In his first tournament as No. 1 in the world, Spieth had a pair of three-putt bogeys, hit a tee shot in the water, shot 40 on his back nine and wound up with a 4-over 74 in the opening round of The Barclays. It was his highest score since a 75 in The Players Championship, the last time he missed a cut.

“Just lost a little bit of focus,” Spieth said. “All in all, I’m just going to take today as a fluke round. I still believe I’m playing well. It just happened to be an off day on a day where it counted.”

Bubba Watson and Tony Finau powered their way around Plainfield Country Club and each had a 5-under 65. They were in a four-way tie for the lead that included Spencer Levin and Camilo Villegas, players who are in dire need of a good week.

Villegas only got into the top 125 to qualify for the playoffs last week at the Wyndham Championship, with two shots to spare. That was pressure. Now he feels as though he has nothing to lose as he tries to get into the top 100 who advance to the second event next week at the TPC Boston.

“Last week was an important week,” said Villegas, who is No. 123. “It hasn’t been the best of years, and just to be able to sneak in here and give myself a chance … I get off to a good start, and three more rounds to go and keep it going.”

Levin secured his spot in the playoffs with a 63 in the final round at the Wyndham, moving up seven spots to No. 115. Much like Villegas, he felt relieved to have made it to The Barclays, and everything else is gravy. He rolled in three early birdies and dropped only one shot on a mild, blustery day.

“This is a nice stress to have,” he said. “I’m happy with where I am right now and who knows? Maybe I can keep it going.”

Spieth has nothing to lose except the No. 1 ranking he has held for all of two weeks.

With two majors among his four wins, and nine top-three finishes this year, he is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup and virtually assured of getting to the finale at East Lake with a clear shot at the $10 million bonus. He can afford an off week or three. He just didn’t like it.

Playing alongside Watson and Jason Day – the top three in the FedEx Cup – Spieth didn’t miss a fairway on the back nine and was 2 under at the turn, three shots behind Watson. From the fairway on No. 1 to a back pin, he got too aggressive and went over the green, leading to bogey. Facing a 20-foot birdie putt on the next hole, he left in woefully short and backed off the par putt twice before missing it. And then he put his next shot in the water.

The round ended with another three-putt bogey.

Spieth could lose the No. 1 ranking to Rory McIlroy, who is not playing this week as a precaution coming off an ankle injury. The next step for Spieth?

“Do what I’ve done best – bounce back,” he said. “I come back strong tomorrow. I’m not a big fan of the course. It doesn’t fit me very well particularly, but I’ve also won on courses that I didn’t think fit me very well. So I know I can still shoot a low round if I hit the shots that I need to hit, that I’m trying to hit.

“Typically when I hit the fairways, I’m not over par. And that’s what was weird about the round.”

Watson wasn’t hitting all the fairways, but at times that was to his advantage. The greens are pitched in such a way that some shots have to carry to the hole, allowing for spin to make sure it stays below the hole. That’s what caused Spieth problems.

From the rough, Watson was able to land short of the flag and have it roll up toward the hole. That set up ample birdies.

Ditto for Finau, the power Utah rookie.

“So No. 9 today with that pin just on top of the ridge, if you draw a decent lie in the rough, it’s almost easier to just run something up instead of worrying about the spin if you’re hitting from the fairway,” Finau said.

He had the wildest round. Finau opened with three straight birdies, followed with three straight bogeys, made one par and then ran off three more birdies.

Paul Casey and Jason Dufner were in the large group at 66. Day joined Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler in the group at 68.

Day pulled out of the pro-am Wednesday after tweaking his back. Oddly enough, he had wanted an MRI on his back before the playoffs to make sure everything was in order. He felt the twinge removing a light box from under his motor home, and decided to have the MRI on Wednesday. It showed everything in good order, and while the PGA champion rubbed his back after a few hooked tee shots, he felt good enough.

