Canadian Corey Conners takes 2-stroke lead into the weekend at Valspar
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian Corey Conners knew Tiger Woods had finished his second round at Innisbrook because he couldn’t see him. He was only about 50 yards from the ninth green, but there were too many fans covering every inch of grass, packed in a dozen deep because of Woods.
Woods brought the Valspar Championship to life Friday with his best round of a comeback that is building momentum toward the Masters.
Conners was happy to play a quiet round in the afternoon and wind up with the lead.
The rookie from Listowel, Ont., ran off three birdies before a careless error set him back, and he finished with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend. Right on his heels was Woods, who kept a clean card until his final hole and shot 68.
That’ll work, @coreconn ?
He leads the @ValsparChamp by 2 ??? pic.twitter.com/wtx4DkODDg
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 9, 2018
Conners was on the putting green when Woods and his entourage – officials, security, media and stragglers – walked along the edge of the green, in front of another group waiting to tee off on No. 1 and toward the scoring area.
“I definitely saw that,” Conners said. “I’ve seen that the last few days as well. Pretty cool. Hopefully, I can be in a position where I get some followers Sunday.”
Until that moment, the closest Conners ever got to Woods was at the Masters three years ago when he watched him on the range. Conners played at Augusta National that year as the U.S. Amateur runner-up.
Being close to him on the leaderboard is an entirely different dynamic.
Conners was at 6-under 136 and will play in the final group with Paul Casey, who had a 68. This marks the first time Conners has held the 36-hole lead/co-lead in 21 career starts on the PGA TOUR. Before this week, Conners’ best position after any round on the PGA TOUR was T21 at The Honda Classic two weeks ago (T59).
Conners is the first player since Marc Leishman (2017 BMW Championship) to hold the solo lead in both the first and second rounds at a PGA TOUR event.
Woods and Brandt Snedeker (68) will be in the group in front of them, with thousands of fans lining the fairways and surrounding the greens.
“I don’t think this will be leading, but at least I’m there with a chance going into the weekend,” Woods said when he finished. “Today was a good day.”
Defending champion Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was five shots back.
Woods has been slowed by mistakes, some leading to big numbers. The second round at Innisbrook was all about control of his shots that rarely put him out of position off the tee and especially on the green, where he could attack putts from below the hole.
He took the lead with a drive that was heading left, struck a cart path and caromed back into the fairway on his 14th hole, the par-5 fifth. That set up a long iron into the front right bunker and a delicate shot from the sand to about 5 feet for his fourth birdie of the round.
He saved par with a 12-foot putt on No. 7 and was heading toward a bogey-free round until his wedge on the par-5 ninth rode the shifting wind to the right and into the gallery, his ball on a woman’s bag. After getting a drop, his chip came out too strong and hit the flag, leaving it only 6 feet away.
He missed the putt and didn’t seem all that bothered.
Just over five months ago, Woods still didn’t have clearance to begin hitting full shots, much less to play without restrictions. In his fourth PGA Tour event in seven weeks, he looks like a contender.
“I’ve come a long way in that span of time,” Woods said.
The energy in the gallery was enormous, especially for this sleepy tournament, and toward the end of the round the fans were looking for any reason to cheer.
“The roars are a little louder, and there’s certainly an energy about the gallery that you don’t have anywhere else,” Jordan Spieth said.
Spieth missed the cut for the second time this year. He is still trying to rediscover his putting touch, and his iron game left him in an opening round of 76. He didn’t fare much better on Friday with two birdies, two bogeys, a 71 and a phone call to get back to Dallas sooner than he wanted.
“I’ve played with Tiger many times. It’s nothing new,” Spieth said. “It kind of feels like you’re playing in a major championship in a normal round, which if anything should bring out better golf for me. I just got way off on my iron play, with putting not improving either. That’s how you shoot over par.”
Henrik Stenson, the other major champion in the group, had another 74 and missed the cut. Also headed home was Rory McIlroy, who shot 73 and missed the cut for the second time in four starts on the PGA Tour this year.
McIlroy played with Woods in December before his return and was alarmed at how good he looked. He said Woods never missed a shot when they played.
“I’d seen this three months ago,” McIlroy said. “So yeah, he’s playing great. I’d love to be here for the weekend to be in contention, but I’ll be an interested observer watching TV over the weekend, see how it unfolds.”
