I never really thought that I would get four professional victories out here, but I am so grateful,” said Dye, who recorded seven birdies and only one bogey today. “There was a lot of great competition and I thought if I gave myself a lot of good opportunities, make a few more putts than the last few days, then I could shoot something low. I’m thankful we got it done.”

In a week that shook the golf world with the tragic loss of Celia Barquin Arozamena (Puente San Miguel, Spain) last Monday, Dye joined the 120-player field in wearing Iowa State University hats donated by New Era and memorial ribbons throughout tournament play. During the trophy presentation, the first thing Dye talked about was dedicating the win to Barquin Arozamena.

“It was a very important week for all of us across the sport, especially in the women’s game,” Dye said. “I wanted to be the person to win this week in honor of Celia. We are going to carry on her legacy and play our hearts out for her each and every day. This is for her and her family.”

Meanwhile, the occasion etches Dye into the history books as the first two-time winner on the Symetra Tour in 2018. Up to this point, there had been 18 different champions for the season, but Dye becomes the first to step into the winner’s circle multiple times.

“I don’t set a ton of goals, but when I was told that no one had a repeat victory this year, I wanted to be that person to do it,” said Dye, who also won the Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY in late July. “I was late getting out here since I spent most of the year on the LPGA Tour, so it’s important to get my full membership for next year. I was really excited to play this week and if you can wake and still be excited late in the fourth quarter of the season like this, that’s a good thing.”

The result launches Dye from No. 23 to No. 7 in the Volvik Race for the Card. With two events remaining, the battle for the top-10 to earn full LPGA membership for 2019 still faces its biggest tests yet.

“It’s kind of like today, you can’t play prevent defense out here, you have to go and be hungry to win,” Dye said. “I don’t look at the money list because I’m not that smart to add it all up, I just come out here and play golf, get the ball in the hole. My experience will hopefully pay off. I’m really excited for the finish.”

Canadian Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City finished in a tie for 5th at 12 under par after an even-par 72 on Sunday. The Team Canada Young Pro Squad member held the 36-hole lead after setting a personal record through two rounds, but couldn’t keep it rolling into the finale.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Florida – The 2018 Web.com Tour season came to a close on Sunday in Atlantic Beach, Florida, as the Web.com Tour Championship wrapped up the sixth-annual Web.com Tour Finals. University of Virginia alum Denny McCarthy won the season-ending event, where 25 players secured their PGA TOUR cards for the 2018-19 season.

The Web.com Tour awarded a first set of 25 PGA TOUR cards for the 2018-19 season at the conclusion of the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz in August, with a second set of 25 solidified at the conclusion of the Finals.

South Korea native Sungjae Im began his rookie season with a win at the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. The 20-year-old backed up his win with a runner-up finish the following week, essentially locking up a spot in The 25 at the end of the Regular Season. Im continued his momentum throughout the year, winning the Regular Season-ending WinCo Foods Portland Open to end the year with two victories and six additional top-10 finishes. Im’s performance continued into the Finals, allowing him to win the combined money list. Im became the first player in Tour history to lead the money list wire-to-wire for the duration of the season and became the first Korean-born player to be named a money list winner.

McCarthy graduated from the Web.com Tour via the Web.com Tour Finals in 2017, picking up three top-20 finishes in the four-event series to earn his first PGA TOUR card. The 25-year-old struggled in his rookie season on TOUR, however, carding just one top-10 finish in 22 starts. The three-time Maryland Open winner found his stride in the 2018 Web.com Tour Finals, notching four top-13 finishes, capped off by a win Sunday in Atlantic Beach.

By virtue of winning their respective money titles, Im and McCarthy have earned fully-exempt status on the PGA TOUR next year, which includes a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, located just minutes from Atlantic Beach.

Meet The 50 newest @PGATOUR members, as they receive their 2018-19 TOUR cards @WebTourChamp. https://t.co/2gshI6PvHM

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) September 23, 2018

Jim Knous picked up the 25^th and final card with a par-save on the last. The Colorado School of Mines alum had a breakout sophomore season on Tour in 2018, picking up five top-25 finishes in the Regular Season to earn his first Web.com Tour Finals berth. Knous continued his strong play into the Finals, where he finished T10-T25-T24 in the first three events before eventually finishing at No. 25 on the Finals-only money list.

