PGA TOUR golfer Louis Oosthuizen carded a 1-under-par 70 on Sunday to finish T2 at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C.

While champion Justin Thomas was celebrating in usual fashion, Oosthuizen took the more comedic approach to acknowledge his “Grand Slam” of runner-up finishes at all four PGA TOUR major tournaments by lip syncing “Rise Up” by Andra Day.

Just finished my career grand slam second's .. "I'll rise up" pic.twitter.com/083aRityWn

— Louis Oosthuizen (@Louis57TM) August 14, 2017

Muncie, Indiana’s Chase Wright shot a 4-under-par 67 to come from behind and win the ATB Financial Classic for his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada win.

The 28-year-old started the day one shot back of the five 54-hole co-leaders—who were tied at 12-under-par—but got off to a hot start on Sunday, making a 30-foot putt for birdie on the first hole, followed by birdies at hole Nos. 2, 4, and 5. Wright bounced back from a bogey on the par-3 No. 6 with an eagle at No. 7 to make the turn at 5-under, good for a one-stroke lead at that time.

Weather conditions changed significantly as the final few groups approached the 12^th and 13^thholes—wind speeds in the morning were no more than 17 km/h, but afternoon  gusts reached up to 31 km/h. Wright, however, seemed undisturbed by the change in the elements. He notched six straight pars on Nos. 10-15 and said his par saves on Nos. 13 and 14 were crucial keys to his victory on Sunday.

“The winds that came through, you hadn’t seen them all week,” said Wright. “That was two huge moments. I probably wouldn’t be here if I wouldn’t have gotten those up-and-downs.”

On the par-5, 507-yard No. 13, Wright was left with 180 yards for his second shot, and with the wind conditions, he needed only a wedge for the shot, which flew the green. Wright hit his third shot just inside a hazard and saved par by chipping it to two-and-a-half feet and making the putt. On the par-3, 212 yard No. 14, Wright hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker and made a 7-footer for par.

His mentality throughout the round—and the week, for that matter—did not waver. “I just tried to stay patient and play like it was the first day every day and not really worry about stuff going on around you and how other people are playing,” said Wright.

Wright bogeyed the par-3 16th on Sunday but bounced back on No. 17, sinking a 15-foot putt for birdie, despite needing to back away twice due to the wind. After failing to get up-and-down on No. 18, he signed his scorecard for a 72-hole total of 15-under-par—the clubhouse lead—and waited for the remaining two groups to finish.

“I wasn’t discouraged or anything. I just kept plugging,” said Wright about his final stretch of holes. “I felt really calm most of the day…I’ve seen my name up there [on the leaderboard] all day and I never once thought I let that affect me, and if it did, I made sure that it didn’t affect me more than once.”

Wright finished his final round just before play was suspended at 4:24 pm local time due to lightning in the area. When play resumed at 4:58 pm, South Korea’s Todd Baek was the only player who could potentially force a playoff with Wright, but Baek’s failure to birdie No.18 secured Wright’s first Mackenzie Tour victory.

The win moves Wright into seventh on the Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit, $1,085 behind No. 5 Patrick Newcomb. The top five players on the Order of Merit at the season’s end will earn status on the Web.com Tour for 2017.

“Anybody that knows me kind of knows that I’ve put myself through a lot in the last year and a half,” said Wright, who finished in the top-50 on the Web.com Tour money list in 2014 and 2015 but failed to keep his Web.com Tour card after the 2016 season after missing 15 of 20 cuts. “Coming back here and having an opportunity to get back to the Web.com Tour is awesome, and [I’m] taking advantage of it now.”

Wright was one of six co-leaders at 6-under 65 after the first-round and had the solo 36-hole lead by one stroke over Todd Baek, thanks to another 65 in round two. A one-over 72 in the third round left him one stroke back of the five co-leaders heading into the final round, but his attitude remained positive and persistent.

“I didn’t play that bad,” said Wright about his 72 on Saturday, which also saw wind speeds reach the mid-30s (km/h). “I lost three-and-a-half shots on the greens. My game was right there; I just gave away a few shots. So I knew if I just kept hitting solid shots and putting myself in position, the hole’s gonna get in the way, and it did.”

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The best in Canadian women’s golf are set to compete for the DATA PGA Women’s Championship of Canada gets underway today in Scarborough, Ont.

A field featuring a mix of past LPGA Tour winners and rising Canadian stars had a practice round yesterday and will play 36 holes at Scarboro Golf & Country Club from Aug. 15-16, all with the same goal of winning the DATA PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.

