As the temperatures cooled and fall was ushered in, Golf Canada’s championship season drew to a close with the conclusion of the World Junior Girls Championship. Team Korea completed a wire-to-wire victory and claimed both the team and individual titles at the second playing of the competition for the world’s best 18-and-under female golfers.

Hye-Jin Choi of Paju-si saved her best performance for last, posting 7 birdies in a bogey-free round to finish 7-under 65 for the lowest round of the tournament.

“Through the first three rounds I was focused on improving my putting, but today I sank a birdie on the first hole and with it, gained a boost of confidence for the round,” said the individual champion. “I felt better out there today than during any other round. I knew I could do it and at the same time, I trusted that my teammates would get it done, as well.”

The 16-year-old credited her competitors for challenging her across the course. “On the 14^th hole I made a birdie and followed it up with a difficult par on the 15^th.  At that point, I had a good feeling that I was going to be the individual winner. Up until then, I was still worried because my playing partners from Sweden and Denmark are great players and they could have made a charge and caught up.”

“Team competition is not very common in golf,” added Choi, whose squad was making its debut in the championship. “So when I get a chance to play as a team and represent my country, my focus is always on the team. When I saw their scores, I was so relieved and was then able to turn my attention to winning the individual title. I am so happy and proud of us.”

The remaining two members of the Korean contingent completed the competition tied for fourth at 1-under 287. Eun-Soo Jang of Chang Hyung shot a final-round of even-par 72 to count towards her team’s winning total of 22-under 554. The final member of the squad, Shin Hye Kim of Icheon, carded a 73.

“This is a really big win for us,” said head coach Sang-Won Ko, whose trio was the only team to all finish with under-par rounds. “Coming into the tournament, we never expected that we would win. Our top priority was to learn since the environment and course would be so different to us. I am so happy with the result. It is an added bonus to win because we learned so much during the week. I am really proud of all of my players.”

“Hye-Jin was crazy today!” said Ko, when asked about the World Junior Girls champion. “I have mentioned during the week that she struggled with her putting, but today it was simply amazing.”

Finishing second in the individual competition was Cecilie Bofill of Denmark. The native of Silkeborg began the day tied for third, but tallied five birdies en route to a 3-under 69. The 17-year-old moved to 5-under 286 in the competition to trade places in the standings with Filippa Moork of Sweden. The native of Karlstad was 2-over on the day and finished 2-under overall to claim sole possession of third.

Bofill’s performance coupled with Frederickshavn native Puk Lyng Thomsen’s 1-over 73 propelled Denmark into the runner-up position in the team competition at 4-under 572. Four strokes shy of second was Team Sweden which counted identical rounds of 2-over 74 from Moork and Frida Kinhult of Fiskebackskil to finish even-par 576.

Kathrine Chan led the Canadians in the field with a 3-over 75 performance. The native of Richmond, B.C., finished the championship at 15-over 303.

Tournament Director Mary Beth McKenna echoed the sentiments of all those involved when asked to reflect on the competition. “In speaking with the players and coaches this past week, I think this event was a tremendous success. From the coaching summit and the skills clinic to an entertaining and exciting tournament – I truly believe this was a very positive experience for not only the golfing community in Ottawa, but also the development of junior girls’ golf on the international stage.”

Additional information on the 2015 World Junior Girls Championship can be found on the tournament’s official website at www.worldjuniorgirls.com.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Martin Flores birdied his final hole for a 4-under 67 and a share of the first-round lead with Alex Aragon on Thursday in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.

Flores and Aragon each had five birdies and a bogey on Ohio State’s difficult Scarlet Course.

The tournament is the third of four events in the series for the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points. The top 25 players on Web.com regular-season money list earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on series earnings.

Aragon finished 68th on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list and has earned $4,421 in the first two series events.

“A lot of good golf with bad scoring,” Aragon said about his season. “I’ve been working really hard on trying to get off the tee boxes. I’ve taken a lot of penalty strokes the last month or so. Keeping it in play off the tee has been my focus for the last month.”

Flores was 156th in the FedEx Cup and has made $2,900 in the series.

