PGA champion Jason Day has withdrawn from the pro-am at The Barclays after tweaking his back.

Day was moving an item under his motor coach on Tuesday night when he tweaked his back. His trainer says Day withdrew from the Wednesday pro-am at Plainfield Country Club because of a longstanding disc issue. The Australian wanted a day of rest so that he could play in the tournament.

Day has a history of injuries that include his back and hand. He suffered vertigo symptoms at the U.S. Open this year.

Day is coming off his first major at Whistling Straits when he won by three shots over Jordan Spieth. At No. 2 in the FedEx Cup, he is to play the opening round with Spieth and Bubba Watson.

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Garrett Rank wasted little time in opening his title defence at the 2015 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Abercrombie Country Club in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Rank was one of three players to register a round below par on the opening day of the nation’s premiere competition for those over 25.

“I was pretty good off the tee today,” reflected the 27-year-old, who tallied five birdies en route to a 5-under 65 performance. “I got it in play and gave myself a lot of chances. I hit a few close and then hit a few really good wedge shots. I tried to give myself as many opportunities as I could from 15 feet all day.”

Rank is the defending champion after claiming the President’s Cup in 2014 following a playoff victory over Rob Couture of Dallas, Texas. The native of Elmira, Ont., recognizes the challenges of playing as a past winner, but likens the experience to the difficulties of participating in the many big events that have highlighted his season.

“There’s a little bit of pressure, but it’s not really anything that’s new or different. There’s pressure playing in the RBC Canadian Open. There’s pressure playing in the Pan Am Games. There’s pressure playing in the U.S. and Canadian Amateurs. You just have to try and take it one shot at a time.”

The former University of Waterloo Warrior remains focused on the task at hand – claiming victory and a prized exemption into the 2016 edition of Canada’s National Open Championship.

“The goal here is to win and get into the RBC Canadian Open again next year,” said Rank. “But you can’t think about that stuff. You’ve just got to worry about playing golf. You just need to stay patient. You can’t try and get too aggressive. If you just keep grinding away and hitting solid shots, hopefully some good scores will follow.”

Sitting with a share of second is another competitor looking to build upon his legacy at this championship – Garth Collings of Matlock, Man. The 57-year-old, who won this competition in 2003, opened with three birdies across a bogey-free front nine and would go on to finish 1-under on the day. Tyler Wright of Regina, Sask., notched three birdies to also end the first day of competition tied for runner-up.

With his round of 69, Collings leads the over-40 Mid-Master division. Woodbridge, Ont., product Dave Bunker’s 18 even-par holes has him in second. The 50-year-old is a three-time Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, having collected three consecutive titles from 2008-2010. Stony Plain, Alta., native Jeff Murdoch is in third at 1-over 71.

Team Ontario leads the inter-provincial competition that is played concurrently with the first 36 holes of the tournament. Comprised of Garrett Rank, New Hamburg, Ont., native Josh Hunke and Toronto’s Kevin Fawcett, the trio registered a combined score of 3-under 137 to lead by five strokes.

In second place totaling 142 is Team Alberta made up of Jeff Murdoch, Kevin Temple (Calgary) and Brandon Markiw (Edmonton). Rounding out the top-three is the host province – Team Nova Scotia. The efforts of Stuart Lenehan (Dartmouth, N.S.), Paul Coulson (Biblehill, N.S.) and Glenn Robinson (Middle Sackville, N.S.) have the hosts at 4-over 144. British Columbia, which hoisted the R. Bruce Forbes Trophy in 2014 as team champions, currently sits T6 at 148.

Following the two opening rounds of play, the field will be reduced to the low 70 competitors and ties.

For more information regarding the 2015 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, please visit the tournament website.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The top Canadian and American senior male golfers will tee off at Desert Blume Golf Club in Medicine Hat, Alta., for the 53^rd playing of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship.

The 72-hole stroke play competition will feature a practice round on August 31 followed by tournament play from September 1-4. The national championship is open to players over the age of 55, while competitors 70 years of age and older will also be eligible for the Super Senior division to be played concurrently over the first 36 holes of the tournament.

“With a field of highly-touted senior golfers ready to take on Desert Blume Golf Club, the 2015 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship will prove to be an exciting competition,” said Tournament Director Mary Beth McKenna. “The course is in excellent condition and will test the best senior golfers from across our country and the United States.”