Defending champion Hunter Mahan birdied his opening hole and went on to shoot 78. Justin Rose had a 77, while defending FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel had a 76.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Brittany Lang birdied five of the first seven holes in windy conditions and shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Added to the U.S. Solheim Cup team Monday as one of Juli Inkster’s two captain’s picks, Lang had a two-stroke lead over Tiffany Joh, Sydnee Michaels and Ryann O’Toole.

“It was just one of those days. It was so enjoyable,” Lang said. “I wasn’t thinking about a whole lot. I was just super committed to seeing my shots. It was so much fun.”

The 30-year-old Texan won the 2012 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Canada for her lone LPGA Tour title. She was second this year in the Ontario event and has three other top-10 finishes.

“I’m in a really nice place right now,” Lang said. “I had one of my better years … and the Solheim pick’s over with. I’m just in a really comfortable place, so I just felt really relaxed out there.”

Lang birdied Nos. 1, 3-5 and 7 in her morning round on the Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex. She birdied Nos. 11-12, dropped strokes on Nos. 13-14 and rebounded with birdies on Nos. 16-17.

“The birdies on 16 and 17 were pretty big after the bogeys on 13 and 14,” Lang said. “Not stupid bogeys, small misses, but I stayed aggressive, so I was excited with that. Stayed aggressive and made two bogeys, but it was really good to birdie 16 and 17.”

O’Toole had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of her morning round.

“It’s been windy all week, so I was expecting that,” O’Toole said. “What I noticed was the greens were even faster than yesterday or Tuesday. … It took me five holes to get really thinking that if you’re above the hole, you just had to tap it. Breaks were breaking double of what you saw because of the speed change. So, it took me a little bit to get used to that.”

Julieta Granada, Hyo Joo Kim, Ariya Jutanugarn, Therese Koelbaek and Simin Feng were three strokes back at 68.

Stacy Lewis, the 2012 winner, had a 70. Second last year in Prattville, she’s coming off a playoff loss to Lydia Ko last week in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

“The golf course was playing really hard early this morning and I didn’t really get anything going, then couldn’t get any putts to fall there on the back nine, so kind of a frustrating day,” Lewis said.

The third-ranked Lewis bogeyed the par-4 third hole and rallied with birdies on Nos. 8-9 and 11.

“The wind was blowing early this morning,” Lewis said. “I don’t think I ever hit 4-iron into the third hole before, so I was just hitting clubs into holes that I’ve never hit.”

Lexi Thompson, the 2011 winner at age 16, opened with a 69.

Canadian teen Brooke Henderson had a 71. The 17-year-old Henderson won her first LPGA Tour title two weeks ago in Portland, Oregon.

Mi Jung Hur, the winner last year at a tournament-record 21-under 267, shot a 74.

VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic – Both Eduardo De la Riva and Renato Paratore shot a 7-under 65 to take a shared lead after the first round at the Czech Masters Thursday.

The 33-year old Spaniard De La Riva recovered from an early bogey on the 2nd with six birdies. He finished his round by holing for an eagle on the par-4 18th from the fairway with one of the shots of the day to join Paratore at the top of the leaderboard.

“Today, I played very solid,” De La Riva said. “It’s very good to finish with 2 in a par 4. This 18th is a very difficult hole. So, I’m very happy.”

The 18-year-old Italian Paratore produced a flawless round with seven birdies.

“Today, I played really solid from the tee to the green and on the back nine I putted really well,” he said. “So I’m happy with a 65. It is my best round on The European Tour.”

Both leaders are seeking the first European Tour victory at the Albatross Golf course near Prague.

A group of four, Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Sam Hutsby, Pelle Edberg of Sweden and Thomas Pieters of Belgium were one stroke back after carding 66.

KINGSTON, Ont. – Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Stephen Carney shot a 9-under 63 on Thursday at Loyalist Golf and Country Club to take the first round lead at The Great Waterway Classic, the ninth event of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 25-year old carded nine birdies and an eagle to lead by one over Taiwan’s C.T. Pan, Thornhill, Ontario’s Ben Silverman, Petoski, Michigan’s Joey Garber and West Des Moines, Iowa’s Nate McCoy through one round at Loyalist.

