6 easy steps to planning Golf Fore the Cure

Golf Fore the Cure

In the midst of its 14th season, Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru boasts over 100,000 participants since 2003 raising over $5.9 million dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society and Québec Breast Cancer Foundation in support of breast cancer research during that period.

Golf Fore the Cure presented  by Subaru offers a seamless addition to an existing event (such as ladies night) with free prizing and event kits.

In 2017 Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru has a fundraising goal of $500,000.

In just one month over $15,000 has already been raised. The below infographic outlines six easy steps to planning your own Golf Fore the Cure event:

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PGA TOUR

Koepka’s trip around the world leads to major title at home

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(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Before their names shared space on the silver U.S. Open trophy, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth were together in a less attractive location.

Both failed by three shots to advance out of the second stage of qualifying school in Texas, leaving them with no status on any tour.

That was five years ago, and each went his own way.

Spieth, a U.S. Junior Amateur champion who won an NCAA title with Texas, received sponsor exemptions to PGA Tour and Web.com Tour events and rode a runner-up finish in the Puerto Rico Open to a meteoric year that ended with him on the Presidents Cup team at age 20.

Koepka began filling his passport.

One three-week stretch on the Challenge Tour took him from India to South Africa to Kenya. He played in Kazakhstan and Madeira Island, Finland and Belgium. He won in Italy and Spain, and he was on the verge of a third victory, this one in Scotland, that would earn him graduation to the European Tour.

And he was ready to come home.

He called Blake Smith, his manager at Hambric Sports, and told him, “I don’t even want to play.”

“I don’t want to say homesick. I was just tired of golf. Tired of travelling,” Koepka said. “I just wanted to be home, even though I was about to win the third one. For some reason, I just wanted to get out and go home.”

He stayed. He won. And then he flew to London early the next morning and qualified for the British Open.

All of which made his U.S. Open victory Sunday at Erin Hills all the more special.

Koepka can’t count the miles he travelled after leaving Florida State, but he wouldn’t trade the path that led him to a major championship at age 27.

“I think it helped me grow up a little bit and really figure out that, ‘Hey, play golf, get it done and then you can really take this somewhere.’ And I built a lot of confidence off that,” Koepka said.

Those who saw him couldn’t ignore the sheer athleticism, raw power and quiet confidence.

“I kept telling people last year after the Ryder Cup,” Brandt Snedeker said, “when Brooks figures out how good he is, he’s going to be a world beater.”

He beat everyone at Erin Hills, and in the end, it wasn’t even close.

One shot behind going into the final round, Koepka didn’t miss a green until the par-3 13th – the only one he missed in the final round – and he saved par with an 8-foot putt that might have been more meaningful than the three straight birdie putts that followed.

“I needed to make that if I was going to win this tournament,” he said.

Brian Harman in the final group behind him made back-to-back bogeys and couldn’t catch up. Hideki Matsuyama shot 66 but started too far back. Koepka closed with a 67 for a four-shot victory, the lowest final round by a U.S. Open champion since Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach in 2000 when he won by 15.

Only after he signed his card did Koepka realize a birdie on the par-5 18th would have broken another U.S. Open record at Erin Hills. He made par and finished at 16-under 272, matching the record to par by Rory McIlroy, who shot 16-under 268 at Congressional in 2011.

No big deal.

It takes a lot to get Koepka excited, and while a U.S. Open certainly does the trick, it was hard to tell. When he started out Sunday, one shot out of the lead and among 12 players within five shots, he did little more than walk to the cup after three birdies on the front nine.

When he was tied for the lead with six holes to play, he gave a light fist pump, clenched his hand a little tighter after each of those four big putts.

“Did you see that fist pump there on 18,” Koepka said with a proud smile.

Yes, both of them, neither to be mistaken with anything Tiger Woods has done over the years.

Despite such a chill personality, there was some irritation about not winning as much as he felt he should. Koepka won the Turkish Airlines Open in 2014 over Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson. Three months later, he powered his way to victory in the Phoenix Open.