Vancouver’s Doug Roxburgh will attempt to defend his 2014 Canadian Men’s Senior title and earn his seventh national golf championship to add to his Canadian Golf Hall of Fame career. Inducted in 1990, the 63-year-old has claimed a Canadian Junior Championship, four Canadian Amateur titles and a total of 13 B.C. Amateur Championships. Last year, Roxburgh finished 7-under par to complete a wire-to-wire victory and capture his first Senior championship.

Challenging Roxburgh for the title will be Paul Simson of Raleigh, N.C. The 64-year-old made history in 2010 by becoming the first player to win the British, U.S. and Canadian senior titles in the same year. Simson is hoping to carry forward momentum from winning the 2015 North Carolina Senior Amateur title at Champion Hills Club in Hendersonville, N.C.

Simson ranks No. 23 on Golfweek’s Senior Amateur Rankings and will be joined by Steve Hudson of Birmingham, Ala., who finished last year’s competition in third. Hudson, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3, opened the year by capturing the 2015 Golfweek Senior National Championship at Stone Creek Golf Club in Ocala, Fla.

Collingwood, Ont., native Michael Jackson is the top-ranked Canadian at No. 28 on Golfweek’s Senior Amateur rankings. Jackson, 62, claimed this year’s Ontario Senior Men’s Amateur title in a three-way playoff thriller.

Also in the hunt for the national championship will be Golfweek’s Senior Amateur No. 26, Brady Exber of Las Vegas, Nev. A member of the Golf Hall of Fame in his hometown, Exber is looking to improve upon his runner-up result at this event in 2014. The 59-year-old is joined by a trio of Americans in the top-25 of Golfweek’s rankings, including Pat Thompson of Asheville, N.C. (T18), Jack Hall of Savannah, Ga. (T18), and Gary Robinson of Fayetteville, N.C. (No. 21).

A Senior Inter-Provincial Team Championship will also be played in conjunction with the first two rounds of competition; British Columbia enters as the defending champions.

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

More information on the championship can be found here.

BERLIN – Europe captain Carin Koch named her four wild cards for the Solheim Cup on Tuesday, completing the 12-member team to face the United States in September.

Caroline Hedwall of Sweden, Karine Icher of France, Caroline Masson of Germany and Catriona Matthew of Scotland all return to the team, having helped Europe to a record 18-10 victory over the U.S. in Colorado in 2013.

They join Suzann Pettersen of Norway, Gwladys Nocera of France and Charley Hull and Melissa Reid of England, who qualified from the Ladies European Tour points list, and Anna Nordqvist of Sweden, Azahara Munoz of Spain, Sandra Gal of Germany and Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who earned their spots by their world rankings.

“Now I can really start focusing on the week and making sure we’ll have a great week there,” Koch told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “There’s still lots to do.”

The Solheim Cup takes place Sept. 18-20 at the St. Leon-Rot Golf Club near Heidelberg in Germany.

Koch, who was on Europe’s winning teams in 2000 and 2003, said she was excited by the mix of youth and experience she had gathered together. She has been diligent with her preparations to date, spending time with victorious Ryder Cup counterpart Paul McGinley.

“It’s great to have him, to be able to ask questions and get some advice from him,” Koch said. “He’s given me a lot of good tips. Our situations are quite similar going into the event so it’s been very helpful.”

Europe is looking for a third consecutive victory, having captured back-to-back Solheim Cup titles for the first time in 2013, but Koch said past success had little influence on the present.

“This is a new event, this is Solheim Cup 2015. We don’t have to concentrate so much on the past. We concentrate on this event,” the 44-year-old Swede said.

“Obviously we’re going to go out and play as well as we can, make as many birdies as we can, and give the Americans a good match. On paper they’re going to be the stronger team, and I know they’re going to come out strong because they don’t want to lose three in a row,” she added. “It’s going to be a tough one, but I’m very confident with the team I have. They’re going to be great.”

Hedwall became the first player to win five out of five matches in 2013 and she retained the cup for Europe by winning the 14th point. The 26-year-old Swede was also on Europe’s winning team in 2011.

Icher was on the 2002 and 2013 teams so this will be the 36-year-old’s first Solheim Cup appearance on European soil.

