The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada schedule was announced Tuesday, featuring 12 events from May to September in 2017 as players look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR.

The season will once again begin in May with the Freedom 55 Financial Open (May 29-June 4) at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, B.C., with purses of $175,000 (CA$) for the first 11 events and a $200,000 purse for the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship (Sept. 11-17) at Highland Country Club in London, Ont.

“Our host organizations have done tremendous work to establish our tournaments for this season, and thanks to the support of our sponsors we have a wonderful slate of events from coast to coast again this year,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “Our goal remains to provide players with the opportunity to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR while making a positive impact in the community, and we look forward to making an even greater impact this year.”

With 11 events confirmed, a 12th event taking place prior to the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship will be added to the schedule in the coming weeks.

Mackenzie Tour players will look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR by leveraging their performance into advantages to reach the next level. The Order of Merit winner will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for the following season, with Nos. 2-5 earning conditional status. Those players Nos. 2-10 will earn an exemption into the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament while Nos. 11-20 will earn an exemption into the second stage.

Players will look to follow in the footsteps of PGA TOUR winners Mackenzie Hughes, Tony Finau and Nick Taylor, who are among the 10 PGA TOUR-era (2013-present) alumni competing on the PGA TOUR this season. 40 Mackenzie Tour players from 2016 went on to earn Web.com Tour status for this year and will look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR.

Off the course, Mackenzie Tour events will look to build off a record-breaking 2016 season that saw more than $1 million donated to charity, bringing the total since 2013 to more than $2.1 Million.

After beginning the season with the Mackenzie Tour’s first event in Vancouver, the Tour will head to Victoria, B.C. for the 35th playing of the Bayview Place DC Payments Open presented by Times Colonist (June 6-12) at Uplands Golf Club, followed by the GolfBC Championship (June 12-18) at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club in Kelowna, B.C. The Players Cup returns to Pine Ridge Golf Club in Winnipeg, Man. (July 3-9), followed by the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel in Thunder Bay, Ont. (July 10-16) and the inaugural Mackenzie Investments Open at Les Quatres Domaines Golf Club in Montreal, Que. (July 17-23), after which the top three players on the Order of Merit earn exemptions into the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR.

The season resumes in Alberta, with the Syncrude Oil Country Championship presented by AECON at Windermere Golf and Country Club in Edmonton (July 31-August 6) and the ATB Financial Classic at Country Hills Golf Club in Calgary (August 7-13), followed by the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops at Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa, Ont. (August 15-21).

The season’s home stretch begins with the Cape Breton Open at Bell Bay Golf Club in Baddeck, N.S. August 28-3, followed by an event to be added in near future. The top 60 players on the Order of Merit through 11 events will retain exempt status and play their way into the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship at Highland Country Club in London, Ont.

The USGA has introduced Resource Management, a new web-based product that will help golf course superintendents, owners and operators be more precise, efficient and productive in maintaining their facilities.

Launched today during the North American Golf Innovation Symposium in Vancouver, USGA Resource Management is a map-based tool that allows facility managers to understand better their consumption of resources – such as labor, water and fuel – and to measure accurately, even down to the square foot, the allocation of these resources to each feature of the golf course. The data will help facilities to manage their maintenance practices in ways that reduce costs while also improving the experience of their golfers.

“As the cost of maintaining a golf course continues to rise, facilities increasingly need smart tools and data to operate efficiently,” said Rand Jerris, the USGA’s senior managing director of Public Services. “For nearly a century, the USGA has helped improve golf course operations and golfer experience through educational materials, research, and agronomic and environmental consulting services. This investment in technology is an important next step, which will help facilities realize immediate benefits through simple and effective behavioral changes.”

The USGA Resource Management tool features a user-friendly interface that empowers superintendents and facility managers to perform “what-if” analyses and develop models that quantify the financial impacts of proposed changes in maintenance.

Another key feature of the application is the ability to generate visual mapping of golfer traffic, allowing facility managers to focus maintenance and resources on the areas that are most heavily used, while reducing unnecessary costs on acreage that has little to no impact on golfer experience.

“Information and data are critical in our business,” said Darrell J. Marcinek, director of golf maintenance for the Somerset (N.J.) County Park Commission. “This tool would take the guesswork out of our budgeting, and the end product will be better for the golfers because we’re maximizing our limited resources.

