LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The clutch shots down the stretch in the BMW Championship belonged to everyone except the winner.

Marc Leishman didn’t really need them.

Staked to a five-shot lead, and determined to not let another FedEx Cup playoff event get away from him. Leishman never gave anyone much of a chance Sunday at Conway Farms. And when Justin Rose made a late run and closed within two shots, Leishman made back-to-back birdies to put away the final challenge, and then added one more for a 4-under 67 to set the tournament scoring record.

Leishman went wire-to-wire for the first time on the PGA Tour. The Australian moved up to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup, giving him a clear shot at the $10 million bonus next week. He moved into the top 15 in the world.

But this mainly was about redemption for losing a two-shot lead on the back nine at the TPC Boston two weeks ago.

“When the pressure got put on that back nine by Rosie, I reacted with birdies,” Leishman said. “Didn’t get too worried. Just tried to keep doing my own thing and give myself chances. … Backing up what happened (in Boston) was probably the most satisfying thing for me. I was just really determined to not let that happen again.”

Leishman finished at 23-under 261, breaking the 72-hole tournament record that Tiger Woods set at Cog Hill in 2007.

Rose ran out of hope when he made bogey on the par-3 17th and closed with a 65. Rickie Fowler ran off three straight birdies only after he was too far back and shot 67. They finished five shots behind.

Fowler needed a birdie on the par-5 18th to grab the No. 5 seed for the FedEx Cup finale next week at the Tour Championship. He ripped driver off the fairway and over the stream to the back rough. It was a bold play that preceded a pair of meagre efforts – a chip that came up 25 feet short, and a birdie putt that didn’t to the hole.

Jon Rahm birdied four of his last five holes for a 67 and will be the No. 5 seed.

Jordan Spieth shot 65 to tie for seventh and kept the No. 1 seed, followed by Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Leishman and Rahm. The points are reset to give all 30 players at East Lake a mathematical chance, but the top five seeds only have to win the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot up the leaderboard after shooting a 65 to finish as the low Canadian at 7 under. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., struggled to a 3-over 74 and was 6 under for the event.

As usual, the only drama at Conway Farms was who made it to East Lake, and a pair of PGA Tour rookies delivered.

Xander Schauffele, who won The Greenbrier Classic in July, opened with 10 pars and two bogeys and was not even in the picture until the San Diego native played his final six holes in 6-under par, including a 30-foot eagle when he drove the green on the par-4 15th.

“A dream year for me,” Schauffele said. “Pretty much every goal I came up with and I’ve got to start creating some new ones.”

Patrick Cantlay fell out of the top 30 when he took bogey on the 16th hole. Needing a birdie to get into the Tour Championship, he hit a hybrid onto the green to 50 feet, left his eagle attempt some 10 feet short and calmly holed the putt to get in.

Cantlay returned to golf after a three-year break from a back injury that nearly ended his career, and the death of his close friend and caddie, Chris Roth, who was hit by car as they walked to dinner. The former UCLA star made it to the Tour Championship despite playing only 11 events this year. Being in the top 30 gets him into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open next year.

Tony Finau wasn’t sure what he needed, but he knew a bogey wasn’t going to help and he was nestled in the rough behind the green after his third shot. Finau, No. 39 in the standings, chipped in for birdie and a 64 and moved into the top 30.

“To see it go in was … man, the feeling that I have is pretty fantastic,” Finau said.

Masters champion Sergio Garcia injected more drama than necessary. He figured he needed a par on the final hole to get into the top 30 when a bogey would have worked. His second shot was on the rocks in the stream, and after taking close to 30 minutes on a drop, he smacked it over the green into the grandstand, got more relief, and then got up-and-down for his par.

Phil Mickelson wasn’t so fortunate. He made three bogeys on the front nine and tried to get back in the game with an eagle on the reachable par-4 15th. Needing an eagle on the 18th hole to make it to East Lake, Mickelson’s 140-foot pitch-and-run hit the hole and popped out. After the 30-minute wait on Garcia.

Leishman won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March at Bay Hill. The third victory of his tour career was by far the biggest, and went far beyond the strong field, the $1,575,000 paycheque or his standing in the FedEx Cup.

