WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Team Canada’s Hugo Bernard and teammate Mike Weeks turned in a 5-under par 67, on Sunday to claim victory at the Palm Beach County Four Ball at Bear Lakes Country Club Lakes Course.

Trailing by two strokes heading into the final round, Bernard and Weeks had a strong front-nine, posting a bogey free, 4-under par 32.

Three more birdies and two bogeys on the back-nine put Bernard and Weeks at 16-under for the championship and two strokes clear of 36-hole leaders Josh Powers and Ryan Howison.

The victory marked a continuation of a string of strong play for Bernard who finished tied for seventh at the South American Amateur in January.

Bernard, a native of Mont-St-Hilaire, QC recently transferred from Saint-Leo University (Division II NCAA) to the University of Montreal Carabins.

At Saint-Leo, Bernard was named the NCAA Division II Freshman of the year, and a first team All-American thanks to seven top-5 finishes. His strong play wasn’t limited to NCAA competition, as he won the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.

A three-year veteran of Team Canada, Bernard believes transferring to the Carabins will give him a more flexible schedule and allow him to play more top-tier amateur events with Team Canada.

His goal for the 2017 season is to move into the top-30 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). Prior to his victory this weekend Bernard was slotted at 130.

IRVING, Texas – Haru Nomura a signé un oiselet au sixième trou de prolongation, dimanche, remportant ainsi le tournoi Volunteers of America devant Cristie Kerr.

La Japonaise de 24 ans a mérité son troisième gain en carrière.

Cinq normales de chaque côté ont précédé le court roulé victorieux de Nomura, environ sept heures et demie après le début de sa ronde.

Kerr aurait pu prolonger les choses encore plus, mais son roulé de 12 pieds est passé à la gauche du trou.

L’Américaine de 39 ans a brièvement mené vers la fin du parcours régulier, après que Nomura ait commis un double boguey au 17e.

Kerr tentait de mériter deux gains de suite. Elle s’est imposée à Hawaii il y a deux semaines, soulevant un 19e trophée environ cinq mois après une opération au genou.

Kerr (74) et Nomura (76) ont conclu le parcours régulier à 281, trois coups sous le normale.

Le trou de prolongation a été le 18e, six fois. Il s’agit d’une normale cinq de 518 verges.

AVONDALE, La. – Kevin Kisner chipped in for eagle on the 18th hole as darkness fell Sunday night at the Zurich Classic, lifting himself and teammate Scott Brown into a Monday playoff with Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith.

Kisner’s chip-in – which skipped on a wet green, hit the pin and dropped in from nearly 95 feet – forced the 23-year-old Smith to make a 1 1/2-foot birdie putt to remain in contention for his first PGA Tour victory.

They were at 27 under through four rounds at the TPC Louisiana in the PGA Tour’s first team event in 36 years.

Blixt, a Swede, and Smith, an Australian, haven’t bogeyed a hole yet, and appeared to have the victory wrapped up before Kisner’s chip-in, which whipped the die-hard crowd around the final green into a frenzy while Kisner waved both arms in celebration.

The round finished in barely playable darkness because of a more than six-hour delay cause by thunderstorms.

Each player on the winning team will take home $1.02 million and earn 400 FedExCup points.

The Canadian duo of Graham DeLaet and David Hearn shot a 9-under 63 on the final day to finish 16 under.

Blixt and Smith led after the second and third rounds, but had to overcome a remarkable surge by Brown and Kisner, who stormed into the lead with birdies on the first eight holes and 10 of their first 11.

Blixt made a 5-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and Smith did the same on 17th to put themselves back in the lead.

Smith then dropped a 57-yard approach on 18 within 2 feet, seemingly dooming Kisner and Brown to second place. Instead, both teams will be back at it at 8 a.m. on the 18th hole to start the playoff.

Kisner and Brown each have one PGA Tour victory. The 33-year-old Blixt has won twice, but not since 2013.

Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer combined to birdie seven of nine holes in the middle of their round to pull as close as three strokes back with three holes to play, but couldn’t quite overcome a deficit that had been as large as six strokes.