Casey holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 68, putting him in good shape going into the weekend. Casey has gone nearly four years since his last victory.
He was on the opposite side of the course as Woods, though he could hear him.
“Feels like the old days,” Casey said.
Woods never really saw his name on the board. Whenever he glanced at the video board, it was showing Spieth or Stenson putting and their statistics. But he could sense from the crowd that everything was going his way.
“To play myself into contention this early into it was nice, and on top of that, to build on what I did a week ago,” he said, referring to the Honda Classic when he was on the fringe of contention going to the final nine holes. “I feel comfortable out there.”
Credit Valley Golf & Country Club to host PGA Championship of Canada
ACTON, Ont. – The PGA Championship of Canada presented by TaylorMade and adidas Golf heads to the venerable Credit Valley Golf and Country Club this June.
The Mississauga, Ont., venue plays host to the PGA of Canada’s oldest and most beloved national championship, June 25-29.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to bring the PGA Championship of Canada presented by TaylorMade and adidas back to Credit Valley Golf and Country Club,” said PGA of Canada president Steve Wood. “Credit Valley has been a long-time supporter of both the PGA of Canada member and the association’s national championships.”
Credit Valley last hosted the PGA Championship of Canada 25-years ago in 1993, which was won by 12-time PGA TOUR winner Steve Stricker. The club has also recently hosted two PGA Women’s Championships (2010 and 2016) and a PGA Seniors’ Championship in 2015.
“Our members are very excited to host PGA of Canada top players from across the country in this year’s PGA of Canada Championship,” said Credit Valley’s chief operating officer and PGA of Canada executive professional Ian Webb. “Much has changed in the 25 years since Steve Stricker’s win, but with recent course and practice facility renovations, we have no doubt the players are in for a real treat.”
Ranked No. 80 on SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Courses in Canada for 2016, Credit Valley traces its golfing beginning back to 1930. Ontario’s then Lieutenant Governor, W.D. Ross, commissioned that a nine-hole course be built on the original property which was located where the driving range and parking lot now stand. Since its original design by Stanley Thompson in 1930, the club most recently underwent renovations to the course including changes to the first five holes, the 10th hole and a complete bunker renovation. In addition, in 2016, the Credit Valley redesigned its practice facility, which now includes 65,000 square feet of bent grass tee decks, eight target greens, a target fairway, two practice bunkers, a short game area, three putting greens and a dedicated teaching area, making it among the best practice facilities in Canada.
Credit Valley was also home to PGA of Canada Hall of Fame member Al Balding, a four-time winner of the PGA Championship of Canada.
Re-launched in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada was contested strictly as a match play event through 2014 with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy. However, the 2015 championship at Cabot Links saw a format change, with 64 top-ranked players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC playing two rounds of stroke play. The top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event filled out the four match-play brackets with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.
This year’s championship at Credit Valley follows the same format.
At last year’s championship at Deer Ridge Golf Club in Kitchener, Ont., Jean-Philip Cornellier sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of the final match, outduelling Bryn Parry, to win 2-up.
“This is just a great feeling to have my first win as a professional come at the PGA Championship of Canada,” Cornellier said after the win at Deer Ridge. “It means a lot to me to have my name on the same trophy as so many legends.”
Cornellier looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the championship since Knudson won in 1976 and 1977.
In addition to Cornellier, past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada include Moe Norman, George Knudson, Marc-Etienne Bussieres, Danny King, Dave Levesque, Eric Laporte, Bryn Parry, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Steve Stricker, Tim Clark, Lanny Wadkins, Jim Rutledge, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.
The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.
Canadian Conners in lead after first round of Valspar Championship
ALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian rookie Corey Conners didn’t seem too bothered by the tough swirling wind at Innisbrook on Thursday.
The Listowel, Ont., native, who got into the Valspar Championship field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.
Innisbrook produced the highest average score for the opening round – 72.86 – of the 23 courses used this season. But Conners managed just fine, taking advantage of a tournament he wasn’t sure he would be playing.
✅Enter as alternate
✅Shoot 67
✅Lead the @ValsparChampHave a day, @coreconn ??pic.twitter.com/C7YXp3QUoc
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 8, 2018
He went through Monday qualifying and shot 71, but moments after walking off the course, he was told he got in as an alternate.