“I putted great, and I probably hit every green,” said Carney, who wasn’t satisfied despite his successful opening round. “I’m going to keep working; 9-under’s not going to win the tournament. You have to shoot pretty low, obviously, because there are so many great players and they’re going to go low.”

A second year Mackenzie Tour member, Carney said he’s grown accustomed to the low scoring required to compete on the Mackenzie Tour, and expects to have a strong field of chasers after his lead heading into the weekend.

“I wanted to get off to a good start just so I wouldn’t have to worry about the cutline being so low. The course is in great condition and the greens are rolling great, so I look forward to competing the whole week. I just keep telling myself I need to keep getting the ball in the hole,” said Carney.

Earlier, Pan, Silverman and McCoy posted the best rounds of the morning at 64, with Garber matching the score in the evening. Pan, the winner of The Players Cup earlier this year and currently no. 9 on the Order of Merit, is returning from an extended trip back to his native Taiwan, where he served a 12-day service period in the Taiwanese Military.

“I putted well. I hit the ball well today, and when I was back home I didn’t play golf for two-and-a-half or three weeks, so I felt a little bit rusty. I practiced in Seattle, so everything’s back and I’m really happy with my first round,” said Pan of his opening round.

Silverman, who ranked fifth on the Order of Merit through three events this season but has since fallen to 15^th, said he’s found a way back to the approach that saw him finish in the top five twice in his first four starts of the season.

“I wanted to get back to sticking to my own style of play and game plan, and not being so concerned with hitting it as far as some of the long hitters out here. I focused on that today, and it worked out nicely for me,” said Silverman.

Nine players were a shot further behind at 7-under 65, with 28 players within three shots of the lead at 6-under or better.

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Garrett Rank tamed cool temperatures and gusty 47 km/h winds to maintain his lead atop the leaderboard at the 2015 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. The defending champion carded an even-par round to mark his third straight day ahead of the field at Abercrombie Country Club in New Glasgow, N.S.

“The weather was tough today. It got really windy in the middle of the round,” said Rank. “But I played good and putted really well again. I made a few good six to 10-footers for par. I gave myself a few more chances today. It was just a solid round altogether.”

Rank registered another steady day, matching a bogey on hole 8 with a birdie on No. 15 to finish at even-par 70. The 27-year-old is four-strokes clear of his nearest competitor. Despite the advantage, Rank maintains a need to stay focused.

“I’m not really going to worry about what other guys are doing and just control what I can control,” added the native of Elmira, Ont. “I’ll just go out there and play against the golf course. I’ll stay patient again and give myself a lot of looks.”

At stake are the President’s Cup as Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion and an exemption into the 2016 RBC Canadian Open. Next year’s edition of Canada’s National Open Championship will return to Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

In second place is another competitor familiar with emerging victorious at this competition. Dave Bunker is hoping to return to the winning form he found during three consecutive championships between 2008-10. Bunker tallied four birdies on the day en route to a round of 2-under 68.

“I hit the ball really well considering how windy it was,” said the 50-year-old. “I think anything around par or under-par is going to be a good score today. It was very difficult out there, I think.”

The native of Woodbridge, Ont., reflected positively on his competitors when asked about the possibility of adding a fourth championship. “Another title would be special. Now that the younger guys are playing – and they’re playing very well – if I can put a good round together tomorrow and challenge for first place, that’d be pretty good.”

Paul Raycroft of Humboldt, Sask., completes the top-3 following a round of 2-under 68 to move to 4-over 214 in the competition. The 34-year-old collected five birdies on the day and registered a bogey-free 1-under 33 across the back nine.

At a combined 2-over 212, Dave Bunker leads the over-40 Mid-Master division. A victory would give Bunker a fifth Mid-Master championship following four consecutive titles from 2007 to 2010. He sits seven-strokes clear of 2003 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion Garth Collings of Matlock, Man., and Middle Sackville, N.S., product Glenn Robinson.