Leishman pegged this event as a chance to spread awareness for sepsis and toxic shock syndrome, which nearly killed his wife two years ago. He asked the players to wear ribbons on their caps this week to celebration Sepsis Awareness Month. And then he went wire-to-wire, walking off the 18th green to see his wife, Audrey, and their three young children.

It was better late than never for Rico Hoey, who captured his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada victory on Sunday at the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship to earn a spot in The Five and secure Web.com Tour status for 2018.

The 21-year old University of Southern California grad shot a final-round 3-under 67 at Highland Country Club to finish at 19-under total and win by one over Mequon, Wisconsin’s Jordan Niebrugge, with the win vaulting Hoey from 11th to fifth on the Order of Merit.

Kimberley, B.C.’s Jared du Toit finished T17, high enough to clinch Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year honors, which comes with a $25,000 prize.

For Hoey, it was an emotional win, with an outpouring of relief, elation and gratitude for his family’s support showing after his win.

“I knew I had to shoot a good score to get myself into the top five. I’m just glad I gave myself a shot and I pulled it off,” said Hoey through tears afterwards. “It’s nice doing it for my family. They believe in me so much, so it’s kind of nice knowing I have support, so I’m just doing it for them.”

Starting the day with three-stroke advantage over Greyson Sigg, Brett Lederer and Cody Blick, Hoey started strong with four birdies in his first six holes to extend the lead to four. A host of challengers emerged, however, including former World No. 1 Amateur Chris Williams, who was 8-under after an eagle at 11 holes to pull within one stroke.

Hoey, however, did enough to bend but not break with the lead, eventually making birdie at the 17th hole to build a two-stroke lead heading to the 72nd hole and all but guarantee victory. After a tap-in bogey at the last, the victory – and charge into the top five – was complete.

“It’s hard,” said Hoey “not to think about everything that comes with winning. I just tried to block that out and play one shot a time. I was hitting good putts and I’m just glad I made the putt on 17 that gave me a two-shot cushion.”

Du Toit, the Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year, made the cut in all 11 of his starts this season and recorded three top-10 finishes in his first season as a professional after completing his amateur career at Arizona State University this spring.

?? @F55F Canadian Player of the Year
? Dan Halldorson Trophy
? $25,000 prize from @F55F

Congratulations, @Jareddutoit! pic.twitter.com/Gt50SMElM8

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) September 18, 2017

“It means a lot to me. I pretty well hit the ground running this season, and there’s plenty of room for improvement, so I’m excited about that. It’s been a whirlwind, but I definitely took the right steps in learning how to be a pro and hopefully that can continue,” said du Toit.

Freedom 55 Financial established the Canadian Player of the Week award in 2013 to recognize top Canadian players on the Mackenzie Tour. At each event, Freedom 55 Financial presented this award to the Canadian player who had the lowest total score. Winners also received $2,500 to use toward attaining future goals. Below are the winners of the award in 2017:

“We’re thrilled to see Jared put on a great performance this season and earn Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year honours,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “Our thanks and gratitude go out to Freedom 55 Financial for all their support of our Tour, including these awards. Thanks to them, some of our best and brightest players are able to take a big step forward in achieving their goals and dreams.”

With scores of 61-72-67-70—270 (-10) to finish T17, du Toit took home top-Canadian honors at this week’s Freedom 55 Financial Championship.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Defying driving rain and hail in a playoff, Anna Nordqvist beat unheralded American Brittany Altomare at the first extra hole to win the Evian Championship on Sunday.

Nordqvist took the fifth and final major of the season by sinking a 4-foot putt for a bogey 5 on the soaked 18th hole while the 102nd-ranked Altomare had a six.

Course workers removed pools of standing water from the 18th green as the players approached the putting surface after their third shots. The par-4 hole played long all afternoon and was near-treacherous for the playoff.

“I am from Sweden and I’m freezing,” said Nordqvist, who was confined to bed for two weeks in July by a bout of mononucleosis. “I feel like I’m pretty used to bad conditions and that was probably some of the worst I’ve seen.”

