MOSCOW – Scott Jamieson and Daniel Gaunt took a share of the lead at the Russian Open with 6-under 65s in Thursday’s first round.

Jamieson started his day at Skolkovo Golf Club with four straight birdies. Gaunt had an eagle on No. 12.

Lee Slattery and Bradley Dredge (both 66) are tied for third place, one stroke ahead of a group of eight others, including Made in Denmark winner David Horsey.

Former top-ranked tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov shot a 77 and was tied for 121st.

NORTON, Mass. – Bill Haas is grinding harder than ever in the FedEx Cup playoffs, only the immediate goal has nothing to do with a $10 million bonus.

He wants a chance to play for no money at all.

Haas is No. 11 in the Presidents Cup standings. The Deutsche Bank Championship, which starts Friday, is the final event for the top 10 players to earn automatic spots on the U.S. team for the Oct. 8-11 matches in South Korea.

Haas, who has played on the last two Presidents Cup teams, already gets enough attention for being on the bubble. It gets even more acute because his father, Jay Haas, is the U.S. captain for the first time.

So he wasn’t surprised to be stopped on his way to the putting green Wednesday at the TPC Boston. Nor was he bothered when he was asked Sunday at The Barclays, after closing with a 74 to fall down the leaderboard, whether he was pressing too much because his father is the captain.

His round went south on the 12th hole last week when he tried to play out of a hazard in a bid to make birdie, and he wound up making triple bogey. Haas doesn’t feel any more pressure trying to make the Presidents Cup team as he did trying to make the Ryder Cup team a year ago, or trying to win a tournament.

It’s all part of golf.

“If a 400-pound bear chases you, are you more scared than if a 200-pound bear is chasing you?” he said. “You’re still scared and still running fast as (you can). It stinks that I’m close this year. Then again, if I’m 25th, you’re not asking me the question. So it’s good that you’re asking the question. It’s a good problem.”

Jordan Spieth has been a lock for the team sometime after he collected his two majors this year. He is followed in the standings by Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker, British Open champion Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar.

Chris Kirk is at No. 10, coming off a hand injury that forced him to miss two majors and a World Golf Championship. He returned to competition last week and missed the cut, and he is the defending champion at the Deutsche Bank.

“I really, really would love to make the team,” Kirk said. “But it’s not like I can go out and hit balls on the range this afternoon, like I’m going to hit an extra bucket of balls so I can make The Presidents Cup team. You just and play and try to play the best you can, and see how it works out.”

Haas would need at least fifth place alone this week to move past Kirk, and the others behind him would have to play even better, such as Houston Open winner J.B. Holmes, Billy Horschel and Brandt Snedeker. Horschel has had only two top 10s since he won the FedEx Cup last year.

Jay Haas will get two captain’s picks, and the players outside the top 10 all seem to know the drill. It’s best to not have it come down to being a pick.

That includes the captain’s son.

Jay Haas was an assistant captain in 2011 when his son was picked. Then again, Bill Haas had just won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

“I can’t imagine me trying any less if he wasn’t the captain,” Bill Haas said. “I’m going to do my best. A lot of times, your best isn’t good enough, and sometimes it is. He wants me to make the team like he wanted me to make the Ryder Cup team last year. But he’s also going to choose the player he thinks is best for the team. I don’t think he’s going to tell me, `Bill, you weren’t good enough.’ He’s going to say, `This guy was playing really well and I had to pick him.’

“There won’t be a conversation we’re going to have that’s like, `Why didn’t you pick me, Dad?’ I’m going to understand why he doesn’t. And I’ll understand why he does.”

Brooks Koepka gets a lot of attention as a potential pick, though he missed the cut for only the second time this year at The Barclays. Koepka didn’t see that as overly detrimental because it was his seventh in eight weeks. He found a quiet spot on the beach near Rhode Island to relax for a few days, and then played a practice round Wednesday with Davis Love III, an assistant captain for the Presidents Cup.

Koepka has never been on any bubble, “except maybe in school when I was trying to go from a C to a B.” What will it take to get him on his first U.S. team?