“The USGA is at the forefront of our industry. There’s nothing on the market that I’m aware of that does what this tool does.”

The USGA Resource Management product will be an important part of the toolkit used by USGA agronomists across the country in 2017 as they work directly with facilities to improve the impact and efficiency of their maintenance practices. To contact a USGA Green Section agronomist, go to www.usga.org/greensectionstaff.html.

The USGA also has begun working with the industry to develop additional functionalities for the application and encourage innovations built on this platform. The ongoing development and refinement of USGA Resource Management reflect the USGA’s commitment to advance the game by making the benefits of science and technology available to all facilities. These advancements will help to elevate the golfer experience and improve productivity at 35,000 golf courses around the world.

Hosted by the USGA in conjunction with Golf Canada and the Mexican Golf Federation, the North American Golf Innovation Symposium provides golf course operators/owners and industry experts with an information-exchange forum to advance the game of golf and spark innovative thinking.

Although the logos of the USGA and the R&A dominate the wave of communications accompanying last week’s announcement of the proposed modernized Rules of Golf, picture a tiny maple leaf-shaped asterisk there as well.

Since 1952, when the separate Rules committees of the USGA and R&A came together to develop a single set of Rules, there has been a Canadian delegate on the Joint Rules Committee (JRC). This makes us unique in the world of golf as the USGA oversees the United States and Mexico and the R&A governs play in the rest of the world, with the exception of Canada.

For the past four years, that representative has been Dale Jackson of Victoria, B.C., in his capacity as Golf Canada’s Chair of Rules and Amateur Status. Although Jackson stepped down from his Golf Canada role at last month’s Golf Canada annual general meeting, he will continue to participate on the JRC for at least another year in the interest of continuity.

Jackson’s timing allowed him to be a part of golf history, witnessing the best Rules minds in the world blowing up the existing Rules and reformulating a new code consisting of just 24 Rules rather than the current 34. The last major shake-up of the Rules came in 1984; before that, there were significant revisions in 1899, 1934 and 1952.

But literally none of the previous episodes had torn the existing Rules apart like this one, which began in 2012 with what Jackson calls the “Rules Modernization Project Team” comprised of volunteers and staff from the USGA and R&A, plus representatives from the PGA Tour and European Tour. And Jackson, of course.

“The objective was to take every single line in the Rule book, every Rule, every note, every exception, and say, ‘How can we do this better? What makes more sense? What are the alternatives? What is the history behind this? Why does this exist?’”

In some cases, says Jackson, it was a case of “back to the future” in that the modernization project team found a former Rule was preferable to its modern version. Jackson points to the proposed Rule allowing the flagstick to remain in the hole while players are putting as a prime example. Until 50 years or so ago, that was permissible, but under the current Rule, if a player on the putting green putts the ball and it hits the flagstick while in the hole, he incurs a two-stroke penalty.

Jackson marvels not only at the incredible amount of time and energy poured into the project by all concerned, but the dedication and single-mindedness of everyone involved, no matter what organization they represented.

“Everyone on the team was pulling in the same direction,” Jackson says, “with the same goal: Make the Rules better, simpler, easier to understand, easier to apply on the golf course.”

While he says the proposed new Rules address most of the challenges faced by the modernization project team, one major bugaboo remains: the stroke-and-distance situation.

“Everyone, especially at the recreational level, realizes that hitting the ball out of bounds off the tee or hitting it out of bounds from the fairway and having to go back to play another stroke, especially on a busy golf course, is really difficult.”

Jackson says the modernization project team spent an inordinate amount of time searching for the answer and continues to do so.

“What we are hoping for is, by putting all this out there for anybody and everybody to review, that somebody comes up with a solution that works.”

Although the current Rules remain in effect until the new version becomes official on Jan. 1, 2019, golfers are encouraged to review them, play by them and provide comments and reaction back to the USGA and R&A by Aug. 31.

For details on the proposed changes in the Rules and to voice your opinion, visit www.usga.org or www.randa.org.

MEXICO CITY – The only elevation that mattered at the Mexico Championship is how much higher Dustin Johnson can go.

In his first start since a five-shot victory at Riviera that made him No. 1 in the world, Johnson captured his fourth World Golf Championships title Sunday by blowing by some of golf’s biggest names and then delivering his best shot at the end to secure a one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood of England.

He won for the fifth time in his last 15 starts on the PGA Tour, including a major and two World Golf Championships.