Team Ontario captured the inter-provincial competition played concurrently with the first two rounds of the tournament. Garrett Rank and teammates Josh Hunke of New Hamburg, Ont., and Toronto’s Kevin Fawcett combined to shoot 5-over 285 to claim the R. Bruce Forbes Trophy by a three-stroke margin. Finishing in second was the team representing the host province while Team New Brunswick completed the competition at 12-over 292.

The final round will see players begin the day at 7:30 a.m. ADT with the leaders teeing off at 9:30 a.m. ADT. Additional information regarding the 2015 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship can be found here.

EDISON, N.J. – The points are slightly different for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The principle remains unchanged.

For those who narrowly got into the top 125 to qualify for golf’s ultimate bonus series, it’s time to play well or go home. That applies to players such as Lee Westwood and Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink and Luke Donald, and possibly Adam Scott.

Those with mediocre seasons on the PGA Tour – Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson are two who come to mind – they get at least two tournaments, maybe three, to play better golf and wind up at East Lake for the Tour Championship.

Jordan Spieth?

That’s a tricky one. The No. 1 player in the world, and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup, all that really matters is winning the Tour Championship to capture the $10 million prize. Spieth could win three straight playoff events and finish runner-up at East Lake and finish second.

“After the major season is over, which is where we wanted to peak, we’ve sat back over the last week and said, `How can we get that same kind of momentum to where we can try and peak for the Tour Championship?'” Spieth said.

The playoffs begin Thursday at The Barclays with a 120-man field because five players chose not to play for various reasons. For all the points that will be tossed around on television, the only math function that really matters is subtraction.

Only 100 players advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship. From there, only 70 players move on to the BMW Championship. And that gets whittled down to the top 30 players who reach the Tour Championship.

Here’s what to look for when The Barclays begins at Plainfield Country Club:

LONELY AT THE TOP: The No. 1 seed at the start of the playoffs has gone on to claim the $10 million prize just two times since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. This might not come as surprise, but both times involved Tiger Woods.

Woods has been No. 1 in the standings a record five times, including in 2008 when he stopped playing in June because of knee surgery.

That’s because the points are reset going into the Tour Championship to give all 30 players a mathematical chance at winning the FedEx Cup. For all the top seeds, it’s a matter of having your best week at East Lake. It’s not that simple.

Here’s where the eight FedEx Cup champions were seeded going into the playoffs: 1-7-1-3-15-19-9-69.

TOUR’S WORST NIGHTMARE: Because the points are quadrupled in value for the playoffs, there is a mathematical possibility that a player can win the FedEx Cup without ever having won a tournament all season. It hasn’t happened – yet. But it’s not that far-fetched.

Paul Casey nearly pulled it off in 2010 when he was at No. 5 going into the Tour Championship and made a late surge at East Lake. If he had finished alone in second at the Tour Championship, he would have won the cup. He was in position late until tying for fourth.

One candidate this year might be Kevin Kisner. He is No. 17 going into The Barclays. A couple of top 3s to get in range and a runner-up finish at East Lake could make him a footnote in history. And a rich man.

NO-SHOWS: Rory McIlroy is sitting out The Barclays to give his ankle a precautionary week of rest. It shouldn’t matter that much to McIlroy, who is No. 9 in the FedEx Cup. He is virtually assured of playing at East Lake and has two tournaments to move up the list.

Louis Oosthuizen (No. 28) is taking the week off with a sore back. Sergio Garcia (No. 31) is out for reasons unknown.

Francesco Molinari (No. 99) is home with a new baby, while Retief Goosen (No. 112) is not playing for personal reasons. Their seasons are over.

THE OTHER RACE: For several Americans in the field, these opening two playoff events might be worth more than just FedEx Cup points. The top 10 qualifiers for the Presidents Cup team will be determined after the Deutsche Bank Championship. Phil Mickelson is in dire need of a big week. He has qualified for every U.S. team for the last two decades and doesn’t want to see that streak end.