Finishing 26^th on the Finals money list Justin Lower, who earned $41,441 to finish $490 behind Knous. Lower had a career-best season on Tour in 2019, earning a Web.com Tour Finals berth for the first time in his career. The Malone University alum was on the bubble all week, but ultimately missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 72^nd hole at Atlantic Beach CC to come up just shy.

The 25 players from the Web.com Tour Finals money list will join the 25 players from the Regular Season money list on the PGA TOUR. The 25 from the Regular Season are below:

ATLANTA – Tiger Woods, in his Sunday red shirt, both arms raised in victory on the 18th green.

For so many years, the scene was familiar.

This time, it was surreal.

“I can’t believe I pulled this off,” Woods said Sunday during the trophy presentation at the Tour Championship, where he gave thousands of delirious fans at East Lake, and millions more around the world, what they wanted to see, and what they thought they might never see again.

And at that moment, Woods was overcome with emotion and paused.

After two back surgeries six weeks apart, he couldn’t lie down, sit or walk without pain. Golf was the least of his concerns, so much that he once said anything else he achieved would be “gravy.”

One year ago, while recovering from a fourth back surgery, he still had no idea if he could come back to the highest level of golf.

“Just to be able to compete and play again this year, that’s a hell of a comeback,” he said.

Woods delivered the perfect ending to his amazing return from back surgeries with a performance out of the past. He left the competition feeling hopeless as he built a five-shot lead early and then hung on for a 1-over 71 and a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel.

It was the 80th victory of his PGA Tour, two short of the career record held by Sam Snead that is now very much in play. And it was his first victory in more than five years, dating to the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.

And that brought a new version of Tigermania.

After he hit his second shot to the par-5 18th safely in a bunker in front of the green, the crowd came through the ropes and followed behind in a chaotic celebration. It was like that when he walked from the left side of the 18th fairway at the 1997 Masters he won by 12. It was reminiscent of that walk up the 18th fairway later that summer at the Western Open in Chicago.

This was pure pandemonium. Fans chased after any inch of grass they could find to watch the ending.

“I didn’t want to get run over,” Woods said with a laugh.

This felt just as big as a major, maybe better considering where Woods had been.

Several players, from Zach Johnson to Rickie Fowler to Horschel, waited to greet him. It was Johnson who unveiled red shirts at the Ryder Cup two years ago in the team room that said, “Make Tiger Great Again.”

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“They knew what I was struggling with,” Woods said. “It was special to see them.”

Woods played only one PGA Tour event over two seasons because of his back. Off the golf course, he had to overcome the embarrassment of a DUI arrest in the early morning of Memorial Day in 2017 when he was found asleep at the wheel, later found to have a concoction of pain medication in his system.

He was becoming a legend on in video highlights.

And then he brought it back to life this year, especially the last four days at East Lake. The players who have turns at No. 1 during his absence caught the full brunt of Woods in control. McIlroy faded early. Justin Rose faded late.

All that was left was the 42-year-old Woods in that red shirt, blazing brighter than ever, and a smile he couldn’t shake walking up the 18th to collect another trophy.

“The 80 mark is a big number,” he said. “It’s a pretty damned good feeling.”

He finished at 11-under 269 and won $1.62 million, along with a $3 million bonus for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.

The only disappointment – a minor one under the circumstances – was realizing as he came down the 18th that Rose had made birdie to finish in a three-way tie for fourth, which gave him the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus.

Without that birdie, Woods would have won his third FedEx Cup title after starting at No. 20 going into the Tour Championship.

“Congrats, Rosie,” Woods told him. “World No. 1, hell of a season.”

Actually, former world No. 1 for Rose. His four bogeys over the last 10 holes cost him the No. 1 ranking back to Dustin Johnson, who shot 67 and finished third.

But this wasn’t about the FedEx Cup or even the world ranking.

This is Tiger’s big day, and nothing was going to change it.

Woods had never lost when leading by three shots or more going into the final round. That was when he was regularly winning multiple times every season, compiling trophies at a rate never before seen in golf.

Was anything different having gone more than five years without winning?

Rose had said it was a bit more unknown, and “there’s a lot on it for him” as well as everyone else.