“I’m happy with the start,” Flores said. “Most of the year I’ve played three good days and one terrible day. That’s how I’ve been and I’ve been trying to turn that around and have more consistency. I’m happy with how I did today, but past that, I’m not really looking much ahead.”

Steve Marino, Aaron Watkins, Blake Adams, Brad Elder and Derek Ernst were tied for third at 68.

Marino was 19th in the Web.com Tour regular season and has made $79,088 in the series to move up to eighth.

Sweden’s Henrik Norlander won the series opener in Indiana, and Chez Reavie took the second event last week in Davidson, North Carolina. Norlander and Reavie were tied for eighth at 69.

“It’s brutal,” Norlander said about the Scarlet Course. “It’s shocking. I think it’s the toughest golf course in the world. I haven’t played many tougher. You can’t relax on one single hole. There is not one single hole where you can get away with hitting a bad shot and still make par. Here, if you lose focus, you’re making bogeys and doubles quickly.”

Reavie agreed.

“This course is brutal. Every hole has teeth,” Reavie said. “You have to be on your game. You have to be putting well and you have to be chipping well. It’s very, very difficult.”

ATLANTA – Just getting to East Lake is the challenge for Henrik Stenson. Playing the golf course appears to be the easy part.

Two years after his wire-to-wire victory to capture the FedEx Cup, Stenson was just as dominant Thursday until he stalled at the end and had to settle for a 7-under 63 and a two-shot lead over Paul Casey in the Tour Championship.

Stenson ripped a 4-wood from 288 yards to 25 feet and made the eagle putt on the par-5 ninth to go out in 29. He added two more birdies to reach 8 under through 12 holes until he made pars the rest of the way and his lone bogey on the 17th.

Even so, it was just the start he wanted on a course that he has figured out. Stenson opened with a 64 two years ago, stretched his lead to as many as nine shots in the third round and joined Tom Watson as the only wire-to-wire winners of the Tour Championship.

He missed last year when he failed to get into the top 30 who qualify for the FedEx Cup finale, and knew he only needed to get back to have a chance.

“I wanted to get out of the blocks quickly, and I surely did,” Stenson said.

Jason Day, in his first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world, stayed with Stenson until one shot. Day birdied his opening three holes, but his drive on the par-4 fifth hole sailed through the trees on the right, over the fence and out-of-bounds. He made triple bogey and never really got back on track. He shot a 69 and was six behind.

“I wish I could say that I was a machine and I can hit it straight down the gut every single time, 315 yards,” Day said. “But unfortunately, as humans we’re going to make errors. … To make triple was pretty disappointing, but it’s early on in the tournament, so I can’t dwell on that.”

Rory McIlroy started slowly, finished the front nine with three straight birdies and had a 66 to join British Open champion Zach Johnson.

Jordan Spieth took the stress out of his game and rarely was out of position. He just didn’t hit it close enough for birdie chances, made three of them and shot a 68 to join a large group that included Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker.

For the longest time, Stenson looked uncatchable.

The trouble at East Lake is the Bermuda rough, which is why the powerful Swede leans so heavily on his 3-wood off the tee. He kept it in play, hit iron shots as crisp as ever and made plenty of putts. It was an ideal combination for scoring, until the final hour.

His round stalled with a 4-iron that missed the green on the par-5 15th, and his bunker shot came out hot and left him 20 feet away. He made par, saved par from a tough lie in the rough at the 16th and missed a 6-foot par putt on the 17th.

“I can’t really play the front nine any better – very similar to what I did in 2013 when I started with a good score and shot 5 under on the front,” Stenson said. “So hopefully, the rest of the week can be as successful as it was then.”

Stenson is No. 4 in the FedEx Cup and has been a big topic of conversation this week. He could finish as low as third and still win the $10 million bonus without having won a tournament all year. But the Swede looked at it from a simpler form of math. As one of the top five seeds, he only has to win the Tour Championship to take home golf’s biggest payoff, and that’s all he was thinking about.

