Dawson Armstrong entered the second Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament as an amateur. He still is. But as he said, after a final-round 66 that earned him medalist honors on a cool, drizzly day, “I won’t be one for much longer.” The Lipscomp University senior had a spotless scorecard Friday, with four birdies and an eagle to come from behind on the final day to win the event by a stroke over fellow Americans Justin Doeden and Christopher Hickman. Americans Ian Davis (fourth) and Dalton Ward (fifth) rounded out the top five. Armstrong will be fully exempt on the Tour for the entire 2018 season, while Doeden, Hickman, Davis and Ward earn exemptions into the first eight tournaments on the schedule.

Armstrong began the final round at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course tied for fifth place, and he began his last 18 holes in style, making birdie at No. 1. He added birdies at No. 5 and No. 9 to move to 3-under for the day and 8-under overall. It was his birdie on the ninth that really gave him momentum. Facing a 40-foot putt for birdie, Armstrong canned it. He made a similar-length putt, on the 17th, when he just missed the green on his second-shot approach into the par-5. From four yards off the green and 35 feet overall, Armstrong elected to putt, making that, as well, which—although he didn’t know it—cemented the victory.

Canadian Max Gilbert finished T15 – good for fully exempt status for the first four tournaments subject to the first reshuffle.

Fellow countrymen Eric Banks and Austin James, both graduates of Team Canada’s Amateur Squad program, earned conditional status by finishing T35 at 1 over par. Canadian Raoul Menard also finished T35, making four Canadians to earn status at this Qualifying event.

The third of five Qualifying Tournaments begins next week in Arizona, from April 3-6, at The Wigwam Golf Resort’s Gold Course in Phoenix.

Click here for full scoring.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Alena Sharp made the most of Friday’s opening tee slot, posting a 4-under 68 to climb 25 spots into a tie for 11th at the mid-way point of the ANA Inspiration.

The Hamilton, Ont., native notched five birdies against one bogey on the par-4 12th, bringing her to 5 under par for the tournament — seven strokes back of the leading Pernilla Lindberg and Sung Hyun Park, the 2017 CP Women’s Open champion.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., slipped with a 3-over 75 to sit at 1 over par, making the cut on the number.

We see you, @alenasharp07! ?? The Hamilton native posted a 4-under 68 to currently sit T9 at the @ANAinspiration ?

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Mar 30, 2018 at 11:51am PDT

Park and Lindberg shared the lead at a tournament-record 12-under 132, three strokes ahead of Jessica Korda after two rounds in hot and mostly calm conditions at Mission Hills.

Lexi Thompson was 4 under after an even-par 72, undone by a series of short missed putts a year after a rules violation cost her four strokes in regulation in an eventual playoff loss.

“I hit it really well today,” Thompson said. “I just struggled on the greens.”

Fighting dizziness caused by a virus, Wie followed her opening 75 with a bogey-free 67 to get to 2 under.

“Saw one golf ball today, which was good,” Wie said.

With little fanfare five groups in front of the Thompson-Wie morning pairing, the fourth-ranked Park shot a 64 for the best round of the week. The U.S. Women’s Open champion played a nine-hole stretch in 7 under. She holed out for eagle from 100 yards on the par-4 15th to cap the run.

“I was super-focused at the U.S. Open, and felt just as focused today,” the 24-year-old South Korean player said. “I just felt really good about my driver. The shots fell in just as I wanted.”

Lindberg had a 67 in the final group of the morning session. The 31-year-old Swede had the first-round lead at 65, and was the only player without a bogey the first two days.

“Just not put myself in too much trouble and then my short game and putting have been great,” Lindberg said. “I’m just collecting so much experience out here every year, that I’m getting more and more ready just to be in this situation. Every time I’m there, I’m just so much more comfortable.”

She hit inside 2 feet to set up birdies on the par-4 13th and par-4 14th and parred the final four holes. The leaders broke the 36-hole record of 11 under set by Lorena Ochoa in 2006.

Thompson missed five putts inside 4 feet, four of them to the right side. She three-putted the par-3 fifth and par-4 12th, missing from 4 and 3 feet on 12. She also missed a 4-foot par try on 13.