“Win,” he said. “It’s pretty simple.”

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Strong winds and the ensuing unplayable conditions during day two of the 2015 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship forced the suspension of the second round at Desert Blume Golf Club in Medicine Hat, Alta.

Players that were unable to complete their first rounds on Tuesday due to suspension of play did so on Wednesday morning. The same windy conditions experienced on the competition’s first day resurfaced on day two and forced play to be suspended at 3:30 p.m. MDT. The third round has been cancelled and the competition will be reduced to 54 holes.

“It is unfortunate that we have had to shorten the championship, but we wanted to ensure that the tournament is fair to all players. Resuming the second round tomorrow will provide optimal playing conditions for the field,” explained Tournament Director Mary Beth McKenna. “It was a difficult decision, but we concluded it wouldn’t be feasible to complete 72 holes due to limited amounts of daylight and time.”

Ideal conditions began the day and saw low scores from players beginning their first rounds. Leading the way in the morning was Pat Thompson of Asheville, N.C., who shot a first-round 7-under 65 – a senior’s course record.

“I was hitting it stiff. Most of the birdies were within five feet,” said Thompson, who carded five consecutive birdies from holes four to eight before adding three more on the back nine.

“When I could have made bogies I was saving pars. I just started to hit the ball right where I wanted to every time, just over and over. A couple of times, I missed a little bit and I happened to hit it above the hole and it would feed down closer and I’d end up with five feet again,” said the 2014 Georgia Senior Invitational champion.

One stroke back is Ronald Kilby, who shot 2-under through nine holes before his second round was suspended. The McAllen, Texas native opened with a 4-under first round and sits 6-under par through 27 holes.

Frank MacKenzie is currently third following an opening-round 4-under par on Wednesday morning. The 64-year-old from Vernon, B.C., went bogey-free to accompany four birdies.

Team Alberta leads the Inter-Provincial team competition through one completed round of play. Floyd Kilgore of Grimshaw, Alta., and Calgary natives Howard Broun and David Schultz totaled a combined 1-under par 143. Two shots behind the host province are Teams Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia who sit tied for second at 145.

In addition to the Inter-Provincial team competition, the Super Senior division is also played concurrently over the championship’s first 36 holes. Leading the 70-and-over competition is Ken Bradley of Moose Jaw, Sask., who carded 10-over par in his first round. Two shots back is George Stokes from New Hamburg, Ont., who completed the first 13 holes of his second round before play was suspended.

The 2015 Canadian Men’s Senior champion will earn an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., from September 26 to October 1.

The second round of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship will continue on Thursday at 8 a.m. MDT. Scoring, pairings and start times can be found here.

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Rory McIlroy will be able to compete in the Race to Dubai even though he will fall short of the minimum 13 tournaments required by the European Tour.

Keith Pelley, the new chief executive of the European Tour, says he consulted with McIlroy and medical officials before agreeing to make an exception for the world’s No. 1 player.

McIlroy missed two months this summer because of an ankle injury. He missed three events on the European schedule – the Scottish Open, British Open and Bridgestone Invitational.

He has played nine European events. Players are required to play 13 to be eligible for the Race to Dubai.

McIlroy says he is kept from adding four more events through global commitments, such as the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour, and his recovery program that limits how many weeks he can play in a row.

NORTON, Mass. – Once among the most popular stops on the PGA Tour schedule, Trump National Doral had more players grumbling than ever. The complaints mainly were that the power players had too big an advantage.

The tour was listening, and so was The Donald.

As part of constant feedback on golf courses, players were allowed to submit their thoughts (signed or anonymous). Those were presented to Trump and work has been underway to make a few changes for next year’s Cadillac Championship.

“I just went over some changes to make it more friendly for guys who hit it my length instead of it being a bomber’s paradise,” said Brandt Snedeker, among those who offered reasonable suggestions. “I think Gil (Hanse) tried to do the right thing to tighten it up, but it’s hard to see how a golf course plays until guys play it. You don’t know what bunkers are in play and out of play.”

The changes are mostly about the bunkers on six holes – Nos. 2, 6, 7, 12, 14 and 17.

