CUMBERLAND, ONT. —Brad Kerfoot outlasted the field Friday at Camelot Golf and Country Club to win the 2015 PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf.

The 35-year-old from Maple Downs Golf Club finished the three-day national championship at 9-under-par, besting Eric Locke of Wolf Creek Golf Resort and Club de Golf Longchamp’s Marc-Etienne Bussieres by a shot.

“It’s really unbelievable to have won this national championship because I know all the great names who have won and have their names on the trophy,” Kerfoot said. “This is something that I’ll graciously accept and cherish for a long time.”

Kerfoot, who started the day two shots back of Bussieres put together a gutsy final round 4-under-par 68, which featured six birdies.

“I had a really good game plan all week and tried to play to my strengths which is hitting fairways and greens,” Kerfoot said. “But at the end of the day, I’m really just a grinder and I’m proud of that.”

With the win, Kerfoot becomes the second Smiths Falls, Ont.-born golfer to win a PGA of Canada national championship in 2015. Canadian golf superstar Brooke Henderson won the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada earlier this summer at Burlington Golf and Country Club.

Past champions of the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada include Serge Thivierge, Remi Bouchard, Marc Girouard, Bryn Parry, Ashley Chinner, Phil Jonas, Bill Walsh, Brian McCann and Mike Belbin.

Nicolas Fortin of Academie de golf Levis finished fourth at 7 under, while Laval Sur Le Lac’s Jean-Hubert Trahan rounded out the top five at 3 under for the week.

FOR THE FULL LEADERBOARD, CLICK HERE.

In the Inter-Zone competition (compiled of four players on each team representing their respective PGA Zone) the squad from Ontario (Walsh, McCann, Kenney and Keir Smith) bested Team Quebec (Fortin, Belair, Clement Herviou and Kevin Senecal).

The next PGA of Canada national championship takes place Oct. 26-29 at the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda for the Nike Golf PGA Team Championship of Canada.

BEN EION, Nova Scotia – Canadian Taylor Pendrith, Nathan Tarter and Mike Van Sickle share the lead after two rounds at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Cape Breton Celtic Classic presented by PC Financial. The trio sits a 10-under-par 136 and they lead five players by one stroke after 36 holes at the 6,904-yard The Lakes Golf Club.

With a second consecutive 5-under-par 67, the long-hitting Pendrith is making a late push for a spot in The Five, the five players who will earn a card on next year’s Web.com Tour. He is currently 10th on the Order of Merit and trails the fifth spot by $10,146.

After his disastrous start on Thursday where he was 4-over-par after six holes, the Kent State product has played as well as anybody in the field over his last 30 holes, going 14-under-par during that span.

“I got off to a good start today and played the par-5s in 5-under which is handy,” said Pendrith, a resident of Richmond Hill, Ontario. “I made a couple of sloppy bogeys, but I hit my driver well and overall I’m pretty pleased with how I played. I made eight birdies today so I guess I am doing something right.”

Van Sickle posted the day’s low round, an 8-under 64 and credited some of his success on Friday to a missed opportunity at his opening hole.

“I got off to a bit of a rocky start on my first whole which was No. 10. I hit my second shot to 12 feet and then sent my eagle putt seven feet by,” Van Sickle recalled. “I then left my birdie putt hanging on the lip and had to settle for par. In retrospect it might have been a good thing because it got me seeing red and then I stuffed a couple of shots on the next couple of holes for birdies and then it was off to the races.”

Van Sickle went birdie-eagle on Nos. 6 & 7 to turn in 5-under-par 31 and had his lone bogey at No. 14 when he missed a five-footer. His 64 matched his low round of the year in the final round at the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist.

The weekend looms large for Tarter, who came into the week ranked 149th on the Order of Merit. However, consecutive rounds of 67 have handed him a golden opportunity.

“I knew coming into this week I needed a pretty high finish to advance to next week’s tournament,” said Tarter, who has made just two cuts in nine starts this year, “so I came into this week with the attitude that I had nothing to lose. I’ve made it a point this week to eliminate stress. It was something I wasn’t doing earlier this year and after a week off, it’s the best I’ve felt in a while and I’m excited for the weekend.”

NUMBERS YOU NEED TO KNOW

12: The number of strokes under par by Taylor Pendrith on the par-5 holes so far thru two rounds.

14: Number of strokes under par for Taylor Pendrith in his last 30 holes after starting out 4-over-par thru 6 in Rd. 1.