But this was still Woods’ arena. The walk from the putting green snakes some 80 yards across the road and through a gallery, and everyone could hear him coming from the procession of cheering. And within the opening hour, the Tour Championship had that inevitable feeling.

No one brings excitement like Woods, even when he plays so good and so smart that he eliminates any potential for drama.

The buzz was endless. A couple of teenagers climbed into a tree to see him made a 10-foot birdie on the first hole. When the putt dropped and cheers died, there was a wild sprint some 200 yards up the hill as fans tried to get into position for the next shot. He tapped in for par, and another stampede ensued to line the third fairway.

On and on it went. No one wanted to miss a shot.

A year ago, there was no guarantee anyone would see much of Woods, much less Woods winning.

He’s back again. This victory, his first since the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in August 2013 – 1,876 days, to be exact – brought him to No. 13 in the world. Not bad for a 42-year-old with four back surgeries who returned to competition in December at No. 1,199 in the world.

The next stop for Woods is to board a plane with the rest of his U.S. teammates for France and the Ryder Cup.

After that?

There’s no telling.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. — A rookie on the LPGA Tour this season and 2017 Symetra Tour graduate, Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City, Canada) holds the outright advantage after two rounds in the Guardian Championship on the Senator Course at Capitol Hill of the Robert Trent Jones (RTJ) Golf Trail.

The former University of Oklahoma standout is 12-under par overall and takes a one-stroke lead into the final round over Nontaya Srisawang (Chiang Mai, Thailand).

“It feels really good and has been awhile since I have been out on the Symetra Tour as well,” said Tanguay, who set her career 36-hole scoring mark with the performance so far. “I’m really happy to see my name at the top of the leaderboard. I played really solid today, gave myself a lot of chances and stayed pretty patient. It’s definitely a good feeling.”

Competing on the official qualifying tour of the LPGA once again last week and this week, Tanguay is simply keeping herself in competition to get ready for Q-Series from Oct. 22 through Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort.

Already a champion on the Symetra Tour at the 2017 Garden City Charity Classic, her second career professional win would be icing on the cake as she prepares for the LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

“These events are so great and the field is deep, so I thought it couldn’t be more perfect to test myself and play amazing courses,” said the Team Canada Young Pro Squad member. “It is very familiar for me to come out and play on this Tour. I’m happy because my game is where I want it to be heading into Q-Series, so I think I will keep working in that direction for the next few weeks.”

Furthermore, having been in the position of many individuals when it comes to the Volvik Race for the Card, Tanguay has one piece of advice.

“The pressure is huge and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” said Tanguay. “We think if you finish 11th and miss your card, then it’s kind of the end of the world to us. You have to put it in perspective. For me, it was extremely difficult and I understand what they are going through. Your goal is to be out there, but you’re not there yet so really have to see the big picture and really embrace the pressure.”

Meanwhile, a bogey-free round of 7-under par 65 launched Srisawang into solo second position after day two. She will join Tanguay in the final pairing tomorrow looking for her first career Symetra Tour victory.

“I hit it really well today and put the ball in good position on the greens, then made the putts,” said Srisawang, currently No. 25 in the Volvik Race for the Card. “I missed a couple greens, but I could get up and down really well. Out here, we have to trust the target that you’re aiming at and I just feel really comfortable with my putting this week.”

Two groups did not complete the second round because of unplayable conditions after heavy rains moved into the area this evening. They will restart tomorrow at 7 a.m. CT then a cut will be made to the low 60 players and ties. From there, the final round will begin no earlier than 8 a.m. CT. A total of 61 players sit at even par or better.

Click here for full scoring.

ATLANTA – Tiger Woods made it look and sound as if he had never been gone.

More than turning back time, every hole seemed like the one before Saturday at the Tour Championship. A tee shot striped down the middle of the fairway. The clean strike of an iron as he held his pose. A sonic boom of the cheers from around the green. Another birdie.

“I got off to an ideal start,” Woods said. “And the next thing you know, I was off and running.”

With the most dynamic golf he has played all year, Woods built a five-shot lead in seven holes before he cooled from there, settled for a 5-under 65 that gave him a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose and an ideal chance to end this comeback season with a moment that has defined his career.

Winning.