And that’s been it in the big leagues, though he has done well enough to make the Ryder Cup team last year (going 3-1-0 in his matches).

“I’d won once on the PGA Tour, once on the European Tour,” Koepka said. “I just felt like I should be winning more. I don’t know why. It’s one of those things. Not a big fan of losing. I don’t think anyone out here is. And I just couldn’t stand the fact that I’d only won once.”

This makes two on the PGA Tour, and it was a big one.

“It’s crazy to think that this is only his second win,” Justin Thomas said. “But he’s a great player and he has no fear. … When he’s on, there are not many people in the world better.”

For the full U.S. Open leaderboard click here.

PGA TOUR Americas

Robby Shelton captures first Mackenzie Tour title at GolfBC Championship

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(Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada)

Wilmer, Alabama’s Robby Shelton shot a 2-under 69 on Sunday at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club to win the GolfBC Championship and claim his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada victory.

The former University of Alabama standout closed out the victory in style with a 7-footer for birdie at the 72nd hole to win by one over Camarillo, California’s Johnny Ruiz, Danville, California’s Cody Blick and Ridgeway, Virginia’s Adam Webb.

The win puts Shelton atop the Order of Merit through three events, in position to earn Web.com Tour status for the 2018 season.

“It means a lot. Just to win anywhere is so exciting. Just to know that my game’s there and to finally get one done feels great,” said Shelton.

Shelton began the day with a three-stroke lead over Webb, but quickly found himself in a four-way battle for the title as Webb, Blick and Ruiz made their charges. It was Ruiz who charged hardest, making birdie at 14 and 15 to take the solo lead at 19-under.

Unbeknownst to Shelton, Ruiz caught bad break at 18 when his tee shot nestled up against a pine tree that guards the approach to the green and was forced to play his second shot left-handed, eventually making bogey to fall into a tie for the clubhouse lead with Blick.

“I had no idea. Looking up on the scoreboard, it said 19-under (through 17), and I thought for sure he parred this hole,” said Shelton, who took driver off the tee in an attempt to make birdie and found the thick rough left of the fairway, 65 yards from the pin.

“I pulled it a little,” said Shelton of his drive. “My lie wasn’t great, but I just knew I had to land it on the green and roll out to the pin.”

He executed the shot to perfection, however, rolling the ball to within seven feet of the tucked back-right pin and giving him a birdie putt that he unwittingly had for his first Mackenzie Tour win.

“Over the putt, I thought I had to make it to go into a playoff,” said Shelton, who poured the putt in the middle of the hole to the roar of the crowd that knew what he didn’t – that he had just won the GolfBC Championship.

“Somebody told me when I was walking off the green that I won, and then it hit me,” said Shelton. “I still have to play well the rest of this season, but to get a win early on is huge and does a lot for my confidence.

With the win, Shelton moves atop the Order of Merit, just $323 ahead of Freedom 55 Financial Open winner Lee McCoy. Webb, Blick and Ruiz, meanwhile, each notched career-best finishes in a tie for second.

29-year old Webb was making his 14th career start on the Mackenzie Tour. Last year, he recorded three top-25s and one top-10 to earn a spot in the Freedom 55 Financial Championship and retain exempt status for 2017.

Webb played collegiate golf at Longwood University, where he recorded two individual wins. He owns two mini tour wins as a professional on the eGolf Tour and GPro Tour.

Blick was making his 13th career start on the Mackenzie Tour this week. Earlier this year, he earned exempt status for the first eight events of the season with a T4 finish at the USA West #1 Q-School.

Last week in Victoria, Blick shot a 10-under 60 in the third round of the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist and finished T3.

Ruiz was making his seventh career start on the Mackenzie Tour. Earlier this year, he earned exempt status for the first eight events of the season with a T2 finish at the British Columbia Q-School.

Ruiz had conditional status on the Mackenzie Tour in 2015 and missed the cut in all four starts. He did begin playing golf until age 14 and notched his first pro win at the 2016 Monterey Open.