“Kind of had a mindset of trying to take advantage of a good break, I guess,” he said.
Conners, 26, was quick to thank the Canadian National Team program for its role in his development.
“I was on the development team and the amateur team my junior and amateur career. I started when I was 17, I believe, and then I turned professional a couple years ago and I’ve been a part of the young pro program up until this year…”
Conners graduated the Young Pro Squad program—an initiative put in place by Golf Canada to help the nation’s top-performing athletes in their transition to the professional ranks.
“They’re helping out some younger guys trying to get some more guys out on the PGA TOUR. That program has been amazing in the development and given me so many opportunities to train and get better. The resources that they have are awesome.”
Tiger Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 per cent of the field – to break par.
Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour events ago because of back surgeries.
This was his first time playing the Valspar Championship, and it got his attention.
“I enjoy when par is a good score. It’s a reward,” Woods said. “There are some tournaments when about four holes you don’t make a birdie, you feel like you’re behind. Today, made a couple of birdies, all of a sudden puts me fourth, fifth, right away. That’s how hard it is.”
It was like for everybody, especially Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
Spieth, who won at Innisbrook in a playoff in 2015, didn’t make a birdie after the par-5 opening hole and shot a 76. Only six other players had a higher score. Rory McIlroy, who like Woods was making his debut in this event, played in the morning and shot 74.
Henrik Stenson, who played with Spieth and Woods, also shot 74.
Watney holed a bunker shot on the par-4 16th, made the turn and had an eagle on the first hole.
“Maybe I need to steal a few shots here and there and get some good things going,” said Watney, winless since August 2012.
Walker (69) and past Innisbrook champion Luke Donald (70) managed to go bogey-free, a rarity on a day like this. Also at 70 were Justin Rose, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Steve Stricker, who won last week on the PGA Tour Champions.
Last year’s champion, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 71. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor shot 73’s and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 75.
Woods is playing his fourth PGA Tour event since returning from fusion surgery on his lower back, his fourth surgery since the spring of 2014. He has shown steady progress, and this might have been his most steady performance, even with four bogeys. Those were inevitable.
One of the came at the par-3 fourth, when he was fooled by the wind and sent his tee shot sailing. It was next to a tree that Woods had to straddle just to advance toward the green. He also came up well short on the 12th into a strong wind.
“Into the wind, it felt like you just hit walls,” he said.
Woods got within two shots of the lead by ripping a long iron from the top collar of a bunker on the par-5 11th and using the slope to chip close for a tap-in birdie. He dropped shots on the next two holes, going short into the wind on No. 12 and over the green with the wind at his back on No. 13.
The only unnerving moment came at the 16th, when he tugged his iron off the tee into the trees. Woods realized he would hit the tree on his follow through, asking the gallery – thousands of them – to be careful in case the club snapped. He had to take it toward the lake on the right and bend it back to the left, and it came off perfectly.
But it looked painful.
Because he had to generate so much club speed, his left forearm and hands struck the oak and Woods dropped the club and winced on impact.
“It didn’t feel very good,” he said.
Woods followed with a 5-iron that rolled just right of the cup for a tap-in birdie and finished with a long two-putt par after getting fooled again by the shifting wind.
“This is a tough golf course. Not too often in Florida do you find elevation. Great driving golf course,” Woods said. “I asked Henrik, ‘What do you around this golf course when there’s no wind here?’ He said it’s still a hell of a test. We can all see that.”
The R&A and USGA release 2017 distance study
The R&A and the USGA have completed the annual review of driving distance in golf, producing a research report that documents and evaluates important findings from the 2017 season.
Introduced in 2015, the annual report examines driving distance data from seven of the major worldwide professional golf tours, based on nearly 300,000 drives per year. The data from studies of male and female amateur golfers is also included.
The 2015 and 2016 editions of the distance report presented the increases in driving distance since 2003 as a slow creep of around 0.2 yards per year. The 2017 data shows a deviation from this trend. The average distance gain across the seven worldwide tours was more than 3 yards since 2016.
As noted in previous annual reports, variability in driving distance of 4 or more yards from season to season on any one tour is not uncommon. However, this level of increase across so many tours in a single season is unusual and concerning and requires closer inspection and monitoring to fully understand the causes and effects.
