Fresh off the RBC Canadian Open, the third-oldest continually held tournament on the PGA TOUR, Canadian golf fans are presented this week with the Canadian Men’s Amateur, the third-oldest national amateur championship in the world.

The British Amateur, first held in 1885, is the granddaddy, followed by the Australian Amateur in 1894. While both the Canadian and U.S. Amateurs were born the following year, the Canadian version arrived first by a matter of months.

In contrast to the first Canadian Amateur where about 30 golfers competed at Royal Ottawa Golf Club, the 113th Canadian Amateur which runs Monday through Thursday will feature 264 of the top players from nine countries. Toronto Golf Club will play host for all four rounds (for a record ninth time) while Islington Golf Club will co-host for the first two rounds prior to the 36-hole cut.

A lot has transpired since 1895. Three years in, Toronto’s George Lyon whipped his opponent (whose name we will not mention out of respect) 12&11. (The Amateur has vacillated between match play and stroke play over its long history and currently is a stroke-play tournament.) Lyon, perhaps best known for his gold medal in the 1904 Olympics, would win a total of eight times between then and 1914.

His record would be challenged by Ross (Sandy) Sommerville who won six times between 1926 and 1937 and was four times the runner-up. Nick Weslock and Doug Roxburgh each won four times. Brent Franklin won three in a row from 1985 to 1987. Jim Nelford won back to back in 1975 and 1976 and finished second in 1977. Richard Scott won three out of four from 2003 to 2006 and Cam Burke won two straight in 2008 and 2009. (Burke is in the field this week.)

While most winners retained their lifelong amateur status, some chose to turn pro, with varied success. Nelford, for example, was on a promising path on the PGA TOUR when an accident ended his career. Thus far, 11 Canadian Amateur champions have won on TOUR, including Canadians Ken Black, Richard Zokol, Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes. Rod Spittle, who defeated Nelford in the 1977 Amateur and won again in 1978, won the PGA TOUR Champions AT&T Championship in 2010.

This year’s field is packed with talent, as usual. Defending champion Hugo Bernard of Mont St-Hilaire, Que., is coming off medallist honours at the U.S. Amateur qualifier in Maine. Florida’s Andy Zhang, 19, finished second to Bernard last year and is ranked 37th in the world. Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., winner of three straight Canadian Mid-Amateur Championships, recently set a course record at Ontario’s Granite Golf Club on his way to medallist honours at the U.S. Amateur qualifier held there. Austin James of Bath, Ont., a member of Team Canada’s national amateur squad, won the NCAA’s Big South Men’s Championship in 2016. A sentimental favourite would be Jimmy Jones of Tampa, Fla., son of the late Dawn Coe-Jones, an LPGA standout who is an honoured member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. A junior at the University of South Florida, he posted six top-25 finishes in 2016-2017 to lead the team.

There’s more on the line for the winner this week than the title and the Earl Grey Trophy. He will earn exemptions into this year’s U.S. Amateur at the Riviera Country Club in California and next year’s RBC Canadian Open. If applicable, the champion will also be eligible for an exemption into the U.S. Junior Amateur, the U.S. Mid Amateur or the U.S. Senior Amateur.

For more information on the Canadian Amateur including field, starting times and love scoring, click here. Spectators are welcome and there is no admission fee.

RENO, Nev. – Greg Owen of England had nine birdies on Saturday to take five-point third round lead of the Barracuda Championship.

Owen had eight birdies and three pars on 11 holes before a double-bogey on 18 to finish a 14-point round in the modified Stableford scoring system that gave him 37 points going into Sunday’s final round.

Stuart Appleby and Derek Fathauer both had birdies on 18 to finish round three tied for second with 32 points. Ricky Barnes had 15 points, including five consecutive birdies, to move up 14 spots into fourth place with 31 points. Second-round leader Richy Werenski had three of his four bogies on the back nine and fell into a tie for fifth with Tom Hoge, Ben Martin and Dicky Pride with 30 points apiece.