And at nearly 7,800 feet above sea level at Chapultepec Golf Club, Johnson kept soaring.

He closed with a 3-under 68, and finished this one off with one of the most difficult shots in golf. Clinging to a one-shot lead, his feet on the edge of the bunker and ball below his feet, Johnson hit a three-quarter shot from 127 yards with his 54-degree wedge to the middle of the 18th green for a two-putt par.

He called it a “dink.” He also could have called it clutch.

“Probably the best shot I hit all week, especially under the circumstances, was that second shot on 18,” he said. “A fantastic shot.”

It wrapped up a spectacular week in Mexico City, which hosted this World Golf Championship after it had been at Trump Doral the last seven years. Johnson walked through the roped corridors with his arms extended to slap hands and bump fists with an energetic crowd, especially kids who called out, “Dee-Jay!”

Johnson finished at 14-under 270.

Justin Thomas had a one-shot lead over Johnson, with Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson another shot behind. It was an All-Star cast that Johnson turned into a one-man show with a 31 on the front nine to build a four-shot lead.

And just like that, it was gone.

“Around here, anything can happen,” Johnson said.

Thomas fell back with a double bogey in the water on the par-3 seventh. Neither McIlroy nor Mickelson got anything going. The challenge came from Jon Rahm, the dynamic rookie from Spain, who made an eagle and two birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. That’s right when Johnson had his only real struggles, three-putting from 25 feet for bogey on No. 12 and taking bogey from a bunker on No. 13.

And then he was one shot behind, but only as long as it took him to get up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 15th for birdie to tie for the lead. Johnson was flawless with pars. Rahm, who had gone 59 holes without a three-putt, took two straight for bogeys that took him out of the game.

“Sometimes you’re going to make some bogeys from those greens and unfortunately for me, it happened at the end,” Rahm said.

Johnson became the fifth player to win in his first tournament as No. 1 in the world. His fourth World Golf Championship title is second on the career list behind Tiger Woods, who won 18 times since the series began in 1999.

It was quite the consolation prize for the 26-year-old Fleetwood.

His 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 66 put him alone in second and secured a spot in the Masters for the first time. He moves to No. 35 in the world and is certain to stay in the top 50 over the next three weeks before the cutoff to get an invitation to Augusta National.

Rahm’s two late bogeys gave him a 68 and a tie for third with Ross Fisher, who closed with three straight birdies for a 65. That assures Fisher a place in the next WGC event in three week at the Dell Match Play.

The great theatre among the stars in Mexico City never really materialized.

Thomas bounced back from a 38 on the front nine and was still in range until closing with three pars for a 72 to tie for fifth with Thomas Pieters. McIlroy and Mickelson each shot 71 and tied for seventh. McIlroy had a two-shot lead going into the weekend and shot 70-71.

“These two rounds were the sort of rounds I would have expected the first two days, not the last two,” said McIlroy, playing for the first time in seven weeks while recovering from a rib injury.

Johnson was steady right to the end to capture his 14th career victory on the PGA Tour, and his second straight.

The greens of Chapultepec gave him fits all week. Johnson missed eight putts from inside 5 feet. In the opening round, he missed six putts from the 6-foot range or closer. His power and his clean striking allowed him to overcome that.

The most recent player to win in his debut at No. 1 was Adam Scott at the Colonial in 2014.

“It’s a tough spot to be in,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of pressure on you. I came out and played really well.”

Johnson now takes the next two weeks off before playing the Dell Match Play and the Shell Houston Open ahead of the Masters, where Las Vegas already has installed him as the favourite.

SINGAPORE – Inbee Park won the HSBC Women’s Champions tournament by one stroke on Sunday after closing with a round of 8-under 64.

The South Korean finished on 19-under 269 at the Sentosa Golf Club, one shot clear of her playing partner Ariya Jutanugarn, who was second after a 66.

Sung Hyun Park (68) was third, a further shot back, while overnight leader Michelle Wie dropped back into a tie for fourth after a 72.

Wie was two in front after making birdies on the second and third holes before her round unraveled when she four-putted for a double-bogey on the par-5 fifth.

The American finished alongside Canadian Brooke Henderson (66) and last year’s Singapore champion Jang Ha Na (69).