As the review of this issue progresses, The R&A and the USGA remain committed to the spirit of the 2002 Joint Statement of Principles which recognise that distance impacts many aspects of golf and that any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable.
Increases in distance can contribute to demands for longer, tougher and more resource-intensive golf courses at all levels of the game. These trends can impact the costs to operate golf courses and put additional pressures on golf courses in their local environmental landscape. The effect of increasing distance on the balance between skill and technology is also a key consideration. Maintaining this balance is paramount to preserving the integrity of golf.
Building on the extensive research we have undertaken in recent years, we will conduct a thoughtful conversation about the effects of distance prior to making any specific proposals. We remain open-minded and our absolute priority is to ensure that all key stakeholders are involved in an open and inclusive process and that we move forward together in the best interests of golf at all levels. There is no fixed timetable but we will commence this process immediately and endeavour to reach a conclusion as promptly as possible.
In conjunction with the publication of the 2017 distance research report, The R&A and USGA are carrying out a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of increased distance on both the playing and overall health of golf.
The R&A and the USGA intend to consolidate previous work conducted by the two organisations, as well as others in the golf industry, regarding the effect of distance on the footprint and playing of the game, conduct new research on these same topics to augment the current state of knowledge of the issues, and, most importantly, in the coming months, engage with stakeholders throughout the golf industry to develop a comprehensive understanding of perspectives on distance. Additional information on this stakeholder engagement will be made available in due course.
Ultimately, The R&A and the USGA remain steadfastly committed to ensuring a sustainable and enjoyable future for golf.
Download the 2017 Distance Report.
Mickelson ends drought with playoff win in Mexico; Hadwin finishes T9
MEXICO CITY – Phil Mickelson ended the longest drought of his career with a playoff victory Sunday over Justin Thomas in the Mexico Championship, capping off a final round of lustrous cheers in thin air that included Thomas holing a wedge for eagle on the final hole of regulation.
Mickelson, who closed with a 5-under 66, won for the first time since the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a stretch of 101 tournaments worldwide.
“I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Mickelson said. “I knew it was going to be soon – I’ve been playing too well for it not to be. But you just never know until it happens.”
Thomas was coming off a playoff victory at the Honda Classic last week, and he delivered the biggest moment at Chapultepec Golf Club. Tied for the lead, his shot to the 18th from 119 yards landed in front of the pin and spun back into the hole for an eagle and a 64.
It almost was too good to be true. Thomas, who said Thursday he had never felt worse over the ball, had a 62-64 weekend and suddenly had a two-shot lead.
Mickelson, who turns 48 in June, responded with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th and a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to tie Thomas.
Tyrrell Hatton, playing in the final group with Mickelson, was stride for stride. He capped off a 3-3-3-3 stretch on the back nine with an eagle at the 15th. But on the final hole, Hatton missed the green to the right, chipped 10 feet by and missed the par putt for a 67 to fall out of a playoff.
The sudden-death playoff – the sixth in eight PGA Tour events this year – didn’t last long.
Thomas went long on the par-3 17th hole and chipped to just inside 10 feet. Mickelson’s 18-foot birdie putt for the victory swirled around the cup, more agony for a 47-year-old who has seen plenty of it since his last victory.
Thomas, however, never got his par attempt on the right line.
They finished at 16-under 268.
Adam Hadwin (66) of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for ninth at 10 under.
.@ahadwingolf put up a 5-under 66 on Sunday to finish inside the top 10 @WGCMexico ???? pic.twitter.com/2fWY1K8nEe
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) March 5, 2018
Mickelson won his third World Golf Championships title and, just a month after being on the verge of falling out of the top 50 in the world for the first time in two decades, moves to No. 18 in the world.
Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India who started with a two-shot lead, didn’t make his first birdie until the 12th hole. He finished with consecutive bogeys for a 74, six shots behind in a three-way tie for ninth. That will leave him on the bubble at No. 66 in the world for making it back to the next World Golf Championship, the Dell Match Play, in three weeks in Texas. Sharma first flies home for the Hero Indian Open next week.
Hatton tied for third with Rafa Cabrera Bello, who holed a bunker shot for eagle on the opening hole and was among six players who had at least a share of the lead.