The seventh hole was a prime example with two bunkers to the left and another bunker farther out on the right. The fairway sloped toward the right bunker, leaving the medium-length players limited options – a tiny landing zone, playing short of the left bunkers for a longer approach over the water to the green, or seeing their tee shots tumble into a bunker and facing that shot over water.

Andy Pazder, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said a shorter bunker is being removed and another bunker is being added further out on the left.

“That makes the tee shot more fair,” he said. “And even the long hitters who can’t quite carry the bunkers on the left and still hit 3-wood comfortably.”

That was just one example. The other changes are mainly about covering over some bunkers that were in play only for the medium hitters and extending or moving bunkers that would challenge the longer hitters.

Pazder described the changes as a result of “continuous feedback we’ve received over the last few years after Gil’s redesign.”

“This is designed to create a little more of a level playing field as it relates to those who carry it 300 yards and those who don’t,” he said.

Dustin Johnson won this year. Next on the leaderboard were J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott.

—

MINOR MOVEMENT: Points in the FedEx Cup playoffs are worth four times the value this year, down from five times the value a year ago. The idea was to give players a chance to move up with good play, without making it too volatile.

Here’s how it shaped up after The Barclays:

Henrik Stenson finished alone in second at The Barclays and moved from No. 41 to No. 4, the same change it would have been last year.

Zac Blair started at No. 106, finished in a two-way tie for fourth and moved to No. 45. A year ago, if the player at No. 106 had finished in a two-way tie for fourth at The Barclays, he would have moved to No. 35.

One reason for the change was to avoid someone toward the bottom making too large a jump. Martin Laird was at No. 95 in 2010, was runner-up at The Barclays and shot all the way up to No. 3. Had that happened this year, the No. 95 player would have gone to No. 10.

—

CADDIE KNACK: If the American players can’t win the Ryder Cup, maybe their caddies can.

The World Caddie Matches is in the planning stages for next year, a 36-hole event over one day featuring 16 professional tour caddies from the United States against 16 from around the world. It would be fourball matches in the morning, followed by singles in the afternoon.

Steve Hulka, the captain of the U.S. caddie team, says Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Connecticut has offered to host the inaugural event. The draw for matches would be held after the conclusions of The Barclays, and the competition would be the following day.

Mike “Fluff” Cowan is the assistant captain for the U.S. Captains for the caddies from around the world are Gareth Lord (who works for Henrik Stenson) and Mark Fulcher (Justin Rose). Still to be determined is a qualifying process for both teams.

And just like the tours on which they work, the plan is to have a charity component. The idea is for the caddie of each PGA Tour winner starting with the Travelers Championship to donate $500 into a fund, with the caddie for the runner-up donating $300.

Hulka said it could turn into an event played before each Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

—

SMALL MARGINS: The final round of the Wyndham Championship was another example of how thin the margins can be in the FedEx Cup.

Cameron Percy and Vaughn Taylor were not remotely close to getting into the top 125 and qualifying for the playoffs, but the final hour did make a difference. Taylor made bogey on three of his last four holes to finish at 6-under 274, two shots behind Percy, who played that stretch at 2 over and finished two shots ahead.

Percy wound up No. 150 in the FedEx Cup with 360.773 points, just ahead of Taylor at 360.667 points.

But the FedEx Cup bonus structure pays out to 150th place. By finishing sixth-thousandths of a point ahead, Percy got $32,000. More than money, he has conditional status on the PGA Tour next year, and full status on the Web.com Tour for the weeks he doesn’t get into PGA Tour events.

—

DIVOTS: Sam Horsfield of England has withdrawn from the Walker Cup because of personal reasons. He was replaced by Ewen Ferguson of Scotland. … Jon Rahm of Spain, a senior at Arizona State, won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He is the first Spaniard to win the award, and provided he stays an amateur, will be exempt into the U.S. Open and British Open. Rahm tied for fifth at the Phoenix Open this year. … Players hoping for a hole-in-one might stand a better chance with Scott Tway as the caddie. He works for Brian Harman, who made two aces Sunday at The Barclays. And he was working for brother Bob Tway when he made two aces in the same tournament at the 1994 Memorial. … Jeff Maggert and amateur Trip Kuehne are among those to be inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame on Oct. 12 in San Antonio.

