RICHMOND, Va. – Bernhard Langer made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole Sunday to overcome a mediocre round and win the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, the first event in the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

Langer, even par for the day before getting to the easiest hole on The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course, beat Scott Verplank by one shot. Verplank, playing two groups ahead of Langer, shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to erase a five-shot deficit, but missed short birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes.

Langer followed his second-round 63 with a 70 to finish at 16 under. The victory was the sixth this season and 35th on the tour for the 60-year-old Langer, and clinched the top seed in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.

And there it is!@BernhardLanger6 makes EAGLE on the 18th to defeat Scott Verplank by 1 shot at the @DECCGolf.#SchwabCup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/VLMT1RjCnR

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 22, 2017

Billy Mayfair (65), Kenny Perry (65) and Vijay Singh (71) tied for third at 12 under.

Langer became the second player on the tour for players 50 and older to make eagle on the final hole to win by a shot. Scott McCarron, who won this event last year, did it at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Florida.

Canadians Rod Spittle and Stephen Ames finished inside the top 54 to advance to the second instalment of the Champions Tour playoffs next week in the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club in Sherwood Oaks, Calif. The top 36 will advance to the third and final event, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Eun-Hee Ji fired a 7-under-par 65 to win the Taiwan Championship on Sunday for her first LPGA title since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open.

Ji, who had a six-stroke lead heading into the final round, carded seven birdies to finish at 17-under 271, six strokes ahead of Lydia Ko, who also closed with a 65.

Top-ranked So Yeon Ryu also shot a bogey-free 65 to move into a tie for third place with Lizette Salas and Carlota Ciganda.

“I’m so happy and excited because I haven’t won in 8 years, I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Eun-Hee Ji interview at #SwingingSkirts pic.twitter.com/wNGRLJDtqF

— #CMEFinalStretch ? (@LPGA) October 22, 2017

Sung Hyun Park, the U.S. LPGA Tour rookie of the year, shot a 71 to finish well back at 5-over while defending champion Ha Na Jang was a further stroke behind after closing with a 68.

LPGA Tour veteran Jenny Shin, who started the final round tied for second, struggled with the conditions and fell into a tie for 14th after a 73.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp both finished the tournament even – Henderson after shooting a final-round 68 and Sharp going out with a round of 74.

JEJU, Korea, Republic Of – Justin Thomas beat Australia’s Marc Leishman on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the inaugural CJ Cup in South Korea and cap his amazing breakout season on the PGA Tour.

Thomas sealed his fifth PGA Title of 2017 when he birdied the second extra hole and Leishman made bogey after finding the water.

The pair went to a sudden-death playoff after completing the first U.S. PGA Tour regular-season event in South Korea tied at 9-under 279.

Cameron Smith of Australia finished one stroke back in third place at 8-under with Whee Kim, the highest placed finisher of the 16 South Korean players in the field, finishing fourth at 7-under after closing with a 72.

Best of the best.

The three best shots from Sunday's thrilling finish at THE CJ CUP. pic.twitter.com/GHJQDsJcLp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 22, 2017

Thomas’ five tournament wins this year included his first major, the 99th PGA Championship, which he won in August.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was the top Canadian at 1 under. Adam Hadwin, also from Abbotsford, finished 7 over.

RICHMOND, Va. – Bernhard Langer matched the course record with a 9-under 63 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, the first event in the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

Seeking an unprecedented fifth Schwab Cup and fourth in a row, the 60-year-old Langer leads the season standings and has a tour-high five victories this season.

“I’m playing nicely,” Langer said. “It’s a lot of fun. Hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, giving myself opportunities and today was pretty special.”

Langer had nine birdies in his second straight bogey-free round to reach 14-under 130 on The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course.

Fellow Hall of Famer Vijay Singh was second after a 63 of his own.

“I just have to continue to play great golf,” Langer said. “I know he’s (Singh’s) a great champion. He’s won lots of tournaments and majors, so he’s a tough competitor and he’s going to try and close the gap. I’m going to have to put the pedal down and keep making birdies.”

The 54-year-old Singh teamed with Carlos Franco to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf in April for his lone senior title.