Mickelson was the first player who appeared to seize control with a birdie on No. 10 to take the lead, and facing a reachable par 5 and a drivable par 4.
Instead, Lefty made it as entertaining as ever.
Going for the green in light rough with the ball below his feet, he hooked it deep into the bushes right of the green, and played his next one when he could barely see the golf ball. That stayed in the trees, and his fourth shot narrowly missed another tree before settling 10 feet away. He made bogey, and just like that, it was a sprint to the finish 7,800 feet above sea level.
Brian Harman and Kiradech Aphibarnrat both had chances until dropping shots at the wrong time.
Thomas made a bogey on the 17th hole twice on Sunday. He missed a 5-foot par putt in regulation that dropped him out of the lead, only to respond with the perfect shot at the right time. It just wasn’t good enough.
Mickelson, now with 43 victories on the PGA Tour and 46 around the world, made good on his pledge earlier this year that more victories were in store for him. He has four consecutive top 10s for the first time since 2005.
That also was the last time he had won in a playoff.
It all seems so long ago – playoffs, trophies, consistent play. Now he’s just more than a month away from the Masters, and feeling invigorated.
And feeling like a winner.
Henderson ties for 2nd at Women’s World Championship
SINGAPORE – Canadian Brooke Henderson closed out another strong performance with a bogey-free 67 on Sunday to share 2nd place at the Women’s World Championship.
Sunday marked the second-straight bogey-free round for the Smiths Falls, Ont., product, who notched her third top-10 performance in four events this LPGA season.
Henderson birdied four of her first eight holes to move up the leaderboard but could not get another birdie putt to drop in until the final hole when it was too late for her to catch the champion Michelle Wie.
A bogey-free final round for @BrookeHenderson at @HSBC_Sport!
Watch highlights: pic.twitter.com/EMBhCxYoe0
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 4, 2018
Michelle Wie holed a 36-foot putt from off the green on the final hole to win the championship, her first LPGA tournament since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.
With four players in contention to win on the last hole, Wie managed to separate herself from the pack when she drained her lengthy birdie putt on the 72nd hole at the Sentosa Golf Club for a final round of 7-under 65 to finish at 17-under 271.
The 28-year-old Wie, who led the tournament after three rounds a year ago before fading on the last day, leaped into the air and clenched her fist in celebration as the ball disappeared into the bottom of the cup.
But she still faced an anxious wait before being declared the champion.
“Winning is everything. I mean, there is no better feeling than when you think you sink that winning putt. It’s a high, for sure,” Wie said.
“You go out there, and it’s this feeling that gets you going. It’s this feeling that makes you practice. It’s that winning putt that makes you practice for hours and hours and hours, and even the hard times, it gets you going back. You know that good feeling is on the other side.”
Third-round leader Nelly Korda parred her last 8 holes in a row. The 19-year-old, who only joined the LPGA Tour last year, hit a superb approach into the 18th to set up a birdie opportunity that would have forced a playoff but missed her 8-foot putt and settled for a final-round 71.
“I had a bunch of putts that were really close and a lot of them lipped and burned edges. It definitely hurts, but that’s golf,” Korda said.
“There’s going to be another tournament. There’s going to be another feeling like this. Just have to keep going forward”.
Danielle Kang, last year’s Singapore winner, parred her last 14 holes and was unable to drain a longer birdie putt on the last to miss out on a playoff as she closed with a 70. Korda and Kang finished in a four-way tie for second at 16-under, alongside Jenny Shin (65) and Brooke Henderson (67).
“I couldn’t capitalize on those holes, which was kind of disappointing,” Kang said. “But other than that, struck the ball well and I hung in there. So she (Wie) dropped the bomb on the last. I heard it from a hole back.”
Shin held the outright lead when she teed off at the last after reeling off eight birdies between the sixth and 16th holes, but she dropped back to 16-under when she made her only bogey of the day on the final hole.
“The nerves got me, maybe,” Shin said. “Not sure if I would have made that mistake on many other holes. Oh, well.”
Plagued by injuries since capturing her first major at Pinehurst, North Carolina in 2014, Wie started Sunday’s final round five strokes off the pace and needing to shoot low after Sei Young Kim set the bar high, flirting with a 59 before settling for a course record of 10-under 62.