Speith’s 16-foot birdie attempt rolled around the lip of the cup and out on 16. That, combined with Spieth’s narrow miss from 3 feet on the 18th green Saturday, and Palmer’s two misses from within 3 feet in the third round, were shots that one of the favoured pairs would have to regret in an otherwise strong, fourth-place performance.

Brown and Kisner led by two strokes after their birdie on the eighth hole and maintained that gap until Smith’s 34-foot putt on the undulating 12th green made it a one-stroke affair with six holes to play.

Kelly Kraft and Kevin Tway finished third at 23 under after Kraft followed up a 266-yard approach on 18 with a 22-foot eagle putt.

The tournament is the first team event on the PGA Tour since the Walt Disney World National Team Championship in 1981. The Zurich began with 80 two-player teams, with players choosing their teammates. Many said they chose friends on the Tour rather than research whose game best complemented their own, and it made for relaxed environment and demonstrations of camaraderie that players said showed more of the fun side of golf.

The players on each team alternated shots in the first and third rounds. In the second and final rounds, each player played their own balls and each team took the best score per hole. The playoff will be in the same format as the final round.

IRVING, Texas – Hara Nomura two-putted for birdie on the sixth playoff hole Sunday for her third LPGA Tour victory after Cristie Kerr briefly took the lead on the 72nd hole in the windy Volunteers of America Texas Shootout.

Nomura, the 24-year-old from Japan who lives in Hawaii, also birdied the par-5 18th hole at the end of regulation to force the playoff after giving up the lead for the first time with a double bogey at No. 17.

Kerr and Nomura finished regulation at 3-under 281 at Las Colinas Country Club, then played the 518-yard 18th six more times. There were five matching pars before Nomura finally won nearly 7 1/2 hours after starting her round, almost making an eagle before her tap-in and then the wait while Kerr’s 12-foot birdie chance slid left of the cup.

Kerr was trying to win consecutive tournaments. The 39-year-old American won in Hawaii two weeks ago, her 19th career victory coming nearly five months after knee surgery.

Nomura shot a 5-over 76. Kerr made the only birdie all day at the par-3 17th, and was leading by a stroke when she tapped in a par putt on 18 for a 74.

Nomura made the turn with a five-stroke lead before consecutive bogeys to start her back nine.

After Kerr birdied No. 17 with a 10-foot putt and was still playing the 18th, Nomura made double bogey at the par 3 for the second day in a row. That knocked Nomura out of the lead for the first time after also leading at the end of the second and third rounds, but her regulation-ending birdie got her into the playoff.

Jessica Korda shot a 73 to finish third at 1 under, a stroke ahead of Sung Hyun Park. Eun-Hee Ji, whose 70 was one of only two subpar rounds Sunday, tied for fifth with Angel Yin at 1 over.

It was the third consecutive day with challenging wind, but the most brutal with cooler temperatures in the 60s and winds steady over 20 mph with gusts of 40-45 mph. The scoring average Sunday for the 53 players left in the field was nearly 5 1/2 strokes over par.

While only two players finished the round under par, and none shot even-par 71, there were eight players who shot in the 80s. The day began with 16 players under par for the tournament, and that was cut to top three finishers.

Lexi Thompson tied for 17th at 4 over in her first tournament since a TV viewer-cited penalty imposed a day later cost her a likely victory in the LPGA’s first major of the season three weeks ago. She opened with a 69 before rounds of 72, 73 and 74.

Lydia Ko will remain the world’s No. 1 player for the 80th consecutive week, and for the 99th week in her career. She had to withdraw before the third round in Texas because of a swollen eye from an infection likely caused by allergies.

No. 2 So Yeon Ryu could have taken over the top spot in the world by finishing first or second, but had a closing 75 to tie for ninth. Ariya Jutanugarn, the third-ranked player who could have taken over No. 1 with a win, was a stroke off the 36-hole lead before consecutive weekend rounds of 76.