“I drove it well, hit my irons quite nice and putted nicely,” Singh said. “I got my putter going, and anytime you putt well when you have so many opportunities, you’re going to make a good score.”

Joe Durant (67) was 10 under, and Michael Allen (64) and Scott Verplank (66) were 9 under.

The event is the first of three in the playoffs. The playoff field will be cut to 54 for the PowerShares QQQ Championship next week in Thousand Oaks, California, and the top 36 will advance to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Eun-Hee Ji carded a 3-under 69 to open up a six-stroke lead after the third round of the Taiwan Championship on Saturday.

Ji, who shared the overnight lead with Jenny Shin, recovered from a bogey on the par-4 5th with four birdies for a total of 10-under 206. The South Korean veteran is looking for her first win since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open.

Lydia Ko carded seven birdies against a bogey and a double bogey on the 17th for the day’s lowest round of 68 and is tied for second with Shin at 4-under 212.

“It was pretty tough out there with the wind being pretty strong and starting from the first hole,” Ko said. “It kind of progressively picked up. I played solid and made a few good putts. A little careless plus little mistakes on 17, but it’s always nice to be able to finish with a birdie on the last.”

Shin had three bogeys on her way to a 75 but the LPGA Tour veteran wasn’t ruling out a surprise on Sunday.

“Everybody has a bad day,” Shin said. “Everybody has a good day. That was my bad day. So hopefully tomorrow I can come back with a solid round and hopefully try to catch the leader.”

Cristie Kerr shot a 70 and was tied for fourth in a group that included Brittany Altomare (75).

Top-ranked So Yeon Ryu and No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, the U.S. LPGA Tour rookie of the year, struggled to find their rhythm. Ryu finished with a 75 for a share of 16th place, and Park was 6 over after a 73.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the top Canadian. She sits 2 under after shooting a 71 in the third round.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is 4 over after also shooting a 71.

JEJU, Korea, Republic Of – Justin Thomas fired a 2-under 70 in windy conditions to share the lead with fellow American Scott Brown after the third round of the CJ Cup on Saturday.

Thomas offset a lone double bogey and a bogey with five birdies to reach the clubhouse at 9-under 207.

“I know for a fact I played better today than I did on Thursday when I shot a 9 under,” Thomas said. “It’s just so hard out there. I’ve never played in a place where the wind swirls as much as it does here.”

Brown had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 but recovered with two birdies on the back nine for a 71.

“It was playing tough today,” Brown said. “Just kind of grounded it out, not a lot of birdies to be made. I just made some clutch up-and-downs to kind of keep the round going.”

Anirban Lahiri of India moved into a share of third place with Australian Marc Leishman (71) after a 69 that included four birdies and a bogey.

Whee Kim (70) was the highest placed of the 16 South Korean players in the field, tied for fifth after a 72.

Overnight leader Luke List struggled with the conditions and fell into a tie for eighth place after a 76. List had three bogeys on the front nine and a pair of double bogeys on the back nine.

Jason Day also struggled with the wind, carding a 71 to be tied for 16th on 3-under 213.

More wind is forecast for the final round on Sunday.

“It’s going to be tough but everyone has to deal with it,” Thomas said. “So we’re just going to have to get a great game plan and stick with it and just try to make as many pars as possible.”

Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., was tied for 10th place at 4 under while Adam Hadwin (76), also of Abbotsford, was in 56th at 7 over.

Eleven years ago, player development in this country was a long overdue idea that (finally) got some buy in.

Humble beginnings? Imagine it as the professional sports equivalent of an expansion franchise. No coaches, no players, no real structure or support mechanism at kick-off time but, hey, there was a name: Team Canada. In a hockey-infested nation, who couldn’t relate to that?

And who among us can’t relate to this concept: belief.

It’s a powerful word. Belief is the heart of this program, in my opinion. It is what drove it from idea to implementation. As the early adopters for Team Canada rolled up their sleeves and left egos and agendas at the door, a strange thing happened. All of them found common ground. They made “belief” fundamental to the National Team program process. Through that, they also found it in each other.