Wie made a strong start with three birdies on the front nine then added three more in her first five holes after the turn before saving her best for last when the pressure was at its most suffocating.
“It’s been a tough journey since 2014. I think it’s been kind of well documented. You know, I’ve had some injuries, had a really bad year, just lost a lot of confidence,” Wie said.
“But I’m just really proud of myself for pulling myself out of it. I felt like I had a good year last year, a year where I built confidence, and I just want to keep building confidence from there.”
Hamilton, Ont., native Alena Sharp carded a final-round 76 to finish the tournament at 8 over par in a tie for 60th.
Henderson surges into tie for 3rd on moving day in Singapore
SINGAPORE – Canadian Brooke Henderson came out of the gate firing in Saturday’s third round and never looked back, carding a bogey-free 65 to surge into a tie for 3rd at the Women’s World Championship.
Henderson, a Smiths Falls, Ont., product, climbed 12 spots on the strength of seven birdies to play her way into Sunday’s final group at the Sentosa Golf Club.
“It was a great day out there, a lot of birdies. I had nine putts on the back nine, which is really awesome, especially for me, so I’m really happy about that,” said Henderson. “Just a great day and got up-and-down when I needed to and climbed the leaderboard as much as I did today, I’m very happy on moving day.”
The 20-year-old trails the 54-hole leader Nelly Korda by four strokes heading into the finale.
“Yeah, I mean, hopefully I’m within striking distance going into tomorrow, and just keep doing what I’ve been doing all week, try it make as many birdies as possible and get off to a fast start,” added Henderson. “There’s a lot of birdie opportunities, especially the first five holes. So just get off to a quick start and see what happens after that.”
.@BrookeHenderson cruises into contention after firing a round of 65 ?
Check out her highlights here: #HWWC pic.twitter.com/UKMfOpZmxS
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 3, 2018
Korda, whose sister Jessica won the LPGA Tour event in Thailand last week, leapfrogged 36-hole leader Danielle Kang on the heels of a 7-under 65. Kang sits one back in solo possession of 2nd place.
Korda will look to become the second sister pairing in history to both win on the LPGA Tour.
“It would definitely be really exciting, but I can’t think about it too much. I’m just going to relax and take it shot by shot.
Henderson, Korda and Kang will tee off on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., jumped to a red-hot start with a 6-under front nine, before slipping on the back with four bogeys, leaving her with a 70 on the day (-2). Sharp sits in a tie for 57th at 4 over par.
Click here for full scoring.
Leslie Dunning: Golf is a game for everyone
If ever there was a right person at the right time, it must be Leslie Dunning.
Dunning, Golf Canada’s new president, couldn’t have constructed a more appropriate resume for the position if she had started with it in mind all her life.
Golf credentials? Check.
She was introduced to the game by a forward-thinking teacher at her high school in Mississauga, Ont., who wanted to provide her students with skills they could use throughout life. Unlike team sports, golf could be enjoyed as an individual.
“That gave me confidence,” she recalled during a conversation following her ascendance to the presidency in February. “I don’t think I would have ever stepped on a golf course if I hadn’t had that early exposure to the game.”
Based on her experience, Dunning understandably is a strong proponent of Golf Canada’s Future Links and Golf in Schools program. “I would like to see a [Golf in Schools] kit in every school in the country and that every golf course is connected to at least one school.”
After moving to Calgary with her husband Neill in 1991, she became involved in the junior program at Earl Grey Golf Club where they are members.
Appropriate related background? Check.
Dunning holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Queen’s University. She is a chartered professional accountant and certified management accountant. She was selected to the Governor-General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, was Canada’s representative on the World Health Organization’s study to the Navaho Reserve, and was named an honoured alumna by the University of Waterloo.
Volunteerism? Check.
Dunning first volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross as a high-school student. That continued as she moved on to the University of Waterloo. After graduation, she joined the international humanitarian organization full-time, serving more than 36 years in various senior positions. When she retired in 2014, she was Director General, Violence and Abuse Prevention, for Canada.
Her involvement at Earl Grey led to positions on the club captain’s committee and subsequently various roles as a volunteer with Alberta Golf, including serving as president in 2007 and 2008. It was during 2008 that she was asked to assist in Golf Canada’s governance reform efforts. The following year, she was elected to Golf Canada’s Board of Directors as the first Provincial Council Chair. Since then, she has served on and chaired many of the national association’s committees.