The 2014 champion rebounded to birdie three of the last four , beginning the run with a downhill 12-footer on the par-4 15th. She went right at the back left pin on par-3 17th and got a 4½-footer to fall on the left side, then hit a lob wedge to 4 inches on the par-5 18th.

Wie often sat and rested in the shade in the 90-degree morning heat on the 97-degree day. She walked with a sun umbrella and relied on caddie Matthew Galloway more than usual.

“I just sat down every chance I could,” Wie said. “My caddie helped me a lot out there, just getting all the numbers. I asked him to read every putt for me because I just couldn’t see everything.”

Wie was stricken Thursday afternoon, leading to two double bogeys and a bogey in a four-hole stretch.

“Yesterday I wasn’t prepared for it at all,” said Wie, the winner four weeks ago in Singapore. “I felt good, felt good on the range, and all of a sudden I started seeing multiple golf balls, and that scared me a little bit. But today I woke up feeling dizzy. I knew exactly what I was getting into.”

Korda birdied five of the last 10 holes in a 68 to get to 9 under. She won last month in Thailand in her return from reconstructive jaw surgery.

“It all depends on if these putts are going to drop or not,” Korda said. “That’s the difference out here.”

Jodi Ewart Shadoff (67), Charley Hull (68), Amy Olson (68) and Ayako Uehara (66) were 7 under.

Stanford sophomore Albane Valenzuela was 6 under after a 71.

“I had to kind of save my pars today, but still a good round overall,” the Swiss Olympian said. “I put a good fight out there.”

Valenzuela was one of four amateurs to make the cut, with Rose Zhang (70), Atthaya Thitikul (71), Lilia Vu (70) also advancing. Zhang and Thitikul were tied for 34th at 2 under, and Vu was tied for 41st at 1 under. The 14-year-old Zhang, from Irvine, won the ANA Junior Inspiration on Sunday to get into the field.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Canadian duo of Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp began the LPGA’s first major of the season on a high note.

Henderson, a Smiths Falls, Ont., product, led the way with a 2-under 70 boosted by a three-birdie string on the front nine before dropping a stoke on the par-4 15th. The 20-year-old trails the leaders by four strokes heading into Friday’s second round at the Mission Hills Country Club.

“Yeah, I played really well today, so I’m happy—I got off to a really fast start on the front nine, three birdies, 7 through 9, which was exciting to get to 3-under making the turn,” said Henderson. “Unfortunately, on the back, some putts didn’t fall and things didn’t go quite my way. But I’m excited with the 2-under start, and hopefully it will continue on through the weekend.”

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, Olympian teammate alongside Henderson, kicked off the ANA Inspiration with a 1-under 71 to sit tied for 36th. Sharp will look to improve on her best result in the ANA Inspiration, which came in 2016 with a T56 finish. She’ll tee-it-up in Friday’s opening slot at 7:10 a.m.

.@BrookeHenderson sits -2 after the first round of @ANAinspiration. Trails lead by 4 pic.twitter.com/xETLuTTS58

— CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) March 30, 2018

Lexi Thompson is smiling and having fun again at the ANA Inspiration.

A year after a rules violation cost her four strokes in regulation in an eventual playoff loss, Thompson shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to finish three strokes behind leader Pernilla Lindberg.

“I don’t know if I would say it’s a relief,” Thompson said. “I was just really looking forward to just playing this week. I love coming here.”

Thompson also again overpowered Michelle Wie on a hot afternoon at Mission Hills, four years after routing her in a final-round showdown for her first major title.

Wie fought dizzy spells on the front nine in a 75 that left her in danger of missing the cut.

“I had the mad spins,” Wie said. “I just got really dizzy. I don’t know why or how. I don’t know.”

Wearing a black dress in the mid-90s heat, she birdied the second hole, then dropped five strokes in four holes with two double bogeys and a bogey.

“I fouled five balls out there on the front nine,” said Wie, the Singapore winner four weeks ago. “One that I whiffed in the rough.”

She felt much better on the back nine, but still couldn’t keep up with Thompson. The distance disparity was particularly pronounced on the par-4 12th when Thompson cracked a 348-yarder 72 yards past Wie.

