Chad Collins missed a chance for the 10th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and third of the season, parring the final two holes for an 11-under 60 on Friday in the second round of the Barbasol Championship.

Collins hit his approach to the back fringe on the par-4 18th, leaving a 70-foot downhill birdie try that he hit 5 feet past.

“I just got myself out of position off the tee, which you can’t do,” Collins said. “Probably one of the easiest hole locations on the green, so it was kind of unfortunate to not hit the fairway and I probably would have had a better look at birdie there. I gave it a run. I’m not too disappointed at all by 60, so I’ll take it.”

After six straight birdies on Grand National’s rain-softened Lake Course, the 38-year-old player from Indiana player missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.

“Hit a good shot, but I hit it a little heavy,” Collins said. “I didn’t think it was going to get back there and it must have had a lot of overspin, hit the downslope, chased back there. I wasn’t sure how close it came to going in, but had to come pretty close. And then the putt was a little tricky. We couldn’t quite figure out if it was kind of right centre, right edge or left centre, left edge. Just kind of lost a little bit of speed and broke off the left edge. ”

Jim Furyk shot a record 58 last year in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and is one of eight players to shoot 59. Justin Thomas and Adam Hadwin shot 59s in January – Thomas in his victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii, and Hadwin in the CareerBuilder Challenge in California.

Brantford’s David Hearn is five strokes back of Collins at 10 under par (67-65).

Collins was at 15-under 127 for a four-stroke lead over Grayson Murray (64) and Cameron Tringale (66).

Collins had five birdies in a front-nine 30, parred the 10th and ran off the six straight birdies to get to 11 under for the round.

“It kind of crossed my mind probably on the par-5 16th,” Collins said about breaking 60. “Didn’t hit a very good tee shot there, but it was probably going to be a three-shot hole anyway. Then hit a good approach shot in there to 10 feet or so. When I made that, obviously with two holes to go, just needed to make one.”

He made the 36-hole cut for only the fifth time in 23 events this year. The two-time Web.com Tour winner had missed five straight cuts and 11 of 12.

“This year’s been kind of a struggle for me,” Collins said. “I haven’t been playing that well and it’s super nice to see putts fall in, good ball-striking and being in position on the weekend.”

Collins had his lowest round on the PGA Tour and tied the course record set last year by Jhonattan Vegas. He had 23 putts Friday.

“Owe it all to the putter,” Collins said. “I did strike it well, but I made a lot of putts. Made a few that I probably shouldn’t have made, had a stretch going there on my back nine of five or six in a row. Hit some clutch shots, but just made a lot of putts.”

He also shot 60 in a 2013 Web.com Tour event in Utah, playing his first nine holes in 9-under 27 with an eagle and seven birdies.

Murray had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine.

“I saw the 15 (Collins’ total) before I even teed off and I was 11 back and now I’m four back, so I’ll take it,” Murray said. “He’s a good player and there’s a lot of good players up at the top. Just got to keep making birdies on this course.”

Tringale played the back nine first, also making five birdies on the side.

“The course is set up for scoring today, a lot of front pins, a lot of opportunities to get the ball close,” Tringale said. “Just got to get it in the fairway, and my iron play has been strong most of this week, so that’s really my plan, just keep it in front of me.”

Furyk had a 68 to get to 5 under. The 47-year-old U.S. Ryder Cup captain is playing the event after failing to qualify for the British Open. He took the last three weeks off for a long-planned European river cruise with his family, and has been fighting a shoulder problem.

Davis Love III, at 53 the oldest player in the field, followed his opening 72 with a 67 to reach 3 under. Son Dru Love missed the cut, shooting 73-72.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Gerina Piller followed her opening 8-under 63 with a 68 on Friday to maintain a one-stroke in the Marathon Classic.

Piller had four birdies and a bogey at Highland Meadows in the second round to reach 11-under 131.