Woods has the 54-hole lead for the first time since his last victory in 2013 at the Bridgestone Invitational. He has never lost an official tournament when leading by more than two shots going into the final round, and his closing record with the lead is 42-2 on the PGA Tour.

He has never been in better position to show he’s all the way back from four back surgeries that once made him fear he might never play again.

“I’ve gone through a lot this year to get myself to this point, and understanding and fighting my way through it,” Woods said. “I’m certainly much more equipped than I was in March because of what I’ve gone through.”

Wood was at 12-under 198 and will be paired for the first time in final group with McIlroy on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy birdied two of his last three holes for a 66.

“It’s obviously exciting for the golf tournament. It’s exciting for golf in general that he’s up there,” McIlroy said. “But for me, all I can do is concentrate on myself. The game is hard enough without looking at other people. Go out there, take care of my business, and hopefully that’s good enough.”

Rose started the third round tied with Woods, but not for long.

Rose opened with two straight bogeys before battling back, but the world’s No. 1 player already was four shots behind after four holes. He narrowed the gap with a birdie on the 16th as Woods had to scramble for bogey, a two-shot swing.

“In some ways, it felt like a Sunday just with the energy,” Rose said after a 68. “But I knew that it was halfway through a Saturday. Just wanted to sort of chisel a few back and give myself a chance going into tomorrow.”

Rose forgot about Woods and tried to beat East Lake, a game of match play in his mind, in a bid to stay in the game. He wound up with a hard-earned 68.

There used to be no chance against Woods when he was atop the leaderboard going into the final round. His only losses with the 54-hole lead were the Quad City Classic in 1996 when he was 20 and making third start as a pro, and the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine against Y.E. Yang. He also lost a two-shot lead to Lee Westwood in Germany at a European Tour event in 2000.

Now?

Woods has gone more than five years without winning. He also has won enough times – 90 tournaments around the world – to remember how.

“It’s a little more unknown now,” Rose said. “Obviously, his history, his statistics from this point are impeccable. They’re incredible. But he’s human, and there’s a lot on it for him tomorrow, as well as the rest of us.”

Woods has had four finishes in the top 5, a runner-up by one shot at Innisbrook and by two shots at the PGA Championship. Only once this year, however, has he started the final round within closer than four shots of the lead.

Being up by three is a much better view.

“Simple math says that if I play a clean card, the guys behind me have to shoot 67 to force it into extra holes,” Woods said. “That helps. I don’t have to shoot 63 or 64 and hope I get help. This is a spot I’d much rather be in than four or five back.”

The Saturday start was simply mesmerizing.

Woods poured in a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole. His wedge settled 8 feet below the hole on No. 3. His 20-foot birdie putt on No. 4 tumbled into the centre of the cup with perfect pace. Two short birdies followed. And when he finally missed a fairway at No. 7, Woods hit a 9-iron from the bunker that hopped out of the first cut to about 5 feet for a sixth birdie in seven holes.

The cheers were endless, and there was no doubting what was going on.

“I’ve heard the roars all day, and it’s been phenomenal,” Paul Casey said after his 66. “What an atmosphere it is out there this week.”

Woods, however, made only one birdie over his last 11 holes, a wedge to 7 feet on No. 12. He missed badly on his tee shot at the par-3 ninth, and the shaggy rough to the right of the 16th fairway caused the face of his club to open, missing to the right. His flop shot didn’t get up the hill and rolled back toward him, and his next pitch was a bump-and-run played to perfection that kept him from another double bogey.

McIlroy also started strong, and being in the group ahead of Woods, he knew exactly what was happening. On Sunday, he get a front-row seat. The only other time they were paired together in the fourth round was at the 2015 Masters, when both were 10 shots behind Jordan Spieth.

Rose won’t be in the final group, but he has plenty on the line even if he doesn’t catch Woods. He likely needs to finish in the top five to be assured of winning the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Sepp Straka moved into position Saturday to earn a PGA Tour card in the Web.com Tour Championship, shooting a 7-under 64 to take the third-round lead.

With the top 25 earners in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals getting PGA Tour cards Sunday, Straka birdied the final three holes to reach 18-under 195 – a stroke ahead of Curtis Luck, Lucas Glover and Denny McCarthy at Atlantic Beach Country Club.

