PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. —The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada announced today that its newly created Osprey Valley Open, the first Greater Toronto Area-based tournament in Mackenzie Tour history, will be played July 19-22 at Osprey Valley Golf Course in Caledon, Ontario. In conjunction with the addition of this tournament to the 2018 schedule, the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval is moving to a previously open date on the schedule, September 6-9, at Elm Ridge Country Club in L’Île-Bizard, Quebec.

Osprey Valley is a 54-hole facility, featuring three courses all designed by renowned Canadian golf course architect Doug Carrick — the Hoot, the Heathlands and the Toot courses. The Osprey Valley Open will be held at the Toot Course, a parkland-style layout that features rolling fairways, large landing areas and undulating greens. At its longest, the par-72 Toot measures 7,151 yards.

“We’re pleased to add the Osprey Valley Open to our 2018 schedule and look forward to a long and lasting partnership with this beautiful facility,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “We’re certainly happy to be playing in the Greater Toronto Area for the first time, and we think our players will love what they see once they arrive on the property.”

The Osprey Valley Open will be the seventh tournament on the schedule and features a $200,000 purse, with $36,000 going to the winner. The Osprey Valley Open will be played the week prior to the PGA TOUR’s RBC Canadian Open, Canada’s national open set for July 26-29 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario. The top-three players on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit following the conclusion of the Osprey Valley Open will receive invitations to play in the RBC Canadian Open.

“We are delighted to be welcoming a Mackenzie Tour event to Osprey Valley. Hosting some of the world’s top up-and-coming players this summer provides us a wonderful opportunity to showcase what we believe makes Osprey Valley such a special place,” said Osprey Valley President Chris Humeniuk. “We are looking forward to working with the Mackenzie Tour and launching a successful event.”

When the Mackenzie Tour initially released its 2018 schedule, it had not announced the tournament that would fill in the September 6-9 dates. The Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval moved to the early September dates to allow for a better flow to the schedule.

This will be Elm Ridge’s first year hosting the tournament, with Circuit Canada Pro Tour serving as the host organization. Members established Elm Ridge Country Club in 1924, with the current facility opening in 1960, with two 18-hole golf courses. The club’s North Course will be the site of the Mackenzie Investments Open. A year ago, Web.com Tour member Hank Lebioda won the inaugural tournament by eight strokes.

“The members of Elm Ridge Country Club are honored and pleased to host the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval. We are looking forward to welcoming the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada players and all golf fans and enthusiasts to our most special and accommodating club for an unparalleled golf show,” said Randy Moncrieff, Elm Ridge General Manager. “It is also a pleasure to partner with the sponsors, Mackenzie Investments and Jaguar Laval, as well with the charity involved, CHU Ste-Justine Foundation.”

“I know the players love traveling to the Montreal area, and they will certainly find Elm Ridge to be not only an enjoyable place to play but a great test of golf, as well,” Monday added.

In late-May, early June, the Mackenzie Tour will embark on its sixth year, with the season beginning May 31-June 3 at the Freedom 55 Financial Open at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. The 13-tournament schedule concludes September 13-16 in London, Ontario, for the Freedom 55 Financial Championship.

Mackenzie Tour players will once again look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR by leveraging their performances into advantages to reach the next level. The Order of Merit winner will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for the following season, with Nos. 2-5 earning conditional membership. Those players Nos. 2-10 will also earn an exemption into the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, while Nos. 11-20 on the Order of Merit will earn an exemption into the Qualifying Tournament’s Second Stage.

Players will look to follow in the footsteps of PGA TOUR winners Mackenzie Hughes, Tony Finau and Nick Taylor, along with rest of the 20 alumni who have gone on to earn their PGA TOUR cards. More than 160 Mackenzie Tour players have gone on to earn status on the Web.com Tour, including 72 for the 2018 season.

OTTAWA – Today, Canada’s national golf industry associations announced the first annual National Golf Day, May 29, an event aimed at raising awareness to the public and government decision makers on the many positive impacts of the golf industry.

“More Canadians play golf than any other participation sport and our industry is #1 in driving economic impact, employment and charity fundraising,” said Jeff Calderwood, National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) and We Are Golf Chair. “Combined with golf’s diversity, healthy fitness benefits and environmental stewardship, we really do have such a positive message to communicate.”