“Very satisfied,” Piller said. “I feel like I was pretty steady. I kind of had a par streak going there. But I gave myself chances for birdie, and at that point, you’ve just got to be patient, and there’s some birdie holes out there. I stayed patient, not one on my front nine and then reeled off three in a row on the back. It is difficult, but if you can just kind of plug along and hit fairways and greens and keep it simple.”

She’s winless on the LPGA Tour.

“Well, it’s only Friday, so I wouldn’t put the cart before the horse, but to get that first win I think would be really special, no matter where it is,” Piller said. “I’m just going to try to focus on the process, and the result will take care of itself.”

"I don't think I've ever held the lead after the 1st round." @Gerinapiller is the current leader after round 2 of the @MarathonLPGA pic.twitter.com/iWS717CQt7

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 21, 2017

U.S. Solheim Cup teammate Lexi Thompson had a 65 to move into a tie for second with fellow American Nelly Korda (64), South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim (67) and Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien (68).

“I’m actually hitting a little baby cut around the golf course,” Thompson said. “I never thought I would say those words. But I’m just sticking to it, and I hit some great iron shots, which helped.”

Korda played the back nine in 6 under, birdieing the first three holes and the last three.

“I’ve been on top of the leaderboard a couple of times this year and I’ve just learned to stay patient and just take it shot by shot,” Korda said.

"I don't think I've ever held the lead after the 1st round." @Gerinapiller is the current leader after round 2 of the @MarathonLPGA pic.twitter.com/iWS717CQt7

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 21, 2017

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., missed her second cut of the season, shooting 70-75. Augusta James of Bath, Ont., Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane and Calgary’s Jennifer Ha also missed the cut. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the lone Canadian left in the field at 4 under after a second straight round of 69.

India’s Aditi Ashok was 9 under after a 68. Sung Hyun Park, the U.S. Women’s Open winner Trump National in New Jersey, had a 70 to join fellow South Korean player Chella Choi (67) and Americans Brittany Lincicome (67) and Laura Diaz (67) at 8 under.

Stacy Lewis, her U.S. Women’s Open chances ruined by a third-round meltdown, was 2 under after a 71. She’s looking ahead to the next two weeks at the Ladies Scottish Open and Women’s British Open.

“I’m just going to try to play better,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to be looking at a leaderboard. At this point, it’s now try to play better and get ready for links golf next week and just controlling ball flight and controlling spin. That’s what I’ll kind of work on this weekend.”

Lydia Ko, winless since her victory last year at Highland Meadows, had a 68 to reach 1 under. She also won the 2014 event.

“I feel like I’m hitting it OK and I’m putting it fine, but those things kind of need to come together,” Ko said. “At the end of the day, I know I need to be patient, and sometimes it’s just not going to go your way even though you try your best. At the end, all I’ve got to do is just try my best, and after that it’s really out of my hands.”

Click here for the full leaderboard.

It was a dramatic finish to the 2017 edition of the Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship. Wind and rain made for tough conditions at the Ponoka Golf Club as sixty of the province’s best amateur golfers vied for their spot into the national championship. 2015 champion Brett Hogan defeated Max Sekulic on the second playoff hole in a thriller finish.

Hogan got off to a hot start again as he started the day two shots off of Sekulic’s lead. “I got off to a great start. I knew Max was going come out and play well today. My goal was to play my own game and get some chances for birdie. On the front, I did a good job of keeping the ball below the hole”, said Hogan. He went out bogey-free in 32 strokes and after birdieing the tenth hole he had it to 16-under-par for the championship before conditions deteriorated. “On the back, I played decently solid but got a little shaky with the putter and the conditions got worse and a little tougher out there.”

Sekulic fought back hard and made an incredible 20-foot bomb for birdie on the final hole in front of the crowd. Hogan said, “I had a feeling he (Sekulic) was going to make it. He’s a great putter. I knew I was going to have to make mine and unfortunately, I lipped out my par putt. You’ve got to move on.” After 72 holes the pair were tied at 12-under-par and were headed to a sudden death playoff starting on the tenth hole.