“When we started (the program) there were people who were intrigued but there were a lot of questions,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “What’s this really going to do? What kind of an effect is this going to have? Can it last? Can we all work together? All it’s done since then is improve year over year.”

Did anyone see this coming? Twenty-nine worldwide tour wins and multiple Canadian flags trending on golf’s official world rankings in just over a decade? Unlikely, but it’s happened.

We also saw fans lined 10-deep along Ottawa Hunt & Golf’s fairways to catch a glimpse of Brooke Henderson at the CP Women’s Open; saw Henderson rise to No. 2 in the world before turning 19 years old; saw her win a major championship and three more LPGA titles and nearly medal at the Olympics.

How about Mackenzie Hughes? Did you believe he’d be a winner on the PGA Tour in his rookie season or that the Symetra Tour would have not one but two Canadians, Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Brittany Marchand, win titles in 2018?

Ever think you would feel this bullish about Canadian golf and its future? I didn’t. My hope for this initiative 11 years ago was for good-but- not-great things and for it to assist development, not become a tipping point for success. To those early influencers, coaches and “believers,” I likely owe an apology. Not only has Golf Canada’s amateur program become one of the best untold stories in Canadian sports but it’s an initiative countries around the world now want to emulate.

“Our program mantra is pretty simple,” explained Thompson. “It’s to produce more Brooke Hendersons and Mackenzie Hughes more often, by design not by chance.”

Structure has been a priority. Team Canada is an annual $1.5-million, multi- layer investment where there is a clear and defined path. It begins with the national development team, morphs to the national amateur squad and then the post-graduate support, assistance and mentorship of the Young Pro squad.

Starting in 2018, the national development squad program will also include an 18-week academy pillar. Players and coaches will live at Victoria’s Bear Mountain Resort, immersed in a high-performance centre of excellence. The team will attend morning classes at a nearby high school. Training that was at 30 to 35 days a year rises to 120 days. “Honestly, when we looked at what was going on globally and the amount of touch points and time other countries were having with their players we felt like this was a missing step,” added Thompson.

Amid, I might add, very few missed Team Canada steps along the way.

This article was originally published in the Fall Issue of Golf Canada Magazine. Click here to view the full magazine.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Jenny Shin shot a 5-under-par 67 for a share of the lead with Eun-Hee Ji after the second round of the Taiwan Championship on Friday.

Shin offset a pair of bogeys with seven birdies at Miramar Resort and Country Club, including a birdie-birdie finish.

“I had a really good break back there on the 18th hole,” Shin said. “My tee shot went to the right, but I got relief because it was completely underwater, and I took advantage of that. Made the putt on 17, so I wanted to keep running at it and made my last putt on 18.”

First-round leader Ji made a pair of bogeys and two birdies early, but birdied the par-5 18th for a 71.

“Not as great as yesterday but I don’t feel really bad,” Ji said. “I just struggled with my putting this first nine, and I get just a little bit better on the back nine. I just made it out a little bit. I’m pretty happy to make a birdie on the last.”

The leaders are at 7-under 137, one ahead of Brittany Altomare, who carded a 68.

Altomare missed only one fairway and hit 14 of 18 greens.

“I’ve just felt more and more comfortable out here,” Altomare said. “My caddie throughout the year, Dewi, she helped me stay confident and be comfortable in those positions, whereas last year, I didn’t feel so confident and comfortable.”

Alena Sharp of Hamilton shot 4-under and was tied for 14th at 1-under. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was well down the leaderboard after a round of 75 left her at 5-over par.

Su Oh of Australia was in sole possession of fourth place after she eagled the 18th to complete the day’s lowest score of 66 that also included two bogeys and six birdies.

Top-ranked So Yeon Ryu fired a 68 to move into contention at 3-under 141, four off the pace.

Sung Hyun Park, the U.S. LPGA Tour rookie of the year, continued to struggle and shot a 73 to be 5 over for the tournament.

JEJU, Korea, Republic Of – Luke List fired a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the CJ Cup on Friday.

List, who is looking to win on the U.S. PGA Tour for the first time, carded five birdies, including one on the par-5 9th, his final hole, to move to 9 under.