“Probably my farthest,” Thompson said. “This golf course definitely sets up for my game off the tee. I get to just aim up the right and fire away.”

That got her in trouble on the par-5 ninth – her 18th – when she drove into the left trees and made her lone bogey.

Lindberg birdied her final two holes for a bogey-free 65, playing in the last group to finish the round. The 31-year-old Swede is winless on the LPGA Tour.

“I often get the question, favourite tournament, favourite golf course, and I always say this event and this course,” Lindberg said. “I like this place and I always feel good playing here.”

Beatriz Recari and Ayako Uehara were a stroke back, and Jessica Korda, Ha Na Jang and Stanford sophomore Albane Valenzuela shot 67. In Gee Chun and Cristie Kerr were at 68 with Thompson, Chella Choi, Sung Hyun Park and Brittany Altomare.

Recari had a bogey-free round , saving par on the par-3 17th with a 10-footer. The 30-year-old Spaniard has three LPGA Tour victories.

“I’ve always felt very comfortable here,” Recari said. “I felt like if I was going to win a major, it was going to be on this course.”

Uehara birdied her final two holes. The Japanese player credited instructor Ted Oh for her strong play. “Now I have confidence,” she said.

Korda birdied the 18th after bogeying 16 and 17. She birdied the first four holes and was 6 under after 11.

“A couple of weird shots there, especially on 17,” she said.

The winner last month in Thailand in her return from reconstructive jaw surgery, Korda reached the par-5 ninth with a driver from the right first cut. She hit driver off the deck twice two weeks in the Founders Cup.

“I actually caught way more air than I expected,” Korda said. “That’s kind of what I’m just trying to do is have fun out there, hit shots that normally I would probably not hit in a tournament.”

She travelling with a mini Goldendoodle puppy named Charlie.

“It’s so nice to have a puppy with you to distract you,” Korda said. “He’s so cute.”

Playing partner Lydia Ko, the 2016 winner, had a 70. She closed with a double bogey after finding the water fronting the green from the fairway bunker.

Jang birdied the final three holes for the last of her nine birdies.

“Any golf course straight ball is very important, but Mission Hills is more important,” she said.

Jang left the LPGA Tour in the middle of last season to return home to spend more time with her mother, left alone when she and her father were away. Her mother is visiting the U.S. for the first time this week.

“I’d like to play the LPGA again, but my mom’s more important than myself,” Jang said.

Valenzuela topped the seven amateurs in the field.

“I love this course,” Valenzuela said. “I feel really comfortable on it.”

Autistic brother Alexis is working as the Swiss Olympian’s caddie.

“I love having him on the bag,” she said.

Stacy Lewis had a 72 in her return from a rib injury sustained practising before the Thailand event. She won in 2011 at Mission Hills and lost a playoff to Brittany Lincicome in 2015.

Defending champion So Yeon Ryu failed to make a birdie in a 75.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Major championship golf returns to the California desert this week at the famed Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club for the 47th staging of the ANA Inspiration. The 117-player field includes 43 of the top 50 players in the world and all six winners from this season, competing for a $2.8 million purse and the chance to hoist the Dinah Shore Trophy and make the leap into Poppie’s Pond at week’s end. The ANA Inspiration marks the third week in the LPGA’s six-tournament West-Coast swing, which Golf Channel is airing LIVE in primetime.

At the dramatic 2017 ANA Inspiration, Lexi Thompson was leading on the final day before she was assessed a four-stroke penalty for a rules violation. Thompson fought back to force a playoff with So Yeon Ryu, where Ryu came out on top with a birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, to win her second major championship and capture her first victory on Tour since 2014.

Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson hopes to use her power off the tee (she ranks 13th on Tour with a driving average of 268.39 yards) as an advantage this week at Mission Hills, a venue that has been historically kind to longer hitters.

“Brittany Lincicome, Lexi (Thompson), they hit it a really long way, and they’ve won here or been close the last ten years very often, so there is something to that,” Henderson said. “I think it’s so they can reach the par 5s a little bit easier. I think if you can birdie all the par 5s every single day, you’re going to put yourself in a good position.”

At age 20, the five-time LPGA champion has already competed in the ANA Inspiration three times in her career, with her best finish coming in 2016 (T10).