National Golf Day provides the opportunity for Canada’s golf industry leaders to discuss these wide-reaching benefits of the sport directly with MPs, Senators and policy advisors at Parliament Hill. A May 28 evening reception will also be held in Centre Block, and NAGA will be hosting a day of interactive golf activities on the front lawn where MPs and visitors will be able to participate. This day of outdoor golf activities will include a focus on junior golf.

“We are really looking forward to our time in Ottawa and expect that government officials from all parties will be impressed to learn about all the ways golf contributes in virtually every riding throughout Canada,” added Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “There are so many meaningful benefits that golf delivers in communities from coast to coast and it will be great to share all those insights on National Golf Day.”

Golf courses and all related stakeholders throughout Canada are encouraged to promote the same positive messages. NAGA will provide shareable social content.

NAGA is also announcing a rebranding of its public facing name to We Are Golf. This aligns with the same brand name used by the American golf industry for allied association activities such as National Golf Day. NAGA does carry on as the administrative body but will use the We Are Golf brand for all public communications.

Please watch for additional We Are Golf and National Golf Day communications over the coming weeks as we lead up to the May 29 event itself.

For more information on We Are Golf, visit wearegolf.ca  

UXBRIDGE  – The annual Ontario Golf Hall of Fame ceremony was held on Wednesday, May 2, from Wooden Sticks Golf Course in Uxbridge, Ont.

This year, three deserving inductees entered the Hall and one member of the Ontario golf media was honoured with the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award.

Also a group of Posthumous individuals with golf accomplishments pre-dating the 1950’s were inducted. The emcee for the evening was Bob Weeks, a senior reporter and TSN’s golf analyst.

The evening began with the presentation of the posthumous individuals being inducted into the hall of fame, followed by the Inductions of Wayne Redshaw (with the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award), Terrill Samuel, Dave Bunker and Warren Crosbie.

Wayne Redshaw is a veteran sports writer and sports editor whose career began as a sports beat writer in 1962. Redshaw is also a member of the Sabres Hall of Fame and life member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Terrill Samuel, enters the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in the Amateur Golfer category. Samuel has captured many titles both provincially and nationally throughout her career. Provincially she has won the Ontario Women’s Amateur twice, Ontario Women’s Mid-Amateur three times and the Ontario Senior Women’s. Samuel also represented Canada on the international stage multiple times.

Another inductee in the Amateur Golfer category is Brampton’s Dave Bunker. Bunker, has amassed an almost immeasurable amount of championships and accolades. Just some highlights of his career include capturing 15 provincial titles including three Ontario Mid-Master titles, countless course Championships and 8 Canadian titles including The Canadian Mid-Master and Mid-Amateur for three straight seasons.

Crosbie has been a Golf Professional for 49 years including 33 years at Bayview Golf and Country Club. One of the remarkable aspects of Warren’s career is the number of Golf Professionals who he trained and mentored. Further Warren supports the junior program at Bayview and continues to teach young aspiring Golf Professionals.

Golf Ontario would like to extend their congratulations to the 2018 Ontario Golf Hall of Fame Class, and thank all those who attended, including Golf Ontario partners who make events like the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame possible. Also, a big thank you to Wooden Sticks for their continued support in hosting the ceremony and housing the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame.

CANCUN, Mexico – It was a storybook ending for Quebec’s Céleste Dao, who stormed back to win the Mexican Junior Girls Championship in a playoff on Tuesday at the Cancun Country Club.

Starting the day six strokes back, Team Canada’s Dao went off with a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to force extra holes with Mexico’s Corey Lopez, eventually winning the title on the third playoff hole.

#TeamCanada Development Squad member Céleste Dao on her playoff victory yesterday at the Mexican Junior Girls Championship ??

Read ➡️ https://t.co/8ArAb5LX2m pic.twitter.com/px6KyuNN01

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) May 2, 2018

Dao, 17, closed the event at 5 under par on the strength of four straight birdies between hole Nos. 13-16. Joining Dao near the top of the leaderboard were Development Squad teammates Monet Chun (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Ellie Szeryk (London, Ont.) who finished 3rd and 6th, respectively.

This marks the second straight victory for the Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot native—she captured the Toyota Junior World Cup Qualifier medallist honours two weeks ago at Bear Mountain (the official training centre for Team Canada). The two victories bode well for the success of the centralized program at Bear Mountain, which is in its first year of providing athletes an immersive, focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics and nutrition.