The tournament is the PGA Tour’s only Stableford scoring event. The system awards eight points for a double eagle, five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie and deducts a point for a bogey and three points for a double bogey or worse.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 55th at 16 points, while Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch was 68th at eight points. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., withdrew from the competition.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ontario) made nine birdies and posted the lowest round of her career to vault into the 36-hole lead at the PHC Classic on Saturday at Brown Deer Park. Marchand turned in an 8-under, 64 to get to 9-under, 135. She has a two-stroke lead over Krista Puisite (Riga, Latvia), Laura Wearn (Charlotte, N.C.) and Rachel Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.).

The 64 is a tournament record for the PHC Classic, which started in 2015.

Marchand took full advantage of ideal scoring conditions. After cool and windy conditions on Friday, players were greeted with warm and calm weather on Saturday. There were a total of 28 rounds in the 60’s on Saturday.

There will be 70 players competing on Sunday as the cut was made at 1-over, 145.

Marchand, 25, started on the back nine with a string of three birdies in a row on holes 11, 12 and 13. She also made birdie on 15 and then made her lone bogey of the day on hole 17. Marchand made five birdies on her inward nine including finishing with birdies on holes six, eight and nine.

“I don’t really have many words for the round, it was one of those experiences that just happens and you don’t force it,” explained Marchand. “I told my caddy that I wanted to make some putts today and they just started dropping. I didn’t force anything and it turned out great.”

Marchand, who turned in a 1-under, 71 on Friday, said the early start gave her confidence for the rest of the round.

“I was making better contact today and I started to feel more comfortable with my swing,” said Marchand. “I wasn’t doubting anything, everything was just happening. I built a lot of confidence on the front.”

Marchand will sleep on the lead for the first time in her career on the Symetra Tour.

“I take it as a challenge,” said the former N.C. State golfer. “I want to be in these positions to gain experience and try and come out on top. I want to do my same routine tonight and tomorrow morning and act like it is any other day. I think it is possible, I know I can play well.”

Marchand said she would lean on the experience at the Manulife LPGA Classic when she went into the final-round in the top 10 and had the pressure of playing in her home country on a sponsors exemption.

A win would serve two purposes. The $15,000 first-place payout would move her from 41st on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to likely inside the top 20. A victory would also send her to The Evian Championship, the fifth major on the LPGA schedule.

“Being able to play in the Evian would obviously be a great experience,” said Marchand. “I have a sponsors exemption into the Canadian Open at the end of August so getting another opportunity the next week would be awesome. Anytime I can play up there (LPGA) is great because that is the goal. To go to France would be great too because I have never been there.”

Marchand has four career top 10 finishes on the Symetra Tour including one this season. Her best result is a third place finish at the 2016 Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas.

Marchand and Puisite will play in the final group on Sunday starting at 1:10 p.m.

DORI CARTER EYES EVIAN AFTER WHIRLWIND WEEK: Dori Carter (Valdosta, Georgia) flew to
Scotland last week to compete in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open. She made the cut and then flew back to the U.S. to compete in the PHC Classic and arrived in Milwaukee on Monday night.

She carded a 3-under, 69 on Saturday to get to a tie for 12th.

“A week ago I woke up in Scotland and I’m here now playing in Milwaukee so I’ve had a crazy last two weeks,” explained Carter, who has made 117 career starts on the LPGA. “I was a little jet-lagged and
never quite adjusted to what we had over in Scotland. It was a last minute trip, but I had fun.”

Carter is playing the PHC Classic to try and qualify for The Evian Championship.

“It’s a major on the LPGA so it’s a huge deal,” said Carter. “It would be a big confidence boost to help me finish the year strong.”

Carter plans on being in full attack mode with quite a few stokes to make up Sunday.

“Honestly, being in attack mode is not a bad way to play regardless of the situation,” said Carter. “I don’t have anything to lose, I’m here to win a golf tournament and I’m also here to maintain the
competitiveness.”

LORI BETH ADAMS 16 STROKES BETTER: Lori Beth Adams (Burlington, N.C.) shot an 8-over, 80 on Friday and was in a tie for 147 (out of 156 golfers). Only seven golfers turned in scores higher than 80 on Friday. Beth Adams not only made the cut, but moved all the way up to a tie for 38th with an 8-under, 64 on Saturday.

It was an incredible turnaround that saw her improve by 16 strokes. She made eight birdies on Saturday compared to just one on Friday. She made seven birdies and a double on Friday compared to a bogey-free card on Saturday.