The 30-year-old Nordqvist earned $547,500 for the win, her first major since the 2009 LPGA Championship.

Altomare got $340,000 for only her second career top-10 finish, three weeks after she secured a third-place tie at the Portland Classic.

“It’s really big,” the 26-year-old Massachusetts native said. “I had a good week in Portland … and I felt like I could now start getting some good finishes.”

Nordqvist and Altomare both shot 66 for 9-under totals of 204. It was a 54-hole event after weather-affected play on Thursday was scrapped.

Second-round leader Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand and two-time major winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand fell out of the playoff by dropping shots on the 18th.

Jutanugarn (72) and Ko (69) finished in a tie for third with Katherine Kirk of Australia, whose 70 included bogeys at the 16th and 17th as the chilling rain fell.

Canadian Brooke Henderson (72) finished in a tie for 58th.

Nordqvist’s victory ensured 10 different major winners in the last two seasons.

Last year, Nordqvist lost a playoff for the U.S. Women’s Open after a rules violation on the second extra hole – for touching sand with her club in a fairway bunker – was relayed to her on the next hole. Brittany Lang of the U.S. won that major title.

Victory seemed far away when Nordqvist dropped two shots early in her round to fall seven behind Jutanugarn.

“Winning didn’t really come into my mind,” the 12th-ranked winner said, until making three birdies and an eagle-3 between the 12th and 16th holes.

Jutanugarn was seeking to follow her younger sister Ariya, the 2016 Women’s British Open winner, as the first siblings ever to each win a women’s major title. Ariya, who missed the cut, walked with her sister for Sunday’s round.

Starting with a one-shot lead, Jutanugarn reached the turn two ahead at 10 under but lost her lead when Nordqvist surged. While the 23-year-old Thai was making bogey-6 at the 13th, Nordqvist made an eagle-3 and birdie to be alone on 10 under.

Nordqvist fell back on the 18th, getting a bogey-5 after pulling her tee shot into the rough. Behind her, Altomare sank a short birdie putt at 17 to advance to 9 under.

It was soon a five-way tie for the lead when Kirk birdied the par-5 15th and Jutanugarn’s birdie putt rolled round the rim.

“A lot of lip-outs. Just probably not really my day,” Jutanugarn said.

No. 1-ranked So Yeon Ryu (71) finished on 2 over, and No. 2 Lexi Thompson of the U.S. missed her chance to take the top spot. Thompson’s 74 left her 3 over.

In her final round as a professional before retiring, two-time Evian winner Ai Miyazato shot 73 to finish 1 over.

A nine-time winner on the LPGA tour, the Japanese star never claimed a major title. Her wins at Evian came before it was upgraded in 2013.

On the 18th green, Miyazato holed a short par putt then was greeted greenside by Gary Player who presented a bouquet of pink roses.

“When I see all my friends behind the 18th green it almost makes me cry, so I tried not to watch them,” said the 32-year-old Miyazato.

SPIJK, Netherlands – Romain Wattel shot a steady 2-under 69 Sunday to finish 15 under and win the KLM Open, the Frenchman’s first victory in 187 tournaments on the European Tour.

Wattel, who posted a 7-under 64 to move into contention on Saturday, had four birdies and two bogeys in the final round and parred his final seven holes to close out his maiden win.

The 26-year-old Frenchman said he has been struggling for two years with his putter, but finally found his touch again this week.

“My putting was very, very good,” he said, “I knew that if I could get to the green in regulation I was fine.”

Overnight leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand blew his chance of victory by finding the water and shooting double bogeys on the 15th and 18th holes. He finished on 12 under in a five-way tie for ninth.

Aphibarnrat was in the middle of the fairway on the 18th, but dumped his second shot into the water as he attempted to reach the green in two. He slammed his club into the grass and hung his head as he walked after the ball.

Aphibarnrat’s implosion on the 18th left Austin Connelly of Canada alone in second place after he shot his second consecutive round of 66 to finish one shot behind Wattel. Connelly discussed his chances at securing a European Tour card in his post-round interview here.

Six players, including Lee Westwood and fellow Briton Eddie Pepperell, tied for third at 13 under.