“The program is great – we all live in the same house together,” said Dao of the new centralized program at Bear Mountain. “It’s been helpful for me… we all go to the gym together, and I see my coach Matt Wilson and assistant coach Sara-Maude Juneau all the time and they help me a lot in improving my game and decisions – it’s been great.”

Click here for full scoring.

AVONDALE, La. – When Scott Piercy tried to deflect credit to Billy Horschel for their nerve-testing, one-shot victory in the Zurich Classic team event, Horschel grinned and went with it.

“I’d like to thank myself for playing well this week,” Horschel began with a laugh. “No, it was great to play with Scott. Our games match up well. We are really good ball-strikers. We think the same way. … I don’t have to worry about him making a bad decision.”

Playing in the same group as Jason Dufner and Pat Perez – who trailed by a mere stroke for the final seven holes – Horschel and Piercy calmly executed one pressure-packed shot after another Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 5-under 67 in alternate shot play that was just good enough.

“All four of us are really great friends. We were chatting it up the entire day– toward the end of the round, a little less,” Horschel said. “You’re going to be anxious, nervous. You’re heart’s going to be racing a little bit, but that says you’re alive. It says you’re alive and in the spot you want to be.”

Horschel became a two-time winner at TPC Louisiana. He captured his maiden PGA TOUR triumph at the 2013 Zurich Classic when it was a traditional every-man-for-himself event. His popularity with the crowd was evident with the ovation he receiving approaching the 18th green. He said he loves New Orleans and has close friends in the city.

“I just feel at home here,” Horschel said. “Maybe I should look into buying a house here, but what are the state income taxes? That’s the issue.”

Especially if he keeps playing the way he has lately, having finished tied for fifth at the RBC Heritage two weeks earlier.

Horschel and Piercy surged into the lead with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. They followed that with seven straight pars. After Horschel narrowly missed a 23-foot birdie putt on 18 that was reminiscent of the one he sank to win on the same green five years ago, Dufner stood over a 14-foot putt for the tie. He left it a foot short.

“Last putt, I didn’t get aggressive with it. Just didn’t quite get speed matched up like I wanted to,” Dufner said before complimenting Horschel on Piercy on how hard they were to chase down. “They didn’t lose a tee all day – and that’s pretty tough in alternate shot.”

Canadian David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Irish partner Seamus Power shot a 68 to tie for 10th. For Hearn, the finish comes one week after earning a T16 result at the Valero Texas Open. The strong back-to-back performances bode well for Hearn’s FedEx Cup standings and PGA TOUR status for 2019 – he currently sits at No. 139.

This was the second year of the Zurich’s switch to a two-player team format.

The victory was Horschel’s fifth and Piercy’s fourth. They each earned $1.04 million and 400 FedExCup points.

The result did not count toward the world ranking.

A year ago, the Zurich format called for best-ball play in the second and final rounds, with alternate-shot on the first and third. But organizers decided this year to flip that so the final round would have the alternate-shot format, with one player hitting the tee shots on even-numbered holes and the other on odd numbers. That set the stage for substantial moves up or down the leaderboard; players had less margin for error and no choice but the play the lies their teammates left them on the previous shot.

Horschel liked the change because “the better players, the better teams obviously are going to rise on Sunday. It’s a lot more volatility. … I felt the way we played – how good of ball-strikers we are – I felt like we could really make up a lot of ground.”

Horschel and Piercy began the day three shots back, but immediately surged into contention with birdies on the first two holes.

Piercy’s 146-yard approach set up Horschel’s 5-foot birdie putt on the opening hole. On the par-5 second hole, Piercy chipped to 4 feet to set up Horschel for birdie again.

Horschel returned the favour on the par-5 seventh with a chip to 3 feet and did even better on the 10th, dropping a 148-yard approach shot a foot from the hole.

Horschel’s 88-foot wedge out of a greenside bunker stopped less than 2 feet from the hole on the par-5 11th to set up his team’s final birdie.

“With Billy’s course knowledge and comfort level here, I just had to do a little bit and he could kind of take over,” Piercy said.

Heading into the final round, Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, the 2017 runners-up in a playoff, topped a crowded leaderboard that featured 13 teams within four shots of the lead. By the time the top five teams had all reached the back nine, they were all within two shots of one another.

This time, Kisner and Brown faded on the back nine with three bogeys and one double-bogey, and tied for 15th at 15 under.