“Coming down the stretch in a major championship, whether it’s on Friday trying to make the putt or Sunday on the back nine, that’s really where major championships are won,” added Henderson. “So try to keep the patience. If things aren’t going to go perfect, because at some point during the four days there’s going to be a rough patch, especially in a major championship. So just trying to persevere through that, stay patient, and when good things happen, hopefully take it on the run.”

Henderson will tee-it-up at 8:06 a.m. alongside fellow major winner In-Kyung Kim.

Click here for featured pairings.

The first step on the path toward the PGA TOUR begins this week at TPC Sawgrass, as 132 players take to the Dye’s Valley Course to earn status on the 2018 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Below are the details for the USA East Q-School #1, the second of five qualifying tournaments this season, along with storylines to follow this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

There are 12 Canadians among the athletes, including former National Amateur Squad members Matt Hill (Sarnia, Ont.), Austin James (Bath, Ont.) and Eric Banks (Truro, N.S.).

Winner of the Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit in 2012, Hill has spent time on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and the Web.com Tour in recent years. The North Carolina State product was the author of one of the greatest seasons in collegiate golf history in 2009, when he won the NCAA Championship, seven other individual tournament titles and the Jack Nicklaus Award as the country’s top collegiate golfer.

James was the 2016 Big South Conference Player of the Year, thanks to a win at the 2016 Big South Conference Championship, while competing at Charleston Southern University. James won the 2014 Canadian Junior Championship and made it to the quarterfinals of the 2016 U.S. Amateur.

CANADIANS IN THE FIELD

Eric Banks (Truro, N.S.)
Raoul Menard (Granby, Que.)
Max Gilbert (St-Georges, Que.)
Vincent Blanchette (St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que.)
Austin James (Bath, Ont.)
Matt Hill (Sarnia, Ont.)
Sameer Kalia (Campbellville, Ont.)
James Jones (Tampa, Fla.)
Branson Ferrier (Barrie, Ont.)
Andrew Jensen (Ottawa, Ont.)
Cooper Brown (Renfrew, Ont.)
Joseph D’Alfonso (Caledon, Ont.)

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Although he would have liked a different finish on Sunday at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, Corey Conners has many reasons to smile.

The 26-year-old Listowel, Ont., native began the day two strokes off the pace in second, but struggled in the finale with a 4-over 76, soured by a double-bogey on par-4 18th. This marks the second consecutive tournament where Conners’ showed his ability to rise to the top of leaderboards,  final-round struggles aside. He’ll leave Punta Cana with a T13 finish—his best on the PGA TOUR in his rookie campaign. It also marks the second consecutive top 20 finish for the Team Canada program graduate.

Conners was chasing champion Brice Garnett, who put the medal down in the finale to finish four strokes ahead of runner-up, completing the wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA Tour title.

Canada’s @coreyconners finishes T13 at the @CoralesChamp to collect his best finish on the #PGATOUR and second consecutive top 20 ????

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Mar 25, 2018 at 2:47pm PDT

Two strokes ahead after three late wind-blown bogeys Saturday, Garnett closed with a 2-under 70 in windy and rainy conditions for a four-stroke victory over Keith Mitchell.

“I slept good, actually,” Garnett said. “Surprisingly, I did. I woke up a little bit early, a little bit restless, but I was just excited for the day. We talked last night that obstacles were opportunities, so it’s fun.”

The 34-year-old Garnett, a two-time winner last year on the Web.com Tour, finished at 18-under 270. He opened with a 63 and added rounds of 69 and 70.

“I had a buddy text me this morning and said, ‘You’re the only guy in the field who’s won twice in the last year, so go get another one.’ Drew on a lot of those experiences. … It’s crazy. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of determination and a lot of support along the way.”

Mitchell followed a third-round 75 with a 67.

“When you get close to the lead on the PGA Tour, it’s an experience, it’s tough,” Mitchell said. “I’m not beating myself up for it, but I felt like today kind of showed me that I can do it.”

Garnett birdied the par-3 11th, parred the next seven and closed with a bogey.

“I just wanted to make nine pars on the back,” Garnett said. “I got off to a great start.”