Both players scrambled for par on the par 5 tenth and they headed back to the 18^th where it would all be settled. Hogan tugged his drive just left and had two trees blocking his second shot. “I had 95 yards and had to keep it pretty low. I’ve practiced shots like that before. Hitting different clubs from about a hundred yards and I actually had that shot earlier this week in the second round so I knew what to do. I just hit an eight iron from back in my stance and just hoped it would work out as well as it did.” His ball rolled to four feet and when Sekulic missed his birdie attempt, Hogan stepped up and made his second chance count.

Hogan becomes the 19^th person in the championship’s history to win the Alberta Amateur multiple times. He said after the round that “it means a lot… it meant a lot to get the first one and this probably means just as much or maybe even more. It’s not easy to win these things and this is definitely one of my favourite tournaments all year.”

Hogan, Sekulic and Graf form the Alberta Willingdon Cup team that will represent the province at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship to be conducted at The Toronto Golf Club & Islington Golf Club in Mississauga, ON, August 7-10^th. Hogan earns the final spot on the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship Alberta Morse Cup Team.

TOP 10 LEADERBOARD

MEDIA

• Full results
• Full event information
• #ABMensAm
• Flickr albums

Jordan Spieth expected a rough time at the British Open before he even got to the golf course.

He spent Friday morning at his rented house in front of the television, watching players battle a relentless wind at Royal Birkdale, all the while checking a forecast that was even worse for when he played in the afternoon.

“It wasn’t a great feeling knowing we were coming into something harder than what we were watching,” he said.

Spieth did more than just survive.

With a short game as sharp as it has been all year, and a 3-wood that turned out a lot better than it looked and led to an eagle, Spieth seized control with a 1-under 69 that gave him a two-shot lead over Matt Kuchar going into the weekend.

“It was a really solid day.” @JordanSpieth, the clubhouse leader (-6) speaks to the media. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/FIg8zxEo78

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2017

Spieth turned a bogey or worse into an unlikely par by chipping in from just short of the 10th green. And he learned enough from watching TV to know that going a little long on the par-5 15th would give him a better birdie chance than playing short. So he switched from a 3-iron to a 3-wood, hit it a little off the neck and watched it run hot and fast some 100 yards along the wet turf to about 18 feet away.

“I mishit the shot, which is probably why it looked so gross,” Spieth said. “I hit it low off the heel, which is easy to do when you’re trying to carve a cut. And it just … one hop, scooted around the group of bunkers there, and then it was obviously fortunate to get all the way to the green.”

The flight of that 3-wood looked as ugly as the weather. The outcome was as bright as his chances of getting his name on another major championship trophy.

Spieth was at 6-under 134. It was the 12th time he has been atop the leaderboard at a major, including the fourth rounds of the Masters and U.S. Open that he won in 2015. Spieth is the sole leader at a major for the first time since the third round of the Masters last year, when he was runner-up to Danny Willett.

“Anytime you’re in the last group on a weekend in a major … you get nervous. And I’ll be feeling it this weekend a bit,” he said. “But I enjoy it. As long as I approach it positively and recognize that this is what you want to feel because you’re in the position you want to be in, then the easier it is to hit solid shots and to create solid rounds.”

Austin Connelly, a dual Canadian-American citizen who was born in Irving, Texas, is five shots back after a 72. He’s in a tie for sixth at 1 under. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., struggled in his second round and missed the cut at 13 over.

“Today was very similar to @Jones_Cup weather. It’s usually a bit colder than that there.” – Austin Connelly, 2015 Jones Cup champ

— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) July 21, 2017

Kuchar played in the morning in steadily strong wind, but without rain, and pieced together a solid round until a few mistakes at the end for a 71. He was at 4-under 136, and it would have been a good bet that he would be leading with the nasty weather that arrived.

“I think that’s what people enjoy about the British Open is watching the hard wind, the rain, the guys just trying to survive out there,” Kuchar said. “Today is my day. I get to kick back in the afternoon and watch the guys just try to survive.”