“It’s always good to get an extra birdie in late. I got three of them to finish, which was nice,” Straka said. “It’s very bunched up there, so you can’t really take off, you’ve got to keep the pedal down and see where you end up at the end.”

Straka entered the week tied for 80th in the card race with $2,744. The 25-year-old former Georgia player from Austria won the KC Golf Classic in August for his first Web.com Tour title. He finished 31st on the money list to advance to the four-tournament series.

“My ball-striking is really good,” Straka said. “It’s been good all week. It’s been really solid. I really haven’t gotten in a whole lot of trouble and have been able to capitalize on a good number of chances with the putter. Hit a couple of bad putts today, but some really good ones to make up for it.”

Luck also shot 64. The 22-year-old Australian went into the week 16th with $41,587.

“Obviously, it just comes down to keeping that momentum going and trying not to change anything,” Luck said. “That’s the really important thing and I felt like I did that really well. I played really aggressive on the back nine, still went after a lot of shots and I hit it close a lot out there.”

Glover had a 68. The 2009 U.S. Open champion entered the week 40th with $17,212.

McCarthy shot 67. He already has wrapped up a card, earning $75,793 in the first three events to get to 11th in the standings.

Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., also hit a 67 to stay in the chase, and sits in a three-way tie for sixth at 15 under. Fellow Canadian Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., who has already earned his PGA Tour card, hit a 66 to move into a tie for ninth at 14 under.

Roger Sloan of Calgary is the next best Canadian at 10 under, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is at 7 under.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Ryan Yip of Calgary missed the cut.

The series features the top 75 players from the Web.com regular-season money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, and non-members with enough money to have placed in the top 200. The top-25 finishers on the Web.com regular-season money list are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for the 25 cards based on series earnings.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Lucas Glover entered the Web.com Tour Finals with the likely safety net of a PGA TOUR medical extension but still in search of a victory and a guaranteed card for the 2018-19 season. The Greenville, South Carolina, native posted back-to-back rounds of 64 at the Web.com Tour Championship to reach 14-under par at host Atlantic Beach Country Club, good for a one-shot lead heading into Saturday’s third round of the Web.com Tour’s season-ending event.

Glover played brilliant golf over the opening 36 holes in Atlantic Beach, recording 14 birdies against zero bogeys to finish the halfway point at 14-under par.

After starting Friday’s second round in the afternoon wave, Glover parred his opening four holes before notching birdies on 14, 17 and 18 to turn in 3-under 33.

Birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 7 vaulted him into the lead at 14-under par before he closed with pars on Nos. 8 and 9 to round out a closing 31 and a second-round 64.

“Similar to yesterday, just gave myself a lot of chances and just converted a bunch of opportunities. Drove it a little better today and I’m hitting my irons a little worse, but same result, so pretty happy obviously,” he said after his round. “I hit a lot of good putts today that could have gone in, I just didn’t make the ones I made yesterday. So I felt like it could have been one of those scary low ones.  But I hit my lines, felt like I just misread a bunch by like half a ball or something, kind of like the last, but I’m not displeased at all, believe me.”

Glover has accrued 382 starts on the PGA TOUR, collecting wins at the 2005 Children’s Miracle Network Classic, 2009 U.S. Open and 2011 Wells Fargo Championship. The win in Charlotte, where he defeated 2017 Web.com Tour Championship winner and former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd, came 7 years, 4 months and 13 days ago.

In June, Glover had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair two meniscus tears that had bothered him for the last three to four years. Under a PGA TOUR medical, he was granted eight starts in the 2018-19 season to accrue 53.151 FedExCup points to retain his full membership status.

“Yeah, I mean, like I’ve got a lot to fall back on regardless of this week, but any time I tee it up, I want to play well.  Tomorrow won’t be any different, Sunday won’t be any different,” said Glover when asked if the medical allowed for less pressure this week.

This year marks Glover’s second time in the Web.com Tour Finals. In 2015, he posted top-25 finishes in all four events (including a T12 in the Web.com Tour Championship) to finish 19^th on the Finals-only money list to secure his card for the 2015-16 season.

Through the first three events of the 2018 Finals, he sits at No. 46 on the Finals-only money list with his lone top-25 being a T17 effort at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. With $44,000 as the safe benchmark for a PGA TOUR card, Glover needs to finish solo-10^th or better to secure a return to golf’s biggest stage.