With the win, Shelton becomes the first player to hold the solo lead after every round of an event since Joel Dahmen at the 2014 Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON and the first player to hold at least a share of the lead after each round of a tournament since Adam Cornelson at the 2016 Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist.

With a total score of 13-under par in a tie for seventh, West Vancouver, British Columbia’s Seann Harlingten finished as the top Canadian on the leaderboard, earning Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week honours and a $2,500 prize.

The top Canadian on the leaderboard each week takes home the award, with the top Canadian on the Order of Merit at season’s end earning the Dan Halldorson Trophy, Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year honours and a $25,000 prize.

Team Canada Amateur Squad member Jared du Toit finished T9 in his second event as a pro and earned an spot in the field at the Players Cup, July 3-9 at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Winnipeg.

Watch the final round highlights below.

For the full leaderboard click here.

PGA TOUR

Brooks Koepka caps a record week with US Open title

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(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Brooks Koepka received a short piece of advice from a valuable source on the eve of the final round at the U.S. Open.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson was doing most of the talking.

“It was a long phone call for us – it was like two minutes,” Koepka said. “But he just said a few things, and just stay patient. And I’ll win if I stay patient and just keep doing what I’m doing.”

What he did looked awfully familiar Sunday at Erin Hills, minus any mess involving the rules.

With athleticism and power, and four straight putts over the back nine that allowed him to pull away, Koepka capped off his hardscrabble journey around the world and found stardom at home as the U.S. Open champion.

He closed with a 5-under 67, only realizing after his par on the final hole that a birdie would have set yet another U.S. Open record in a week filled with them.

Koepka finished at 16-under 272, matching the lowest score to par first set by Rory McIlroy six years ago at Congressional.

Tied for the lead with six holes to play, Koepka holed an 8-foot par putt on the 13th hole that gave him confidence with his stroke and momentum to pour in birdies on the next three holes to turn the final hour into a celebration of another young star in golf.

The 27-year-old Koepka wound up winning by four shots over Brian Harman, who was done in by back-to-back bogeys right when Koepka was making his run, and Hideki Matsuyama, who closed with a 66.

“That’s probably the most emotion I’ve ever shown coming down the stretch,” Koepka said. “It feels amazing to get my name on this trophy with so many other great names. It’s truly an honour.”

Emotion? The most he displayed was a light fist pump, his hand clenched a little tighter with each birdie, and a double fist pump on the 18th when he tapped in for par.

It’s not much different from Johnson.

They are close friends on the golf course and in the gym, and they play a similar game of power off the tee, a clean strike with the iron and a knack for looking calm even as the pressure is ramping up.

And now their names are on the U.S. Open trophy, one after the other.

It capped quite a journey for the Floridian. Without a card on any tour when Koepka got out of Florida State, he filled his passport on the Challenge Tour with stamps from Kazakhstan to Kenya, Scotland and Spain, India and the Madeira Island.

One night in Scotland, he called his agent and wanted to come home, even though he was leading the tournament. He had been on the road for so long, in so many different countries, and was feeling lonely.

He won the next day to graduate to the European Tour. The next year, he earned a spot in the U.S. Open through a qualifier in England, and his tie for fourth at Pinehurst No. 2 helped him earn a card on the PGA Tour.

Koepka took it from there – a victory in Turkey against a strong field, his first PGA Tour victory in the Phoenix Open, his first Ryder Cup and now a major championship.

“To go over there, I think it helped me grow up a little bit and really figure out that, hey, play golf, get it done, and then you can really take this somewhere,” he said.

Koepka became the seventh straight first-time winner of a major championship, and it was the first time since 1998-2000 that Americans won their national championship three straight years.

Tommy Fleetwood, who played alongside Koepka and closed with a 72 to finish fourth, played the Challenge Tour a year before Koepka arrived.

“It gives you a good grounding,” Fleetwood said. “Obviously, Brooks dealt with it amazingly. He came and kicked everyone’s (behind) over there, didn’t he? But he’s proven for a long time how good he is. Now he’s done it in a major.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., stuggled to an 8-over 80 to finish the tournament 9-over 297.