He wound up watching another short-game clinic from Spieth.

The key to his round came in the middle, starting with a 10-foot par putt on No. 8 after he drove into a pot bunker. The biggest break came at No. 10, when the rain was pounding Royal Birkdale. Spieth hit into another pot bunker off the tee, could only advance it out sideways, and came up short of the green in light rough.

“Massive,” he said about the chip-in par. “Nothing said ‘4’ about this hole. I feel a little guilty about taking 4 on the card.”

And he wasn’t through just yet. Spieth rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt across the 11th green, and then after watching Henrik Stenson’s tee shot on the par-3 12th land softly, Spieth realized he could take on the flag. He hit 7-iron to 2 feet for another birdie, and followed that with a beautiful pitch to tap-in range for par on the 13th.

Eagle! @jordanspieth goes three clear #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/Z4KLc77Hke

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2017

Even so, his work is far from over.

The chasing pack features U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, who failed to make a birdie but stayed in the hunt with 16 pars in a 72, and Ian Poulter with his newfound confidence, which is growing even higher with the support of the English crowd. Poulter shot 70.

Not to be overlooked was Rory McIlroy, who recovered from a horrific start Thursday to salvage a 71, and then kept right on rolling. McIlroy, who was 5 over through the opening six holes of the tournament, ran off three birdies with full control of every shot on the front nine.

And much like Spieth, he kept his round together with crucial par saves early on the back nine when the wind was at its worse. McIlroy posted a 68 and was at 1-under 139, only five shots behind with only five players in front of him.

“To be in after two days and be under par for this championship after the way I started, I’m ecstatic with that,” McIlroy said.

Not everyone got off so easy.

Justin Thomas, who started the second round just two shots behind, drove into the gorse on the first hole and took double bogey. That wasn’t nearly as bad as the sixth hole, where he tried three times to hammer out of the thick native grass well right of the fairway. He couldn’t find the ball after the third one, and he wound up taking a quintuple-bogey 9. Thomas made another double bogey on the 13th hole and shot 80.

Spieth never looked as if he was under any stress, except for his tee shot into the bunker on No. 8. A British writer suggested a lip-reader could have detected some choice words coming out of his mouth. Spieth smiled and replied, “I speak American. You probably didn’t understand me.”

The language of his clubs – especially the wedge and the putter – was all too familiar.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Team Canada’s Naomi Ko lost in 19 holes to Julianne Alvarez (Seattle, Wash.) ending an impressive run at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Women’s Amateur at Fairwood Golf and Country Club, in Renton, Wash.

The Victoria, B.C., native won hole No. 15 to take a one up lead, but lost hole No. 17 to put the match at all-square, before losing in extra holes.

Ko finished eighth in the stroke play qualifying at 8 over par (76-74). She def. Clare Dittemore (Roseburg, Ore.) 5 and 3 in the round-of-32 and Ziyi Wang (Stanford, Calif.) 4 and 2 in the round-of-16.

Ko recently finished T3 at the B.C. Women’s Amateur and finished 3rd at the Porter Cup in June.

The 5-year-team Canada veteran reached the finals of this event in 2016.

Development Squad’s Hannah Lee from Surrey, B.C., lost in the round-of-16 to Marianne Li (Bellevue, Wash.) in 19 holes.

Ko’s Amateur Squad teammate Jaclyn Lee lost in the round-of-16, falling 1-up to Gigi Stoll (Tigard, Ore.).

Click here for the match-play bracket.

Jim Furyk would ordinarily be playing in the British Open this week.

Instead, the 47-year-old former U.S. Open champion is 4,000 miles away at the Barbasol Championship trying to improve his standing for the FedEx Cup playoffs. It’s the first time Furyk hasn’t been eligible for a major since the 1995 British Open at St. Andrews in just his second full year on the PGA Tour.

“I’ve got no one to blame but myself,” the 17-time PGA Tour winner said Wednesday at Grand National. “I’ve had some shining moments since last summer but since I’ve come back from (wrist) surgery, I haven’t played consistent.”