“The field for this year’s Data PGA Women’s Championship of Canada is tremendous,” said PGA of Canada president Steve Wood. “There’s a solid mix of past LPGA Tour winners and up-and-coming Canadian talent that will surely produce a riveting championship.”

This year’s field includes:

• Four-time LPGA Tour winner, five-time PGA Women’s Championship of Canada winner, Canadian and PGA of Canada Golf Hall of Fame member Lorie Kane
• Symetra Tour winner and Orangeville, Ont., native Brittany Marchand
• Symetra Tour’s No. 8-ranked player Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec
• LPGA Tour player and past Canadian Women’s Amateur champion Augusta James of Bath, Ont.
• LPGA Tour player Jennifer Ha of Calgary
• Symetra Tour player Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont.
• Past LPGA Tour winner Kris Tamulis
• Past Symetra Tour winner Sue Kim of Langley, B.C.
• Past PGA Women’s Championship of Canada winners Vivian Tsui, Salimah Mussani
• LPGA Tour player Mina Harigae of California
• PGA of Canada members Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Kylie Barros and Sylvie Schetagne

The winner of this year’s championship will earn an exemption into the CP Canadian Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club, Aug. 21-27.

Scarboro Golf and Country Club, with a history dating back to 1912, has been the site of four Canadian Opens, the Canadian Tour Championship and several amateur championships. The course was origin ally designed by noted professional and Canadian golf course architect George Cumming, but underwent extensive changes in 1924 under the direction of Albert Warren Tillinghast. Tillinghast was one of North America’s premier golf course designers, who was at the peak of his career when hired to redesign Scarboro.

Scarboro is in great company among such renowned Tillinghast courses as Winged Foot, Ridgewood, Five Farms East, the redesign of Baltusrol and the fearsome Bethpage Black at Farmingdale, Long Island, N.Y. The latter literally consumed the games greatest golfers at the 2002 U.S. Open.

Scarboro remains the only course outside the U.S. designed by Tillinghast.

He masterfully used Highland Creek, which comes into play as many as 11 times in 18 holes, and the hilly terrain, gullies and trees as natural hazards, making artificial hazards almost unnecessary at Scarboro.

The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada was first played in 1987 and past champions include five-time winner Lorie Kane, Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, Cathy Sherk, Gail Graham, Nancy Harvey, and Jessica Shepley.

Admittance to the DATA PGA Women’s Championship of Canada is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during the 36-hole championship play.

To follow the DATA PGA Women’s Championship of Canada online throughout tournament week, visit pgaofcanada.com,

FOR THE FULL FIELD AND FIRST ROUND TEE TIMES, CLICK HERE.

Kevin Kisner survived a calamitous finish at the PGA Championship thanks to a good bounce off a bridge that allowed him to escape with a bogey and take a one-shot lead into the final round at Quail Hollow.

Kisner already gave up a two-shot lead with a shot into the water on the 16th hole.

He nearly did it again on the 18th until the ball hit the concrete bridge, sailed high in the air and disappeared in thick grass on the hill above a creek. He did well to chop that out onto the green and two-putt from 45 feet for a 1-over 72.

He wasn’t alone in his struggles at the end of a long day of oppressive heat.

Leader. ?
10-under.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/MYJ0eX0eaE

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2017

Chris Stroud, the last player to qualify for the PGA Championship with a playoff victory last week in Nevada, three-putted for bogey on his final two holes for a 71 and will play in the final group with Kisner. Also one shot behind was Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 73.

Jason Day was right there with them until a peculiar decision likely cost him a reasonable chance. Stuck behind a tree right of the 18th fairway, Day chose not to pitch out to the fairway and tried hooking it around the tree and the gallery to the right. The club clanged off the pine and the ball went into the bushes. He took a penalty drop, found the rough, came up short of the green and ended with a quadruple-bogey 8 for a 77.

Final 7 holes …

Double bogey.
Bogey.
Birdie.
Birdie.
Birdie.
Bogey.
Quadruple bogey.

Heartbreaking stuff from Jason Day. ? pic.twitter.com/dJjPxT5C8t

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2017

Day was seven shots behind.

Rickie Fowler got within three shots of the lead until a three-putt bogey on the 16th hole, a tee shot into the water on the 17th for a double bogey, and a three-putt bogey on the last hole. That sent him six shots behind.