11: The number of consecutive cuts made this year by 2013 Cape Breton Celtic Classic champion Mackenzie Hughes. That is the best current streak on the MacKenzie Tour.

59: The number of places that Krister Eriksson moved up the leaderboard after improving his score by six strokes from Thursday (73 to 67). He is now T42.

QUOTABLES:

“Sometimes the best preparation for trying to reach the next level is to challenging yourself to the best of your ability. You can easily do that out here on this Tour. You can learn a lot from other players; see how they hit some of their shots, how they play as well as picking each other’s brains. You can learn a lot playing with other good players.” — Mike Van Sickle on competing on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada.

“I learned over the course of the year that my strengths my last couple of years in college became a weakness for me out here early in the year. I was comfortable with my style of golf coming out here but I let myself get away from that. I was able to reflect on that recently and it’s been a good feeling.” — Nathan Tarter on his early struggles this year.

NOTES:

• Weather: 16 degrees Celsius. Overcast with occasional light rain. Winds 10-15 km/NW.
• Preferred lies were utilized in the second round.
• After 36 holes, here is Taylor Pendrith’s scorecard totals: 12 pars, 15 birdies, 2 eagles, five bogeys and two double bogeys.
• After an opening-round 6-under-par 66 on Thursday, first-round leader Matt Marshall posted a 2-over-par 74 and slipped 28 places to T29.
• One of the 65 players making the cut was Canadian amateur Eric Banks from Truro, Nova Scotia.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Jamie Lovemark shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 in rainy conditions Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Anirban Lahiri in the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Hotel Fitness Championship.

Lovemark finished 12th on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list to earn a 2015-16 PGA Tour card and is playing the four-event series in a bid to improve his tour priority status.

“The rain was moderate for most of the round and it was good we didn’t have any downpours,” Lovemark said. “The greens were rolling pure this morning and it was easy to make some putts.”

The former Southern California player birdied all four par-5 holes at Sycamore Hills.

“Big hitters have an advantage on almost every course, especially when the rough is long because it’s easier to come out of the rough with a wedge than a 7-iron,” Lovemark said. “The driver has probably been my best club. I’ve been hitting it aggressively off the tee, just like I have been most of the year.”

He had an 11-under 133 total

Lahiri, the first Indian player to qualify for the International Presidents Cup team, bogeyed the final hole for a 65. He birdied five of his first six holes, and had only 22 putts – three on his final hole.

“I made a ton of putts on the front nine,” Lahiri said. “I haven’t putted that good in a while. I was terrible off the tee all day. I hardly found any fairways.”

Ranked 40th in the world, he tied for fifth in the PGA Championship.

The series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 from the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members of the tour such as Lahiri 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 2015-16 PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.

Canada’s Brad Fritsch (64) and South Korea’s D.H. Lee (68) were tied for third at 9 under. Fritsch was 37th on the Web.com Tour money list, and Lee finished 15th to earn a PGA Tour card.

Patton Kizzire, the regular-season Web.com Tour money champion, was tied for fifth at 7 under after a 65.

Roger Sloan shot 4-under 68 to climb into a share of 53rd place at 2-under.

LYTHAM ST ANNES, England – United States captain John `Spider’ Miller wants his team to have “fun” against Britain and Ireland in the 45th Walker Cup when the biennial amateur event starts Saturday.

Playing on the Lancashire links at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in north west England, the Americans are seeking to retain the trophy they won 17-9 at the National Golf Links of America in New York two years ago.

“I want it to be fun for them,” said Miller, himself a Walker Cup player in 1999. “To make it an experience that they will never forget.”

Welshman Nigel Edwards, the Britain and Ireland captain for the third successive time, will be bidding to regain the trophy he won on his first occasion at the helm at Royal Aberdeen four years ago.

The teams play four foursomes and eight singles on Saturday, then four foursomes and 10 singles on Sunday.

Miller’s team ranges from 52-year-old Mike McCoy from Iowa and 37-year-old Scott Harvey from North Carolina to eight college players in their teens and early 20s.

“Cap’s done an incredible job for us, making us comfortable,” Hunter Stewart said. “He knows that each player on the team may prepare a little bit differently, so he’s done exactly what makes us feel comfortable before the first tee tomorrow.”

Edwards, who played in four successive Walker Cups from 2001 to 2007, said it was a “hard task” choosing “who to play and who not to play, which is great because quite often you come to the Walker Cup and not everybody has got their game.”