Masson earned 2 1/2 points as a Solheim Cup rookie in 2013 and is looking forward to defending the title in her home country.

“It’s been a huge goal to make the team for the last two years and I have been waiting for that call, to see what decision Carin would make. When she told me I was a pick I was super happy,” the 26-year-old Masson said.

Matthew is the most experienced player in the team at age 46, along with Pettersen, and she will be taking part in her eighth Solheim Cup.

“The event’s got bigger and bigger, each one I’ve played in, and it’s just a great thing to play in a team event when normally it’s such an individual sport,” Matthew told the AP.

United States captain Juli Inkster completed her team Monday, when she picked Brittany Lang and Paula Creamer, the next two available players from the Solheim Cup standings.

They join Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and Gerina Piller – who qualified on points – and world ranking-qualifiers Alison Lee and Lizette Salas.

“World ranking-wise they’d come out ahead of us so in that respect you might call them favorites but it’s home soil for us and we’ve won the last two so we’ve got momentum,” Matthew said. “I think it’s going to be close and hopefully we’ll just edge them out.”

Koch highlighted the importance of the Solheim Cup to women’s golf and women’s sport in general.

“It’s huge,” she said. “We can see with the preparations for this event how big the Solheim Cup has become. It’s our chance to showcase women’s sport or women’s golf in Europe and around the world.”

The term National Junior Golf Development Centre might be a mouth-full, but its strategy is very clear-cut.

A joint initiative between Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada, and the Provincial Associations, Development Centres offer best-in-class programming, instruction and facilities for junior golfers between the ages of 5–18.

First and foremost, the purpose behind the initiative is to point parents, teachers and junior golfers in the right direction for finding the best, most welcoming experience for juniors.

The need for these centres addresses a gap where industry bodies had difficulty identifying facilities—with absolute certainty—that offer best-in-class programming. Since inception in 2013, the initiative has grown 33% from 30 facilities to 40. With that said, the main focus remains on quality of programming and commitment to junior golf—hence the following criteria for accreditation:

Each National Junior Golf Development Centre must possess the following before applying:

• Meet minimum coaching requirements as defined by the PGA of Canada
• Offer Long-Term Player Development­­ (LTPD) compliant programming
  • CN Future Links
  • Learn to Compete
• Demonstrate a healthy relationship with a Golf in Schools facility in their community

“Golf Canada is proud to stand behind National Junior Golf Development Centres as those facilities that go above-and-beyond when delivering junior programming,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “These centres have demonstrated the ability to deliver junior programming at all levels from introductory to competitive and play a key leadership role in Canada’s player development pathway.”

To find a National Junior Golf Development Centre in your area, visit the postal-code locator at Golf Canada Juniors website: golfcanada.ca/juniors

Click here to view all National Junior Golf Development Centres across Canada.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Juli Inkster completed her Solheim Cup team by adding Brittany Lang and Paula Creamer as captain’s picks Monday night.

Creamer has one LPGA Tour victory in the last five years, but she brings plenty of experience. She has played on every Solheim Cup team dating to her rookie season in 2005 and has a 12-6-5 overall record. Lang will be playing in her fourth Solheim Cup.

Lang and Creamer were the next two available players from the Solheim Cup standings.

“They add a lot to the team not just as far as golf, but chemistry and experience,” Inkster said. “They are very competitive players. Paula has been in a little bit of a funk but I expect her to be out of it and ready to go. B Lang has been playing really good. I’m looking forward to it and I think the team is really stoked to get over there and turn the tide a little bit. We are going there as underdogs but we are going to go in there and fight for everything.”

Europe won on U.S. soil for the first time in 2013 at Colorado Golf Club and has won the last two times. The Americans still have an 8-5 lead in the series.

The matches will be Sept. 18-20 at the St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Germany.

Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and Gerina Piller qualified on points. Alison Lee and Lizette Salas qualified through the world ranking.

Among the players Inkster skipped over were Mo Martin, who won the Women’s British Open at Royal Birkdale last year, and Austin Ernst, who captured her first LPGA title in Portland last year. Neither has played in a Solheim Cup. Both were slightly ahead of Creamer on this year’s money list.

Inkster has only one rookie (Lee) and five players who have competed in at least five Solheim Cups. Wie, meanwhile, has been coping with injuries and hasn’t won since her U.S. Women’s Open title last year at Pinehurst No. 2.