Weyburn, Sask., native Graham DeLaet is T7 at 2 under par. DeLaet carded a 3-under-par 68 in round three and is five shots back of the lead heading into the final round.

-6 in FOUR HOLES!!!!

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??@GrahamDeLaet??
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????????? pic.twitter.com/7VZQil6N0a

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2017

Through all that chaos, Matsuyama kept alive his chances to bring Japan in its first major.

Matsuyama made his share of mistakes, and while he failed to convert two good birdie chances, he played the last five holes bogey-free for a 73.

Hideki Matsuyama's last seven final rounds

61
72
68
66
70
69
67

Matsuyama's final round scoring average this season – 68.64 (2nd on TOUR)

— Matt Cochran (@PGATOURCochran) August 12, 2017

Kisner was at 7-under 206 as he goes after his first major championship.

Of the 15 players who remained under par, Louis Oosthuizen is the only one who has won a major, and that was seven years ago. Oosthuizen saved par from a similar spot Day was in on the 18th hole and shot 71. He was at 5-under 208, along with Justin Thomas, the son of a PGA professional who played bogey-free over his last 12 holes and posted a 69.

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Le Japonais Hideki Matsuyama a raté de peu un roulé pour un oiselet au 18e trou, vendredi, mais il a tout de même rejoint l’Américain Kevin Kisner en tête du Championnat de la PGA.

Matsuyama a remis une carte de 64 (moins-7), la meilleure depuis le début du tournoi, et il partageait la tête avec Kisner à moins-8 quand la deuxième ronde a été interrompue en raison de la noirceur à Quail Hollow.

Le jeu avait été interrompu pendant 1 heure et 43 minutes en fin d’après-midi en raison de la pluie. Les activités reprendront à 7h30, samedi matin.

Matsuyama a accumulé les oiselets de chaque côté de la pause et a évité les bogueys. Il a remporté l’Invitation Bridgestone la semaine dernière grâce à une ronde finale de 61.

“Les verts ici, à Quail Hollow, sont très rapides. J’ai réussi plusieurs roulés alors que je ne m’y attendais pas, a admis Matsuyama. J’essaie simplement d’envoyer la balle près de la coupe, mais il y en a plusieurs qui sont tombées dans l’objectif.”

De son côté, Kisner a signé une deuxième carte consécutive de 67. Il a notamment réalisé un aigle au septième trou, une normale-5 de 546 verges.

“Je suis très content de la manière que je frappe la balle, a mentionné Kisner. Je n’ai pas si bien frappé de tout l’été et j’ai obtenu des résultats ordinaires. Quand je frappe bien la balle, comme c’est le cas présentement, je peux bien faire.

“Je suis heureux de l’occasion qui s’offre à moi.”

Kisner et Matsuyama détiennent deux coups d’avance sur l’Australien Jason Day, qui a ramené une carte de 66.

L’Américain Chris Stroud, le Sud-Africain Louis Oosthuizen et l’Italien Francesco Molinari suivent à moins-5. Molinari a bouclé son parcours en 64 coups, tandis qu’Oosthuizen a inscrit un score de 67. Stroud avait complété 13 trous quand il a dû mettre un terme à sa journée.

Jordan Spieth, qui tente de compléter le grand chelem en carrière, n’a pas connu le début de ronde espéré. Il a limité les dégâts après avoir commis un boguey dès le troisième trou, une normale-4. Pressant le pas pour terminer sa ronde avant que les organisateurs demandent l’arrêt des activités, Spieth a commis un boguey au 18e trou et il a inscrit un pointage de 73 pour glisser à plus-3.

“Je crois que je vais devoir reconnaître que je ne gagnerai pas

à moins d’un revirement de situation complètement fou au cours des deux prochains jours”, a reconnu Spieth.

Graham DeLaet, de Weyburn, en Saskatchewan, a complété le parcours en 73 coups pour se retrouver à plus-1 au pointage cumulatif.

Ses compatriotes Mackenzie Hughes, de Dundas, en Ontario, et Adam Hadwin, d’Abbotsford, en Colombie-Britannique, n’ont pu faire mieux que des rondes respectives de 72 et 76, et ils ne franchiront pas le seuil de qualifications pour les rondes du week-end.

Phil Mickelson a connu le même sort, après avoir vécu une autre ronde désastreuse de 74, vingt-quatre heures après s’être contenté d’un score de 79. Son score cumulatif de plus-11 signifie qu’il ne franchira pas le seuil de qualifications pour les rondes du week-end au Championnat de la PGA pour la première fois en 22 ans.