It was only fitting that Koepka left Erin Hills with yet another record matched or broken.

McIlroy finished at 16-under 268 when he won on rain-softened Congressional in the 2011 U.S. Open. But the low scoring went much deeper than that.

Only six players had ever reached double digits under par in the previous 116 times at the U.S. Open. McIlroy and Tiger Woods (12 under at Pebble Beach in 2000) had been the only players to finish there.

This week alone, nine players reached at least 10 under and seven finished there.

Xander Schauffele, a rookie on the PGA Tour playing in his first U.S. Open, birdied his last hole for a 69 to tie for fifth at 10-under 268 along with Bill Haas (69) and Rickie Fowler (72), who was poised at yet another major to win only to fall back.

Fowler started one shot out of the lead at the Masters this year and shot 76. He was only two behind when he made the turn, but bogeys on the 12th and 15th holes – and no birdies until No. 18 – ended his hopes.

Justin Thomas, coming off a 9-under 63 that matched the major championship scoring record and was the first 9-under round at a U.S. Open, went out in 39 and closed with a 75 to tie for ninth.

The week ended with 31 players under par, breaking the U.S. Open record of 28 players at Medinah in 1990. There were 133 sub-par rounds, nine more than the previous record in that 1990 U.S. Open.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Brooke Henderson LPGA Tour

Brooke Henderson wins Meijer LPGA Classic to collect fourth LPGA title

Brooke Henderson
( Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Brooke Henderson made it a special Father’s Day.

With father and coach Dave Henderson and other family members watching, the 19-year-old Canadian won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday for her fourth LPGA Tour title, holding off Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson by two strokes in cool, windy conditions.

“It was just like the perfect day,” the Smiths Falls, Ont., native said. “My dad is my coach, he’s a great father to both my sister (caddie Brittany) and I, and he’s one of our best friends. He’s with us all the time, and he gave me a lot of lines early in the week that I didn’t know, that I wouldn’t normally take without him there. But he said, ‘If you want to win and you want to contend, you need to take these lines off the tee.’

“I did that and I had an advantage over the rest of the field all four days. So this win, I say it’s for him, but it really is for him because I probably wouldn’t have done it without him.”

Henderson closed with a 66 on the Blythefield layout that was reduced to a par of 69 – the fifth hole was played as a par 3 instead of a par 5 – the final two rounds because of flooding.

Wie finished with a 65, and Thompson had a 69.

Henderson finished at 17-under 263 and earned $300,000. She led after each of the first two rounds, shooting 63-67 at a par of 71, and had a 67 on Saturday to drop a stroke behind Thompson.

Henderson won twice last year, taking the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major, and successfully defending her title in the Cambia Portland Classic.

But she hadn’t won an LPGA tournament since, a winless drought that spanned nearly a year before breaking it Sunday.

“It’s kind of been a little bit tougher season for me, I haven’t got the results that I’ve been really looking for,” Henderson said. “But this week I played really well and things kind of started to turn around for me. So to get my fourth win is super exciting and I’m just excited for the rest of the summer now.”

Henderson had three birdies in a bogey-free round. She birdied Nos. 7 and 8, while Thompson faltered.

“I missed a short one on 10, which I would have liked to have, but then I made a great birdie on No. 11,” Henderson said. “I had zero bogeys on a day like today where it was super windy. And any day on Sunday, there’s that little bit of extra pressure and you’re in contention so you want to play really well so you might push a few more shots than you would like.”

Thompson was 1 over on the first five holes with two bogeys.

Thompson hit one of the longest drives of the day on No. 9, put her approach shot within 20 feet and made the birdie putt to tie for the lead. But she bogeyed No. 10 to fall out of the lead.

“I hit my driver great the whole day, so that was definitely a positive,” Thompson said. “I didn’t roll the putter that well today. It is what it is. I hit two great last putts. I almost made the two long ones.”

Wie shared the lead early in the round and wound up with five birdies and no bogeys.