Since achieving her national Rules of Golf certification, she has officiated at numerous local, provincial and national events.
Understanding of golf’s challenges? Check.
While with the Canadian Red Cross, Dunning championed significant initiatives such as Indigenous engagement and cross-cultural training. That experience stood her in good stead as she was selected to lead a Golf Canada working group to develop the association’s new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
“There is tremendous diversity among golfers and there are numerous diverse groups that have organized themselves to play golf,” she said in her speech to the Golf Canada annual general meeting in Calgary. “We want to engage with these groups, learn what they are doing, how we might support them and what we might do together. As we identify these groups, we will reach out to build relationships with them, helping us to understand their needs and interests. It is our aim to create greater relevancy to more golfers and ensure welcoming environments for all.”
This outreach is not just to golfers, prospective Golf Canada members who want to play the game, Dunning said in our interview, but to welcome those who would like to get involved as volunteers, officials, on provincial and national committees and Boards, etc.
“Two of our Board’s main objectives are to make sure that Golf Canada is relevant and sustainable. Inclusion will help to ensure that programs and services are relevant to all golfers and financial health will help to ensure sustainability for the future. We understand that our focus on priorities such as diversity and inclusion isn’t just like flicking a light switch. It’s a real cultural shift. And we are committed to that purpose.”
When we spoke, Dunning was in Florida getting ready to head to a meeting. When asked if that meeting was on the first tee at a nearby golf course, she chuckled. “No, it’s not.”
Actually, she was heading out to tour a golf development centre and then attending the annual meeting of the United States Golf Association.
“You’re the president for only one year so I am trying to make sure that every day I’m doing something to grow the game of golf in Canada. That’s my mantra.”
Dedicated? Driven? Absolutely.
Henderson tied for 15th at mid-way point of World Championship
SINGAPORE – The distraction of a chipped tooth proved to be no problem for Danielle Kang as she shot an 8-under 64 to take a four-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Women’s World Championship on Friday.
Kang, who won last year’s Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title, equaled the course record at the Sentosa Golf Club to lead the LPGA tournament at 12-under 132.
“Never too bad to tie a course record,” Kang said. “That’s interesting to hear. I like that.”
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., carded an even-par 72 in Friday’s second round, leaving her in a tie for 15th. The 20-year-old will give chase to the leaders on moving day, teeing off at 8:30 a.m. local time.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is T62 at 6 over par (75-75).
Nelly Korda, whose sister Jessica won the LPGA Tour event in Thailand last week, had a 66 to be tied for second with fellow American Alex Marina (67) while Minjee Lee (66), Cristie Kerr (67) and Chella Choi (69) were a further stroke back at 7-under.
Kang, who discovered she had broken a tooth after falling asleep while stretching before shooting a 68 in Thursday’s opening round, had eight birdies, four on the front nine and another four after rounding the turn, to post her second straight bogey-free round.
“(My) game is coming easy right now. There are lots of birdies out there. I’m more focused on being present and just hitting the shots. I’m hitting it well, rolling the putt well. So I’m not really worried about the results of how those shots come out. It feels like just a cruising day.”
Kang said her cracked tooth was not painful, but she could still feel it each time she swung the club.
“Every time I hit a shot, I’m like, it keeps scratching – it’s raw here, but it’s OK. I just don’t chew on this side. I’ll be fine,” she said.
“My dentist told me, I’ve chipped another one before, and he said, ‘You don’t break it at that moment’. It’s been broken and it just chips off. So I don’t know how it broke.”
Korda birdied four of her last six holes as she bids to emulate her siblings by winning tournaments this year. Apart from Jessica winning in Thailand with a tournament-record total of 25-under last week, their brother Sebastian won the Australian Open junior boys’ singles tennis title in Melbourne in January.
Their father is 1998 Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda.
“We obviously have a little bit of a sibling rivalry, but everything is very friendly,” Korda said. “ She (Jessica) does make me want to be a better player, and seeing her win last week after the tough off-season she’s had was definitely very inspiring, and hopefully I can step my game up this week and take it home, but we’ll see.”