Ernie Els, qui comme Mickelson participe à un 100e tournoi majeur en carrière, a fait 10 coups de mieux que la veille lors d’une ronde de 70. Il a aussi vu son tournoi prendre fin prématurément.

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Hideki Matsuyama never looks satisfied with his shots or his score, no matter how good they look.

Perhaps it will take winning a major to change that.

Five days after the 25-year-old Japanese star closed with a 61 to win his second World Golf Championship, Matsuyama motored through a dampened Quail Hollow with a 7-under 64 that gave him a share of the lead with Kevin Kisner (67) in the PGA Championship.

They were at 8-under 134, all but ending the hopes of Jordan Spieth to get the career Grand Slam this year.

Heavy rain that suspended play Friday afternoon made Quail Hollow more vulnerable than it has been all week, only Spieth couldn’t take advantage. He made only one birdie, finished with a bogey, and shot a 73 to finish 11 shots out of the lead.

“I kind of accept the fact that I’m essentially out of this tournament pending some form of crazy stuff the next couple of days,” Spieth said.

Kisner faced tougher, faster conditions in the morning and holed a 50-foot eagle putt from short of the green on the par-5 seventh hole. When his round was over, Kisner had a five-shot lead over the players from his side of the draw.

It didn’t look as though anyone would get close.

“These guys going out this afternoon, they break 70, they’ve done a hell of a job,” Rory McIlroy said after a 73 that put him 10 shots back.

A light rain began falling not long after McIlroy’s prediction.

Then, the storms rolled in with heavy rain that drenched the course and forced a rain delay of 1 hour, 43 minutes. And when the second round resumed, it felt like an entirely different golf course.

Jason Day, who played a four-hole stretch in 5 under around the turn and before the storms, began smashing driver without regard that it might run through the fairways and into the rough. He shot 66 and was two shots behind.

There were pitch marks on the putting surfaces. There were splotches of mud of the sides of golf balls. But the biggest difference was the rain took the fear out of putting on the fast, frightening greens and sent scores tumbling.

Francesco Molinari also shot a 64 and was at 5-under 137, along with Louis Oosthuizen, who had a 67.

Graham DeLaet (73) of Weyburn, Sask., was the low Canadian and likely the only one to make the projected 5-over cutline as he finished the round tied for 23rd at 1-over par. Mackenzie Hughes (72) of Dundas, Ont., was 8 over and Adam Hadwin (76) of Abbotsford, B.C., was 13 over.

Matsuyama, finishing his swing with one hand as tee shots found the fairway, already was playing great and putting even better. The storm delay did not stop him.

He ran off four straight birdies starting on No. 12 when he hit his approach into 12 feet. That was the longest of his seven birdie putts, though he also made a 20-foot par putt on the ninth hole. When the round resumed, Matsuyama got up-and-down for birdie on the 15th, saved par from a bunker on the 16th and then drilled a 7-iron over the bunker to 7 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th.

He had a putt just over 12 feet for birdie on the 18th that would have tied the PGA Championship record of 63, but it missed to the left.

No matter. He was tied going into the weekend, raising Japanese hopes of its first major championship.

The second round was halted by darkness, leaving 26 players who had to return Saturday morning. That included Chris Stroud, who was 5 under and had five holes remaining.

Kisner doesn’t have the length for this 7,600-yard course, but he has golf smarts, a reliable swing and a good putting stroke for the greens. He saw the changes to the course earlier this year on a soft, damp day and wondered how he would manage.

The plan was to make birdie on the par 5s and the two short par 4s, and play for par everywhere else.

It has worked to near perfection through two rounds, particularly on the par 5s: a wedge to 10 feet on No. 10; a wedge to 5 feet on No. 15; and the eagle putt on No. 7 that rolled against the pin and disappeared.

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Jim Rutledge won his fifth Mr. Lube PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada Friday at the Burlington Golf & Country Club.

The soon-to-be 58-year-old’s three-day total of 12-under-par (65-67-66) lapped the field, clipping his nearest competitors—Gar Hamilton and Mike Burrows—by seven shots.

Making his final round finish even more remarkable, Rutledge admitted he was battling food poisoning all through the previous night and well into Friday morning.

“I had a rough one out there today and I wasn’t feeling all that well when I rolled up this morning, so I was just trying to get as much water and bananas into me as possible,” Rutledge admitted. “I got off to a really good start, which was really surprising, and after that I just kind of cruised.”