The team of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel finished third at 20 under. Tied for fourth at 19 under were the teams of Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Paisley, and Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley.

Garnett and Hadley began the day two shots back but briefly led after four birdies on the front nine. However, they bogeyed the par-4 13th when they struggled with a massive fairway bunker on the Pete Dye-designed course, and also bogeyed the par-3 14th and par-3 17th.

WINNIPEG – Golf Canada is pleased to celebrate Golf Mentor Academy by honouring them with the Future Links, driven by Acura Facility of the Year Award for the 2017 season.

The Golf Mentor Academy, located just south of Winnipeg, earned the award for its outstanding success in delivering Future Links—Canada’s junior golf program. Under the direction of PGA of Canada professionals Glen Sirkis and Adam Boge, The Golf Mentor Academy excelled in delivering Future Links programming.

“Golf Canada is pleased to recognize the impressive accomplishments in junior golf by the staff at Golf Mentor Academy,” stated Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “Glen and Adam demonstrated excellence with their Future Links program, and we’re proud to celebrate their achievement as one of leading junior facilities in Canada.”

Give it up for #Winnipeg’s Golf Mentor Academy for winning the 2017 #FutureLinks Facility of the Year Award ?????? • • #golfcanada #golf #juniorgolf #golfacademy #golfstagram #golflife #golfmanitoba

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Apr 28, 2018 at 1:47pm PDT

More than 2000 juniors participated in the Future Links suite of programming at the Mentor Academy, including Junior Skills Challenge, Girls Club and Learn to Play. Through the online reporting tool, students received complimentary PUMA hats as a reward for graduating each of the four stages of the Learn to Play program.

.@pgaofcanada professional @adambogepga accepting the #FutureLinks Facility of the Year along with Glen Sirkis at #Winnipeg’s Golf Mentor Academy ??⛳️ pic.twitter.com/V0MGlMh5QS

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) April 28, 2018

Part of the success of the program stems from conducting several Get Linked initiatives, connecting the golf course with local schools in the community. In 2017, Golf Mentor Academy conducted eight in-school visits in the Winnipeg area and hosted one field trip to their facility. In total, Sirkis conducted nine of the 192 Get Linked initiatives conducted in 2017.

“We’re thrilled to be receiving the 2017 Future Links Facility of the Year Award – it’s a great feeling to celebrate the growth of junior golf at our facility and across Canada,” said Sirkis. “We’d like to thank our staff that helped us achieve this award and reach over 2,000 juniors at our facility.”

Golf Mentor Academy is the fifth Canadian golf club to receive the Future Links Facility of the Year Award. This marks the second award for Sirkis, who also received the inaugural honours back in 2013.

“On behalf of the PGA of Canada and its 3,700 members, I’d like to congratulate Glen Sirkis, Adam Boge and their staff on the Future Links Facility of the Year award,” said PGA of Canada CEO Kevin Thistle. “It’s important for PGA of Canada professionals to be recognized for all their hard work in growing the game of golf in Canada through the Future Links program.”

In 2017, Future Links programming was conducted at 548 golf facilities with more than 83,000 registered students. Since 1996, more than 1.4 million children have been introduced to golf through the Future Links junior golf program.

For more information on how to participate in Future Links, click here.

Due to extenuating circumstances, the U.S. Open Local Qualifier previously scheduled at Beacon Hall Golf Club will be changing courses. The US Open Local Qualifier will now take place at Weston Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday, May 7.

Beacon Hall has experienced winter damage to several of their greens. The cold and windy conditions over the winter, coupled with the extended snow and ice that accumulated in recent weeks, has jeopardized the world-class playing conditions we are accustomed to at Beacon Hall.

This decision was not taken lightly as Beacon Hall has been a great partner to Golf Canada and we look forward to the club hosting another competition in the future.  We feel that this is the right decision to alleviate any pressure on Beacon Hall and maintain the integrity of the Local Qualifier for the U.S. Open.

We are fortunate to have the storied Weston Golf & Country Club accommodate this year’s U.S. Open Local Qualifier on short notice. Weston is consistently recognized as one of the premier courses in Canada and has hosted many prominent events including the RBC Canadian Open in 1955 which was Arnold Palmer’s first career PGA Tour victory. Recently they hosted the 111th Canadian Men’s Amateur and later this summer they will be hosting a U.S. Women’s Amateur Qualifier.