Three-time tour winner Lucas Glover compensated for a pair of bogeys with seven birdies in a 67 and was tied for second with Scott Brown, who had a 70.

A day after firing a 63 for the first-round lead, Justin Thomas made a 74 to slip into a share of fourth with Australian golfer Cameron Smith (68) at 7 under.

Thomas took a three-shot lead into the second round, but an opening 3-over-par 39 on the front brought him back to the pack.

The second-round 74 is Thomas’ worst score since an 80 in the second round of the British Open.

Jason Day also struggled en route to a 74 to fall back to 24th at 2 under.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was at 4 under after a round of 72. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., also shot even par and 3-over, and Graham Delaet of Weyburn, Sask., withdrew from the tournament.

Whee Kim (70) was the highest placed of the 16 South Korean players in the field at 6 under overall, tied for sixth with Patrick Reed (72), Chez Reavie (72) and another Australian, Marc Leishman (72).

Seung Yul Noh carded five birdies and closed with an eagle in a bogey-free 65 for the best score of the day, lifting him to even par overall.

The final round of the 2017 CCAA PING Golf National Championship at Royal Ashburn Golf Club is set up to be an exciting finish as medal hopes remain alive for a number of teams and individuals in the 19-team field.

In the men’s team competition, the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) Heat cut into the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades’ lead by three strokes on Thursday, as the deficit is just two strokes heading into the final round. The leading Cascades shot 23-over in round three while the Heat combined to go 20-over.

Unlike the previous two days, it was the third and fourth place teams with the best rounds of the day. Humber, who sits in third place, is now seven strokes behind the leader as they shot 14-over but the best round of the tournament came from the Champlain St. Lawrence Lions who were three-over, to get within three strokes of the Hawks of a podium finish.

Charles-Eric Bélanger led the way for the Lions as he had the low round of the day at three-under. Taking off a triple bogey on the 12th hole, Bélanger was six-under the rest of the round as he posted the only score under 70 over the course of the three days.

It all goes down tomorrow at @RoyalAshburn ???? pic.twitter.com/avY9QFbliD

— CCAA/ACSC (@CCAAsportsACSC) October 20, 2017

Bélanger sits in third place overall, trailing Daniel Campbell of UFV and James Casorso of UBCO by five and two strokes respectively. Casorso and Jonathan Vermette of Champlain St. Lawrence joined Bélanger as the only golfers under par in round three as they shot one-under and two under respectively.

The top golfer from Ontario is Thomas Code of the Fanshawe Falcons, who is tied with Olivier Ménard of André-Laurendeau for fourth place at eight-over, two strokes back of a podium finish.

In the women’s draw, UFV has a stranglehold on first place as they lead the defending national champion Georgian Grizzlies by 22 strokes. As their men’s team did, Champlain St. Lawrence closed the gap on day three as they had a six-stroke edge on the Grizzlies, putting them in third place just three strokes back. Humber is also within striking distance of the medals as they are three strokes back of the Lions.

In the individual competition, Sarah-Eve Rheaume of Champlain St. Lawrence and Madison Kapchinsky of UFV enter the final round in a deadlock at 21-over. The pair have been even all week long with all scores being within two strokes of one another, with Rheaume holding a one-shot advantage in round three at three-over.

Emery Bardock of UFV sits in third place, six strokes back of the leaders while Emilie Tyndall of Georgian and Sonia Nagindas of Humber are tied for fourth place, six strokes back of a medal position.

“We could not ask for more,” said Mike Duggan, chair of the PING CCAA Golf National Championships. “If the final round is anything like the previous three, we are in for a great finish.”

The host Durham College Lords did not make a move on moving day as they remained in seventh place in the team standings, with Josh Taylor of Barrie in a tie for 22nd place overall. He has been consistent all week with rounds of 79, 78 and 78 to sit at 19-over.

As part of the championship the host committee at Durham College and Conroy’s No Frills in Whitby have partnered to have one pound of food donated to the Salvation Army for every birdie made throughout the tournament.

Through three rounds the total sits at 330 birdies, or 330 pounds of food. The teams have improved their total each day, including going from 116 to 117 from round two to three.

The final round opens at Royal Ashburn at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

Click here for full scores.