Finish strong.

In his last round as a 20 year old @AustinConnelly9 shoots a final round 66 to set the clubhouse lead. pic.twitter.com/2DNnsMP3tO

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 17, 2017

Evian-les-Bains, France  – So Yeon Ryu, of the Republic of Korea, has won the 2017 Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, which recognizes the player who has the most outstanding record in all five major championships during the current LPGA Tour season.

Ryu received the honor thanks to her win at the ANA inspiration, her second career major championship victory, and a tie for third at the U.S. Women’s Open Championship.

The 27-year-old, who joins Michelle Wie (2014), Inbee Park (2015) and Lydia Ko (2016) as winners of the award, was recognized in a ceremony on the 18th green at The Evian Championship, wrapping up an exciting season of majors in 2017.

“First of all, I’m so honoured to this have award, especially (because) it’s named after one of the greatest women’s golfers in our golf history,” Ryu said. “The other thing is I think the play in the major is fortunate enough, because it’s really tough to contend in a tournament, as well. But at the same time, it’s truly an honour to have this award because that means I was able to handle all of the major tournaments.”

Points for the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award are awarded at all five major championships to competitors who finish among the top 10 and ties. To take home the award, a player must also win at least one of the five majors. Danielle Kang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), Sung Hyun Park (U.S. Women’s Open), In-Kyung Kim (Ricoh Women’s British Open) and Anna Nordqvist (The Evian Championship) were the other players to qualify.

Ryu has enjoyed one of the best seasons of her LPGA career this year. Her two wins (ANA Inspiration, Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G) are the second-most by a single player on Tour this season and represent the first time she has won multiple events in the same season. Ryu has racked up eight additional top-10 finishes, including two runner-up results, and currently holds the lead in the Rolex Player of the Year standings with 150 points.

On June 26, Ryu became the third player from the Republic of Korea to reach No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She is the 11th different golfer to reach No. 1 since the Rolex Rankings started in 2009 and has held the top spot for the past 12 weeks.

A nine-time winner on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association, Ryu earned LPGA membership by defeating Hee Kyung Seo in a three-hole playoff at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open for her first career LPGA win and major championship. In 2012, one win and 15 additional top-10 finishes helped earn her the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award. She added a third LPGA win in 2014 and also collected a win on the Ladies European Tour in 2015 before her two wins this year.

The USGA and The R&A have received comments on the proposed new Rules from more than 22,000 golfers in 102 countries, as well as representatives of golf organizations throughout the world, providing valuable feedback as the organizations work toward their implementation on January 1, 2019.
With the worldwide survey and evaluation period now complete, the USGA and The R&A and their respective committees will continue to review all comments received with the goal of finalizing the new Rules next spring and beginning a comprehensive education program later in 2018.

The USGA and The R&A began an extensive review of the Rules starting in 2012, with the intent of making them easier to understand and apply. A draft of the new Rules – reduced from the current 34 to a proposed 24 Rules – was released in March, beginning the six-month feedback period that was open to the entire golf community.

“After listening to golfers and reviewing the extensive comments, one thing is very clear – we all share a passion for the game and are eager to be a part of this process,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of Rules and Amateur Status. “We appreciate everyone who took time to provide their thoughts and insights. They have been very helpful and encouraging.”

David Rickman, Executive Director – Governance at The R&A, said, “It is pleasing to see that so many people from different parts of the world have taken this opportunity to engage with the process of modernizing the Rules. We have received insightful comments and suggestions from throughout the professional and amateur game and will take time to consider the feedback in detail. We will then work on finalizing the changes ahead of their implementation in 2019.”

While the feedback will continue to be analyzed over the next few months, several common themes emerged, including:

Golfers are enthusiastic about the scope and direction of the overall changes, such as pace-of-play improvements, the elimination of penalties and streamlined procedures.

Golfers provided the most feedback on the proposed Rules changes focused on the putting green (such as putting with the flagstick left in the hole, repairing spike marks and eliminating the penalty for accidentally moving a ball); the creation of “penalty areas” (extending water hazard type relief and eliminating penalties for moving loose impediments and grounding a club); and the new dropping procedures (including the size of “relief areas”).