“I’ll be happy on Sunday if I were to finish second and win the FedEx Cup,” he said. “I’ll be smiling more if I got two trophies, but I’ll deal with one, as well. But at this point, I’m here to try and win this Tour Championship for the second time, and it would be great to pull that off. Still a long ways to go. We’re only one round down and as we know, a lot of things can happen in 54 holes.”

It was a big turnaround for Casey, who had to pull out of the Deutsche Bank Championship three weeks ago with a sore back. He treated it, worked on his posture and felt as good as new at East Lake.

“It allows me to drive the ball well around here and that was really the key to getting around,” Casey said.

Sixteen players in the 28-man field broke par in easy scoring conditions, with cloud cover and some drizzle late in the day. The biggest buzz was for Day and Spieth, in the same group for the eighth time since the final round of the PGA Championship.

Day’s triple bogey erased those three early birdies and he made only two birdies over his final 13 holes, including a two-putt on the par-5 15th hole.

BAD GRIESBACH, Germany – Benjamin Hebert of France and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shared the lead at seven-under-par after the opening day of the European Open on Thursday.

Hebert fired eight birdies on the Bad Griesbach course and had a bogey on the seventh to finish the day at 64. Wiesberger had seven birdies and no bogeys to tie for the lead.

Two Englishmen had a share of third place at six-under. Graeme Storm shot six birdies in his opening round and Richard Bland opened his round by carding birdies in each of his first four holes.

Also at six-under were Richard Green of Australia, Darren Fichardt of South Africa and Richard Finch of England.

A group of 11 golfers followed at five-under, including German veteran Bernhard Langer.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Albin Choi completed the day at 1-under 70 to sit T74.

The team representing the Republic of Korea continued its strong play in the third round of the World Junior Girls Championship at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa.

The trio’s depth was again on display – for the third time in as many days, a different player led the team. The unit finished the day 6-under and now sits at 15-under 417 for the competition – 11 shots clear of second. Icheon native Shin Hye Kim led the way with six birdies and a bogey-free 3-under across the back nine. She finished the day at 4-under 68 to move into a tie for third at 2-under 214.

“I am extremely happy with my round. I was very lucky with my putting today. There were times when I made six or seven footers and that is something that rarely happens for me.”

Teammate, Hye-Jin Choi, a native of Paju-si, fired a 2-under 70 to reach 5-under in the tournament and reclaim the lead she held following the first round. Round two leader Eun-Soo Jang of Chang-Hyung finished the day 4-over 76 and sits alone in fifth for the tournament at 1-under.

“Even though this competition has an individual component, all three of us are only focused on the team competition,” added Kim when asked about her relationship with her squad. “The first day I was worried because I shot a 4-over. Throughout the round, I thought about what my teammates were doing, when I finished and found out what they had shot, I was instantly relieved. It felt like I had shot a 3-under myself.”

Filippa Moork began the round in third-place at even-par, but a 4-under performance propelled the native of Karlstad, Sweden into second. The 18-year-old is one-shot off the individual lead at 4-under.

“It felt really good to tie for the low round. I played my own game,” said Moork. “It was fun out there today. It feels nice that my putts were going in.”

Team Sweden, consisting of Moork, Gothenburg’s Elin Esborn and Fiskebackskil’s Frida Kinhult, sits alone in second at 4-under 428 following a combined score of 3-under on the day. Esborn completed the round at 3-over 75 to sit T20 in the tournament at 223. Kinhult ended the day with a 74 and is currently alone in sixth.

“We did really well today,” said Sweden’s head coach Malin Thorberg.
“Filippa putted really well today and made a lot of birdies. Frida, as well. It was a very good day on the greens. We are all really happy with today.”

Despite some difficult circumstances, Thorberg reflected very positively on the importance of this competition. “This is a really good learning experience for the girls. For Frida and Elin, it is their first time playing in this championship. We were without our clubs for the first two days (due to travel issues), but that was a good thing for the girls to learn – that these things can happen. They took it really well. From there, we just tried to be happy and do our best and learn as much as we could, both from other players and the course.”