“I just made a bunch of long putts,” said Beth Adams. “I saw one go in and it continued from there. It was definitely a different feeling.”

Her longest putt of the day was a 60-footer on hole five.

“I just proved to myself that I know I can post low scores,” said Beth Adams, who has two top 10 finishes this season. “I hope the putts continue to fall on Sunday.”

FRENCH NATIVE STILL IN HUNT AFTER 25-FOOTER ON 18: French native Marion Ricordeau (Laon, France) didn’t have the putter going like she did on Friday when she turned in a 6-under, 66, but she
ended her round with a 25-footer on nine to post a 1-over, 73. She is four shots off the lead at 5-under through 36.

“Finally, I made one,” said Ricordeau, who was in good spirits after the round. “I was just hoping I could make one today as I had only three birdies and they were all in close range. The hole seemed to be very big yesterday and very tiny today. I’m just glad the last one dropped. I just didn’t have the pace today.”

Ricordeau said she didn’t sleep well last night. She woke up at 1:30 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. She was scared of over sleeping so when she woke up at 1:30 a.m., she didn’t go back to sleep and was at the course by 6:15 a.m. for her 7:30 tee time.

“I hope I’m not too far back to play for the spots in Evian and even for the win,” said Ricordeau. “I just want to do my normal routine and hopefully I get more rest.”

Ricordeau is a tie for sixth.

RACHEL ROHANNA IN MIX FOR SECOND WIN: Rachel Rohanna started slow with two bogeys over her first six holes, but finished with four birdies and no bogeys over her final 12 holes.

She is in a tie for second into the final-round.

“I started rough with a bogey on the first hole, but I brought it back with a 2-putt birdie on my 9th hole (the 18th),” said Rohanna. “Overall, I’m hitting the ball really well and putting great.”

Rohanna is hoping for a win or second place finish to qualify for The Evian Championship.

“It would be my first time to France and it would be my second major championship in two years so it would be really exciting,” said Rohanna. “To have LPGA status and give myself a shot to play Evian and move up the money list would be big. I just have to keep it going and keep smiling.”

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – I.K. Kim stood on the first tee at the Women’s British Open and seemed to have everything going against her.

The wind was rising. Heavy rain was falling. The temperature was dropping. If that wasn’t enough, Inbee Park had just toured Kingsbarns Links in a course record-tying 64 and was one shot behind. Stacy Lewis, another past Women’s British Open champion, was another shot back after a 65.

Kim answered every challenge Saturday.

In weather that turned out better than expected – only one heavy shower – Kim shot a bogey-free 66 by converting a string of birdie putts. With one round to play, the 29-year-old South Korean was at 17-under 199 and had a six-shot lead over Georgia Hall (70) and Moriya Jutanugarn (67), the older sister of defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn.

Lexi Thompson, who started the third round just two shots behind, stumbled to a 74 and wound up 10 shots back. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 71 and is 5 under.

Kim, five years removed from infamously missing a 1-foot putt to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship, now is poised for redemption with her first major.

Even armed with such a substantial lead, there will be pressure on her stamina and usually reliable putting stroke. Even five years on, the memory lives on of her clasping her hand over her mouth when she missed her tap-in for victory, eventually losing in a playoff to Sun-Young Yoo.

“I have finally been able to let go of that,” Kim said. “I was disappointed with my golf after 2012. I criticized myself too much, which is not healthy. So it was tough. I never stopped liking the game, but what happened did take away some of the joy. I certainly don’t get surprised by anything anymore.”

Should she falter in the race for her first major and the $487,500 first-place prize, there is plenty of experience in her wake – from Park, the biggest star on the LPGA Tour over the last decade, and from Lewis.

Both took advantage of the benign morning weather to make substantial progress up the leaderboard. Park rose from a tie for 48th to a tie for fourth alongside Ally McDonald, who shot a 70. Lewis moved all the way up to a tie for sixth.

“I putted great and hit the ball great,” Park said. “That’s something I have been really struggling with for the last month. It doesn’t matter how many shots I’m back. I’ll just try to play my golf tomorrow. That’s all I can do.”

Lewis also credited an improved performance to her putting – and her mother.