Rutledge’s outward nine Friday included four birdies and a lone bogey, while his backside saw a single birdie on the 12th.

“I hit some not-so-great iron shots on the back-nine,” Rutledge said. “But I wasmis-clubbing in the right spots, which is very important out here.”

Rutledge’s past Mr. Lube PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada victories came in 2015 at Credit Valley Golf & Country Club; 2013 at Lookout Point Country Club; 2012 at Emerald Hills Golf Club; and 2010 at Rattlesnake Point Golf Club. He’s also a former winner on the Web.com Tour, has six Mackenzie-PGA TOUR Canada titles and is a former PGA Championship of Canada winner.

With his fifth win, he now only trails golf legend Moe Norman for most PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada titles. Norman has eight titles, with seven coming in consecutive years.

“I’d love to win a few more and it excites me to think about it,” Rutledge said about the prospects of winning more titles. “Moe Norman is a legend andI by no means put myself in the same category as him, but I’ll chase him if the opportunity comes along.”

The PGA of Canada’s No. 12th-ranked player Scott Allred finished alone in fourth at 1-under-par, while Phil Jonas and Ken Tarling were T5 at even par.

In addition to finishing T2, Hamilton won the Super Senior division for the second time in three years.

The PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada was first played in 1938 as a division of the Canadian PGA Championship. In 1973, the championship became an independent event and has remained as such.

Among the Canadian golf legends to win the PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada are Stan Leonard, Moe Norman—who won a record seven straight years from 1979-1985—Bob Panasik, Al Balding—who wowed the golf world by winning at age 76 in 2000—and Rutledge.

To follow the Mr. Lube PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada online throughout tournament week, visit pgaofcanada.com, twitter.com/pgaofcanada, instagram.com/thepgaofcanada and facebook.com/pgaofcanada

The next PGA of Canada national championship takes place Aug. 14-16 at Scarboro Golf & Country Club for the DATA PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.

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Quebec won all four gold medals at the Canada Games in record-setting fashion at Southwood Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg, Man., becoming the first province other than British Columbia to win a gold medal at the Canada Games.

Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-L’Île-Perrot, Que., fired a 3-under-par 69 in Friday’s final round to set a Canada Games record for lowest four-round total (-5) en route to winning the individual gold medal.

“It’s indescribable,” said Dao. “My putting was very good and my iron play was solid all week.  I was able to attack the pins and not be scared, even though they were well protected.”

Dao’s performance helped lift the Quebec team of Brigitte Thibault (Rosemere) and Sarah-Eve Rheaume (Quebec City) to a four-round score of 573 (-3), a new Canada Games record for lowest four-day team score and Quebec’s first gold medal in golf at the Canada Summer Games.

Dao’s low-round of 69 was accompanied by a 1-over-par 73 from Thibault, leaving Quebec as the only team to finish under par in the final round.

“We knew we had to stay concentrated and be the best we could be and do everything we could to win,” said Thibault.

“Winning the first girls gold for Quebec makes our gold medal even more special,” added Rheaume.”

British Columbia was second in the team competition at 5 over par—they came into the Winnipeg Games having previously won all eight gold medals since golf became part of the Canada Summer Games in 2009. Ontario finished third at 8 over par.

Richmond, B.C.’s Alisha Lau took home the individual silver medal at 1 over par. Ellie Szeryk of London, Ont., won bronze at 3 over par.

Not to be outdone was the Quebec boys team of Christopher Vandette (Beaconsfield), Antoine Roy (Rimouski) and Louis-Alexandre Jobin-Colgan (Quebec City), who also won gold with a tournament record 14-under-par 562.

Leading the team was Vandette, who carded a 1-under-par 71 to finish as the individual gold medallist.

“It feels great,” said Vandette. “Quebec has never won the gold medal in golf at the Canada Games – so it’s really exciting that we just won four in one shot like that.”

British Columbia won the silver medal at 8 under par.

A three-team playoff between New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba was needed to determine the team bronze medallist.

Canadian Junior Boys Champion Calvin Ross from Fredericton, N.B., came up on clutch on the third playoff hole, dropping a birdie putt to secure the bronze for New Brunswick – their first medal in golf at the Canada Games.

“We fell just short of winning the team competition last week at the Canadian Junior Boys, so it’s great to get out here and win a medal this week,” said Ross.