“It was tough out there,” Wie said. “The wind just started blowing and it was just interesting. Some spots are really wet, some spots are dry, but overall I felt like I played good this week and I’m happy about it.”

Su Oh (64), Madelene Sagstrom (65) and Moriya Jutanugarn (66) tied for fourth at 14 under.

Second-ranked Lydia Ko had a 68 to tie for 10th at 12-under. Top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn, coming off a playoff victory last week in Canada over Thompson and In Gee Chun, had a 69 to for 22nd at 9 under.

Henderson said she’ll be taking the next week off after playing in a charity event Monday in Rhode Island. Her next tournament will be KPMG PGA Championship, where she’ll look to defend her title from last season.

“It’s really exciting and it gives me a lot of confidence going into that tournament knowing that I’m coming off a win,” she said. “Hopefully I can go there to Olympia Fields and defend the championship that really defined my career last year.”

Henderson is the 15th different winner on the LPGA Tour in 2017 and the first from Canada. She is the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour in 2017 and the youngest since her last victory.

PGA TOUR Americas

Robby Shelton leading at GolfBC Championship, Jared du Toit T9

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(Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada)

Wilmer, Alabama’s Robby Shelton cruised to a 6- under 65 on Saturday at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club to extend his lead to three shots at the GolfBC Championship, the third event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The former University of Alabama standout made five birdies and an eagle against just one bogey on the day, finishing the day with a six-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to lead by three over Ridgeway, Virginia’s Adam Webb heading into the final round.

“I’m striking it really well, and a few putts fell for me on the front nine to get the momentum going,” said Shelton, a three-time 1st team All-American at Alabama and a past U.S. Walker Cup team member. “I just cruised and everything’s working out for me.”

Beginning the day with a one-shot lead, Shelton found himself tied with Webb, Camarillo, California’s Johnny Ruiz and Costa Mesa, California’s Jake Knapp in the early going but put together a flawless front nine, capped by a 50-foot birdie putt at the ninth to take the outright lead.

“I’m throwing darts, and luckily a few putts fell,” said Shelton, who said the three-shot cushion puts him in the driver’s seat for Sunday’s final round. “I can put it on cruise control and hopefully someone doesn’t go stupid low.”

The 22-year old also benefited from some local knowledge on Saturday, with Gallagher’s Canyon Club Champion Dwayne Henry as his caddie for the weekend. “It was great. He definitely helped me with some reads, and it’s pretty cool to have the club champion on the bag,” said Shelton.

Webb shot a 6-under 65 to hold solo second, while Ruiz, Knapp and Danville, California’s Cody Blick were a shot further back in a tie for third at 13-under.

Shelton’s 2015 Walker Cup teammates Lee McCoy, Hunter Stewart and Jordan Niebrugge are also Mackenzie Tour members this season.

Shelton has held the solo lead after each round this week. The last player to lead outright after each round at a Mackenzie Tour event was Joel Dahmen at the 2014 Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON.

The last player to hold at least a share of the lead after each round of a tournament was Adam Cornelson at the 2016 Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist.

Team Canada National Team golfer Jared du Toit is T9 after a course record 10-under-par 61 on Saturday. Du Toit is playing in his second event as a professional .

““I was just thrilled to play the weekend and to go try and shoot a great score. I love playing as a single, so that was awesome for me. I tried to birdie every hole and give myself a good look, and I played well,” said du Toit.

For the full leaderboard click here.

LPGA Tour

Lexi Thompson has 1 shot lead over Brooke Henderson in Meijer LPGA Classic

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(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Lexi Thompson shot a 64 on Saturday on the Blythefield layout reduced to a par of 69 because of flooding, giving her a one-stroke lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic.

The fifth hole was played as a 111-yard par 3 instead of a par 5 because of the flooding from overnight rain.

Coming off a playoff loss to Ariya Jutanugarn last week in Canada, Thompson had six birdies – four on the back nine – and a bogey to reach 15-under 196.