Inbee made her first birdie of the day on the same hole that Wie’s charge started to falter, then proceeded to reel off another eight birdies to the 17th hole, draining a series of long putts in a near-flawless display on the greens.

“My putting was amazing today, obviously,” she said. “I couldn’t make any putts yesterday and obviously I made up for it today.

“Pretty much everything I looked at, it wanted to drop in. It was very consistent ball-striking all week, and obviously there is a lot of birdie opportunities out there and I was able to convert the birdies.”

Despite being a seven-time major winner, Inbee Park said she surprised herself by winning so soon. The 28-year-old took six months off shortly after winning the gold medal at the Rio Olympics last year to recover from a thumb injury and was playing only her second event.

“I thought it may take maybe a couple months to kind of get back out on the tour and to get my rhythm back,” she said. “I thought I was going to be just a little bit rusty. That’s how I felt exactly last week. This week was totally different. Especially the final round was just what I wanted.”

Jutanugarn was tied with Park after 10 holes and was left in awe at her playing partner’s performance.

“I had so much fun playing playing with Inbee. She’s awesome. She’s the best player,” said Jutanugarn. “I learned a lot from her. She’s very calm. I feel like she makes every putt. I don’t think she missed one today.”

There was some drama even after Inbee Park clinched the title when play was halted because of an electrical storm, with Sung Hyun Park , Wie and Ko still on the course, within a wedge shot off the 18th.

When the weather cleared and play resumed, the trio finished off their rounds and Park received her winner’s trophy.

Ko shot a final-round 72 and finished at 12-under, seven behind.

MEXICO CITY – Justin Thomas hit a 6-iron that one-hopped into the bottom of the cup. Dustin Johnson hit a wedge that never came down from a tree. In one of the 10 fairways that Phil Mickelson missed, a spectator apparently ran off with his golf ball.

Even better than the wild action Saturday in the Mexico Championship was the promise of more to come.

Thomas, going for his fourth PGA Tour victory of the season, rode a hole-in-one to a 5-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson at Chapultepec Golf Club. Right behind were Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, who saw his momentum stall when his flip wedge on No. 12 struck the pin and spun back.

Such a world-class leaderboard should have been enough to delight the crowd at Chapultepec Golf Club.

It was how they got there that made it so entertaining.

Thomas was lingering around the leaders, trying to piece together a swing, when he was caught between clubs from 239 yards away on the par-3 13th. He hit 6-iron and sent the crowd into delirium when it bounced once and disappeared into the cup.

“It looked perfect,” he said. “I think I said, ‘Go in.’ You might as well say it,” Thomas said while watching the shot on a TV monitor. “I haven’t hit too many shots exactly how I wanted. I liked this result.”

Johnson was tied for the lead when his second shot on the 16th got stuck in a tree. He had no choice but to walk back to the original spot and hit his fourth shot that settled 15 feet from the cup. Just his luck, the ball fell out of the tree as he was walking to the green.

“It happens,” Johnson shrugged after a 66. “I did make a nice putt for bogey, though, so I was definitely happy about that.”

Mackenzie Hughes (73) of Dundas, Ont., is tied for 38th at even par.

Johnson is happy when he sees any putt fall into the cup. He is swing as beautifully as he did at Riviera two weeks ago when he won by five shots, but missing seven out of 15 putts from inside 7 feet has made him wonder if the greens are conspiring against him.

“If it’s not the greens – someone is playing goalie up by the hole – the trees are catching my ball,” Johnson said.

No one was more wild than Mickelson, who used to thrive on such scrambling skills. This time, he was disappointed. Mickelson thought he had those big misses off the tee out of his system, but they returned in a big way on Saturday. He missed seven out of eight fairways in one stretch, and through 12 holes, he had more drops than he had birdies. He still managed a par when the spectator made off with his golf ball. He managed par after taking a drop from a sprinkler into bushes.

He still managed a 68, and was just two shots behind.

“I’ve shot numbers like this hitting shots like that and salvaging strokes, but I’ve been playing better than that,” Mickelson said, clearly disappointed. “That looks like the way I’ve hit it the last three years – all over the place and saving shot. I haven’t been doing that this year. I wanted to come out here and strike the ball the way I’ve been striking it, and then to hit it the way I did was disappointing.”

McIlroy was playing in the final group with Mickelson for the first time on a weekend, and his round of 70 was comparatively boring. If anything, he felt he lost a little rhythm waiting on Mickelson to get rulings on three consecutive holes to start the back nine.

“Phil rode his luck out there,” McIlroy said. “But geez, if I was hitting it off the tee like he did today, there’s no way I would shoot 68. That’s the great thing about Phil. … I would be a mess if I was hitting it the way he was today. I guess that’s the difference between us. I like to see it going down the fairway and playing nice that way, where he goes like this and shoots two better than me. So there you go.”

At nearly 7,800 feet of elevation, the final round figures to be up in the thin air. That might even include Jordan Spieth, who set the course record with an 8-under 63 and was among a dozen players within five shots of the lead.

Lee Westwood, who has played in more World Golf Championships than anyone since they began in 1999, shot 31 on the back nine for a 66 and was three behind, along with Spanish rookie Jon Rahm, who had a 67.

Johnson is trying to become the fifth player to win in his debut at No. in the world, and he still likes his position. He will be in the final group with Thomas and McIlroy.

“I have a lot of great players chasing me,” Thomas said. “I just have to go out and make a bunch of birdies.”

SINGAPORE – Michelle Wie shot a 5-under 67 Saturday to lead the LPGA’s Women’s Champions tournament by two strokes after the third round.

The American followed up her previous rounds of 66 and 69 to reach 14-under 202 and lead an LPGA event after 54 holes for the first time since she won the 2014 U.S. Open.

No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko birdied the last hole for a 67 to end the day in a three-way tie for second. She was joined by last year’s British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn (69) and the big-hitting Park Sung-Hyun (68).

Rio Olympic gold medallist Inbee Park shot a 71 to finish three shots behind Wie and level with the defending champion Ha Na Jang (68).

Canada’s Brooke Henderson also shot a 71, which put the Smith Falls, Ont. native at 8-under 208 after 54 holes.

Plagued by injuries and a loss of form, Wie needed a sponsor’s invitation just to get a start in the $1.5 million tournament but has been in vintage touch since arriving in Singapore.

She took just 32 shots to reach the turn and despite making her first bogey in 35 holes on the tricky par-3 15th, she made her sixth birdie of the day on the next hole to put herself in a great position to end her three-year title drought.

“There definitely is some butterflies out there, but it’s exciting getting that feeling again and being in this position,” Wie said.

“It doesn’t feel that long ago, but I guess it is. I’m just going to not really think about that. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve been in contention or anything.”

Ko is also in a drought, albeit by her own lofty standards. The 19-year-old, who has not won an LPGA title since July last year, birdied the last hole with a long putt from the fringe of the green.

“I’ve been having a really good finish on the 18th hole, so it’s always nice to come off with a birdie,” Ko said. “I started off really hot today. I didn’t really continue the momentum after the 10th hole, but I tried to hang in there. I made a clumsy bogey on 17, but it was nice to bounce back with the birdie on the last.”

Inbee Park, playing only her second tournament in six months because of a thumb injury, led by a shot overnight but made an early bogey to lose her place at the top of the leaderboard and never really got going.

“My ball-striking was consistent, but I just could not hole like one putt out there,” she said.

“But I’m not far back, and obviously at this golf course, if you can drop some putts, there are a few birdies out there. I’m just going to go out there tomorrow and just play aggressively and hopefully the putts can drop.”

MEXICO CITY – Sore ribs or sore stomach, it doesn’t seem to matter to Rory McIlroy. After being gone for seven weeks, he took a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Mexico Championship with a chance to return to No. 1 in the world.

McIlroy holed out from 156 yards for eagle on the 14th hole, part of a three-hole stretch Friday when he seized control at Chapultepec Golf Club. McIlroy missed putts inside 6 feet on his last three holes – one for par, two for birdie – and still shot a 6-under 65.

“Look, I’m in a great position,” McIlroy said. “But I felt like I could have been a few more ahead.”

He got 14 hours of sleep to help overcome a stomach virus and said he was feeling a little better.

His game looked better than ever.

McIlroy was at 9-under 133, two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson (68), Justin Thomas (66) and Ross Fisher (68).

Mickelson will in the final group on the weekend for the first time since his runner-up finish to Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon in the British Open. And he got there without his longtime caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, who fell ill on fourth hole of the second round and turned the bag over to Mickelson’s younger brother, Tim.

Thomas, who won the opening two events of the year in Hawaii, had seven birdies and three bogeys over his last 13 holes.

McIlroy is playing for the first time since losing a playoff Jan. 15 in South Africa. He was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of his rib the next day and missed four tournaments on his schedule to make sure it healed properly. There seems to be little debate about that.

He showed that blend of power and balance in the thin air of Mexico City and struck his irons close for so much of the day. His longest birdie putt was 12 feet, and McIlroy had reason to lament the ones that got away. He missed four putts from 6 feet or closer.

“I just felt like I had a bit more energy. I had a bit more pep in my step,” McIlroy said. “I wasn’t just trying to get through the round today, I was trying to build on the score that I had and it was nice to feel like that again.”

He wasn’t alone in missing short putts.

Dustin Johnson, in his debut at No. 1, still watched a number of putts wiggle to the hole on the poa greens and a few more went in. He birdied three of his last four holes for a 66 and was among those just three shots behind and very much in the picture.

Johnson can keep the top ranking if he finishes in the top four.

“I feel like I’m hitting good putts, they’re just very difficult,” Johnson said. “I feel like someone’s playing goalie up by the hole. It’s not going my way right now, but hopefully I can roll in a few more putts this weekend. I feel like I’m hitting it great.”

The only bad hole for McIlroy was at No. 12 where he put his wedge into a bunker, barely got it out of the sand onto the collar and two-putted from 20 feet for bogey. And then he found another gear.

He hit his tee shot to 12 feet on the par-3 13th. From 156 yards out to a soft green, he tried to take a little off a 9-iron and leaned when he saw it going a little too far left of the flag. It bounced out of the rough and rolled into the cup for an eagle. He came up just short of the green on the par-5 15th, setting up a simple up-and-down for another birdie to seize control.

Just like that, he was three shots ahead and was in position to make it a lot more until missing the three putts coming in.

“I would have taken a 65 starting today and I definitely would have taken a two-shot lead going into the weekend, so I’m in a great position,” McIlroy said. “I’m kicking myself because I missed a couple of short ones coming in, but overall I’m in a good spot and looking forward to being in contention over the weekend.”

His Ryder Cup partner, Andy Sullivan, matched his low round of the tournament and was in the group at 6-under that included Johnson and Daniel Berger (66).

Missing from the mix was Jordan Spieth, who put on a highlight show when he chipped in for eagle on the 15th, and then played a clever pitch some 30 feet away from the flag and let it roll down the hill and into the cup for a birdie.

That more than wiped out a double bogey on the par-5 11th, but momentum stalled in a big way. Spieth went long at No. 1 into the hedges and out-of-bounds, leading to a triple bogey. He shot a 72 and was 1-over 143 10 shots behind.

He had one thing in common with McIlroy. Spieth also spent more time in the bathroom than in bed the night before from a stomach virus that has been the lone blight on an otherwise strong debut for this World Golf Championship in Mexico City.

For the third year, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame has asked the people of Ontario to cast their vote for who they believe deserves the 2016 Syl Apps Ontario Athlete of the Year Award. The online public vote to determine the award recipient will conclude on March 31st, 2017.

The Syl Apps Athlete of the Year Award celebrates the contributions of top athletes in Ontario, and is awarded to the athlete who has made an outstanding and memorable contribution to Ontario sports during the previous calendar year.

How to vote:

Voting is available at www.oshof.ca or www.surveymonkey.com/r/OSHOF

This year’s finalists include:

 Andre De Grasse, Athletics

 Derek Drouin, Athletics

 Sebastian Giovinco, Soccer

 Brooke Henderson, Golf

 Ghislaine Landry, Rugby

 Rosie MacLennan, Gymnastics

 Penny Oleksiak, Swimming

 Milos Raonic, Tennis

 Aaron Sanchez, Baseball

 Brad Sinopoli, Football

 Damian Warner, Decathlon

 Erica Wiebe, Wrestling

 Joey Votto, Baseball

Past award recipients selected by the public include Brooke Henderson (2015) and Brad Sinopoli (2016).

The winner will be recognized with the Class of 2017 at the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame 2017 Induction Ceremony & Awards Gala in Toronto at The Westin Harbour Castle (Metropolitan Ballroom) on October 2, 2017. The OSHOF Board of Directors will be selecting the Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2017, as well as the winners of The Brian Williams Media Award, The Sandy Hawley Community Service Award, and The Bruce Prentice Legacy Award.