“I really putted pretty poorly the first two days,” Lewis said. “My mom told me I needed to take my putter straighter back. And that’s what I worked on today.”

In contrast to the success of those players still owning a vague chance of victory, Thompson ended her chances with a sloppy display both on and off the greens. Despite three birdies on the back nine, Thompson took a double bogey on the 16th hole on her way to 74.

She was tied for 13th, along with Michelle Wie, who rallied from a 76 on Friday to post a 69.

AKRON, Ohio – Thomas Pieters finds golf to be a lot more enjoyable when he’s playing from the fairway.

Sometimes, that includes another fairway.

The big hitter from Belgium ripped a fairway metal from the third fairway at Firestone over the trees and onto the green at the par-5 second hole, leading to one of his three straight birdies to start the third round at the Bridgestone Invitational. Pieters needed another long shot – this one a 30-foot birdie putt that rammed into the back of the cup – to cap off a wild day with a 4-under 66 and a share of the lead with Zach Johnson.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is three shots back following a 67. He finished his round with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 73 and is 11 over.

Johnson, who watched Rory McIlroy blast drives 300 yards or more all day, showed that an efficient wedge game works, too. Just like Pieters, he had eight birdies in a round of 65 and holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole.

Johnson now figures to get another front-row seat to the power game.

Pieters and Johnson were at 9-under 201 going into the final round, and it’s particularly meaningful for both of them.

Johnson hasn’t won since he captured his second major at St. Andrews, and he’s just now starting to find some form with his short game. Pieters is a three-time winner on the European Tour who showed his awesome potential at the Ryder Cup last year, and now has his best chance to win in America since he captured the NCAA title at Riviera while playing for Illinois.

Pieters headed for the driving range after the round to figure out his driver. He was 5 under through eight holes and led by three shots when his accuracy took a turn in every direction – mostly to the left. He didn’t hit a fairway after the 10th hole, dropped three shots and fell out of the lead only as long as it took him to make his eighth and final birdie .

“First eight holes I was in the fairway, hit good shots, made putts,” Pieters said. “And the last 11 is a struggle. I just was out of position every hole. Tomorrow I’ve just got to figure out a way to hit fairways. That’s it.”

Johnson only missed two fairways. More importantly, he is giving himself chances and converted.

“Honing in the wedges with that distance control has been the key, and I think especially the scoring irons,” Johnson said. “And then on a course like this, you’ve got to hit the ball in the fairway. This is the best I’ve driven it probably all year. It’s probably the best driver I’ve had in my bag all year, if not ever.”

He said that after playing with McIlroy, who now has hit 39 out of his 42 drives at Firestone at least 300 yards. McIlroy, however, had to settle for a 68 and left him three shots behind in pursuit of his first victory since the Tour Championship last year.

“I felt like I could have got a lot more out of it,” McIlroy said. “I think if I would have walked off today with a 65 or a 66, I would have felt that was a fair reflection of how I played. But only three behind going into tomorrow, I can get off to a fast start and try and put a bit of pressure on the guys up ahead of me.”

One shot out of the lead was Scott Hend of Australia, who got into his first Bridgestone Invitational on a loophole and posted a 63 even with two three-putt bogeys. The World Golf Championship set aside one spot for the winner of a designated event on the Asian Tour. When that tournament never came together, organizers agreed to take the winner of the Order of Merit from the previous year.

Hend is making the most of his chances in his debut at Firestone. After his lone bogey on the par-3 seventh with a three-putt bogey, Hend took only 10 putts over the final 11 holes, three of them from 30 feet or longer, one of those for par.

“Just channeling my inner Jordan Spieth,” he said.

Hideki Matsuyama, already with one World Golf Championship he won last fall in Shanghai, had a 67 and was two shots behind.

Spieth, meanwhile, needed to channel his inner Hend. He took bogey on the last two holes for a 71 to slip seven shots behind in his bid to win his third straight tournament going into the PGA Championship next week.

Pieters has been looked upon as yet another player to add to the deepening talent pool of young players, especially after his 4-1 record in the Ryder Cup last year at Hazeltine. He has a big game and big expectations, and he can run hot when his game goes sideways.

Pieters made only three pars over his last 11 holes. He took solace going into the final round because he believes he can straighten out his driver, and because he’s in contention for a World GolfChampionship.