We hope that competitors can appreciate this decision and we apologize for any related inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Adam Helmer at ahelmer@golfcanada.ca or by phone at (416) 450-6374.

Please contact the Weston Golf & Country Club Pro Shop at (416) 241-8538 to book a practice round between Wednesday, May 2 and Sunday, May 6.

If you’re looking for a poster child for Golf Canada’s “Future Links, driven by Acura” program, Stephanie Sherlock is just about the ideal candidate.

OK, so “child” isn’t appropriate any more as she will attain the ripe old age of 31 next month, but she remains my top nominee for a number of reasons.

Her first recollections of competitive golf include Future Links tournaments in her home province of Ontario and neighbouring Quebec. Those were stepping stones to a stellar junior and amateur career (she was a Team Canada member from 2006 to 2010 and twice was the country’s top-ranked female amateur) that included winning the 2007 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and a spot on Canada’s 2008 World Amateur Team. After her all-American performance at the University of Denver, she spent three years on the LPGA Tour before deciding the pro life wasn’t for her.

So Sherlock returned to her home town of Barrie, Ont., to work at the course she grew up on. Simoro Golf Links is owned by her parents, Dave and Angela.

“I wasn’t here very long before I looked around and thought, ‘Man, there aren’t very many kids here,’” she recalls. So she picked the brains of some more established club owners and pros who had thriving junior programs to discover their secret.

While a common theme was their dedication to growing the game, there was another factor: the multi-tiered Future Links programming.

The scope and depth of the Future Links concept are impressive, starting with the very young novice golfer and extending right through high-level amateur competitions. Since launching in 1996, more than one million youngsters have participated in the various Future Links programs including Learn to Play, mobile clinics, Future Links Championships, Junior Skills Challenge, Girls Club, and an awesome grassroots initiative called Golf in Schools.

Golf in Schools is offered in more than 3000 elementary and almost 350 high schools across Canada. It provides a basic introduction to golf through the school physical education curriculum and is endorsed by Physical Health and Education Canada. Almost half of the participating schools are the result of a “school adoption,” whereby an individual, golf club or corporation donates to bring the program to the school.

(For more on the comprehensive programming offered by Future Links, click here.)

Integral to the ongoing success of Future Links is a concept called Get Linked which connects schools and green-grass facilities such as golf courses and ranges. In 2017, there were more than 190 Get Linked initiatives conducted by PGA of Canada professionals across the country,

Sherlock shares her knowledge with kids in Grades 1 through 5 at five area schools via the Golf in Schools program. As a result, she says, Simoro has seen an uptick in junior and family participation.

“We’ve got to be dedicated to getting more kids into golf, not just because we care about the future of the game itself, but we have to ensure the future of our business, too. We consider it a long-term investment and it’s awesome just how much support and materials we get from Future Links.”

Her message is echoed from coast to coast.

In Corner Brook, NL, PGA of Canada professional Wayne Allen looks after three junior programs, all within an hour’s drive of his home base at Blomidon Golf and Country Club. Like Sherlock, he introduces Golf in Schools programming to five local schools every winter and has seen a tremendous impact.

“Six years ago, the nine-hole Deer Lake course didn’t have a junior program,” says Allen, who has been involved with Golf in Schools for 10 years and whose club was named the 2014 Future Links Facility of the Year. “So we started one with six kids. The next year, there were 20. That winter, we visited the schools for the first time and the following summer, we had 60 juniors in the program.”

Ten-fold growth in a couple of years. Impressive, to say the least.

The impact extends beyond increasing the participation rate among youngsters. As a result of the exploding junior programs, Blomidon introduced two new membership categories: An intermediate category for older kids and a family category.

The latter became necessary, says Allen, “because the parents would drop off their kids for golf, then go to the patio for lunch, waiting for the kids to finish. Eventually, they’d say to themselves, ‘Why am I just sitting here when I could be playing golf?’

“The growth in membership has been huge thanks to our junior programs.”

For more on Future Links, driven by Acura, contact Adam Hunter (Manager, Grow the Game) by email (ahunter@golfcanada.ca) or through Twitter.

MAINEVILLE, Ohio – Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee etched her name in the history on books on Sunday, tying a 54-hole scoring record at the Big 10 Championship en route to a four-stroke victory.

Lee, a three-time National Amateur Squad member, went wire-to-wire at TPC River’s Bend, kickstarted by an opening-round 66—the lowest score of the tournament. The Ohio State junior followed with a second-round 68 and battled through a tense final round which saw her lead shrink to as little as one.