Furyk missed six straight cuts after a sixth-place finish at Sea Island in November. Now, the Ryder Cup captain is ranked 142nd and needing to move into the top 125 to make the playoffs with four events remaining after this week.

Furyk did fare better at the U.S. Open (23rd) and Travelers Championship (26th).

He didn’t compete the last three weeks while he and his family went on a long-planned river cruise in Europe. He was hoping to stick around for the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he shared fifth place in 2008 and fourth in 1998.

Furyk wound up missing the field and was left choosing between playing in Reno, Nevada, early in next month or at Grand National, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. He’ll have to be content with checking out the scores from the Open in the evenings while enduring Alabama’s steamy conditions during the day.

Furyk talked to other players about the course and checked past results to see which playing style seemed to fare best. He opted for Grand National.

“It was easier from a travel perspective but I think for my game it sounded like this golf course might suit me a little better,” he said after finishing a pro-am round. “After playing it for two days … it seems like a place that if I play well, I should have an opportunity to score pretty well.”

Furyk is one of five major champions in the Alabama field, including Davis Love III, Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang. The winner gets in the PGA Championship but not the Masters.

Love would also no doubt rather be playing in Southport, England, this week. But the trip to Alabama does let him go against son Dru Love for the third time.

“It’s great, probably until we get started in the tournament, then I’ve got to work really hard to beat him,” said Davis Love, who won the 1997 PGA Championship. “There’s so many of these young kids now that hit it so far and play so well. It’s another generation coming out trying to knock the old guys out.”

Gerina Piller shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday in the Marathon Classic to take a one-stroke lead over U.S. Women’s Open champion Sung Hyun Park and Peiyun Chien.

Winless on the LPGA Tour, Piller had nine birdies and a bogey in the first round at Highland Meadows. The American birdied the first three holes and four of the first five.

“Got off to a good start and got the putts rolling,” Piller said. “To be honest, my ball-striking didn’t feel as great coming into this weekend, and the week after a major it’s always tough just because you’re so exhausted mentally. I just went out there and really trusted what I had and just brought it together. My game feels really good right now.”

Park, the South Korean player who won her first major title last week at Trump National in New Jersey, had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.

“My feeling today was so awesome,” Park said. “It was a good start after the major championship, winning. First of all, I need to focus more on the Marathon Classic and want to keep my happiness behind from now on.”

Chien, a LPGA Tour rookie from Taiwan, had eight birdies and a bogey.

“The golf course is narrow,” Chien said. “It’s very tough first shot because you need to play a cut or little draw a lot, not just hit it straight. … I changed my playing because I’m always thinking the swing on the golf course, so today I just played freely, tried to find some feeling and play.”

Kelly Shon, Aditi Ashok and In-Kyung Kim shot 65, Angel Yin and Sandra Changkija followed at 66, and U.S. Solheim Cup players Lexi Thompson, Brittany Lincicome and Alison Lee topped the group at 67.

Stacy Lewis, her U.S. Women’s Open chances ruined by a third-round meltdown, had a 69.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Lydia Ko, winless since her victory last year at Highland Meadows, had a 73. She had three bogeys and one birdie.

“When you’re not hitting the ball fantastic, it’s not going to be the greatest score,” Ko said. “But there’s always tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a few things better for tomorrow’s round.”

Piller is trying to not get too far ahead of herself.

“Tomorrow is a different day, and I’ll just kind of do the same thing as I did today, go out there and take one shot at a time, as cliche as it sounds,” Piller said. “But you’re not going to win it on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, so it’s going to take all four rounds.”

Sekulic, Hogan and Graf have distanced themselves from the rest of the Men’s Am field

Moving day lived up to its name as several top contenders made their way up the leaderboard at the 2017 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship. Clearer skies and a gentle breeze offered nearly ideal scoring conditions for the remaining 61 hopefuls. Notably, three players have separated themselves from the rest of the field heading into tomorrow’s final round.