European captain Carin Koch fills out her team with two picks on Tuesday.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – During their practice round together before the Wyndham Championship, Tiger Woods pumped local favorite Davis Love III for tips on how to play the course.

Looks like Love saved a few secrets for himself.

Love became the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history with his victory Sunday, while Woods’ season came to an abrupt end.

The 51-year-old Love closed with a 6-under 64 for a one-stroke victory over Jason Gore.

“Tiger and I were talking on the putting green – one of us needed to get going and win this thing,” Love said.

He did.

Woods had trouble getting his final round started.

The dominant storyline all week at Sedgefield Country Club was the mere presence of Woods, who needed a victory to earn a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener next week.

He was poised to challenge Sunday, starting just two strokes off the lead. But he only had one birdie during his first 10 holes, dropping way off the pace with a triple bogey on the par-4 11th. Woods shot a 70, finished four strokes back and ended at No. 178 in the standings, well outside the top 125.

“I gave myself a chance, and I had all the opportunity in the world today to do it,” Woods said. “I didn’t get it done.”

Now comes a break before his next tournament, the Frys.com Open in October in northern California. It’s the first event of the tour’s 2015-16 season.

“This is my offseason right now,” he said.

Love – who started at No. 186 – played himself into The Barclays by earning 500 FedEx Cup points and $972,000 in prize money.

At 51 years, 4 months, 10 days, Love trails only Sam Snead and Art Wall on the tour’s age list. Snead won the last of his eight Greensboro titles in 1965 at Sedgefield at 52 years, 10 months, 8 days, and Wall took the 1975 Greater Milwaukee Open at 51 years, 7 months, 10 days.

“Any victory now is going to be really sweet when you’re over 50,” Love said.

Love has 21 career victories, three in Greensboro. His previous two wins came across town at Forest Oaks Country Club in 1992 and 2006, and he had just one win since then – at the 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic in Florida.

“To have your name thrown out there with Sam Snead at any point is incredible,” Love said. “For some reason, this tournament has been good to guys in my age group.”

Love finished at 17-under 263. Gore, the third-round leader, shot a 69. Scott Brown (68), Charl Schwartzel (66) and Paul Casey (67) were two strokes behind Love.

Love, four strokes back after three rounds, started strong with four birdies and an eagle on Nos. 2-6. He moved to 17 under with an eagle on the par-5 15th – the first of his career during a competitive round on that hole.

He closed with three straight pars, walked off the 18th green with a two-stroke lead over Brown and Gore, and headed to the range to hit a few shots and rest up for a possible playoff.

“You don’t really know what to do,” Love said. “You don’t go to the cabin and think that you’ve won.”

Brown pulled within one stroke of Love with a birdie on 15, and Gore made things even more interesting with an eagle on that hole.

Neither got any closer.

Brown hit his approach on the 18th to about 60 feet, left his putt about 10 feet short and three-putted for bogey. Gore needed to make a 50-foot birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff, but he left it about a foot short to wrap up the victory for Love.

“I told my coach starting today, ’17 is a playoff and 18 is a winner,'” Brown said.

There was quite a crowd near the top of the leaderboard for a while. Midway through the afternoon, five players shared the lead at 15 under.

None of them was Woods.

Chasing his first victory since 2013, he opened with six straight pars, including one on the easiest hole on the course – the par-5 fifth, which he birdied in each of the first three rounds.

Woods sent his tee shot on the par-3 seventh into the huge gallery that had been waiting for him to reel off some birdies and make his move, then two-putted for his first bogey.

And when he made the turn, he was three strokes behind co-leaders Gore and Brown – his playing partner.

The 11th hole pretty much sank Woods.

His chip-and-run ran all the way off the green. He couldn’t keep his ensuing chip on, and wound up three-putting for triple bogey. Not even three straight birdies on Nos. 13-15 could help him recover.

“I just wasn’t able to get any kind of roll early,” Woods said. “I had my chances to get it going. I just never did.”

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Billy Andrade won the Boeing Classic on Sunday for his second Champions Tour victory and first in an individual event, overcoming trouble early in the final round for a one-stroke victory.

Andrade closed with a 1-over 73 to finish at 9-under 207 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. He opened with rounds of 69 and 65 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round.