He birdied Nos. 2-4, bogeyed Nos. 5-6 and birdied No. 7 on the front nine.

Kelly Kraft was third at 13 under after a 67.

“I thought this place was supposed to be paradise,” Kraft said. “It was not today. It was tough out there for sure. The wind was brutal and it rained like pretty much every hole except for my first few.”

Denny McCarthy (70) was 12 under. Harris English (70) and K.J. Choi (66) topped the group at 11 under.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo dropped out Friday, finishing last in the 132-man field in his PGA Tour debut. He shot 77-82 playing as an amateur on a sponsor exemption.

AUSTIN, Texas – Bubba Watson was in high spirits for someone with such low expectations at the Dell Technologies Match Play.

Walking to the sixth tee, already 2 up in his semifinal match against Justin Thomas, he smiled and said, “Just remember, I was beating No. 1 at some point.” Thomas only had to win that match to reach No. 1 in the world, and Watson figured that’s what would happen.

–It was about the only thing he got wrong Sunday.

Watson denied Thomas with a brand of golf that was close to flawless, and then he made the final look as though he were on vacation all along. Watson won his second World GolfChampionship with the biggest blowout since the title match switched to 18 holes in 2011, a 7-and-6 victory over Kevin Kisner.

He sure didn’t expect to play only 28 holes in two matches on the final day at Austin Country Club, lead after every one of them, and pose with the trophy.

“There’s stories all different directions that didn’t go the way I saw it,” he said. “It worked out in my favour. I’m glad I didn’t see it.”

Watson wasn’t as sharp in the final as he was in his 3-and-2 victory over Thomas, and didn’t have to be. If not for missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole of the championship match, Watson would have won the first seven holes.

After capturing his 11th career victory, @BubbaWatson discusses his huge @DellMatchPlay win. https://t.co/9Ai6rST987

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 25, 2018

Kisner contributed to that. After escaping in 19 holes against Alex Noren in the semifinals, in which Noren had putts of 10 feet and 7 feet on the last two holes to win, Kisner didn’t put up much of a fight. He made four straight bogeys, and only twice was putting for birdie through 10 holes.

“I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful,” Kisner said. “I’ve just got to forget this 12 holes and get back to working on the things that got me here.”

Watson never expected to be here, mainly because this fickle format is not his favourite. He reached the semifinals his first year in 2011 – losing to Martin Kaymer, the PGA champion, for Kaymer to go to No. 1 in the world – and only made it to the weekend once after that.

So he booked a family vacation for Sunday, and then had to change his plans, which was a good problem to have.

Watson won $1.7 million for his 11th career victory on the PGA Tour.

The tougher match was against Thomas, the PGA champion who was poised to replace Dustin Johnson at No. 1 in the world.

Watson went out to a 3-up lead on the front nine, and when Thomas closed to 1 down at the turn with his first birdie putt, Watson won two of the next three holes to regain control. Thomas didn’t make another birdie until the par-5 16th, and by then it was too late. Watson made his birdie from 3 feet for the win.

Thomas said he was too consumed with what was at stake in the semifinals – the No. 1 ranking.

“I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest. And I think you’re constantly getting questions about it with the media. But I need to be mentally stronger than that, and understand that it’s just a match.”

Noren beat Thomas in the consolation match, 5 and 3.

One year after Watson disappeared from among the elite in golf, he has won twice in his last four starts. He was No. 117 in the world when he arrived at Riviera, where he won for the third time in his career. With his 11th victory on the PGA Tour, he now is back up to No. 21.

And the two-time Masters champion added his name to the growing list of contenders at Augusta National.

“I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully I can get this focus and my putter rolling like it is,” Watson said.

Watson played 109 holes over seven matches, going to the 18th hole just once when he halved his match with Julian Suri on Friday.

Through it all, he said he wasn’t committed to only four or five shots. He was hitting high draws, low cuts, all the shots he created as a kid in the Florida Panhandle when he was just a boy with a club and a wild imagination.

He wouldn’t have imagined such an easy time against Kisner in the all-Georgia Bulldogs final that ended with the fabled “dog license” score in match play. A dog license in Britain used to cost seven shillings, six pence (referred to as 7 and 6).