Brooks Koepka set the Presidents Cup team as a goal at the start of the year. That’s why he played last week in North Carolina. He wants to earn his way on the team.

The International team is decided by the world ranking. Among those on the bubble are Danny Lee, Steven Bowditch and John Senden.

Team Ontario captured the R. Bruce Forbes Trophy as provincial team champions at the 2015 edition of the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. The three-man unit combined for a total of 5-over 285 at Abercrombie Country Club in New Glasgow, N.S.

“When you make the team, the goal is to come here and win,” said team member Garrett Rank. “It’s really nice for me and the guys to bring it back home to Ontario.”

Rank, the competition’s defending champion, reflected on his time together with teammates Kevin Fawcett of Toronto and Josh Hunke from New Hamburg, Ont., as a building block to their victory. “I played with them in the final round at the (Golf Association of Ontario’s Investors Group Men’s) Mid-Amateur so I knew them pretty well. I grew up with Josh’s brother, so I knew his family a little bit better, too. (Kevin and Josh) are nice guys and good players.”

For the past 23 years, provincial teams at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship have contested the R. Bruce Forbes Trophy – awarded to the provincial team with the combined two lowest daily scores through each of the first two rounds of competition.

Finishing in second was the team representing the host province, made up of Dartmouth native Stuart Lenehan, Biblehill product Paul Coulson and Glenn Robinson of Middle Sackville that tallied 8-over 288. In third place with a combined effort of 12-over 292 was another maritime province – Team New Brunswick, comprised of Brett Taylor (Grand Bay-Westfield), Michel Landry (Saint John) and Greg Jones (Berry Mills).

Despite gusty conditions, Rank carded a 3-over 73 to maintain his lead in the individual competition. The 27-year-old’s round was highlighted by three straight birdies on holes 11 to 13.

“It was harder out there today in the wind,” reflected the native of Elmira, Ont. “I made a few mistakes and they cost me a couple of double (bogeys), but I putted really well. It wasn’t a good day, but I managed well out there.”

When asked about his mindset heading into the third round, the former Waterloo Warrior said, “I need to stay patient and give myself more looks. I didn’t give myself too many opportunities today. It seemed like I was working for par a lot more than I was yesterday.”

Kevin Carrigan and Glenn Robinson are knotted for second following identical rounds of 72 and 69. Carrigan from Victoria, B.C., opened with two bogeys on his first nine holes, but recovered with three birdies across the remainder of his round.  Likewise, Robinson began the day with a 2-over 38 on the front nine before registering three birdies, including two back-to-back on holes 14 and 15, to complete the day.

With today’s 69, Robinson also took over top spot in the over-40 Mid-Master division. First-round leader Garth Collings of Matlock, Man., moved to second place following a round of 73 that including four birdies. Tied for third with two-day totals of 144 are Allan Stanley of Windsor, Ont., and fellow Ontarian Dave Bunker of Woodbridge.

In addition to claiming the President’s Cup, the winner of the 29^th playing of the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn a coveted exemption into the 2016 RBC Canadian Open to be played at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Advancing to the third round are 78 players who shot 15-over 155 or better. Additional information regarding the tournament can be found here.

CAMLACHIE, Ont. – Judith Kyrinis of Thornhill, Ont., and Terrill Samuel of Etobicoke, Ont., sit atop the leaderboards at the 2015 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship after carding opening rounds of 3-under par 68 at Sawmill Creek Golf Resort and Spa in Camlachie Ont.

Kyrinis, 51, and Samuel, 54, share the leads in the Senior (50+), Mid-Master (40+) and Mid-Amateur (25+) divisions.

“I hit the ball where I wanted to most of the time, which is great in this wind,” said Kyrinis, who recently competed in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and finished runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. “I made some really nice up-and-downs and some really nice putts to save a couple that I missed.”