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STAT OF THE WEEK: Jason Day has four PGA Tour wins this year, the most by an Australian in one year since Jim Ferrier won five times in 1951.

—

FINAL WORD: “I would have made a fortune on the Champions Tour this year.” – Kevin Chappell, who had at least one round of 75 or worse in seven tournaments this year. Champions Tour events typically are 54 holes.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Wind gusts of up to 65km/h forced the delay of the first round at the 2015 Canadian Senior Men’s Championship at Desert Blume Golf Club in Medicine Hat, Alta.

Approximately half of the competitors in the field of 156 were able to finish their first rounds after a six-hour delay. The remaining players will begin their opening rounds on Wednesday, September 2 at 7 a.m. MDT with revised tee times. Round two is slated to begin following the completion of the first round.

“Unfortunately the weather didn’t fully co-operate with us for the start of our national championship,” said Tournament Director Mary Beth McKenna. “You can play in windy conditions, however when wind gusts become so strong that still balls start to move, the course becomes unplayable. We remain confident that we will catch up and have a full 72-hole championship.”

Leading the way among players who finished their first rounds was Ronald Kilby of McAllen, Texas, who battled through the gusty winds to shoot 4-under 68.

“I felt like I controlled my distance with the irons really well coming into the greens. I didn’t have any really hard putts, I felt like I was below the hole and kind of where I wanted to be most of the day putting-wise,” said the 2014 Texas Senior Amateur champion.

Kilby started on the back nine and was even-par through six holes when play was delayed. “I just stayed out here and chipped and putted through the delay so that I didn’t tighten up a whole lot,” said the 60-year-old who shot five-under par on the front nine after the stoppage. Highlighting his round were four straight birdies through the fifth to eighth holes.

Four shots back is William Jackson of Oklahoma City, Okla., at even-par. Jackson began his round on the back nine at 2-over par, followed by a bogey-free two-under front nine to break even.

John Bracken of Seattle, Wash., Allen Barber of Yorktown, Va., Keith Newton of Olds, Alta., and Randy Fleet of Banff, Alta., sit tied for third at 1-over par.

George Stokes of New Hamburg, Ont., leads the Super Senior Division after a 6-over 78. The 70-and-older division is played concurrently with the first two rounds of play.

An Inter-Provincial competition also takes part over the course of the first 36 holes of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship and will see teams tee off for their first rounds tomorrow morning.

This week’s champion will earn an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., from September 26 to October 1.

The first round of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship will continue on Wednesday at 7 a.m. Players who completed their first rounds on Tuesday will tee off for their second rounds beginning at 11:50 a.m. MDT. Scoring, pairings and start times can be found online here.

Coming full circle is a term used to symbolize transitioning or returning to an original position or state of affairs.

In this case, it represents two local friends from Manitoba, Aaron Cockerill and Josh Wytinck.

Their story began in southern Manitoba, where the pair began to cross each other’s paths through local tournaments and tryouts under Golf Manitoba’s youth development programming.

Wytinck, one of roughly 650 natives of Glenboro, recalled playing in tournaments at the age of 11 before deciding to specialize in golf at age 15. With his hometown’s smaller population, Wytinck was quite familiar with his competition—with the exception of a surprise at the 2007 Manitoba Rural Junior (players outside Winnipeg).

“All of a sudden I remember showing up at the rural junior in Manitoba, this guy named Aaron Cockerill wins the tournament,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it was his first Golf Manitoba event—so he was kind of the guy to beat.”

Their friendship took off after that and was officially cemented in the summer of 2009 when both Wytinck and Cockerill were a part of Golf Manitoba’s training squad for the upcoming Canada Summer Games in P.E.I.

“Oh wow, yes that was a while back,” laughed Cockerill of his past with Wytinck. “Golf Manitoba had us training together, working out together, practising and of course playing in a ton of tournaments throughout the summer.”