AVONDALE, La. – Jonas Blixt of Sweden and Cameron Smith of Australia apparently are enjoying playing as teammates too much to be unsettled by wind gusts reaching 36 miles per hour.

The pair extended their bogey-free run to three rounds in the new team format at the Zurich Classic, deftly adjusting to winds that unsettled many other PGA Tour pros and posting a 4-under 68 Saturday to widen their lead to four strokes.

“It’s like going back to playing as a kid,” the 33-year-old Blixt said. “I don’t feel like there’s any stress at all out there.”

Alternating shots on Saturday, as teams did in the first round, the Blixt-Cameron partnership posted four birdies to improve to 19-under, building on a lead that stood at one shot through two rounds. They are the only team without a bogey.

“Feels like back in the amateur days,” Smith said of playing in the first team event held on the PGA Tour since 1981, about 12 years before he was born. “It’s just nice to go out there and relax and have some fun.”

The Kevin Kisner-Scott Brown and Nick Watney-Charley Hoffman teams were tied for second. Canadians Graham DeLaet and David Hearn (73) were tied for 31st at 7 under. Also in contention are Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer, five shots behind – although they could have been several shots closer if not for some uncharacteristic misses of short putts by both players.

Spieth missed a 3-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th, wasting Palmer’s well-executed 86-yard approach shot. Throughout the round, Spieth was among players backing away from shots when they sensed a gust building and said the wind affected putting “significantly.”

“When you get a putt where the wind is blowing one way and you’ve got the grain the other, and the hill back with the wind, you just have no idea what that putt is going to do,” Spieth said. “If it gusts or doesn’t gust when you’re over it, it affects the putt by an entire cup, even from 6 or 7 feet. It’s really a guessing game.”

So expect more guessing in the final round, which will start earlier than planned – at 6:40 a.m. – because of rain in the forecast. The format will return to “best ball,” as in the second round, with each two-man team taking the best score of either player per hole.

Palmer narrowly missed par putts from within 3 feet on the second and 13th holes.

“You get winds whipping and swirling, it makes right-to-left putts break right,” Palmer said. “It’s tough.”

Blixt and Smith didn’t fail to execute many shots on the 7,425-yard TPC Louisiana course, which was carved out of cypress swamp and has a number of water hazards from which alligators took in the action, some climbing onto the course at the water’s edge.

The pair quickly recovered from minor errors or bad bounces. They wound up attempting only one par putt longer than 8 feet; Blixt rolled it in from 11 feet on the fifth. Blixt also made a putt of nearly 18 feet for birdie on the third hole.

“Sometimes things, bounces, stuff like that weren’t going our way, and we managed to get it up near the green and get it up and down, which kept the momentum going,” Smith said.

Brian Stuard, who won the Zurich last year when it was a traditional stroke-play event, and teammate Chris Stroud were alone in fifth at 13-under.

The teams of Kelly Kraft and Kevin Tway, and Angel Cabrera and Julian Etulian, were tied for sixth at 12-under.

Seven teams were tied for eighth at 11-under, including popular Gulf Coast native Bubba Watson and teammate J.B. Holmes.

As much fun as Blixt and Smith seem to be having, the pressure could mount a bit as they try to protect their final-round lead. Each golfer takes home $1.02 million and 400 FedEXCup points. Never mind the fact that the 23-year-old Smith has never won a PGA Tour event. But Smith noted that with each team keeping the best score per hole in the final round, there’s always the possibility for the veteran Blixt, who has won twice, to pick up the slack.

“I feel very comfortable going into tomorrow,” Smith said. “Jonas is playing so well … it’s just like having a backup.”

IRVING, Texas – Haru Nomura of Japan still had fun on another windy day on the LPGA Tour in North Texas.

Despite a 1-over par 72 with a late double bogey in the third round, she actually doubled her lead Saturday.

“I have fun, yeah,” said Nomura, who at 8-under 205 takes a two-stroke lead into the final round. “I like windy and tough conditions, and from fairway to green. Yeah, I love it.”