“My bad golf is getting better,” he said. “That’s always good.”

Sean O’Hara, Maxwell Ferrari, Riley Goss and nine others earned exemptions into the 2017 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship weather-delayed qualifying event at The Toronto Golf Club on Saturday.
O’Hara shot the low round of the event with a 3-under-par 67 after he went bogey-free on the back nine with three birdies, largely due to a red-hot putter.

“I putted really well today,” he said, next to the 18th green. “I had 13 putts on the back nine which really came as a relief because I’ve putted poorly all year.”

Most impressively, the 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., booked his ticket into 113th playing of the event just two months removed from a six-month recovery period for a broken shin.

“I was injured from December to June,” he said. “I didn’t even touch a golf club. I started making little half swings two months ago but I was just really weak because I hadn’t move my leg in six months. I still don’t have my power back, I’m still down about 10 mph in clubhead speed, but I can’t complain much shooting 67.”

Maxwell Ferrari, from Farmingham, Mass., and Riley Goss from Toronto, Ont., shot matching 2-under-par 68s, both limiting themselves to just one bogey.

Ferrari, who started on the back nine, got off to a rough start after he put his opening tee shot into the trees on the right side of the 10th hole but managed to head to No. 11 unscathed.

“After my ball was in the trees, I hit a really nice wedge shot to within four feet and made that for par,” Ferrari said. “That kind of settled me down and put the round in the right direction.
From there I just stuck to my process and tried to stay calm the whole round and take it shot-by-shot.”

Goss got off to a hot start with birdies on holes four, seven and eight on Friday, but he, like most of the afternoon draw, was forced to put his round on hold due to dangerous weather conditions. Knowing that he was in a good spot at the resumption of play on Saturday, the 22-year-old played steady golf and finished up with one bogey and nine pars.

“After the rain delay went off I knew that I needed to par-in today and I’ll be fine,” he said. “I was playing well and I lost my momentum after the delay, but I played well enough to finish so I’m happy about that.”

The remaining players earning exemptions are: Sameer Kalia (Campbellville, Ont.), Mac Carter (Coburg, Ont.), John Burghardt (Oakville, Ont.), Austin Ryan (Waterloo, Ont.), Joshua Montgomery (Ancaster, Ont.), Conner Watt (Mississauga, Ont.), Andy Butler (Oakmont, Pa.), William Gallacher (Calgary, Alta.) and David Greenaway (Barrie, Ont.).

The first, second and third alternates are Brandon Mihalo (Windsor, Ont.), Dominic Schnepf (Ankeny, Iowa) and Chad Watts Denyes (Hamilton, Ont.), respectively.

The Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship takes place from Aug. 7-10 at The Toronto Golf Club and Islington Golf Club in Toronto, Ont., with a field of 264 players competing from nine different countries.

The field will be reduced to the low 70 and ties for the final two rounds contested at The Toronto Golf Club.

In addition to claiming the title of 2017 Canadian Men’s Amateur champion, the winner will earn exemptions into the 2017 U.S. Amateur at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. The champion will also be eligible to receive an exemption into the U.S. Junior Amateur, the U.S. Mid-Amateur or the U.S. Senior Amateur, if applicable.

Click here for full qualifier results.

HAYWARD, Calif. _ Stephen Curry missed the cut Friday night against professional golfers one notch below the PGA Tour.

But not before leaving some of golf’s best players impressed that a two-time MVP for the Golden State Warriors could enter their arena and look respectable.

Curry opened with a 4-over 74 on the TPC Stonebrae and needed a career round to stay for the weekend. He shot a 74 again on Friday to finish tied for 148th. He missed the cut by 11 shots.

Curry bogeyed two of the first three holes on Friday and shot a 39 on a 3-hour front nine. He made five straight pars and birdied No. 14 but he played the final three holes at plus-1 with two bogeys and a birdie on 17.

No matter.

“That was awesome what he did yesterday,” British Open champion Jordan Spieth said Friday at the Bridgestone Invitational. “I think he certainly beat most everybody’s expectations, but I don’t think that really surprised him. It was pretty cool _ really cool _ to see.