Watson holed a 10-foot birdie on the opening hole, and then Kisner took care of the rest with four straight bogeys. Watson missed his short birdie putt to win the sixth hole, but not to worry. Kisner’s next shot bounced off a spectator’s head and next to a fence, and he had to chip off loose soil across the green for another bogey.

This can happen in match play, and Kisner saw it Saturday in his 8-and-6 victory over Ian Poulter.

Watson, finally, was on the winning end of it.

“It’s crazy to think about it,” Watson said. “I’ve got two World Golf Championships, and two majors. It’s unbelievable to think about that, giving my mom a hug. Six years old, having one golf club for a year, no lessons. I can sit here and make up stories all day, but it’s absolutely remarkable that I’m able to life a trophy like this.”

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Hugo Bernard wouldn’t go down without a fight on Sunday at the Azalea Invitational. The Team Canada National Amateur Squad member erased a two-stroke deficit to start the round, eventually forcing a three-man playoff at 11 under with Cole Hammer and Joseph Pagdin.

Bernard, a Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., native birdied two of his final four holes to force extra holes, but couldn’t hang on as America’s Hammer emerged victorious at the Country Club of Charleston.

Fellow Team Canada member and Quebec native Joey Savoie also cracked the top 10, finishing fifth at 6 under par (70-71-67-70). Amateur Squad teammate Josh Whalen of Napanne, Ont., finished T11 at even par (72-68-76-78).

Click here for full scoring.

AUSTIN, Texas – Justin Thomas was on antibiotics when he arrived in Texas and mustered enough strength for a short practice round that left him wondering how long he would last in the Dell Technologies Match Play, if at all.

“I had a pretty serious conversation with my dad on Monday if I was going to play,” Thomas said. “There were probably 15 or so people that watched me play nine holes. You find those 15 people and see if they thought I was ready to play in a golf tournament. Some of the shots I hit were pretty funny.”

His health improved. So has his golf.

And now Thomas is one match away from reaching No. 1 in the world and having a shot at his first World Golf Championships title.

Thomas made quick work of Si Woo Kim to win on the 13th hole Saturday morning, and then he pulled away from Kyle Stanley in the afternoon by winning three straight holes to start the back nine that carried him to a 2-and-1 victory.

Now he has a clear path – and a familiar one for Bubba Watson – to replace Dustin Johnson at No. 1 in the world.

Johnson didn’t win a match this week and will not get any world ranking points. That means Thomas only has to beat Watson in the semifinals Sunday morning to become the seventh American to top the world ranking.

“I don’t care when it happens,” Thomas said about going to No. 1. “I just hope it happens, and it happens for a while.”

It’s only fitting Watson stands in his way.

Miss anything from @DellMatchPlay?

Day 4 highlights right here ? pic.twitter.com/h1MuDvYFZX

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 25, 2018

Watson outlasted Brian Harman in a battle of Georgia southpaws and then won five of six holes to start the back nine to beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 5 and 3. That put him in the semifinals for the first time since his Match Play debut in 2011 when it was in Arizona.

That was the year the reigning PGA champion – Martin Kaymer – only had to beat Watson to reach No. 1 in the world. Kaymer won with an 8-foot par on the 18th hole.

“I guess I’m good at that,” Watson said. “If you want No. 1, just beat me, and you’ll be No. 1.”

Alex Noren extended his run at Austin Country Club by winning for the ninth time in his last 10 matches. His only loss was to Johnson a year ago in the quarterfinals, and he needed only 31 holes to beat Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith of Australia.

Noren and Thomas are the only semifinalists who have not lost a match this week.

Kevin Kisner reached the semifinals with a big putt and a big blowout. He made a birdie on the 18th hole to beat Matt Kuchar, and then matched the shortest match of the week with an 8-and-6 victory over Ian Poulter, who was disappointed for more than just losing.

“Probably didn’t see that one coming,” Kisner said. “I thought it was going to be a difficult match. Obviously, Ian’s match-play record speaks for itself. I got off to a good start making a few birdies. He made a few mistakes, and I was able to capitalize on those. And things just snowballed from there.”

Poulter was told after he beat Louis Oosthuizen in the morning that reaching the quarterfinals was enough for him to be in the top 50 at the end of the week, which would get him into the Masters. Moments later, he received a text that he needed to win his match against Kisner.