Jessica Korda (70) reached the halfway point at 6-under, level with Austin Ernst (67), Lizette Salas (67), Charley Hull (68) and Ha Na Jang (68), while several other big names lost ground.
Top-ranked Shanshan Feng finished at 4-under after a second consecutive 70 while Michelle Wie lost ground with a 73 and overnight leader Jennifer Song stumbled with a 75, including a quadruple-bogey eight on the par-4 third.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin sits T21 in Mexico
MEXICO CITY – Two of the European Tour’s hottest players brought their best golf to their first World Golf Championship.
Louis Oosthuizen, a world-class player for the better part of a decade, drilled a long iron into 4 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th and had birdies on two of the short par 4s at Chapultepec Golf Club for a 7-under 64 in the Mexico Championship on Thursday.
Right behind were two players unfamiliar to the world stage, though they sure didn’t play like it.
Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India and the only two-time winner on the European Tour this season, holed an eagle chip after making the turn and finished with a wedge into 2 feet for birdie and a 65.
“I was very nervous in the morning, but very happy with the way I put it all together,” Sharma said.
Chris Paisley of England, who followed his victory in the South African Open with a pair of top 5s against strong fields in the Middle East, had his name atop the leaderboard for most of the warm afternoon until he came up short of the 16th and made his lone bogey in a round of 65.
“After the win in SA, I didn’t want to just be happy with winning. I wanted to kind of press on and that’s what I did,” Paisley said. “I’m taking that attitude into the rounds, as well. If you get defensive or you back off at all against players like you’ve got this week, then you’ve got no chance of winning.”
Sharma won his first European Tour event late last year at the Joburg Open, also played at altitude, and then last month he closed with a 62 to win the Malaysian Open. He was in Oman and Qatar before coming over to Mexico, and fatigue was hardly an issue, even walking the hilly course at nearly 7,800 feet above sea level.
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Players representing SIX different nations are in the top 10 @WGCMexico.
Check out the highlights from Round 1. ? pic.twitter.com/mpW85GfeG8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2018
“I’m actually relaxed now. I just wanted the first round to get out of the way,” Sharma said. “You’re always very happy when you start with such a low round, especially for me. This is such a big event. I would say this is taking some pressure off me, playing well on this course.”
Xander Schauffele also was at 65, while Rafael Cabrera Bello and Kiradech Aphibarnrat were at 66. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 1-under 70 to tie for 23rd.
This World Golf Championship lived up to its name for at least one day. The top six on the leaderboard came from South Africa, England, India, Spain and Thailand. The lone American, Schauffele, has a German father with French heritage and a mother who was born in Taiwan and raised in Japan.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson opened with a 69, the kind of round that showed that a slightly softer Chapultepec allowed for low scoring, but there were big mistakes equally available. Johnson found that out on No. 14, his fifth hole of the round. From a cluster of trees, Johnson hit one of them and knew he was in trouble when he could hear the ball go through bushes on the other side of the boundary fence.
Johnson had another shot disappear under a tower. He made six birdies for the round.
“I had some really good holes, I had some really bad holes,” Johnson said. “I felt like I was just struggling all day. But I did putt pretty well. When I did have good looks, I made them, which definitely kept my score at least respectable. The way I hit it, I probably should not have shot 2 under.”
Bubba Watson, coming off a victory at Riviera, also had a 69 and had reason to feel even worse. He was leading at 7 under until running off four bogeys in a six-hole stretch at the end of his round.
Justin Thomas didn’t carry over his best form from last week’s playoff victory at the Honda Classic. He opened with a 72, leaving him eight shots out of the lead.
“It’s probably the worst I’ve ever felt over the ball in my life,” Thomas said.
He played with Johnson and Jon Rahm, who also had enough mistakes to limit him to a 67. Rahm ran off three straight birdies early in the round, but on the par-5 15th, he drove right into the trees and had no option but to pitch out sideways. Then, he sailed his third shot over the green into the bunker, leading to bogey. He also three-putted for bogey on the front nine, though he had plenty of firepower, which was good for Mexico.
Rahm has pledged $3,000 for every eagle and $1,000 for every birdie to relief efforts from the earthquake in Mexico. One round in, the tally is $6,000. Also at 67 was Pat Perez, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Thursday.
Jordan Spieth, who didn’t decide to play until late last week, opened with a 70.