Rounding out the top three is Team Denmark. The squad members made a move early in the round and found themselves just one back of Korea for the lead. However, they would fall back and sit at 2-under heading into the final round.

Silkeborg’s Cecilie Bofill, who is tied for third, led Denmark on the day. Bofill got off to a fast start with three birdies on the first five holes, but would end the round at 2-over 74 to sit 2-under for the tournament.  Teammate Puk Lyng Thomsen, a native of Frederickshavn, was 1-over for the day and sits T8 at 2-over. The third member of the team, Gilleleje’s Line Toft Hansen, is T13 at 4-over after an even-par third round.

Team Canada Two’s Kathrine Chan of Richmond, B.C., posted a 2-over 74 on the day – her lowest round of the competition. Tied for 27^th, she is the top Canadian in the individual standings at 12-over.

The final round of the World Junior Girls Championship will begin tomorrow at 8 a.m. Additional information regarding the tournament, including tee times and full results, can be found at www.worldjuniorgirls.com.

ATLANTA – Brandt Snedeker is finishing his ninth year on the PGA Tour, and he already has amassed more than $26 million in earnings.

He never really thought about the money and would only know his total if he took time to look it up.

But there was one exception.

On a Sunday afternoon at East Lake in 2012, Snedeker closed with a 68 to win the Tour Championship and beat out Rory McIlroy for the FedEx Cup title. The latter came with a $10 million bonus – $9 million up front, the other $1 million deferred.

Two days later, he went online to check his account.

“That’s the only time I ever checked was that Tuesday,” Snedeker said. “They said it would take until Tuesday. And it was there.”

That’s been the story at East Lake ever since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. It was different the first year when the money was all deferred. Now, it’s 90 percent cash. For most players, especially the top three in the world, this week is more about winning than the money.

Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth have combined for 12 victories worldwide and over $25 million in earnings this year. They have won five of the last six majors. They all are in their 20s. And one of them will leave Atlanta as No. 1 in the world.

For everyone else, it’s a weighted free-for-all starting on Thursday:

THE BIG THREE: Day, McIlroy and Spieth are being dubbed as the new “Big Three” in golf because of their ranking and their majors. Day wants to add Rickie Fowler to the mix, but he’s only No. 5 in the world, and while he won The Players Championship in May with arguably the best finish of the year, he still hasn’t won a major and only has three PGA Tour victories in his career.

Day reached No. 1 for the first time with his six-shot victory last week in the BMW Championship. He’s the most likely to keep the ranking. McIlroy and Spieth would have to win the Tour Championship to get to No. 1.

If that happens, it would be the first time since the world ranking began in 1986 that there was a change at the top for six straight weeks.

THE BIG FIVE: Even though Day has dominated the FedEx Cup playoffs with two victories (Barclays, BMW Championship), the advantage is gone at East Lake. The points have been reset to give everyone a chance at the $10 million, with Day still having the best odds and Harris English (No. 30) the ultimate long shot.

The top five only have to win to claim the FedEx Cup. Day is followed by Spieth, Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson.

Stenson was at No. 2 in 2013 when he won at East Lake to claim the big prize. Watson probably stands the least chance this week. He has never seriously contended at East Lake, with his best finish a tie for fifth.

THE BIG ZERO: One player that is sure to make the PGA Tour nervous is Henrik Stenson.

Every year, it seems someone has a chance to win the FedEx Cup without winning a tournament. There has never been a better opportunity than what Stenson has this week. He was runner-up at The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship, moving him from No. 41 to No. 4, and that’s where he is now.

If the other players in the top five falter this week and Stenson finished third, he would have enough points (thanks to the reset) to win the FedEx Cup. It would be the only trophy he takes home from the PGA Tour all year.

“I’m just going to try my hardest this week,” Stenson said. “But if I finish second or third and win the overall, you won’t see me leaving here crying, I know that much. Not out of sadness, anyway.”

THE BIG TASK: Only twice since the FedEx Cup began in 2007 has someone won the Tour Championship and failed to capture the FedEx Cup.