Only a year apart, the duo shared in many great competitions together, most notably the 2012 Manitoba Men’s Amateur. At 21, Wytinck edged out runner-up Cockerill in a playoff to take the title.

A few years later, both golfers went on their separate collegiate paths with Cockerill going to play for the University of Idaho and Wytinck staying home to play for the University of Manitoba Bisons.

Coming from Stony Mountain’s population of roughly 1,000, Cockerill took some time adjusting to the busy scene at Idaho but it wasn’t long before he found his place.

“I loved it there—we had a lot of great guys on the team, we all ended up living together,” he said. “I learned a lot there and had a blast at the same time.”

Being a 22-hour drive from home, maturity caught up with Cockerill pretty quickly. “In terms of being on my own, I really grew up a lot when I was there—and that really affected my golf game in a positive way as well,” he said.

He went on to earn first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honours in his senior year to go along with 14 top-25 finishes throughout his time at Idaho.

Across the border, Wytinck mirrored the success of Cockerill by captaining the Manitoba Bisons to the Canadian University/College Championship title in 2014—his senior year.

Despite their different routes, each has gained a wealth of experience and the pair has now come full circle as they pursue careers in professional golf through the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. Both athletes are currently playing in Monday qualifiers while working towards full-time status.

“We’ve been training a lot together now in Winnipeg since this is both our professional jobs now,” said Cockerill. “We play together at courses that are side-by-side (Elmhurst and Pine Ridge) which helps with our training.”

Both Wytinck and Cockerill shared very similar words of advice for aspiring Manitoba natives looking to chase the same dream—the more situations you put yourself in, the greater the chance you have to learn and succeed. Play as many events as you can and never stop learning.

To learn more about Golf Canada’s junior development programs, visit the Golf Canada Juniors website at golfcanada.ca/juniors.

EDISON, N.J. – Jordan Spieth was gone, but not forgotten, certainly not by Jason Day.

In his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, Spieth had back-to-back rounds over par for the first time all year and missed the cut. He already was assured of losing the No. 1 ranking back to Rory McIlroy when Day put together a weekend at The Barclays that was even better when put into recent context.

He shot 63-62 on the weekend – the 62 was the lowest closing round by a PGA Tour winner all year – and finished at 19-under 261 for a six-shot win over Henrik Stenson. This was Day’s first tournament since he became the first player in a major to reach 20-under par in beating Spieth by three shots at the PGA Championship.

Throw in the RBC Canadian Open and Day has won three of his last four tournaments.

So it seemed to be a natural question who would get his vote as PGA Tour player of the year, which until last week was not really a question at all.

And it still isn’t to Day – not yet, anyway.

“Right now, Jordan Spieth gets my vote,” Day said. “Winning two major championships at such a young age is big. Winning four tournaments overall is great.”

Then again, there are still three FedEx Cup playoff events remaining, including the Tour Championship that determines the $10 million bonus. It’s already been a banner summer for the 27-year-old Australian, and he’s not done yet.

“I think winning the FedEx Cup and maybe one or two more tournaments, that could put my name in the mix for player of the year,” Day said. “I’m not sure. I’m going to leave that to the peers, to the people. That will definitely throw my name in the mix.”

Spieth already has locked up the points-based award from the PGA of America because of a bonus awarded to multiple major champions, and that’s not something to take lightly. The 22-year-old Texan is only the 19th player in 120 years to do that. As only the fourth player to get halfway to the Grand Slam, he handled the pressure by finishing one shot out of a playoff at St. Andrews. And with a runner-up at the PGA Championship, Spieth joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to finish in the top four at all four majors.

He also was runner-up three other times (Houston Open, Texas Open, Colonial), still is nearly $3 million ahead of Day on the money list and is leading the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average on the PGA Tour.

That’s why Day was quick not to dismiss Spieth.

If the Australian were to win the Tour Championship, that makes it interesting, but still probably not enough. The Tour Championship and one other FedEx Cup playoff event? That would be six wins – only Woods and Vijay Singh have done that over the last 20 years – and then it moves the vote closer to a coin flip.