Namura, who led by only one stroke after 36 holes, leads by two over 17-year-old amateur Eun Jeong Seong (69), Cristie Kerr (70) and two-time Texas winner Inbee Park (71).

With winds of about 20 mph and a threatening storm creating difficult conditions for the second straight day, only three players shot in the 60s Saturday.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (70) was tied for 23rd at 1-over par after three rounds. Brooke Henderson (71) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 37th at 3 over.

Stacy Lewis had bogey-free 66 that pushed her from tied for 44th place after 36 holes up to fifth.

“I was excited about the early tee time because I knew getting out earlier would be an advantage to post a number and just see what happens,” Lewis said. “It’s playing really hard and you just have to be really patient.”

Lewis has 11 career victories, but hasn’t won since 2014, when the Texas event was the first of her three victories in a season when she was the LPGA’s top player.

Kerr won the LPGA Lotte Championship in Hawaii two weeks ago before the tour had last week off. That was her 19th career victory.

“I’m just staying in the moment. If I make a mistake, I’m not getting too caught up in it,” Kerr said. “I don’t feel like I’ve peaked this week yet. I’ve had some chances to shoot some low numbers, but just haven’t quite made the putts.”

The second-round leaders teed off nearly 3 1/2 hours earlier than scheduled Saturday, and in threesomes instead of twosomes. But play was finished without any rain.

Nomura had actually stretched her lead to four strokes before the double bogey at the par-3 17th when her tee shot went over the green and into a hazard.

“I had the perfect distance, but just landing low pretty hard,” she said. “So that’s unlucky. That’s golf.”

She managed to save par at the par-5 18th after her second shot went well left, bounced hard off a concrete cart path and ricocheted way past the green.

Ariya Jutanugarn started the day a stroke off the lead and with a win this weekend would take over as the world’s No. 1-ranked player. But the third-ranked Jutanugarn shot a 76 with six bogeys and settled in a group of five players, including her sister Moriya (74), who are five strokes off the lead.

Lydia Ko, ranked No. 1 for 79 straight weeks, withdrew before the third round because of an eye infection.

Her agent said in a statement that Ko has a swollen eye from an infection, likely caused by allergies that have been bothering her all week. A doctor advised Ko not to wear contact lenses until she got better.

The only other player who could overtake Ko at the top of the Rolex Rankings is No. 2 So Yeon Ryu, if she finishes first or second in Texas. Ryu shot a 68 on Saturday to get to 2-under 211.

After 79 players started play Saturday, there were 53 who made the secondary cut to advance to the fourth round.

IRVING, Texas – The stubborn winds of North Texas might frustrate some golfers. Not Haru Nomura.

Nomura shot a 6-under 65 on Friday for a two-round total of 133 and a one-shot lead in the North Texas LPGA Shootout.

“My mind was very calm today,” Nomura said. “I like windy and tough conditions.”

Ariya Jutanugarn is second following a 67 with Suzann Pettersen another shot behind. Moriya Jutanugarn, Ariya’s older sister, is fourth at 136 along with two-time tournament winner Inbee Park and Marina Alex.

Lexi Thompson, playing in her first tournament since a rules violation cost her a likely victory in the season’s first major three weeks ago, shot a 72 after birdieing three of the first five holes. She’s nine shots behind at 142.

First-round leader M.J. Hur also shot a 72 and trails by four strokes. Hur, who lives in McKinney, about 40 miles from the Las Colinas Country Club course, led after 18 holes last year and tied for second place.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (74) was the low Canadian, tied for 61st at 2-over par, while Brooke Henderson (71) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 67th at 3 over. Maude-Aimee Leblanc (74) of Sherbrooke, Que., and Calgary’s Jennifer Ha (80) both missed the cut.

Nomura’s best finish of the season is a tie for third at the opening Women’s Australian Open. She has two career wins in seven seasons on the tour.

She was 10-under for the tournament on Friday going into the par-5 18th but put her second shot left of the fairway under some trees. Punching out left her with a par putt that curled to the right of the hole.