“It was just a matter of staying patient,” Thompson said. “I knew I was hitting it well on the front nine, I just wasn’t making the birdies. But I hit it well all day, so it was all a matter of hitting the shots closer and I guess just taking advantage of like No. 11, reaching that one in two, and making a few putts for birdie.”

Her only bogey was on the par-4 seventh.

“It was just a stupid club coming in,” she said. “I should have just played short of the green, that’s where you have to miss it, and I hit it long. Just a bad miss, stupid mistake.”

Brooke Henderson, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had a 67 to drop into a tie for second with Lee-Anne Pace (61), Sung Hyun Park (62) and Jenny Shin (63).

Thompson won the Kingsmill Championship last month in Virginia for her eighth LPGA Tour title after losing the ANA Inspiration in a playoff after being penalized four strokes for a rules violation reported by a television viewer.

At Rancho Mirage in early April, Thompson was given the four-shot penalty with six holes to play in the final round. She had a 15-inch putt on 17 in the third round when she stooped to mark the ball, and quickly replaced it about an inch away. The television viewer contacted the LPGA Tour the next day, and officials determined it was a clear violation.

Thompson was assessed a two-shot penalty for where she replaced the ball, and because it happened the day before, she received a two-shot penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard. She went from a three-shot lead to one shot behind, and eventually lost to So Yeon Ryu in the playoff.

Henderson birdied Nos. 12 and 13 and closed with five pars.

“I made that long one from off the green on 12 that wasn’t really expected and that kind of gave me some energy,” the 19-year-old Canadian said.

Pace had two eagles and five birdies.

“My irons were really good,” the South African player said. “Obviously, all the par 3s, that helps. I was looking at birdie almost every hole, which is quite nice. I was never really in trouble except on 10, I missed the drive left, but that was really the only thing. There were a couple of long putts I made, unexpected putts actually. ”

Shin made a long putt on No. 14 for her fifth straight birdie. But on 17, she pushed her approach shot and wound up on the bottom of the green, and took her only bogey of the round.

Hyo Joo Kim (65) was 12 under, and Lydia Ko (64), Michelle Wie (64), Moriya Jutanugarn (67) and Carlota Ciganda (68) followed at 11 under. Ko dropped to No. 2 in the world Monday after an 85-week run at the top. The top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn’s younger sister, was 9 under after a 64.

For the full leaderboard click here.

PGA TOUR

Justin Thomas shoots 63, trails Brian Harman by 1 at US Open

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(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Justin Thomas landed a 3-wood on the 18th green where some players couldn’t land a wedge, leaving him an 8-foot eagle putt that he calmly made for a 9-under 63 that matched one U.S. Open record and broke another.

It also put him squarely in the mix to capture his first major.

On an Erin Hills course that again lacked enough wind to be the stern test that the U.S. Open wants, Brian Harman weaved his way through traffic at the top of the leaderboard Saturday for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood.

Thomas became the fifth player to shoot 63 in a U.S. Open and the first player at 9 under. And if his hot pink pants were not enough, he did it in style. He had 310 yards to the hole when he hit 3-wood that could have led to big trouble if he went too far long or left.

“Oh gosh, Jimmy, be good,” he said to caddie Jimmy Johnson when the ball was in the air, and it was close to perfect. The ball landed on the front of the green just soft enough that it rolled out 8 feet by the hole.

Thomas poured that in to become the 29th player with a 63 in a major championship.

“The finish was awesome. I’d love to have another one of those,” said Thomas, who posted at 11-under 205.

The way this U.S. Open is going at Erin Hills, he might need it.

Only six players had ever reached 10-under par or lower in the previous 116 U.S. Opens. There are five players in double digits at Erin Hills.

Harman was at 12-under 204.

Koepka also reached the green in two on the 667-yard closing hole for a two-putt birdie and a 68. Fleetwood was poised to take the lead until his pitch to the 18th wasn’t strong enough and his next shot went beyond the flag and down the slope some 70 feet away. He got that up-and-down for a bogey and a 68.