Golfers strongly welcomed the new Player’s Edition of the Rules and found it much easier to read and understand.

The current 2016 edition of the Rules of Golf remains in effect when playing, posting scores or competing until the Jan. 1, 2019 adoption of the new Rules.

For more information on the proposed new Rules of Golf, see usga.org or randa.org.

KAHNAWAKE, Que. – The 2017 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship heads to Kanawaki Golf Club for the 55th playing of the event on Sept. 11-14. A qualifying round will take place at Caughnawaga Golf Club on Friday, Sept. 8 before the championship’s four tournament rounds begin on Sept. 11.

“Golf Canada is thrilled to once again visit Quebec for our national amateur championships,” said tournament director Akash Patel. “It has been our pleasure to partner with these tremendous venues for what is sure to be a fantastic championship. Our hosts at Kanawaki have brought together a great team of volunteers; our players are going to have a wonderful experience.”

Ranked at No. 104 on SCOREGolf’s 2016 Best Courses in Canada 2016 list, Kanawaki Golf Club is one of Quebec’s premier private golf courses. Founded in 1914, the course–designed by Canadian Golf Hall of Fame brothers Albert and Charles Murray–features a challenging layout with lush fairways lined with majestic trees and quick, true greens, and was also where the movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played” was filmed.

A full field of 156 competitors aged 55-and-over from five countries will take to Kanawaki for the 55th playing of this national championship in hopes of joining its list of notable winners. Returning to defend his Canadian Men’s Senior title is Michael Mercier of Juno Beach, Fla., who shot a final-round 70 to win the event by two strokes.

John Gallacher of Burnaby, B.C., will play for a second consecutive Super Senior title after capturing the 36-hole, 70-and-over division in 2016. Also contested over the tournament’s first two rounds will be an inter-provincial team competition. Team Alberta finished 4-under 284 in 2016 to claim a dominant nine-stroke victory.

Following the opening two rounds, the field will be reduced to the low 70 players and ties. The champion will receive an exemption into the 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur championship to be contested at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Or., from Aug. 25-30.

Additional information from the tournament can be found here, while details from the qualifying competition are available here.

NOTABLES

Graham Cooke of Hudson, Que.
The 70-year-old is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and has won the event two times in 2008 and 2009. Cooke is one of Canada’s greatest amateur golfers of all time and holds the record number of wins at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship with seven.

Doug Roxburgh of Vancouver B.C.
The 2014 winner of the event is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. The 65-year-old won the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship four times (1972, 1974, 1982 and 1988). He also has the record for most wins at the B.C. Men’s Amateur Championship with 13.

Pierre Archambault of Candiac, Que.
The 73-year-old is a member of the host Kanawaki Golf Club. He was recently inducted into the Quebec Golf Hall of Fame and he won the Quebec Amateur Championship three times (1972, 1979 and 1987). His victories include the 1974 Duke of Kent, the 1983 Alexander of Tunis and the 1987 Spring Open.

Michael Mercier of Juno Beach, Fla.
The 59-year-old comes in as the event’s defending champion. In 2015, he won the Welsh Open Seniors Championship at Nefyn and District on the North Whales coast.

Frank Van Dornick of Camrose, Alta.
Van Dornick finished T3 at the 54th playing of the event and earned low-Canadian honours. He is fresh off a win at the 2017 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship – his fourth win at the event.

Jack Hall of Savannah, Ga.
The 60-year-old won the event in 2015 and finished T7 last year. On Aug. 21 he won the Golfweek Senior Match Play Championship at Tobacco Road Golf Club in N.C.

David Schultz of Calgary, Alta.
The 60-year-old won the event in 2013 after making a birdie on the final hold of the tournament. Shultz also won the 2016 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship and the Calgary City Amateur Championship – the latter he won five times – earning himself a spot in Calgary’s golf Hall of Fame.

FAST FACTS

Conducted since 1962.

Golfers must be 55 and over to be eligible.

In 1995, the 70 and over Canadian Super Senior division was added and is contested through the first two rounds.