Camilo Villegas won in 2008, but the points system was changed that year and backfired badly. Vijay Singh won the opening two playoff events, and effectively wrapped up the FedEx Cup title by the time he got to East Lake. All the big Fijian had to do was finish 72 holes, which he managed.

The current system – resetting points at the Tour Championship – has been in place since 2009. That year, Tiger Woods was No. 1 and was runner-up to Phil Mickelson, who was No. 14 in the standings. That was quite the image – Woods and Mickelson sharing the stage, each with a trophy. Mickelson won the Tour Championship ($1.35 million and a $3 million bonus for his second-place finish in the FedEx Cup) and Woods won the FedEx Cup and $10 million.

“Let me see if I get this straight,” Mickelson said that day. “I shot 65 and he shot (70), and he gets a check for $10 million … no, I’m just kidding.”

Clear skies and brilliant sunshine provided an ideal backdrop for the second round of the 2015 World Junior Girls Championship at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa. The team representing the Republic of Korea took full advantage of the ideal conditions to expand its lead atop the standings.

“I am very satisfied with both the scores and details of today’s performance,” said Korean coach Sang-Won Ko. “Yesterday the scores were fine, but the details weren’t where we wanted them to be. Today everything went well.”

Ko credited hard work and increased familiarity with the course for his team’s play. “The players are getting used to the course and are getting more comfortable playing it. Their putting was much better. We worked on it after yesterday’s round and it helped a lot today. To continue to lead, we just need to keep putting well.”

Leading the Korean side was Eun-Soo Jang who tallied six birdies en route to a 5-under 67. The 17-year-old, who has been battling a cold, is finally feeling more like herself. “Yesterday, I was struggling. Today, I got back to my game and gave myself more chances to make birdies. My wedge play was the strongest part of my game today. My shots from 80-yards-in were really good. I stuck many of them to within a foot or two on many of the holes.”

Cecilie Bofill of Silkeborg, Denmark ascended the leaderboard with five birdies, including three across a bogey-free back nine. The 17-year-old finished the first day of competition tied with 10 other players in fourth-place at even-par; her round of 68 has vaulted her into second.

The 18-hole leader – Hye-Jin Choi – followed her opening round of 2-under 70 with a 71. She carded two birdies on the day and despite sitting third in the competition, the 16-year-old’s tally will not count towards her team’s total on the day.

The Korean trio extended its lead from two to five strokes on the strength of performances from Jang and the team’s final member – Shin Hye Kim.  She collected four birdies on the front nine before a pair of bogeys saw the 18-year-old finish at 2-under 70. The team is now 9-under 279 through two rounds.

Led by Bofill, Team Denmark rose two spots to claim sole possession of second place. Puk Lyng Thomsen’s even-par round also counted towards her squad’s combined total of 4-under 285, while Line Toft Hansen’s 75 on the day completes the trio’s scores.

Team Sweden – comprised of Frida Kinhult of Fiskebackskil, Gothenburg’s Elin Esborn and Karlstad native Filippa Moork – holds third place at 1-under 287. Kinhult, who sits T5, posted a round of 1-under 71 to count alongside Moork’s 72. Esborn was 3-over 75 for the round.

Topping the Canadian contingent is Alisha Lau of Richmond, B.C. The 15-year-old carded one birdie and completed the round at 2-over 74. The national team Development Squad member is T24 at 6-over for the competition.

Head Coach of Team Canada One, Ann Carroll, provided some insight on her squad’s second-round performance. “I think they tried a little too hard today. I think some of them got off to a not-so-great start and after that, they started to force things instead of letting things come to them. I tried my best to get them in the right frame of mind and back to where they could control things.”

Carroll remains positive on the experience as a whole. “I think playing in an international event like this excels their learning and gives them confidence that even though they may not have played their best, they still know they can play against other girls from around the world.”

The third round of the World Junior Girls Championship will begin tomorrow at 8 a.m. Additional information regarding the tournament, including tee times and full results, can be found at www.worldjuniorgirls.com.

The last five winners of the FedEx Cup also won the Tour Championship. Vijay Singh in 2008 and Tiger Woods in 2009 are the only FedEx Cup champions who didn’t win at East Lake.