Team Canada Development Squad member Max Sekulic held his own on day three. The 18-year-old shot a solid 68, that featured five birdies and a lone bogey. His lead was narrowed to two strokes after an extremely hot back-nine score of 29 from past champion Brett Hogan of the Glencoe G&CC. Sekulic will look to go wire-to-wire in tomorrow’s final round, just as Hogan did in his 2015 Alberta Amateur victory at the Edmonton Petroleum Club.

Hogan, the 2016 SVR Alberta Open champion, got off to a slow start today, going out in 37 strokes with no birdies. As he made the turn he knew he had to sharpen his focus. After the round, he said “I saw the boys behind me were doing pretty well and I knew I had to get something going. I started off well with an eagle on ten there where I made my putt from about twelve feet. I made some really good par saves on holes 11 and 12, and finally got it rolling. Number 14, made birdie. Eagled 16, then birdied 17 and 18.” Hogan’s third round score of 66 is the best of the championship and it was the kind of finish he needed to get into tomorrow’s last group and put some pressure on the leader.

Hogan knows the pressure of coming down the stretch trying to win a provincial championship and will draw on his experience in the final round. He said “I’m trying to play my own game. I can only control what I can do out there. If he (Sekulic) goes out there and has a great round, then good for him. But I’m going to give it all I have and see how it ends up.”

Sekulic and Hogan will be joined by Team Alberta U19 member Carter Graf in the final group. The youngster from the Red Deer G&CC impressed on day three by firing another five-under-par 67 to get to double digits at ten-under-par overall.

The top three finishers at the conclusion of the championship will form the Team Alberta Interprovincial Squad for the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship to be conducted at The Toronto Golf Club & Islington Golf Club in Mississauga, ON August 7-10^th. The champion will earn the final spot on the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship Alberta Morse Cup Team.

TOP 10 LEADERBOARD

MEDIA

• Full results
• Full event information
• #ABMensAm
• Flickr albums

CHURCH POINT, N.S. – Calvin Ross defended his 2015 and 2016 title while Meghan McLean completed her wire-to-wire victory at the Future Links, driven by Acura Atlantic Championship at Clare Golf & Country Club on Thursday.

Ross shot a 3-under-par 68, his second sub-70 round of the competition. The 18-year-old from Fredericton, N.B., went bogey-free during his final round and finished with a two-stroke lead.

“The win feels great,” he said, after the award ceremony. “I didn’t get off to the best of starts this summer. I lost a few that could have had and it feels good to win here at the Atlantic championship again.”

Aubrey Farrell finished in second after starting the day tied with Ross at the top of the leaderboard. The 18-year-old from Sydney Forks, N.S., fell three strokes behind Ross by the sixth hole, and his two birdies the rest of the way were not enough to catch back up. He finished at 3 under for the tournament.

Finishing in third place, well back from the top two, was Andrew Bruce from Corner Brooke, N.L. The 18-year-old carded seven bogeys and just one birdie during his final round and finished the competition at 6 over par.

Rounding out the top six finishers in the boys division who earned exemptions into the 2017 Canadian Junior Boys Championship on July 31-Aug. 3 at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ont., are: Benjamin Chassé (Fall River, N.S.), Matthew Chandler (Chester, N.S.) and Jack Anderson (Halifax, N.S.).

In the girls division, McLean shot a 3-over-par 74 – the same score she shot in round one – to finish at 12 over par for the tournament. The 18-year-old from Port Williams, N.S., played a strong round throughout the day with the only troublesome spot coming on the par-5 13th hole where she registered a double bogey.

“It feels awesome to win,” said McLean. “I’ve never won this tournament before and it feels really good to say that I’m the Atlantic champion. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the next couple of weeks with Nationals and Canada Games coming up so I’m just hoping to carry the momentum over and continue to play well.”