“I gave him no fight at all. It was rubbish,” said Poulter, who didn’t make a birdie.

The misinformation wasn’t to blame, though it clearly added to an all-around bad day at the office.

“Next time I won’t listen to other people. I’ll do my bit and focus better,” Poulter said. “I mean, I can’t put that down as an excuse. It would be an excuse if I said it. So it’s disappointing to be given the wrong information, but that wasn’t part of this afternoon.”

Kisner faces Noren, whom he knows from their college days – Kisner at Georgia, Noren at Oklahoma State.

Thomas (No. 2) and Noren (No. 13) are the only top seeds from the 16 groups who advanced to the semifinals. Noren has had a pair of close calls this year, losing in a playoff at Torrey Pines and finishing one shot out of a playoff that Thomas won at the Honda Classic.

Thomas knows what he’s up against. Watson, who won last month at Riviera, is looking very much like the two-time Masters champion again.

Watson has played the 18th hole just one time this week, a halve with Julian Suri that allowed him to avoid a playoff to advance. Reaching the semifinals was bittersweet in one respect – he was to leave the country Sunday morning for a family vacation.

That will have to wait.

Kiradech bogeyed the 10th and 11th to fall behind, and Watson birdied the next two holes to go 4 up, win the match and delay his vacation.

Why even book a flight on Sunday knowing he could reach the semifinals? Apparently, the flights were cheaper.

“I’ve never made it to Sunday at this golf course, so why not?” Watson said. “t’s a good problem to have, when you have to cancel stuff for an extra day. It’s well worth it to play on Sunday.”

So it will be a semifinal match between two players who at one time thought they wouldn’t be in Austin this long.

BILOXI, Miss. – Steve Stricker moved into position for his second straight PGA Tour Champions victory, shooting a 3-under 69 in gusting wind Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Rapiscan Systems Classic.

Stricker won the Cologuard Classic three weeks ago in Tucson, Arizona, for his first victory on the 50-and-over tour. He tied for 12th the following week in the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship.

“It was a tough day today. It was a grind out there,” Stricker said. “The wind made it very difficult. The greens are very quick, you just had to hit some shots. I made a couple putts on the back side that got things going a bit for me, so in a good spot heading into tomorrow.”

Stricker had a 7-under 137 total at Fallen Oak, the Tom Fazio-designed layout with big, speedy greens. First-round leader Joe Durant followed his opening 66 with a 72 to drop into a tie for second with Jeff Sluman (67). Stephen Ames (68) and Billy Andrade (70) were 5 under.

Today was a good day for @StephenAmesPGA ?

He’s T4 at the @RapiscanClassic, 2 off the lead ?? pic.twitter.com/bMhYDaWVNF

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 25, 2018

Stricker bogeyed Nos. 2-3, rebounded with birdies on Nos. 6-7, birdied the par-4 12th and ran in a 75-footer for eagle on the par-5 13th.

“Just trying to get it up there in a 3-foot circle, really, around that hole,” Stricker said about the eagle. “The wind was blowing pretty good at the time, and there’s a lot of variables. Up the hill, it had a pretty big break to it. Just tried to lag it up there. Sometimes those are the ones that you end up making.”

The 51-year-old Wisconsin player has six top-three finishes in eight career senior starts, tying for second behind Durant in the Chubb Classic last month in Naples, Florida.

“I don’t feel as much pressure, but still feel the pressure to try to win,” Stricker said. “It will be a challenge tomorrow for everybody who’s up around the lead. I think we’re going to get a little breezy day again tomorrow and the greens are still fast.”

Durant had an early double bogey and bogey.

“It was tough,” Durant said. “The wind was gusty and the greens were fast, so that combination makes it really difficult.”

The 60-year-old Sluman won the last of his six senior titles in 2014.

“Very, very difficult,” Sluman said. “I think our officials did a great job of setting the golf course up. We had a few tees up on really long holes that were into the wind.”

Mark Calcavecchia, a stroke back after a first-round 67, had a 75 that left him tied for eighth at 2 under.

Two-time defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez was tied for 45th at 4 over after a 76.