“It’s good. It’s 36 holes, we’ve got 36 more. Nobody’s going to all of a sudden stop making a bunch of birdies, so I’ve got to do the same thing,” he said.

Canadian Ben Silverman shot a 3-under-par 68 to sit three shots back of the leader in a two-way tie for 4th place. Fellow countryman Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., holds a share of 11th at 9 under par – the Team Canada graduate has already earned his PGA TOUR card for 2019 via Web.com Tour money list.

Denny McCarthy, who graduated from the Web.com Tour in 2017, is one shot behind Glover at 13-under 129.

The former University of Virginia golfer opened his week with a 7-under 64 before recording seven birdies on Friday en route to a 6-under 65.

McCarthy finished the PGA TOUR season with conditional status for 2018-19 following a rookie campaign which left him at No. 149 in the FedExCup. The 25-year-old posted four top-25 finishes over the last year, including a season-best fourth-place effort at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

In the Web.com Tour Finals, McCarthy recorded top-10 finishes in his first two starts to secure status for next year’s PGA TOUR season, entering the week in Northeast Florida at No. 13 in the Finals-only money list. With $75,792 in earnings, he is still within striking distance of wining the Finals money list, which would provide a fully-exempt card for the 2018-19 season as well as an exemption into THE PLAYERS.

“Yeah, 100 percent, I’m trying to get that spot. There’s no secret about it. I’ll come out and tell you I’m here to win this tournament and get that No. 1 spot,” said McCarthy. “I’ve been hungry for a while. I have a pretty hungry attitude and I’m going to stay hungry.”

Longtime PGA TOUR member Cameron Tringale is in solo-third place at 12-under 130 following rounds of 63-67.

Tringale is making just the 13^th Web.com Tour start of his career this week, as the former Georgia Tech standout has spent most of his career on the PGA TOUR. The 31-year-old has made at least 22 starts per season on TOUR since 2010, recording 50 top-25 finishes in 243 starts, including runner-up efforts at the 2014 NORTHERN TRUST, 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Over the last two years, Tringale has found himself in the Web.com Tour Finals at season’s end following 133^rd– and 195^th-place finishes in the FedExCup in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Last year, Tringale entered Web.com Tour Championship week at No. 63 on the Finals money list but posted 17-under 267 in Atlantic Beach for a T5 effort which vaulted him to No. 24 and back on the PGA TOUR.

“Yeah, I was hoping last year was my last time here, but I do have a comfort at this golf course and I’m excited to keep pressing,” he said after Friday’s round.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Florida – England’s Chris Paisley used four starts on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR to earn a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals and inched one step closer to full status on golf’s biggest stage on Thursday at the Web.com Tour Championship. Paisley recorded eight birdies and one eagle on his way to a 10-under 61, good for a two-shot lead heading into Friday’s second round of the Web.com Tour’s season-ending event.

Paisley opened his week at host Atlantic Beach Country Club with three birdies in his first four holes before closing with a birdie on the 17^th and an eagle on the par-5 18^th (thanks to a holed bunker shot) to turn in 6-under 30 after starting on the back nine.

The 32-year-old’s momentum slowed mid-round with four pars on Nos. 1-4, but he rallied quickly thereafter with a birdie on the short par-3 fifth and back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to reach nine-under overall.

“I think just all around was really good. I hit it well off the tee, which gave me a lot of kind of short irons into the greens and opportunities to, you know, I had to knock it on the green in two on the par 5s or leave a good wedge number,” he said. “I hit a lot of really good iron shots close, and then a few other bonus kind of things happened where I holed the bunker shot on 18 and holed a long putt on No. 8. So, there was a couple little things like that that obviously helped a lot.”

Paisley, who won twice during his college golf career at the University of Tennessee, turned professional in 2009 and has since spent the majority of his time playing overseas on the European and Challenge Tours. Since 2015, he has competed mainly on the European Tour, earning third-place finishes in the 2015 BMW International Open, 2016 Italian Open and 2017 Made in Denmark.