Finishing in second place, five strokes behind McLean, was 18-year-old Laura Jones from Moncton, N.B. She earned solo-second place honours after recovering from a double bogey on hole 16 with a birdie on the following hole.

One stroke back from Jones was Toronto’s Catherine Zhang who carded a 74, her lowest round of the competition. The 15-year-old got off to good starts on the front and back nine with birdies to start them both off, but they were her only two holes under par during the final day.

Rounding out the top six earning exemptions to the 2017 Canadian Junior Girls Champions held Aug. 1-4 at Camelot Golf & Country Club in Cumberland, Ont., are: Kiley Rodrigues (Kingston, Ont.), Raesa Sheikh (Markham, Ont.) and Sandee Park (West Vancouver, B.C.).

Full results.

The Dalles, Oregon’s Damian Telles shot a 6-under 64 at Les Quatres Domaines Golf Club before first round play was suspended due to inclement weather at the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval, the sixth event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 27-year old, who finished T3 at the Players Cup two weeks ago, carded six birdies and was without a bogey to post the clubhouse lead at 6-under before play was suspended due to dangerous weather in the area at 12:30 p.m.

“Every iron I hit, they were flagged. Everything was on top of the pin, so it made it easy for some short birdie putts,” said Telles. “It’s a lengthy course, and the plan was just to keep it in the fairway just so I could hit the greens and make some putts.”

Coming off his T3 finish in Winnipeg, where he played in the final group with eventual winner Kramer Hickok, the University of Idaho grad said he wanted to keep the momentum going in his third straight week of competition.

Boucherville, Quebec’s Vincent Blanchette, who gained entry into the tournament on a sponsor exemption through his performance on the Circuit Canada Pro Tour this season, was tied for low Canadian and was the low Quebecker at 4-under when play was suspended.

Can one of Quebec's very own make a splash on the #MackenzieTour?

Vincent Blanchette (-4/9) is off to a hot start. pic.twitter.com/Dbg0otBxpB

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) July 20, 2017

“It was very valuable, when you have people around and you’re in the mix,” said Telles of his experience at the Players Cup. “It gets you going a little bit. It was nice to know I could compete with the best of them, and I just want to keep the hammer down.”

With heavy rains accompanying Thursday’s storms, play was called for the delay shortly before 4 p.m. Round One will resume with players in position at 8 a.m. on Friday morning.

“Unfortunately, the golf course took on a lot of rain during this afternoon’s thunderstorm, and despite a tremendous effort from the grounds crew, the course became unplayable due to standing water in several areas,” said John Slater, PGA TOUR Vice President of Competitions. “We’ll aim to resume tomorrow morning with Round One and get as much of Round Two in as we can, then finish Round Two Saturday morning and make the cut before aiming to get back on track and complete Round Three on Saturday.”

27-year old Telles is making his fifth career Mackenzie Tour start this week. Telles has conditional status on the Mackenzie Tour this season after finishing T19 at the British Columbia Q-School this spring, but Monday Qualified for the GolfBC Championship and finished T49, then got into the Players Cup field on the Monday of tournament week and finished T3 to move up the season’s first re-shuffle.

"Being in the mix gets you going."

After a T3 at @theplayerscup, @D_Mon3y59 is keeping the good play going.

He opened with a 64. pic.twitter.com/4GXG9zZIXp

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) July 20, 2017

Telles played college golf at the University of Idaho. He ranks 19th on the 2017 Order of Merit.

One shot behind Telles was Bakersfield, California’s Matt Picanso with a 5-under 65, while Winter Springs, Florida’s Hank Lebioda was at 5-under with three holes left to complete in Round One.

Picanso finished T2 at the USA West #1 Q-School earlier this year to earn exempt status for the first eight events of the season. He finished T3 at the Players Cup two weeks ago in Winnipeg.

Lebioda is making his 14th career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. In 2016, he finished 33rd on the Order of Merit thanks to two top-10 finishes.

The Florida State alum currently ranks sixth on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit thanks to four top-10 finishes, including two runner-ups.

Click here for the full leaderboard.