In Saturday morning foursomes, it’s: Maverick McNealy and Stewart (United States) vs Ashley Chesters and Jimmy Mullen (Britain and Ireland); Beau Hossler and Denny McCarthy vs Paul Dunne and Gary Hurley; Jordan Niebrugge and Robby Shelton vs Cormac Sharvin and Jack McDonald; Lee McCoy and Mike McCoy vs Jack Hume and Gavin Moynihan.

In Saturday afternoon singles, it’s: Bryson DeChambeau (United States) vs Chesters (Britain and Ireland); Stewart vs Dunne; Harvey vs Grant Forrest; McCarthy vs Mullen; McNealy vs Ewen Ferguson; Shelton vs Hurley; Hossler vs Hume; Niebrugge vs Moynihan.

The Britain and Ireland team has a record five Irishmen: Dunne, Hume, Hurley, Moynihan and Sharvin.

The event, first played in 1922 at National Golf Links, is named in honor of former USGA President George Herbert Walker – grandfather and great-grandfather of former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

The U.S. leads the series 35 to 8.

NAPA, Calif. – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will play in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Frys.com Open next month at Silverado.

Tournament officials confirmed Friday that Woods and McIlroy are set for the Oct. 15-18 tournament.

Woods and McIlroy had agreed to play in the event by 2015 in a deal with the PGA Tour for releases for a 2012 exhibition event in Turkey.

Woods played in the 2011 tournament, while the second-ranked McIlroy will make his first appearance. Woods is winless since the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational and has slipped to No. 272 in the world.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – What she lacks in experience, the 22-year-old Mi Hyang Lee makes up for with advice from her 69-year-old caddie.

The South Korean took the sole lead at the Evian Championship after a 4-under 67 Friday in the second round. With a 9-under total of 133, Lee heads into the weekend of the final major of the season with a one-shot lead over American Morgan Pressel.

While Pressel has already won a major, Lee is chasing her first one. She has showed that she can hold her nerve when it really matters – claiming her only victory on the U.S. LPGA Tour last year at the Mizuno Classic after coming out on top of a three-way playoff with a birdie on the fifth extra hole.

To add an extra dose of knowledge to her game, she recently hired veteran caddie Mike Harig. They started working together in July.

“I’m a young player and he’s pretty old, 69 years old, the oldest caddie on the tour,” Lee said. “He has a lot of experience, so that’s a lot of help for me.”

Pressel gave herself a chance of a second major win after making eight birdies.

Meanwhile, top-ranked Inbee Park, seeking a career Grand Slam, made six birdies but struggled on the back nine with two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 No. 11. She is tied for 20th, eight shots off the pace, with two Americans – Michelle Wie and Beth Allen. Wie hit a second-round 66 after an opening 75.

Pressel carded a 6-under 65, the lowest score so far at the tournament. She was tied for 12th when starting the day in cold and rainy conditions and bogeyed twice in her five first holes, before thriving once the sun broke through.

“I didn’t let that (start) bother me, and just kept trying to plug along and make more birdies, and was able to do so,” said Pressel, after her best round in 10 Evian appearances.

On a course she knows inside out, the 27-year-old Pressel is oozing with confidence.

“This is my 10th year but only the third year on this new golf course, but it’s still similar,” she said.

Pressel’s U.S. Solheim Cup teammate, Lexi Thompson, who shared the lead with Lee at 5 under after the opening round, is now trailing the South Korean by five shots after shooting a 1-over 72.

Holding a share of the first-round lead for the first time, Lee picked up where she left off on Thursday night. Back on the course Friday at 8:18 am, she birdied the par-4 1st hole and added three more before the turn.

She birdied the par-5 13th but fluffed an easy birdie putt on the par-3 16th after landing a very long iron three feet from the hole, and stumbled with a bogey on the par-4 18th.

Nicole Broch Larsen, fresh from winning the Helsingborg Open on the European Tour, had no problem with the early showers on the shores of Lake Geneva, starting her second round with two birdies in her four first holes.

Playing in the Evian Championship for the first time, she hit three more birdies on her back nine to make up for a bogey on the par-3 5th. She carded a 67 that lifted her to third place on the leaderboard, two shots behind Lee.

“I struggled a little bit with my driver on the back nine but I kept it together, kept fighting. I had an eagle chance on 13, 5-meter putt, but it just lipped out. I finished with a birdie so it was nice,” the Dane said.

Meanwhile, Karrie Webb carded 74 after opening with 71 to share 45th place on 3 over. Webb, who is attempting to win her sixth different major, did not hide her frustration, biting her fingers and slamming the grass with her clubs at least twice on the undulating Evian course.