Earlier this year, the Stocksfield, England, resident broke through for the biggest win of his career when he captured the BMW SA Open in South Africa with a three-shot victory over PGA TOUR winner Branden Grace. The biggest week of his career, however, may have come at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April, where he and fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood partnered in the team event to finish T4. The $216,900 paycheck, coupled with earnings from a T37 effort at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in March allowed Paisley to earn a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals via non-member FedExCup points.

“Well, I mean, the nice thing was I won early in the year in Europe. I’ve got the first two Final series events locked up, I think I’m in those. I’m not guaranteed to be in Dubai yet,” said Paisley when asked of his decision to play in the Finals. “But I just thought we have a house over here, my wife’s American, my goal is to try to get on the PGA TOUR, so it was a perfect opportunity to try and do it.”

Paisley missed the cut in each of the first three Finals events, which left him needing a strong week at the Web.com Tour Championship in order to achieve his PGA TOUR goal.

“In January I obviously played amazing and I was ‘Player of the Month’ in Europe and I went from 300th in the world to top 100 in the world and everything’s great,” he said. “Then all of a sudden about four or five months where I can’t make a cut and can’t seem to break par. It’s just a weird game.”

Paisley needs to finish in a two-way tie for fourth or better, in order to mathematically secure his card.

“I’m sure it’s a thing where you miss the first three, you don’t play very well and your expectations drop and you almost write it off, a bit like what I have. I was just trying to make a cut and get back to playing well again. So kind of putting that pressure on yourself and maybe it frees you up and you just have that really good week, hole a few putts, get a bit of confidence,” Paisley said. “It’s the nature of golf, I think. It’s a strange sport psychologically and hopefully I’m one of those guys that does that.”

Ben Silverman and Cameron Tringale are tied for second, two shots back of Paisley after matching rounds of 8-under 63.

Silverman, who played in the morning wave, was the outright leader for much of the day in Atlantic Beach, recording eight birdies against zero bogeys to set the early mark.

“I’ll make it easy,” quipped Silverman when asked to sum up his round. “I hit a lot of good shots and made some good putts. Actually, it could have been lower, but I’m not complaining. Missed a couple putts inside six feet, but I’m not complaining at all, it was a great round.”

From 2014 through 2016, Silverman competed on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, posting four top-10s in 26 events, including a career-best runner-up at The Syncrude Boreal Open Presented by AECON. He qualified for the Web.com Tour via Q-School in 2015 and again in 2016 after losing his card.

In 2017, Silverman bloomed late on the Web.com Tour, posting four consecutive top-10 finishes – including a win at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper – to finish No. 10 on the money list, securing one of 25 PGA TOUR cards awarded at the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz, where he finished T2.

On the PGA TOUR, Silverman recorded two top-10 finishes in his first five starts to finish the fall season at No. 49 in the FedExCup, but struggled thereafter with just three top-25 finishes and a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship to wind up at No. 136. That standing guaranteed him conditional 126-150 status on TOUR next season, but put him in the Web.com Tour Finals with hopes on improving his standing.

“I have zero pressure on myself right now. I know I’m going to get some starts on TOUR next year anyway with my conditional status and I’m thinking more long term,” he said. “I like the strategy that I’m going with my game moving forward, so I’m just going to play and try to make some birdies, see what happens.”

Canada’s @Bsilvermangolf leads the @WebTourChamp after an opening-round 63 ???? pic.twitter.com/NzjnHsa3iO

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) September 20, 2018

After opening the Finals with a T58 finish at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Silverman notched back-to-back missed cuts at the DAP Championship presented by NewBrick and the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco to dip to No. 103 on the Finals-only money list.

Tringale, who played in Thursday’s afternoon wave, turned in a modest 2-under 33 but played brilliant golf on the closing nine with birdies on 10, 11, 14, 15, 17 and 18 for a 6-under 30 and an opening 63.

“I really hit my irons well, I gave myself a lot of good birdie opportunities,” said Tringale. “I believe I just had look after look all day and really had a low stress round and was able to get some of those putts to go in.”

Tringale has accrued 243 PGA TOUR starts over his career, notching three runner-up finishes and over $9.8 million in earnings. After finishing 195^th in the FedExCup this past year, he was forced to return to the Web.com Tour Finals again in order to secure playing status for the 2018-19 season.

The former Georgia Tech star used a T5 at the 2017 Web.com Tour Championship to earn his PGA TOUR card for the 2017-18 season and feels good about his chances on an Atlantic Beach Country Club course that suits his eye.