“I’m by far playing the best golf of my life,” Day said. “Just the synergy between my golf swing right now and what I’ve done with my body is working. I’m hitting it a long, long way. I feel like the accuracy has pulled in. … I feel like Jordan Spieth with how I’m putting. It’s a good feeling.”

Another race is shaping up that could prove to be more compelling.

A year ago, when McIlroy won the final two majors with a World Golf Championship in between, he was so clearly No. 1 in the world that the only discussion was who could challenge him. Spieth and Day provided the answer, with four wins apiece on the PGA Tour, and three of the four majors.

Day will have a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 if he were to win the Deutsche Bank Championship. There was chatter about a modern Big Three after Day won the PGA Championship, and this victory in the Barclays, along with his realistic chance of getting to No. 1, only confirms it.

McIlroy didn’t play The Barclays to give his left ankle one more week of rest as a precaution. He tied for 17th in the PGA Championship, his first time competing in nearly two months, and he has won on the TPC Boston.

Spieth has a knack for bouncing back quickly. The last time he missed a cut was at The Players, and over his next eight starts he had two wins (including the U.S. Open), two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes. The TPC Boston is where his stock really began to rise two years ago when he closed with a 62.

Yes, the majors are over.

Golf still has the potential to be plenty compelling over the next four weeks. That’s what the PGA Tour wanted.

Only it has nothing to do with $10 million.

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – Dicky Pride won the Web.com Tour’s Portland Open on Sunday and earned a PGA Tour card with a fifth-place finish on the regular-season money list.

The 46-year-old Pride, 40th on the money list entering the week, earned $144,000 to push his season total to $253,057. He closed with a 4-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Tim Herron.

“I’m pretty amazed,” Pride said. “It was so tough. I’ve played the last five weeks in a row. I’m 46 and I just am so thrilled to be able to get this done.”

Pride won his first title since the 1994 St. Jude Classic in his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

“For a guy that talks a lot, I don’t have a lot to say,” Pride said. “It hasn’t been a couple years, it’s been a couple decades since I hit the winner’s circle. It’s really nice to be back.”

The top 25 on the money list earned 2015-16 PGA Tour cards. The four-event Web.com Tour Finals – also offering 25 PGA Tour cards – starts Sept. 10-13 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Pride finished at 20-under 264 on Pumpkin Ridge’s Witch Hollow course after opening with rounds of 65, 66 and 66 to take a four-stroke lead over Herron into the final round. Pride had at least a three-stroke lead throughout the round highlighted by 60-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th.

The 45-year-old Herron finished with a 66. He won the last of his four PGA Tour titles in 2006.

Tommy Gainey, also a PGA Tour winner, was third at 15 under after a 65.

Pride was the only player to move into the top 25. Rob Oppenheim dropped out, going from 24th to 26th after missing cut. He finished $943 behind No. 25 Harold Varner III.

Herron and Gainey finished outside the top 25 after splitting the season between the two tours. Herron finished 32nd on the money list with $131,165 in 11 starts and made $5,820 in seven PGA Tour events. Tommy Gainey was 35th with $123,721 in 16 starts and made $70,137 in four PGA Tour events.

Patton Kizzire topped the money list with $518,241. After winning the News Sentinel Open last week in Tennessee for his second title of the season, he tied for 26th at 5 under. Martin Piller was second with $343,649, and Dawie van der Walt third at $298,235. They also had two victories this season.

Chilliwack, British Columbia’s Brad Clapp eagled the 72^nd hole to shoot a final round 5-under 67 Loyalist Golf and Country Club on Sunday and cap off a win at The Great Waterway Classic, earning his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada victory.

The 28-year old, who was born in nearby Trenton, Ontario and raised for the first 10 years of his life in southeastern Ontario won by four shots over Toronto’s Albin Choi, Indiana’s Seath Lauer, Michigan’s Ryan Brehm, England’s Charlie Bull, California’s Ben Geyer and Florida’s Chase Marinell.