Henrik Stenson is in position to make his own brand of history this week – winning the FedEx Cup without winning a PGA Tour event all year.

The Swede started at No. 41, soared up to No. 4 with a runner-up finish at The Barclays, had another runner-up finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship and has held that position going into the final event. He could finish in a tie for third and have a mathematical chance of winning the $10 million bonus.

“I’m just going to try my hardest this week,” Stenson said. “But if I finish second or third and win the overall, you won’t see me leaving here crying, I know that much. Not out of sadness, anyway.”

Stenson would much rather win the Tour Championship and claim golf’s biggest bonus, as he did two years ago at East Lake.

“I still have one more chance and it shouldn’t be too hard to wipe the floor with these guys, right?” Stenson said, shifting into sarcasm mode. “There’s no one that’s playing great and is sky-high on confidence, and no one with a bunch of majors and no one hits it 330 off the tee. So it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Even so, a FedEx Cup title without having won anything on the PGA Tour would make the FedEx Cup an easy target for its points system, or how the PGA Tour has chosen to reset the points at the Tour Championship to give everyone a chance.

Stenson compared it with the world ranking. The year Lee Westwood reached No. 1 in the world, he had won just one tournament in 2010 and had not won in more than four months when he got to the top. It was a product of several good results, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the majors.

It’s not like the year has been a total loss. Stenson twice had the 54-hole lead this year, at Bay Hill and the TPC Boston, and didn’t win.

This is nothing new for Stenson. He was in position to win the Race to Dubai two years ago without having won on the European Tour. But then he won the finale in Dubai and “kind of finished those conversations.”

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REVOLVING DOOR: The No. 1 ranking hasn’t been this unsettled since Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Ernie were swapping the top spot in 1997.

Jason Day going to No. 1 with his victory at the BMW Championship meant the No. 1 ranking changed five times in five weeks – Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Spieth, McIlroy and Day. That tied an Official World Golf Ranking record set from June 8 to July 6 in 1997 when it went Norman, Woods, Els, Norman and Woods.

Woods then held the No. 1 spot for the next two months.

For the No. 1 spot to change for a sixth straight week, McIlroy or Spieth would have to win the Tour Championship. Day can secure No. 1 by finishing alone in fifth or better.

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TALE OF THE TAPE: Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson are among those are waiting to see if Jason Day can win the Tour Championship before deciding whether Day or Jordan Spieth gets their votes for PGA Tour player of the year.

Here’s where they stand going into the final event of the year:

– Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open. Day won the PGA Championship.

– Day has five victories. Spieth has four.

– Spieth has wrapped up the money title with $10,545,465. Day has earned $9,174,805.

– Spieth has a 68.99 adjusted scoring average in the race to win the Vardon Trophy. Day is at 69.13.

– Spieth has accumulated 532.31 world ranking points this year, compared with 444.85 for Day. That might be a slight edge for Day, however, because he has played in four fewer events. Spieth has averaged 23.14 points for event, while Day has average, 23.41 points.

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BUBBA’S MISSION: The good news for Bubba Watson is that he’s among the top five in the FedEx Cup at the Tour Championship and has a clear shot at the $10 million bonus. The bad news is still hasn’t quite figured out East Lake.

In five previous appearances at the Tour Championship, his best was a tie for fifth in 2012 and twice he has been outside the top 20.

“It’s just about getting comfortable and getting used to a situation or a place,” Watson said. “It’s a learning process.”

Watson said his wife reminded him that he used to not like Doral until strong finishes in recent years, so there’s hope. Then again, he has no choice. The Tour Championship has been at East Lake every year since 2004.

“This is a tournament I can’t miss and I don’t want to miss,” he said. “I want to be here every year. I would rather struggle here than not be here. But that’s the process of a golfer. You don’t want to be really good at your home course, you want to be good at every golf course. So I’m trying to figure that out as I go and I haven’t figured that out but once. I finished fifth one time. I am guessing that has to do with putting. I am guessing I putted pretty good that week.”

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EARLY START: Rickie Fowler still has plenty of golf on his schedule the rest of the year, including plans for an additional PGA Tour event.

After the Presidents Cup in South Korea, Fowler said he would play the Las Vegas event before heading back to Asia for the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Las Vegas is the first PGA Tour event that Fowler played as a pro in 2009. He tied for seventh.

Fowler said having played only one time last fall, he felt he had fallen too far behind when he played his next PGA Tour event three months later in the Phoenix Open.

It doesn’t hurt that swing coach Butch Harmon is located in Las Vegas.

“I’ve enjoyed playing there when I go,” Fowler said. “And it’s one more event in the fall schedule.”

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DIVOTS: Jordan Spieth needs a two-way tie for fourth or better at the Tour Championship to set the single-season earnings record on the PGA Tour. … With two events remaining in the Web.com Tour Finals, a couple of PGA Tour players are on the bubble for earning their cards. Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover is at No. 24, with Jonathan Byrd and John Merrick in a tie for 25th. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship is this week on the Scarlett Course at Ohio State University, followed by the Web.com Tour Championship at the TPC Sawgrass Valley course. … Eight players are in the Tour Championship for the first time – Daniel Berger, Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee, J.B. Holmes, Steven Bowditch, Brooks Koepka, Sang-moon Bae and Harris English. Kisner, English and Berger made it despite not winning this year.

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STAT OF THE WEEK: The PGA Tour had 102 players who earned more than $1 million this year.

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FINAL WORD: “To take a 12-year-old kid from nothing and turn him into the best golfer in the world is a pretty nice achievement.” – Jason Day on his longtime coach and caddie Colin Swatton.

ATLANTA – The best three players in golf have combined to win 12 tournaments and over $25 million this year, so the appeal of a $10 million bonus for capturing the FedEx Cup might not be as great as simply winning the final showdown of the season.

But there was a time when money mattered for Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

McIlroy was an 18-year-old rookie in 2007 playing his second tournament as a pro when he finished third at the Dunhill Links Championship. That not only wrapped up his European Tour card, it paid just over $300,000 (211,332 pounds).

“I remember I wanted this watch,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “And I remember it was the week after the Dunhill Links in 2007, and it was one of the bigger prize funds on the European Tour. At this stage, the money from the European Tour was just going into my debit account, whatever bank I was using in Ireland. And I went to get money out of the ATM the week after and the check had obviously been put in.

“And I wanted to check my balance and it was like 220,000 pounds, and I was like … I mean, I went straight to the store and bought the watch.”

Now they’re more interested in a pair of titles – the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup – along with a single-digit number.

The battle for No. 1 enters its sixth straight week in golf.

Day reached the pinnacle for the first time in his career with no argument. His six-shot victory in the BMW Championship last Sunday was his fourth win in his last six starts. That includes a record score at the PGA Championship and a six-shot win at another FedEx Cup playoff event.

Day also is No. 1 going into the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake, though with a much slimmer margin.

To make the Tour Championship a weighted free-for-all for the 29 players at East Lake (Jim Furyk withdrew with injury), the points have been reset so that the top five players only have to win the tournament to claim the $10 million bonus.

Day is followed by Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson.

McIlroy, who missed two months and one playoff event because of an ankle injury, is No. 11. For him to claim the FedEx Cup, he would have to win the Tour Championship and the top five in the standings would need to finish out of the top six depending on their ranking.

Part of him wonders if he’s due for that to happen. McIlroy was the No. 1 seed in 2012 on the strength of winning two FedEx Cup playoff events, tied for 10th at East Lake and lost out to Brandt Snedeker. He was the top seed going into the postseason a year ago on the strength of his two majors, was runner-up in the Tour Championship and finished behind Billy Horschel, who won the last two events.

“So maybe this time being outside … maybe get the job done a different way,” McIlroy said.

No one has ever won three FedEx Cup playoff events, and that’s an opportunity for Day. The 27-year-old Australian is pounding his driver long and straight, his short game is finally getting its due attention and he’s putting well. It’s an unbeatable combination, as the victories attest. Perhaps even more daunting is that Day is 101-under par in his last seven tournaments dating to the British Open.