The 51-year-old Andrade teamed with Joe Duran to win the Legends of Golf in April for his first Champions Tour title. Andrade won four times on the PGA Tour.

Andrade never lost the lead and held off a large chase pack that included Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara.

Langer was second after a 71. Couples (69), O’Meara (68), Guy Boros (68) and Fran Quinn (69) tied for third at 7 under.

Andrade’s 73 was the highest final-round score by a tour winner since Roger Chapman had a 1-over 71 in the 2012 Senior PGA Championship.

Andrade was at 11 under until he got to the fourth where he made triple bogey on the par 4. Andrade’s tee shot went out of bounds, he later needed to take a drop out of the woods and chipped in from off the green to make seven.

Andrade had a bogey on the seventh hole and fell into a tie for the lead, but birdies at Nos. 8 and 12 gave him a three-shot lead and he parred the final six holes to hang on.

Langer started the day in second place, but went 15 holes between birdies before dropping a short putt at the 17th to get back to 7 under. He reached the par-5 18th in two, but his eagle putt slid past the hole and Andrade two-putted to complete the victory. Langer finished in the top three for his fifth straight event and his third straight second place finish.

Couples, the hometown favorite, moved into contention after making eagle on the par 5 eighth, but bogeyed the 11th after his tee shot found the thick rough left of the fairway. He recovered with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to reach 6 under but missed a short birdie putt at the 15th and bogeyed the 17th. Couples and O’Meara both eagled the 18th to finish at 7 under.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Money leader Patton Kizzire won the News Sentinel Open on Sunday for his second Web.com Tour title of the season.

Kizzire closed with his second straight 7-under 64 to finish at 20-under 264 at Fox Den, four strokes ahead of South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Canada’s Brad Fritsch.

The 29-year-old former Auburn player earned $99,000 to push his season total to $512,553. He also won the Utah Championship last month.

Kim finished with a 66, and Fritsch had a 67.

OTTAWA – Longwood, Florida’s Sam Ryder prevailed in a sudden-victory playoff over Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Taylor Pendrith on Sunday at Hylands Golf Club to win the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops, his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada victory.

The win moves Ryder to second position on the Order of Merit with four events to go in the 2015 season, in position to earn status on the Web.com Tour for next season.

“I’m at a little bit of a loss for words right now, but it feels really good,” said Ryder.” I was already in great shape and had some really solid finishes this year. This feels really good and I think it solidifies myself as one of the contenders out here for sure.”

Ryder and Pendrith began the day tied for the lead, and went back-and-forth for much of the day, trading birdies, with both players shooting bogey-free rounds of 5-under 66. After returning to the 18th hole for a sudden-victory playoff, Pendrith had a 10-foot birdie putt to win, but hit it through the break and missed a short comebacker to make bogey.

A four-foot par putt was all that separated Ryder from his first Mackenzie Tour win, and the Stetson University grad poured it in to secure the title.

“It was hard to watch the [Pendrith’s] birdie putt. Honestly, I just wasn’t expecting him to miss that second one. I didn’t really want it to end like that, but I’ll take it,” said the 25-year old Ryder, a second-year member on the Mackenzie Tour. “You couldn’t really draw it up better than the way we went back-and-forth all day with no bogeys through 18 regulation holes. It was just a lot of good golf from both of us, and a lot of pressure and a lot of fun.”

“It’s unfortunate that the first bogey of the day had to come in a playoff, but that’s the way it goes,” said Pendrith, a member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad. The 24-year old moved to seventh on the Order of Merit with his second playoff loss of the season. “I take a lot of positives away. Played really good and made a lot of putts. I’m feeling really confident with my game. It’ll be good moving forward. Anytime you’re in a playoff or in contention on Sunday you’re always happy, it’s just unfortunate.”

For Ryder, who entered the week 11th on the Order of Merit, the win affirms what has been a breakthrough season, with three prior top-10 finishes.

“Until you win, you don’t know for sure. You assume your game’s good enough and you get yourself in contention, but until you actually finish it off and close the deal, you don’t really know. It’s nice to get a little monkey off my back,” said Ryder.

Otsego, Minnesota’s Clayton Rask briefly tied the lead at 19-under with a birdie on the 14th hole before finishing solo third at 18-under.