Another playoff was needed to decide the boys’ individual silver medal, with Jobin-Colgan going on to collect the silver and Quebec’s fifth medal in golf by defeating Tristan Mandur (Mill Bay, B.C.) on the second playoff hole, leaving Mandur with the bronze medal.

“It feels like a gold medal because I won it in a playoff,” said Jobin-Colgan. “I’m also really happy for Chris winning the gold.”

Kade Johnson from Yorkton, Sask., fired a tournament record 6-under-par 66 in the final round to finish in seventh place at 1 over par.

The 2021 Canada Summer Games will be hosted by the Niagara Region.

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Six players, including Calgary, Alberta’s Wes Heffernan and Riley Fleming, Florida’s T.J. Vogel, England’s Charlie Bull, Indiana’s Chase Wright and Oklahoma’s Max McGreevy shot rounds of 6-under 65 to share the first-round lead at the ATB Financial Classic, the eighth event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

All six players teed off in the morning wave on Thursday and made a combined 35 birdies, five eagles, and nine bogeys.

Calgary’s Riley Fleming joined the group of co-leaders at 6-under in exciting fashion. Fleming was 4-under for the day heading into his final hole, the par-4, 428-yard No. 18, when he holed out for eagle from 180 yards with a 7-iron.

“It came out a little low and I actually said to my caddie that I thought I nuked it and I thought it might be a little long,” said Fleming. “It was actually about 15 seconds later that everyone started to yell. So I was glad it went in. I wasn’t sure if it was hanging on the lip or something.”

Fleming is making his 35^th career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. The Calgary native has played in only one event this season—last week’s Syncrude Oil Country Championship—where he missed the cut after rounds of 66-81.

He has posted eight top-25 and two top-10 finishes in his Mackenzie Tour career. His best finish was a T4 at the 2015 Syncrude Boreal Open. The 2013 Alberta Open Alberta Amateur Champion played one season of collegiate golf at the University of Texas-Arlington before turning professional in 2014.

Fellow Calgarian Wes Heffernan, who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week, carded six birdies, 2 bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 13^th.

“For me this is my only event playing on tour this year, so for me to shot 65 is pretty satisfying,” said the 2008 Players Cup Champion. “Playing with Riley, who’s a friend of mine and also from Calgary, is a pretty good pairing and we both played well, so we fed off each other and tried to make as many birdies as possible.”

Should Fleming or Heffernan go on to win this week, they would become the first Canadian to win on the Mackenzie Tour since Adam Cornelson won the 2016 Bayview Place Cardtronics Open.

T.J. Vogel was the only co-leader to post a bogey-free round, but it wasn’t hiccup-free. A wayward tee shot on the 510-yard, par-4 No. 10—the toughest hole of the day (+0.394)—turned out to be a lucky break.

“The one shot I did pretty off line today I got pretty lucky on 10, so I was able to have a birdie look,” said Vogel, who is No. 8 in the Order of Merit. “I hit it way right.”

Vogel’s tee shot ended up just short of the tee box on the second hole, but he was able to save par by hitting a nine iron to 12 feet and two-putting from there.

2016 ATB Financial Classic Champion Charlie Bull matched his career-low round on the Mackenzie Tour with his 65 on Thursday.

Bull’s 2017 Mackenzie Tour season has seen four missed cuts in five starts, but a recent swing change turned things around for the England native, who finished T27 two weeks ago at the Mackenzie Investments Open.

“I had an issue with my grip that no one picked up on and a friend of mine down in Florida picked up on it, and I changed it,” said Bull. “It’s obviously pretty uncomfortable changing your grip. It’s one of the toughest things to change, but it is one of those things I had belief in.”

Despite missing a two-footer on his final hole, the par-4 No. 9, co-leader Chase Wright took away a lot of positives from his first-round.

“I was real patient and drove the ball well. It was pretty simple till the last hole,” said Wright, who is playing his first Mackenzie Tour season.

Like Wright, fellow Mackenzie Tour first-timer Max McGreevy had one bogey on his scorecard, but it came at his first hole (No. 10). He bounced back with 6 birdies and an eagle.

“I made a lot of putts—just made it very easy for me out there,” said McGreevy, who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May, where he and his team won the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championship. “I haven’t played too many links-style courses. The greens are firm and fast, and I only think they’re going to get firmer and faster as we go on, so I think they have the course running great.”

Three players sit one shot behind the group of leaders: Texas’ Kramer Hickok, North Carolina’s Trevor Cone, and California’s Kaz Hoffman.

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