No one knows how well Day is playing more than Spieth. They have been in the same group seven of the last nine rounds dating to Sunday at the PGA Championship. Spieth was runner-up at Whistling Straits, missed the cut in the opening two FedEx Cup events and then got his game turned around last week north of Chicago.

Or at least he thought he did.

Spieth opened at 65-66 – and he was still seven shots behind Day.

“What he did … I mean, he destroyed my score in those rounds for lack of a better term,” Spieth said. “It is very motivating because my personality, I don’t like getting beat in anything and I’m very stubborn. It doesn’t make me angry. It makes me want to get back to the level I was playing at this whole year, and see if the top of my game can beat the top of anybody else’s game when they’re at their best.”

That’s the beauty of this Tour Championship. All the best are at their best. The top five in the FedEx Cup are among the top six in the world ranking. Starting Thursday, they get one last chance to battle for at least one trophy (Tour Championship), maybe two (FedEx Cup) and a $10 million bonus.

It was a beautiful day at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa as the 2015 World Junior Girls Championship officially began. This year’s competition has gathered 14 countries, 15 teams and 44 players in the nation’s capital.

Making their debuts in this year’s event are teams representing the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and France, who join returning countries Canada, Australia, Denmark, England, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the defending champions from the United States.

With the lowest two scores from each round counting towards the team’s daily total, Korea took the opening-round lead at 2-under 142. Hye-Jin Choi led her team with a round of 2-under 70 while Eun-Soo Jang shot even-par. The third member of the team, Shin Hye Kim, posted a 4-over-par performance.

After the round, Korean coach Sang-Won Ko reflected pensively on his team’s first round. “I told the team that they were leading at lunch, but that they could have been playing even better. I think all three can work on their putting heading into the second round. It is always a great experience to be a member of a team that represents Korea, it’s all the motivation they need.”

Choi’s round of 70 also has her tied atop the individual competition. Despite her share of the lead, the 16-year-old laments the opportunities she was unable to capitalize upon.

“It is hard to pinpoint one particular strength of my game today. I finished with five birdies, but could have had more,” said Choi. “I missed a few chances that could have led to two or three more birdies. Having a share of the lead is nice because it makes me comfortable heading into the rest of the tournament. I just have to play even better tomorrow now that everyone is warmed up.”

Two shots back of Korea in the team competition are the United States and Sweden who both sit at even-par 144. Team USA was led by a strong performance from Elizabeth Wang who holds a share of the lead.

“I started out pretty well with my putting really helping me out,” noted Wang. “I got a little tired on the back nine and my putting suffered. This is a very beautiful course, the greens are pretty firm, each hole is unique and you can definitely score on the course.”

The San Marino, Calif., native beamed with pride when asked about taking part in this competition. “This event is just such a privilege for me to represent the United States and I am very grateful for the opportunity.”

Also factoring into the team score was Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, Calif., who finished 2-over 74. Completing the American contingent was Frisco, Texas native Courtney Dow who carded a 5-over 77.

Sweden – last year’s silver medalists – counted Frida Kinhult and Filippa Moork’s identical even-par rounds. The pair’s performances have them knotted in an 11-way tie for fourth. Elin Esborn completed the day at 1-over 73.

Both Canadian sides finished with room for improvement following the first day of competition. Team Canada Two made up of B.C. natives Euna Han (Coquitlam), Alisha Lau (Richmond) and Katherine Chan (Richmond) finished at 7-over 151 while Team Canada One consisting of Grace St-Germain (Orleans, Ont.) Hannah Lee (Surrey, B.C.) and Tiffany Kong (Vancouver) were 8-over.

Team Canada Two coach Mike Martz sees positives to be taken from his team’s performance. “I think they did a good job today. They didn’t have the greatest start, but they fought really hard on the back nine to come back two or three shots. They could have just folded, but they pulled everything together and fought back. We will put some work in today and hopefully they will be able to continue to improve tomorrow.”

For full tournament information, including the leaderboard and pairings see the tournament site at www.worldjuniorgirls.com.