Ariya Jutanugarn has yet to win this season after claiming five titles in 2016 and being named player of the year.

“Just keep doing like what I did today and keep like playing my own game and just go have fun,” she said.

Moriya Jutanugarn, who is 16 months older than Ariya, aced the 135-yard 13th. Her best career result is a fourth-place finish at the 2013 Women’s Australian Open.

The sisters are staying together, and Moriya said she’s looking forward to competing against Ariya.

“I try to beat her; she tries to beat me,” Moriya said. “It makes golf more fun.”

Dori Carter’s 8-under 63 broke the tournament record by one shot. Carter, winless in seven seasons on tour, eagled the par-5 3rd hole with a sand wedge from about 70 yards. That highlighted a run of six straight sub-par holes.

“You see the ball, and all of a sudden you don’t see the ball,” Carter said. “And I hear the crowd. My parents are the crowd.”

Thompson’s 3-over back nine included a double bogey on the par-3 17th. Her tee shot landed 5 feet in front of the pin but rolled off the back of the green and into back water.

“It just wasn’t my day, I guess,” she said.

Park won at Las Colinas in 2013, when she was the player of the year, and again in 2015. After missing five cuts in 10 starts last season, she said she’s treating her 11th year on tour like it’s her first.

“I was getting a little too bored of the game and losing a little bit of concentration,” Park said. “I try to appreciate whatever is happening. It makes me a lot more happy.”

Defending champion Jenny Shin followed Thursday’s 71 with a 72, trailing by 10.

Eighty players made the cut, which was 3 over. There will be a second cut after Saturday’s third round to the top 50 and ties.

With rain forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the third round will be played in threesomes beginning earlier than scheduled and sent off split tees.

AVONDALE, La. – Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith posted a 10-under 62 in Friday’s four-ball format to move into the lead at the Zurich Classic, which is in its first year of a new team format.

Blixt and Smith have a two-day total of 15-under 129 to lead by one over Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay. The K.J Choi-Charlie Wi and Troy Merritt-Robert Streb pairings are tied for third at 13-under.

The four-ball format has each member of a two-man team playing his own ball throughout a round, with only the best score on each hole recorded. The same format will be used Sunday. The first and third rounds have an alternate-shot format.

“Jonas is playing really well at the moment,” Smith said. “You know he’s going to make a birdie or par, so I’m just playing aggressive and letting it all fall into play.”

The change from the alternate-shot approach produced much lower scores Friday, even as heavy winds impacted the TPC Louisiana course.

The Blixt-Smith, Reed-Cantlay and Merritt-Streb duos were among five teams to post a 62. Tyrone Van Aswegen and Retief Goosen teamed up for a 60 to get to 11-under for the tournament.

“We just blended so well today,” Van Aswegen said. “I made birdie and then he made birdie. It was great. It was a privilege out there.”

Those extraordinary low scores caused the two first-round leaders to fall off the pace a bit.

Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer had posted a 66 in the first round to share the lead with the Ryan Ruffels-Kyle Stanley duo. Both teams posted a 66 again Friday and fell into a six-way tie for fifth place.

With strong winds expected again as the tournament returns to alternate shots, the scores likely won’t be nearly as favourable.

“Certainly off of (Thursday’s) round, we know that we can have success in that format,” Spieth said. “We also know we need to set expectations a bit different. We had prime scoring conditions yesterday, and tomorrow it will be a bit like today or even more challenging. Anything under par in alternate-shot is a great score tomorrow.”

The Zurich Classic was a standard individual tournament until changing formats this year. This marks the PGA Tour’s first official team event since the 1981 Disney Classic.

Two of the higher-profile teams in this new format weren’t able to advance to Saturday’s third round. Justin Rose and Henrik Stetson ended up at 6-under to miss the cut by one shot. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler also missed the cut at 5-under.

“I think the format is a unique format,” Day said. “Missing the cut is not what we wanted, but walking away from this, I think they’re heading in the right direction with regards to a different format that adds more flavour to the PGA Tour.”