The inter-provincial competition, which began in 1977, occurs concurrently over the first two rounds.

The champion is awarded the John Rankin Memorial Trophy.

The winner of the Super Senior division is awarded the Governors Cup.

Calgary’s Bob Wylie has won the event seven times since 1985.

Nick Weslock won the event six times between 1973 and 1983.

Paul Simon became the first person to win the British, U.S. and Canadian senior titles in the same year in 2010.

The winner receives and exemption into the 2018 U.S. Men’s Senior Amateur Championship.

ABOUT THE COURSE

Kanawaki Golf Club.

Par 70.

Founded in 1914.

Ranked at No. 104 in SCOREGolf’s 2016 list of Canada’s best golf courses.

Kanawaki hosted the 1929 RBC Canadian Open, won by legend Leo Diegel.

The Disney movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, starring Shia LaBeouf, and based on the true story of Francis Ouimet and the 1913 US Open, was filmed at Kanawaki in 2004.

Although Adam Hadwin still hasn’t come to grips with being Canada’s top-ranked male golfer, he’s happy to be part of the international team for the upcoming Presidents Cup.

Hadwin earned the 10th and final automatic berth on the team made up of golfers from outside Europe who will take on a team of Americans at the biennial competition. The 2017 event is slated for Sept. 28-Oct. 1 at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J.

The 29-year-old Hadwin captured his first PGA Tour win last March at the Valspar Championship. He locked up his Presidents Cup berth last week by finishing in a tie for 13th at the Dell Technologies Championship.

“It never really left my mind this year,” Hadwin said of the Presidents Cup.

He admitted he was glad his spot didn’t come down to a captain’s pick – Canadian Mike Weir is one of the assistants to International captain Nick Price – and was pleased to make the team on merit.

“I have my place on this team,” Hadwin said. “It was nice to go out and have a great week when I needed it.”

Hadwin played Liberty National for the first time last month and liked what he saw. The par-71 course is 7,328 yards long.

“It’s an incredible piece of property. I think it’s going to be a great match-play golf course,” he said. “There are a few places where bombers can let go, but I’m not sure if it suits any specific type of player. There’s a little bit of everything.”

Hadwin said that since he’s rather reserved on the course, being paired with someone like Australia’s Marc Leishman might make sense during the competition, which features three days of team play before a final day of one-on-one matchups.

“Personality-wise I think we’re very similar,” Hadwin said of the two-time PGA Tour winner. “You think back to 2013 when Graham (DeLaet) was paired with Jason Day, and they’re both very fiery and get very pumped up. There were a lot of fist pumps and screaming and yelling.

“Maybe I will become that player at the Presidents Cup, but if I was to be paired with someone who gets that pumped up, I don’t know if I could match that energy. I’ll have to learn and find out.”

Hadwin’s first Tour victory was followed by a busy stretch away from the course. He married his longtime girlfriend Jessica two weeks after the win and they bought their first home together in Phoenix.

They had to postpone their honeymoon to December after Hadwin’s win, which gave him a spot in the Masters.

“It’s been a whirlwind season,” Hadwin said in a recent interview from Vancouver. “A lot of great golf early, some average golf in the middle, and a couple of good finishes of late. But there’s still lots to play for and to cap off the year.”

Hadwin, from Abbotsford, B.C., has already earned over US$3.2 million this season. He’s 16th on the money list with two events remaining and has risen to 45th in the world rankings. The only other Canadian in the top 100 is DeLaet at No. 95.

Hadwin added he’s still getting used to his position as one of the best golfers in the world.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a tremendous honour to play under the Canadian flag week in and week out. We’ve got some great players having some great seasons.

“We all have goals of getting higher (in the rankings) and I’m certainly not comparing myself to fellow Canadians, and I wouldn’t expect them to compare to me. We’re chasing the same one thing: trying to be the best player we can be.”

DeLaet’s 2013 appearance was the last time a Canadian played in the Presidents Cup.

The Americans retained the trophy in 2015 with a one-point victory in South Korea.

The world’s top 18-and-under female junior golfers will head to Ottawa for the fourth edition of the World Junior Girls Championship from Sept. 26-29 at The Marshes Golf Club. As host nation, Canada will send two teams of three athletes to compete for the international title of World Junior Girls champion.