“No doubt, I like the golf course,” he said. “To come back a year later and think, ‘Oh, I played well last year, I can do it again despite how I was playing coming in,’ it feels doable. I’m excited for the next three days and to see how I can hold up.”

ATLANTA – The crowd at East Lake was larger and louder than it has been in five years, which was the last time Tiger Woods was at the Tour Championship.

It was no coincidence.

Woods played one of his best rounds of the year in his return to the FedEx Cup finale and caused the biggest cheer of a sun-baked Thursday afternoon by making an eagle putt from just over 25 feet on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 65 and a share of the lead with Rickie Fowler.

It was the second time in as many FedEx Cup playoff events that Woods was tied for the 18-hole lead. He shot a 62 at Aronimink in the opening round of the BMW Championship two weeks ago on a rain-soaked course that allowed just about everyone to go low.

This felt even better on a dry, tougher East Lake course.

“This was by far better than the 62 at Aronimink,” Woods said. “Conditions were soft there. This, it’s hard to get the ball closer. If you drive the ball in the rough, you know you can’t get the ball close. You just can’t control it.”

Fowler, who missed two playoff events recovering from an injury to his right oblique, putted for birdie on all but two holes for his 65 as he tries to avoid ending the season without winning.

Justin Rose, in his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, got up-and-down from the bunker for birdie on the 18th for a 66 and was tied with Gary Woodland. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, all of whom will be in France next week for the Ryder Cup, were another shot behind.

Woods already considers this a successful year just by making into the 30-man field at East Lake for the FedEx Cup finale, where everyone has a mathematical shot at capturing the $10 million bonus. He started the season in January after a fourth back surgery that limited him to only 16 PGA Tour events in the previous four seasons.

“To be able to play golf again and to earn my way back to this level is something that I was hoping I would do at the beginning of the year, but I didn’t know,” Woods said. “And I’ve done it?”

What would winning mean in this comeback?

“It would enhance the year,” he said.

Woods still has 54 holes remaining. Two weeks ago, he went from a share of the first-round lead to five shots behind on a course where attacking flags on soft greens was the only option for low scoring.

This was more about precision, and Woods felt in total control. He opened with a three-putt bogey from 25 feet, and he twice ran birdie attempts farther beyond the hole than he would have liked. But after making birdie putts from 25 feet on No. 5 and from 15 feet on No. 6, he figured out the speed of the greens and was on his way.

“I hit so many quality shots all day, whether it was tee-to-green or it was putts,” Woods said. “I didn’t really mishit a single shot today. The only shot I can honestly say that I necked pretty bad was the tee shot at 17. Hit a 3-wood there, and with an iron, I probably would have shanked it. But ended up in the fairway and made par.”

Woods will play in the final group Friday with Fowler, who has seen plenty of him at home in Florida in the months before Woods returned to golf. He had finished his round and was doing interviews when he heard the head-turning roar of Woods making eagle.

They will be teammates next week at the Ryder Cup. Fowler has other objectives at East Lake.

“The biggest win for him is just staying healthy and being out here all year consistently,” Fowler said. “Definitely happy for him. It’s obviously great for our sport. It’s great to have him as part of the team next week. We hope he continues to play well. I just want to play a little bit better and beat him.”

Sixteen players in the 30-man field broke par on a hot afternoon with only a light breeze, and Thursday was all about staying in the game, especially as it relates to the chase for the FedEx Cup.

Bryson DeChambeau, the No. 1 seed after the points were reset, had to birdie two of the last three holes for a 71. For someone like Woods or Fowler to win the FedEx Cup, they would need the top five seeds to falter.

Rose and Thomas didn’t go along with that with strong opening rounds. Finau overcame a pair of early bogeys for his 67.

The key for Woods could be Friday. Only once this year, at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook, has he stayed consistently in the thick of it all tournament. He figures to have plenty of support. Houses along the side streets outside East Lake, and even one funeral home, offered parking and their yards were packed. It hasn’t been like that in several years.

“I hadn’t played this tournament in five years, and some of the people said they haven’t been out here in five years,” Woods said. “That’s kind of nice that they’re coming out and supporting this event and supporting me, as well.”