Kyrinis managed a 3-under par 32 on the front nine; she then notched a birdie on the 12^th hole after a bogey on No. 11 to finish the back nine at even par.

“We had a nice game out there together so we really kind of pulled each other along, so it was great. We fed off each other really well,” added Kyrinis who was grouped alongside her co-leader.

Samuel opened the championship with a birdie and added an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole to also finish her front nine with a 32. A birdie-par-par finish brought the 2012 Canadian Women’s Senior champion back to 3-under par to complete the opening round.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member and three-time Canadian Women’s Senior champion Mary Ann Hayward of Aurora, Ont., sits in a three-way tie for third in the Senior division after a first-round 1-over par performance.

“I had a lot of looks at birdies. I felt like I let a lot of chances go,” said Hayward. “I’ll take 1-over for a start. We will see how it shakes out, there are two more rounds. I might have to play a little catch up, but I think I can score a little better.”

Also chasing the lead at four-shots back are Marion Reid, 51, of Etobicoke, Ont., and Debbie McDonald of Claremont, Ont.

The 61-year-old McDonald leads the Super Senior (60+) division after an opening round of 72. Joey Bush (Aurora, Ont.) and Cheryll Damphouse (Amherstburg, Ont.) sit second in the division after carding rounds of five-over 76. The Super Senior division is contested concurrently with the first two rounds of play.

Joining Kyrinis and Samuel near the top of both the Mid-Master and Mid-Amateur divisions is Jessica Luciuk of Barrhead, Alta. The 40-year-old is third in both divisions after firing a round of 1-under 70 that concluded with a string of four birdies.

Team Ontario entered the tournament as defending inter-provincial champions and lead after a first round combined 4-over par performance. The team comprised of Gail Pimm (Uxbridge), Mary Ann Hayward and Debbie Court (Mississauga) holds a one-shot advantage over second-place Team Quebec. The provincial team competition will conclude following the second round of play.

The top 70 players and ties from the Senior division will advance to the third and final round of the National Championship. In addition, all Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master competitors who post a 36-hole total that is equal or better than the cutline of the Senior division will compete on the competition’s last day.

The champion of this year’s Canadian Women’s Senior division will gain entry into the 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn., from September 26 to October 1.

For full details on tee times and scoring, click here.

With the amateur season coming to a close, three of Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad athletes have decided to turn professional.

Austin Connelly, a dual-citizen, will forego joining the University of Arkansas team next season in favour of turning professional this week leading up to the Mackenzie Tour’s Great Waterway Classic in Kingston, Ont.

“I’m really excited, and I’ve been looking forward to it for a while,” said Connelly in an interview with Mackenzie Tour leading up to this week’s event. “With the way these cases are about some younger players turning pro, I feel like they’re a very individual thing. My family and I kind of sat down and said, ‘Okay, where are we trying to get to, and what’s the best way to get there?’ We decided that I want to play golf full-time, that’s what I wanted to do and where my interest was. The fastest and best way for me to do that was to turn professional.”

The 18-year-old Connelly held the No. 18 spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) before announcing his decision. He is coming off a strong amateur season that featured competing for Canada at the Pan-American Games as well as finishing as low amateur to earn the Gary Cowan award at the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.

“Austin’s goal was always to play professional golf and be ready to make the transition early,” said Derek Ingram, Team Canada Men’s Head Coach. “He has very appropriate results—making two PGA TOUR cuts, winning the Jones Cup and many other strong finishes in top-ranked events.”

Connelly will play in the next three Mackenzie Tour events in addition to having a PGA TOUR exemption to the McGladrey Classic in October from winning the Jones Cup earlier in the year. Next step for Connelly will be looking to earn status on the Web.Com Tour via Qualifying School later this year.

On the girls side, two experienced amateurs have made the decision to turn professional.