Canadian pair Graham DeLaet and David Hearn—teammates at the 2016 Rio Olympics—sit T23 at 7-under par

AVONDALE, La. – The first team event on the PGA Tour in 36 years has produced the first penalty for slow play since 1995.

PGA Tour officials say Miguel Angel Carballo and Brian Campbell were penalized one shot on the 14th hole of the opening round at the Zurich Classic for their second bad time. They opened with a 74 in foursomes.

They were on the clock when Carballo went over his allotted time on the 12th hole. Then, Campbell had a bad time on the 14th hole.

Typically, a player receives a warning after the first bad time and a one-shot penalty after his second. Because they were a team in foursomes, however, rules specify that a “player” includes his partners.

Until Thursday, the last time a PGA Tour player was penalized one shot for pace of play was Glen Day in the third round of the 1995 Honda Classic.

IRVING, Texas – Lexi Thompson was pleased with her first LPGA Tour round since a rules violation cost her a likely victory in the first major tournament of the year. And her Thursday round even included a consultation with a rules official.

Thompson shot a 2-under 69, leaving her four strokes behind leader M.J. Hur in the North Texas LPGA Shootout.

“I’m glad to be back in competition,” Thompson said. “All I’m focused on is the tournament that I’m at right now out here in Texas. I’m going to Japan next week. I’m forgetting about it all. It’s time to move.”

Hur had a bogey-free 65 on a blustery, sunny day at Las Colinas Country Club. Ariya Jutanugarn and Michelle Wie were a stroke back along with Katherine Kirk, Jennifer Song, Sung Hyun Park, Sandra Changkija and Marina Alex.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp was the low Canadian at 1-under 70, good for 32nd. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., was 2-over 73 to tie for 70th, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was grouped at 88th after a 3-over 74 round and Calgary’s Jennifer Ha was 4-over 75.

Three weeks ago in the ANA Inspiration in California, Thompson was given a four-shot penalty with six holes to play – two shots for replacing her golf ball in the right spot on the 17th green, and two more shots for signing an incorrect scorecard because it happened on Saturday and it wasn’t detected by a TV viewer until Sunday. She wound up losing in a playoff to So Yeon Ryu.

Golf’s ruling bodies just this week announced new limits on video evidence that could spare players from being penalized even if committing a violation.

Thompson started on the back nine early Thursday afternoon and made the turn at 2 under after birdieing the par-4 16th and par-5 18th. She bogeyed the par-4 first and birdied the par-5 seventh after leaving a 30-foot eagle putt a half-inch short.

The 540-yard par-5 seventh hole is the longest on the course. The 233-yard second shot by Thompson, who went into Thursday leading the LPGA Tour in driving distance at an average of 275.6 yards, came to rest just beyond the green in the fringe and between two sprinkler heads.

Thompson sought out the official, who confirmed that the local rule allows relief within two club lengths of the green. Thompson’s ball sat just beyond that distance.

“I might as well ask,” she said, “but it ended up not being in my way.”

Thompson’s one bogey was the one green that she missed.

“I hit a great second shot,” she said. “The wind just absolutely killed it. It looked like the ball was coming down backward.”

Hur, a South Korean who lives about 40 miles from Las Colinas in McKinney, hit the first 14 greens in regulation and 16 overall. The streak ended when her tee shot on the 390-yard, par-4 15th sailed right in the wind and landed in the water. She saved par with a 30-foot putt.

“Everything was really good today, and I really liked the putter,” Hur said. “The wind was swirling on every hole. It gave me a headache.”

She won the last of the two tour titles in 2014

Top-ranked Lydia Ko, who turned 20 on Monday, shot a 70 in her first round with the latest of 10 caddies since turning pro in 2014, Peter Godfrey. She recently dismissed Gary Matthews after only nine events.

“I kind of needed somebody with a little bit more positive kind of thing and more a nice, confident energy,” Ko said. “Hopefully, that will happen between Peter and I.”

Defending champion Jenny Shin bogeyed two of her three last holes for a 71.