“You see him fist-pumping out there, and just him talking about how nervous he was when he heard his name called, it just makes us feel a little better when sometimes some of the stuff he does looks like a robot.”

Stanford alum Andrew Yun shot a 62 on Friday and finished two rounds at 8-under 127. Fellow American Brandon Harkins is two shots back after rounds of 64 and 65.

One of the highlights for Curry in the opening round was a long birdie putt and telling his caddie to “Go get that” from the cup. That was the famous line Spieth said to his caddie at Royal Birkdale two weeks ago after a 50-foot eagle putt to take the lead.

“To be honest, I think it’s pretty special for a two-time MVP to be able to shoot 74 at a pro event and beat other pros,” former PGA champion Jason Day said.

No one expected much from Curry, who last year played in the pro-am at the PGA Tour’s season opener in Napa. The field included players who have competed in majors this year and seven players who have won on the PGA Tour.

The question in some corners was how high his score would be.

“I was asked if I thought he was going to break 80, and that’s the hand grenade question,” Paul Casey said. “But 4 over is really good. It’s a lot of pressure, and he exceeded my expectations.”

Zach Johnson, a two-time major champion, said he has a friend who knows Curry and said he was a good player. The score in the first round was enough to make a believer out of Johnson.

“Clearly, he is,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that golf course. Someone said they shoot pretty low there often, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to put the ball in the hole. First round as an amateur in a professional tournament? That’s pretty good.”

Johnson vaguely recalled the time Jerry Rice, the Hall of Fame receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, played in the tournament. Rice shot 90.

“He’s a good athlete. They’re both good athletes,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to be playing for the 49ers.”

Murray, Kentucky’s Patrick Newcomb shot a 2-under 68 on Friday at Windermere Golf and Country Club to take a one-stroke lead through two rounds of the Syncrude Oil Country Championship presented by AECON, the seventh event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 27-year old led by one over Tacoma, Washington’s Derek Barron when play was suspended for the evening due to darkness at 8:35 p.m. Round Two was suspended initially for 1 hour and 54 minutes due to dangerous weather earlier in the day and will resume at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.

“I’m really happy at 10-under,” said Newcomb, who managed six birdies on the day but admitted he would aim to improve on his total of four bogeys on the day. “I’m going to try to keep the bogeys off the card. If I can do that, I don’t see myself making any less than five or six birdies again, so that’s the key.”

The Murray State grad sits eighth on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit thanks to a win at the Honduras Open presented by Indura Beach and Golf Resort, and hopes to make up for a slip-up earlier this season at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel, where he held the solo lead on Sunday but fell to a final round 79 to fall out of contention.

“Thunder Bay got away from me a little bit. That’s the only time I’ve really fallen apart on the back nine, but that’s kind of my nature. When you’re playing aggressive and it’s not going great, if you hit a few loose tee shots hitting drivers where no one else is, it’s going to get away from you. I’m just going to keep playing aggressive and give myself a chance to win,” said Newcomb.

Barron birdied his final hole of the day to hold solo second at 9-under, while Tampa, Florida’s Lee McCoy was a shot further behind at 8-under after a 67. Barron, a 32-year old Mackenzie Tour rookie, said he looked forward to the chance to play with Newcomb on Saturday once Round 3 gets underway.

“I met him this week playing a practice round. Funny guy, nice guy. I really enjoyed playing with him, and I’m sure he’ll keep it lighthearted tomorrow,” said Barron.

BACKGROUND ON THE LEADER: 27-year old Patrick Newcomb is making his fourth career start on the Mackenzie Tour and is playing out of a category for members of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, where he ranks eighth on the Order of Merit thanks to a win at the Honduras Open presented by Indura Beach and Golf Resort.

Newcomb played college golf at Murray State, where he collected nine individual victories. He co-held the lead at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel through 54 holes but fell to a final round 79 and finished T38.

Newcomb matched the Windermere Golf and Country Club Course Record with an 8-under 62 on Saturday, matching Joe Panzeri and Matt Marshall at the 2012 ATB Financial Classic. The course played as a par-71 in 2012.

Newcomb’s caddie this week is Windermere member Dave Kakoschke.

RENO, Nev. – Richy Werenski birdied six holes and eagled No. 18 on Friday to take a two-point lead in the Barracuda Championship, the PGA Tour’s only modified Stableford scoring event.

The 25-year-old American had a 15-point round to reach 26 points for two trips around the high-altitude course at Montreux Golf and Country Club.

The scoring system awards eight points for double eagle, five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie and deducts a point for a bogey and three points for a double bogey or worse.

Stuart Appleby sits alone in second after a six-birdie, two-bogey round. Greg Owen, Luke List, Ben Martin and Dicky Pride are all tied for third at 23 points. First-round leader John Huh had two birdies and two bogeys to drop into a tie for 19th with 16 points.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 28th at 15 points, while Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., were in a group tied for 60th at 10 points.

Play was delayed for over an hour due to rain and lightning in the area.

AKRON, Ohio – The sun finally came out, and Jimmy Walker saw a glimpse of what he hopes are brighter days ahead.

In a year marked by coping with Lyme disease and bouts of fatigue, Walker endured rain delays of nearly five hours Friday and posted a 5-under 65 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational.

The timing couldn’t be better for Walker, who goes to Quail Hollow next week to defend his title in the PGA Championship.

“It hadn’t been a lot of fun this year,” Walker said. “But it’s nice to see some putts go in and make some solid swings and keep rounds going, make par putts, just the stuff I haven’t been doing.”

He was at 7-under 133, two shots ahead of Thomas Pieters of Belgium, who had a 70.

Walker didn’t have a lot going last year until he finished well in the Canadian Open, and then went wire-to-wire at Baltusrol the next week to win the PGA Championship. So maybe there’s another spark he can find at Firestone Country Club.

“There’s still a lot of golf on a hard course, but I know it’s there,” he said.

He also has a slew of players not far behind him in this World Golf Championship. Rory McIlroy put together a steady round of 69 and was three shots back, along with Zach Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama, who each shot 67.

The large group at 3-under 137 included Jordan Spieth, going after his third straight victory. Spieth missed a short par putt on the 15th and was slipping behind when he faced an awkward lie from the edge of a bunker. Stumbling out of the sand backward, he nearly holed the shot and made birdie, and then he stuffed his approach to 3 feet for birdie on the 18th hole to salvage a 70.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is also four shots back after a 69. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a second straight round of 74 and is 8 over.

Jason Day, winless in nearly 15 months, also got back into the picture despite some mild back pain. He opened with three straight birdies and shot 30 on the front nine to get back near the leaders, though two bogeys on the back nine slowed him and he shot 66. He was in the group at 137.

“The front side definitely felt like 2015, 2016,” Day said, alluding to his best stretch of golf when he rose to No. 1 in the world. “I was just pouring in everything. I know that it’s still in there. I’ve just got to keep practicing hard. I know it will eventually happen.”

Day felt he was slowed by the last – and longest – of the rain delays. He returned to three-putt the 10th for a bogey and never got back any momentum.

It was like that for everyone who slogged through a 10-hour day.

The second round was delayed 45 minutes at the start, and then another 45 minutes when a small band of storms rolled through. A delayed of some 3 1/2 hours followed, making it feel like two separate rounds and one long day.

Walker still isn’t out of the woods just yet. He first thought he had mononucleosis around the Masters, and it eventually was diagnosed as Lyme’s disease. He has tried to muddle through the year when his energy allowed, though there hasn’t been a lot of practice.

And even a 65, which matched his low score of the year, wasn’t smooth sailing.

“It’s day to day,” he said. “I felt pretty good all week physically, and I wake up this morning and I’ve just got his overall flu feeling in my body. So I take some Advil, it goes away. And then during the last break, it came back, so I took some more. Now it’s gone. You just never know when it’s going to spike up.”

But he felt good enough to make birdie on both par 3s on the back nine, and drop only one shot on the round.

The scoring has been good with the rain and softer greens, and a South course that was in pristine condition to start the tournament. A strong wind arrived after the storm cleared, which kept everyone’s attention.

Only two dozen players from the 76-man field remained under par.

Among those who fell back was Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player still trying to find his form from a back injury that knocked him out of the Masters. He hit only one green in regulation on the front nine – 60 feet from the hole – and shot 40. Johnson didn’t make a single birdie in his round of 75 that knocked him 10 shots out of the lead heading into the final major of the year.