Brittany Marchand, in her fifth season with Team Canada, teed-it-up as a professional last week at the CP Women’s Open in Vancouver. The 23-year-old Orangeville, Ont., native had concluded her fifth year of study (Chemical Engineering) at N.C. State before making her transition to the professional ranks.

Despite missing the cut at the Vancouver Golf Club, Team Canada Women’s Head Coach, Tristan Mullally, pulled a lot of positives out of Marchand’s first event as a pro.

“She’s one-hundred percent invested into becoming the best professional golfer she can be,” said the PGA of Canada Class ‘A’ member. “She’s earned her degree—which was something she really wanted—and now can focus on working on her golf game without the difficulty of balancing a school schedule at the same time.”

He echoed some of the same thoughts for recent Kent State grad Jennifer Ha of Calgary, who came up just short in Monday qualifying for the CP Women’s Open with a T10 finish, three strokes outside of the top-4 qualifiers.

“Jen has struggled a bit in the spring but is really starting to come on strong in the summer and has a bright future ahead of her,” said Mullally of the First-Team All-MAC athlete. “She strikes the ball as well as anyone I have seen come through this program.”

Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., is also working towards a transition to the professional ranks after graduating from Indiana University where she tallied 36 top-50 finishes.

All three women attended LPGA Qualifying School earlier in July, with Marchand emerging as the only one to advance to stage II from Oct. 22–25.

“Brittany learned a lot from stage I—knowing how to handle the pressure when every stroke is so important,” said Mullally. “Going forward she’s going to continue doing all the right things and just maintaining her focus with the added pressure.”

In the meantime, the trio will compete in Monday qualifiers and play in mini-tour events.

With the transition, both the men’s and women’s National Amateur Squads are left with one athlete (Blair Hamilton; Maddie Szeryk). The National Team selection process will be underway shortly and decided by the end of September.

Click here to view the selection criteria.

As golf has become more global and the wealth of the PGA Tour has made it the premier destination, there has been grumbling over the years that it has become easier for international players to earn a PGA Tour card through world rankings that get them into the biggest events.

This year shows another side to that equation.

The penalty for not meeting membership requirements is far stiffer than it is for Americans.

Martin Kaymer of Germany, a two-time major champion and former No. 1 player in the world, joined the PGA Tour in 2013. As a European, he is entitled to the “home circuit” policy that allows him to play unlimited European Tour events. However, he is required to play a minimum of 15 events on the PGA Tour.

Kaymer built the FedEx Cup playoffs into his worldwide schedule, had a poor year by his standards and ran into a big problem – he failed to qualify for the playoffs, and wound up playing only 13 times.

The penalty is Kaymer forfeits his PGA Tour membership for next season. Even if he were to win next year, he could not rejoin the tour until the 2016-17 season. He cannot compete in the FedEx Cup next year and he is allowed to play no more than 12 PGA Tour events (including majors and World Golf Championships).

And then there’s Steve Stricker, who entered into semi-retirement a year ago.

Stricker played only nine events this year (he was not eligible for the World Golf Championships or two majors) and finished at No. 176 in the FedEx Cup. He also is required to play a minimum 15 times to keep his membership, but in his case, that only means he can’t vote on tour issues (player advisory council, awards). But he would be eligible for the FedEx Cup next year.

The difference? Stricker didn’t activate the “home circuit” policy because the PGA Tour is his home. If Americans want to play overseas (Rickie Fowler at the Scottish Open, for example), they must get a “conflicting event release” from the PGA Tour. The guideline is three releases for every 15 tour events played.

Kaymer isn’t alone in this predicament.

Victor Dubuisson of France also took up PGA Tour membership. He played only 10 times on the PGA Tour and finished No. 190 in the FedEx Cup. Because he claimed the home circuit policy, he will not be eligible for the FedEx Cup next year.

—

MONEY & POINTS: Charlie Beljan didn’t qualify for FedEx Cup playoffs for the second straight year and managed to keep his card.