China’s Shanshan Feng had another 68 and moved fourth at 6-under, with Lydia Ko two shots adrift of her and tied for fifth. The 18-year-old Ko shot a 69 and is pursuing her last chance to become the youngest woman to clinch a major. If she wins this week she will surpass Pressel, who won the Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18 years, 10 months, 9 days.

Hamilton, Ont., native Alena Sharp posted a second round of 3-under 68 to move into a tie for 32nd place. A day following her 18th birthday, fellow Ontarian Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls carded a 74 and sits T37.

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands – Soren Kjeldsen shot his second consecutive round of 64 on Friday to take the lead with a 12-under 128 at the halfway stage of the KLM Open.

The Dane shot a bogey-free round on another day of low scoring at the par-70 Kennemer Golf and Country Club. Kjeldsen is one shot ahead of Wade Ormsby of Australia – who followed his 61 on Thursday with a 68 – and England’s David Horsey (66).

Matthew Fitzpatrick left a birdie putt just short on his final hole to miss out by the narrowest of margins on the first 59 on the European Tour.

The 21-year-old Englishman started his round on the 10th tee and shot six birdies on the back nine then followed it up with four more on the front nine.

BEN EION, Nova Scotia – Matt Marshall posted a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Cape Breton Celtic Classic presented by PC Financial. He leads current Order of Merit leader J.J. Spaun and Ryan Brehm by one stroke, while nine players, including Canadians Adam Svensson, Taylor Pendrith, Ben Silverman and Stuart Anderson , trail by two strokes after the opening round at The Lakes Golf Club.

Marshall’s 7-under-par 65 was the third straight week he had opened with a round in the 60s and the fourth time in his last five starts. It was just one shy of his low round of the year, an 8-under-par 64 at the Staal Foundation Open in July in Thunder Bay.

“It was a nice way to finish with birdies on this last two par-5s (Nos. 16 and 18) because I didn’t play the par-5s particularly well before that,” said Marshall, currently in his third season on the Mackenzie Tour. “Everything went well today. I made a couple of putts and it was just one of those days where everything went accordingly.”

Marshall knows it will take a high finish this week if he has any chance to make it into the Tour’s final event of the year, the Freedom 55 Financial Classic next week in London, Ontario. The event is limited to the top 60 players on the money list following this event. He is currently 113th in the Order of Merit.

“To be honest, I’m far enough back where I can just let it go. I’m probably going to have to finish in the top five to get into next week’s event. It’s just one of those things where I can just go out and play and see what happens,” added Marshall.

Marshall is being chased by Spaun, the current Order of Merit leader with $88,534, and Brehm. Spaun posted his 10th consecutive round in the 60s to open play on the Mackenzie Tour this year. Other than a bogey on No. 17, the former San Diego State product played near-perfect golf and his round included seven birdies, including a pair on the par-5 16th and 18th..

“I just tried to avoid making any mistakes out there today,” said Spaun. “It was pretty windy out there and I hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways and that’s kind of how my day went. I’ll take it. I think the wind actually helped the course because you have a couple of holes going downwind.”

This marked the first time in 2015 that Spaun has led or shared the lead after the opening round. In his previous nine starts, he has been among the top 10 just twice after round one. His best showing was a T4 at the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist in June.

Brehm is hoping to continue the success he’s enjoyed in his last two starts this week. He finished T2 two weeks ago at The Great Waterway Classic and T25 last week at the Wildfire Invitational. With his 66 today, seven of his last eight rounds have been in the 60s.

“These next couple of weeks for a guy like me, they’re important,” Brehm said following his round. “I don’t think I can win the money title, but we’re still playing for a lot. If you could eliminate a stage of Q-School and obviously earn money, it’s a big deal. Plus, you want to know that you’re playing well going into the end of the year. I’ve been at this for a while and I think it’s important when you play well that matters.”

NUMBERS YOU NEED TO KNOW

7: The number of holes-in-one on the Mackenzie Tour this year after Robert Karlsson aced No. 8 with a 6-iron from 188 yards.

2: Karlsson’s ace was the second in event history…Johnny Bloomfield had the other on No. 15 in the opening round in 2013.

10: The number of consecutive sub-par rounds current Order of Merit leader J.J. Spaun has posted in his opening round this year. He has yet to start an event with an over-par round. His first-round scoring average is now 67.9.

84: The number of players to better par in the opening round…A total of 46 players bettered par in 2014 and 53 did so in 2013.