“It is an honour to host this prestigious event and we look forward to welcoming these players to Canada,” said tournament director Mary Beth McKenna. “The course is in fantastic shape and we are thrilled to host some of the world’s best juniors at this historic club. Our partners at The Marshes Golf Club and the communities in the surrounding area have come together to make this a truly memorable event for our competitors.”

Representing Canada One will be Monet Chun (Richmond Hill, Ont.), Céleste Dao (Notre-Dame Ile Perrot, Que.) and Ellie Szeryk (London, Ont.), who are three of Canada’s top-ranked junior golfers at No. 375, 453 and 597, respectively, on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

The 16-year-old Chun is experiencing her first year as a member of Team Canada’s Development Squad and second year representing Canada at the World Junior Girls. So far in 2017, she has wins at both the Future Links, driven by Acura Ontario Championship and the Ontario Junior Spring Classic, which put her in second on the Junior Girls Order of Merit – the same spot she finished at last year.

Dao is having an extremely impressive season for the second straight year. In 2017, she registered six wins and made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Girls Championship to lead the Future Links, driven by Acura Junior Girls Order of Merit. Dao will also play in her second consecutive World Junior Girls Championship – she finished T16 in 2016 alongside Chun.

Szeryk, sister of Canada’s top-ranked amateur female golfer Maddie, has two victories in 2017 so far including six top-five finishes. She currently sits in fourth in the Junior Girls Order of Merit and made it to the round of 32 at the 2017 U.S. Junior Girls Championship after earning gold medallist honours at the qualifying tournament in Garland, Texas.

As the host country, Canada reserves the right to field two teams in the 60-player, 19-country competition. Canada Two will consist of Alyssa DiMarcantonio (Maple, Ont.), Euna Han (Coquitlam, B.C.) and Emily Zhu (Richmond Hill, Ont.) who are ranked 776, 955 and 1,792, respectively.

DiMarcantonio, 14, won her second event of the season at the MJT – Spring Invitational and has six top-five finishes this year. She is currently enjoying her best season on the junior circuit and sits sixth on the Junior Girls Order of Merit.

Han has three wins in 2017 including earning gold medallist honours at the U.S. Junior Girls Qualifier in Kent, Wa., where she went on to finish in the round of 64. Her only wins of her junior career came this year and she is in eighth in the Junior Girls Order of Merit. Han represented Canada previously at the 2015 World Junior Girls Championship, also hosted at The Marshes.

Zhu is the youngest of all Canadian team members at the age of 13. She has seven top-five finishes this year and competed in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship where she finished T66. Her last win came in 2016 at the MJT – PGA of Ontario Junior Championship and she currently sits in ninth in the Junior Girls Order of Merit.

“Golf Ontario is excited to once again partner with Golf Canada to conduct this global championship at another of Ontario’s storied clubs – The Marshes Golf Club,” said Mike Kelly, Golf Ontario executive director. “We thank their membership and volunteer committees for all their hard work. We are thrilled for our athletes from Ontario who have been selected to represent Canada and wish them the best of luck.”

“These six athletes have had tremendous seasons and their selections to Team Canada are the result of their hard work and commitment to the sport,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “The joint efforts of Provincial Golf Associations, home clubs, parents and athletes have made this accomplishment possible and they should all be proud to have earned their selections.”

Ann Carroll (women’s national development squad coach) and Matt Wilson (Golf Canada’s director of next generation performance) will lead the two Team Canada squads for this competition.

In addition to the 72-hole team and individual competitions, the World Junior Girls Championship will be a celebration of the sport with a specific focus on the development and promotion of junior girls golf.  The days leading up to tournament play will see a PGA of Canada coaching summit as well as a free junior girls skills clinic.

Opening ceremonies for the championship take place on Sept. 25 followed by the first round on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The tournament’s closing ceremonies will immediately follow the conclusion of play on Friday, Sept. 29.

Admission to the competition is free. Additional information regarding the fourth annual World Junior Girls Championship can be found on the competition’s website.