“This means a lot to me,” Lee said, greenside at the 18th. “It was a goal that I set at the beginning of the year and I’m so happy to achieve it. After coming in to the final round with a five-stroke lead, things got a little nerve-wracking today but I’m glad to walk away with the title. To tie the record and have my name in the history books is pretty cool, too.”

The win marks the third NCAA title of the year for the 20-year-old—she collected victories at both the Westbrook Spring Invite and the East & West Match Play.

Your @bigten champion, @JaclynLee57!! ??? pic.twitter.com/RPzkSgKwHH

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) April 22, 2018

Collectively, the Buckeyes finished fourth at 1 over par. Lee will lead the Buckeyes into the NCAA Regionals, getting under way on May 7.

Click here for full scoring.

SAN ANTONIO – Andrew Landry won the Valero Texas Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory, pulling away with early birdies and holding on with par saves.

The 30-year-old Texan, busy at home in Austin with the recent birth of the family’s first child, parred the final seven holes for a 4-under 68 and a two-stroke victory over Trey Mullinax and Sean O’Hair.

“It was obviously a tough week this week,” Landry said. “Going into the last few weeks with the childbirth and just really getting back out.”

Landry played at Arkansas after starring at Port Neches-Groves High School east of Houston. Many family members were at TPC San Antonio on Sunday.

“Everybody was out,” Landry said. “It was pretty special to be able to snag a victory with everybody being here to share it.”

Landry finished at 17-under 271. He earned $1,116,000 and a spot in the Masters next year. Canadian David Hearn finished in a tie for 16th, shooting a 7-under 281. His countrymen Corey Conners and Ben Silverman ended in ties for 26th and 45th, respectively.

“I didn’t even really think about it, to be honest with you,” Landry said. “There’s a lot of perks for a tour win and you’ve just got to continue to stay focused and not think about those kind of things.”

Landry took a two-stroke lead to the par-5 18th after Mullinax chunked a flop shot and bogeyed the short par-4 17th. Landry hit a 55-foot putt over a ridge to 3 feet for par on 17 and made an 8-footer on 18 after running a 50-foot downhill birdie try past.

Mullinax closed with a 69 a day after breaking the AT&T Oaks Course record with a 62.

“Just a lot of confidence. I know my game’s there, I’m playing really well,” Mullinax said. “Give all credit to Andrew. He played really well today, rock steady. He was putting great, hitting great shots.”

O’Hair shot 66.

“When I’m good, I’m really good, and when I’m not good, I’m not so good,” O’Hair said. “I’ve got to kind of get that a little bit better, but it’s always nice to compete and be in the hunt.”

Tied for the third-round lead with Zach Johnson, Landry birdied the first three holes and added two more on Nos. 6 and 10. He bogeyed the par-4 11th before the closing par run.

“Made a couple putts and, unfortunately, Zach and Trey kind of had some hiccups there on the front nine and they didn’t play it as well as I did,” Landry said. “I think that that was really, really key to getting to where I am right now.”

Landry won in his 32nd PGA Tour start. He earned his tour card last year on the Web.com Tour, and lost a playoff to Jon Rahm in January in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

“It helps because you get yourself in that situation and you continue to learn,” Landry said. “Losing in that playoff when I was continuing to hit good shot after good shot, just not making any putts. Normally that’s a strength of my game. Now here we are, a winner.”

Jimmy Walker was fourth at 14 under after his second 67.

“From where I’ve been, it’s nice to see a lot of red numbers, nice to see putts going in, nice to be in contention,” said Walker, the 2015 winner. “It felt good and I felt like I could get it done today and that’s been a while.”

Johnson had a 72 to finish fourth at 13 under. He won the event in 2008 and 2009, the last two times it was played at LaCantera. The 42-year-old Iowan is winless since the 2015 British Open.

“It’s fun to compete against the so-called younger generation,” Johnson said. “I still really do feel my best golf is in front of me. I know what I’ve got to clean up.”

Joaquin Niemann shot 67-67 on the weekend to finish sixth at 12 under in his pro debut. The 19-year-old from Chile was the top-ranked amateur in the world.

“I never thought I was going to finish how I played this week, but I can’t be more happy than this,” Niemann said. “Just try to keep it up and hope to play well for the next weeks.”