QUOTABLES:

“This Tour is well run and well organized. It’s given me the opportunity to get used to the whole tournament routine with the travel and just competing. We’ve played great courses and it’s been enjoyable with the guys this year.” –C.T. Pan on his experience playing the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada this year.

“That’s by far the best 67 I’ve ever shot probably in my life especially after being 4-over-par after five. I really just had two bad swings which cost me four shots on 13 and 14.” – Taylor Pendrith after his 5-under-par 67. His card showed five pars, seven birdies, two eagles, two bogeys and two doubles.

“My mental approach has been the most frustrating thing for me this year. I’ve been playing well. I’ve missed a bunch of cuts by one or two shots and it’s been a frustrating year so maybe I can keep this going and get into next week’s event.” – Matt Marshall reflecting on his 2015 season.

NOTES:

• Weather: 25 degrees Celsius (34 with Humidity). Overcast with occasional light drizzle. Winds 10-20 km/W.
• With a 5-under-par 67 on Thursday, Adam Svensson has now finished below par in 17 of his 18 rounds this year. The lone exception was his 1-over-par 73 in the second round at last week’s Wildfire Invitational where finished T18.
• 2013 champion Mackenzie Hughes opened with a 1-under-par 71, while 2014 Mark Silvers is playing on the Web.com Tour this year.
• This marks the third straight year that this event has had a sole leader after the opening round.
• One of the competitors this week is Eric Hawerchuk, son of former NHL star Dale Hawerchuk. He opened with a 4-over-par 76.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Tommy Gainey and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo shared the first-round lead at 6-under 66 on Thursday in the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Hotel Fitness Championship.

Gainey had an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys at Sycamore Hills. He’s coming off a third-place finish in the regular-season finale in Portland, Oregon.

“I made a lot of putts today,” Gainey said. “I’ve been hitting it good for a while now, but was able to make some putts on the last day in Portland and carried it over to today.”

Grillo had six birdies in a bogey-free round.

“There’s no wind out there,” Grillo said. “The conditions were perfect out there today so there was no reason not to play well.”

The four-event series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. The top 25 players on Web.com regular-season money list earned 2015-16 PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.

Gainey was 35th on the Web.com Tour money list. He won the PGA Tour’s 2012 McGladrey Classic.

Grillo is a non-tour member who earned enough money in five PGA Tour starts to have placed in the top 200 in the FedEx Cup standing had he been eligible to receive points. He had a playoff loss in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in March.

Jamie Lovemark, D.H. Lee, Ricky Barnes, Brice Garnett, Adam Long, Ryan Armour and Brett Stegmaier were tied for second at 67. Lovemark and Lee have secured PGA Tour cards with top-25 finishes on the Web.com Tour money list. Lovemark was 12th. Lee, from South Korea, was 15th.

India’s Anirban Lahiri, a member of the International Presidents Cup team, had a 69.

“I think I hit it decent, but I wasn’t very good off the tee,” Lahiri said.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch opened with a 1-under 71 for a share of 51st place while fellow Canadian Roger Sloan of Calgary carded a 74.

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands – Wade Ormsby blitzed the back nine on his way to a 9-under-par 61 at the KLM Open and joined Paul Lawrie in the first-round lead at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club on the Dutch North Sea coast on Thursday.

The Australian birdied six of the last seven holes, including 16, 17 and 18, to surge up the leaderboard.

“That’s the lowest score I’ve had in any round, let alone tournament golf,” Ormsby said. “I’ve worked pretty hard the last few weeks. I’ve had five weeks off back in Australia, and it’s nice to get back and on the front foot.”

Hours earlier, and playing the back nine first, 1999 British Open champion Lawrie made the most of benign conditions as he eagled the par-five 12th and birdied 16, 17 and 18, too.

“The 59 did cross my mind. I had a long putt on the seventh – my 16th – for eagle after a lovely three wood in there, and had that popped in there I would have only had to birdie one of the last two to make it,” Lawrie said. “But I’m very happy with 61.”

In the group behind Ormsby, Richard Bland of England also gave himself a chance of shooting the European Tour’s first 59. Bland was 8 under with the last three holes to play, but parred them to finish the round alone in second place.

“I hit a lot of good shots out there,” Bland said. “It’s always nice to make a good start. It wasn’t easy – we probably had a two-club wind most of the day.”

Dutch favorite Joost Luiten, the 2013 champion, was tied for fourth with four other players after 63s.

Tom Watson, who shot a hole in one in practice on Wednesday, didn’t manage another ace, but shot three birdies and two bogies on his way to a 1-under 69.