Rickie Fowler, sharing a house with Thomas this week, was being left behind until he ran off three straight birdies and shot 68. He was 10 under.

Not to be overlooked was Si Woo Kim, who captured The Players Championship last month. He shot 68 and was only three back.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., slid down the leaderboard. He shot a 3-over 75 and is 1 under for the tournament.

Even with the course drying out, there simply was not enough wind to frighten anyone on their game.

Thomas, the 24-year-old from Kentucky who is a major away from joining the young elite in golf, only added to a year of low numbers. He made an eagle on his final hole at the Sony Open in January to shoot 59, and he went on to break the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record.

The U.S. Open didn’t seem to faze him, and he delivered a variety of big shots that led to his sensational finish.

He rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 5 from the edge of the green that broke so severely that he stood with his toes facing the hole and rapped the ball toward his left foot. It took a hard turn to the right and rolled in. In the hay left of the 12th fairway, he gouged it out with a 9-iron and watched it roll to 10 feet.

And with the tees moved up on the 15th hole to make it reachable, Thomas hit a 3-wood that rolled off the back slope of the green to 6 feet. He two-putted for birdie, and he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th.

“It doesn’t matter how long, how whatever the course is,” Thomas said about the longest course in major championship history. “When you give us soft greens, good greens and not much wind, you know there are going to be some good scores. I was just happy that I was the one that was able to take advantage of it today.”

But the work is not done.

Of the five other players who shot a 63 in the third round at a major, none went on to win. Most of them had to come from far back going into the weekend, and it was difficult to put together two good rounds.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Epson Tour

Canada’s Brogan McKinnon T3 after round two of Decatur Forsyth Classic

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(Symetra Tour)

Mississauga, Ont., native Brogan McKinnon carded a 6-under-par 66 to move into a tie for third at 7-under-par at the Symetra Tour’s Decatur Forsyth Classic at Hickory Point Golf Course in Decatur, Ill.

McKinnon started the day T43 after an opening round 71 (-1). She recorded six birdies and no bogeys Saturday to sit six shots back of Thailand’s Chorphaka Jaengkit who is 10-under-par (66-68).

A graduate of Team Canada McKinnon has one career top-10 on the Symetra Tour. Her best result this season was a T52 at the Fucillo Classic of NY at Capital Hills at Albany.

Anna Kim (Toronto, Ont.) is T26 at 3-under-par.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Team Canada

Team Canada’s Maddie Szeryk wins Women’s Western

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(WWGA)

Team Canada Amateur Squad Golfer Maddie Szeryk def. Dylan Kim (Sacshe, Tex.) 3 and 1 in a 36-hole match to to become the first Canadian to win the Western Women’s Golf Association Amateur Championship at River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst Ill.

The London, Ont, native built a 3-up lead through the first 18 holes that she never relinquished. Kim got within 2-down with three to play,  but a par-birdie finish by Szeryk secured her the victory.

“We still had 18 holes left so I could have gone 3-down but I stuck to my game plan and pretended it was a new match and that we were all square and tried to play my game and keep going,” said Szeryk

A junior at Texas A&M, Szeryk started the week strong and never looked back. She was the No. 2 seed in the 64-women match play bracket after opening 73-70 to sit 1-under-par after 36 holes of stroke play qualifying.

Through multiple weather delays Szeryk won six matches, only going the full 18 holes once, in the semi finals against Sophia Schubert (Oak Ridge, Tenn.).

The 20-year-old is coming off a record setting year with the Texas A&M. Her 71.24 season stroke average and 128 birdies were both Aggies records. She won the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational and finished T13 at the NCAA Division I Championship, earning her First-Team All-American honours.

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The 117th Women’s Western Champion Maddie Szeryk,  along with (Left to Right) River Forest CC president Dave Carlquist, Finalist Dylan Kim, Finalist and River Forest CC General Manager Jeff Schenkel.

Szeryk and her Team Canada Amateur Squad teammates Naomi Ko, Grace St-Germain, and Jaclyn Lee won the Maschmeyer Cup in Elmhurst this week for the best team score.

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