There’s a difference between FedEx points and PGA Tour earnings, and it has saved him. Beljan finished in the top 10 only once this year; He was third at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which had a $6.8 million purse. Beljan earned $462,400 that week, which was 59 percent of his season earnings. So while he finished at No. 149 in the FedEx Cup, he wound up at No. 118 on the money list, enough to keep his full PGA Tour card for next year.

Points are evenly distributed at all PGA Tour events, with a slight bump for the World Golf Championships and another for the majors. Prize money varies at tournaments, from the $6.8 million at Pebble Beach and $10 million at the majors to $5.4 million for the Wyndham Championship and $4.7 million for the John Deere Classic.

The PGA Tour kept the top 125 on the money list as part of its criteria when it shifted to the wraparound season and said it would evaluate whether to keep it. So far, the policy board has decided to keep it.

That’s good news for Beljan, Will MacKenzie, Jamie Donaldson, Whee Kim and David Toms. They all finished in the top 125 on the money list and failed to make the playoffs. Kaymer also was in the top 125, though he didn’t meet his minimum requirement of 15 starts. Scott Stallings, serving a three-month suspension for violating the anti-doping policy, also was in the top 125 but he already was exempt for next year from his 2014 win at Torrey Pines.

Seven players who reached the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings were outside the top 125 on the money list – Vijay Singh, Jonas Blixt, Erik Compton, John Huh, Stewart Cink, Spencer Levin, Camilo Villegas and Jeff Overton.

Overton is No. 125 in the FedEx Cup. He was No. 154 on the money list.

William McGirt was safe either way, though he had the greatest discrepancy – No. 74 in the FedEx Cup, No. 114 on the money list.

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NEW TO THE ROTATION: The Barclays already has been held at five golf courses since the FedEx Cup began. It’s about to get another.

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that Glen Oaks Club on Long Island will host the opening FedEx Cup event in 2017. The course was designed by Joe Finer and opened in 1971. It was named club of the year in 2015 by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.

That means The Barclays will be held at five courses over the next five years – Bethpage Black in 2016, Glen Oaks in 2017, Ridgewood in 2018, Liberty National in 2019 and Plainfield in 2020.

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ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Anirban Lahiri of India tied for fifth at the PGA Championship, though his bogey on the final hole at Whistling Straits proved costly. It ultimately was worth $72,500, the difference in getting a PGA Tour card for next year.

Lahiri finished with $712,794 in non-member earnings, which was the equivalent of No. 128 on the money list. Had he been in the top 125, he would have earned a card.

Even with a tie for fifth at the PGA Championship, he was not eligible for the Wyndham Championship because he was not a special temporary member and had already used up the maximum 12 exemptions on the PGA Tour.

So what’s next?

Lahiri will be eligible to take part in the Web.com Tour Finals and could try to earn his card through those four events.

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DIVOTS: PGA Tour rookie Justin Thomas gets new shirts for his first FedEx Cup playoff event. He has signed an endorsement deal with Citigroup, which starts this week. The logo will be on his left sleeve. Thomas is No. 36 in the FedEx Cup. … Davis Love III at No. 613 in the world became the seventh player ranked outside the top 200 to win on the PGA Tour this season. The others were Nick Taylor (566), James Hahn (297), Padraig Harrington (297), David Lingmerth (212), Fabian Gomez (288) and J.J. Henry (426). … Leona Maguire of Ireland won the Mark H McCormack Medal as the No. 1 female in the 2015 world amateur ranking. … The PGA of America has selected former PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman to receive its Distinguished Service Award. Beman will be honored Nov. 13 during the PGA’s annual meeting in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

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STAT OF THE WEEK: Dating to the start of the FedEx Cup in 2007, Ernie Els made the cut in all four majors for the first time, and missed the playoffs for the first time.

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FINAL WORD: “He’s the real deal, and he can play under pressure. He’s like Tiger. I didn’t know if we’d find somebody that could make the putts that he does and stay consistently through the pressure rounds of the majors, and he seems to have that kind of game.” – Johnny Miller on Jordan Spieth.