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a little surreal, knowing how good this tour is and knowing how good you have to play four days in a row. It’s a huge accomplishment,” said Clapp, who moves to seventh on the Order of Merit with three events to go.

Clapp began the day with a two stroke lead over Texas’ Tom Moore, and started out with eight straight pars to fall behind Lauer, who posted the clubhouse lead with an eagle at the last for a 19-under total. Clapp admitted that the pressure of the lead got to him starting out, but that a patient approach helped him through the toughest spots of the day.

“I think there was a little bit of nerves on the first few holes for sure. I just couldn’t make the putts that I was the first couple of days. I just tried to stay calm. I knew I had more holes to play than anyone else out there, even if they were ahead of me,” said the second year Mackenzie Tour member.

Clapp was spurred on by a large following of spectators including family and childhood friends, giving the British Columbian a surrogate home-field advantage at Loyalist.

“I didn’t realize I had that many people that knew me out here still. There was always someone saying ‘come on Brad, let’s do this!’ It was nice to have as much of a home crowd as you could. It was a little surreal,” said Clapp, who birdied the ninth and 10^th holes to get his round going. “I was hitting good shots. It just got to the point where I just had to focus on putting and get out of my own way and make my read and trust it. Those birdies were huge just to get myself in contention.”

Choi, who began the week at No. 5 on the Order of Merit, made the day’s biggest charge with six birdies in eight holes in the middle of his round to reach 20-under. Clapp, however, took the lead for good with a birdie at the 15^th to reach 21-under. Although Choi’s three-putt bogey at the last afforded Clapp a two-stroke advantage, the eventual champion said he didn’t know where he stood until he approached the green, making his 7-iron approach at the last to inside five feet for eagle all the more clutch.

“I knew I needed birdie. I saw Albin was charging and saw him at 20-under with the 18th to go. He made eagle there yesterday, so I knew that was possible. I just wanted to keep my foot on the gas pedal,” said Clapp.

Entering the week at 67^th on the Order of Merit, Clapp turned his season around and now puts himself in contention to finish in The Five and earn status on the Web.com Tour for next year.

“I’m not sure where this will put me with the top 20 or the top five by the end of the year, but that’s been my main goal since I got on this tour last year, to move on to the Web.com Tour and keep testing myself again better players. That puts me right in those spots, and we still have three events to go and hopefully I’ll move on up into that top five,” said Clapp.

Choi, who recorded his third top-10 of the season, moves to third on the Order of Merit with three events to go.

“Starting from the first round, I didn’t think I’d have a chance, so it was nice to be in the mix today. It didn’t really hit me until later on the back nine – I was in the zone pretty good and just trying to keep making birdies,” said Choi.

SPAUN CONTINUES TO LEAD THE FIVE

With a T19 finish, J.J. Spaun maintained his spot atop the Order of Merit on Sunday. Below are The Five through The Great Waterway Classic (bold denotes Canadian):

1. J.J. Spaun – $78,384
2. Sam Ryder – $56,538
3. Albin Choi – $49,806
4. Drew Weaver – $45,487
5. Kevin Spooner – $41,689

CLAPP WINS FREEDOM 55 FINANCIAL TOP CANADIAN AWARD

With a total score of 23-under, Chilliwack, British Columbia’s Brad Clapp claimed Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week honours on Sunday along with a $2,500 prize. Each week, the top Canadian on the leaderboard will earn the award, with the top Canadian on the Order of Merit at season’s end earning the Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year and a $25,000 prize.

Notes:

• Weather: 24 degrees Celsius (30 degrees with Humidity). Cloudy. Winds 8 km/h.
• Brad Clapp is the third Canadian to win this season, joining Albin Choi (Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist) and Kevin Spooner (Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON).
• Clapp’s 4 stroke margin of victory is the largest on the Mackenzie Tour this season.
• Clapp’s previous professional victories include the 2012 PGA of B.C. Championship and the Vancouver Open on the Vancouver Golf Tour earlier this month.
• 18-year old Austin Connelly finished T30 in his professional debut.
• J.J. Spaun’s T19 finish was his worst of the season and broke a streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes.