MARKHAM, Ont. – RBC Canadian Open organizers are adding a lot more red and white to the expanse of green at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

First-year tournament director Brent McLaughlin heard from players that there’s not enough “Canadiana” at the RBC Canadian Open. They’ll get their wish on the course this week with the addition of many Canadian flags, including a 30-by-15-feet one behind the 18th green.

It’s all an effort to make the RBC Canadian Open more Canadian.

“I think we’ve struck a balance of the Canadiana,” McLaughlin said in a phone interview last week. “We’ve lost touch with kind of the stuff that makes us uniquely Canadian: the Mounties and kind of those stereotypes that you always hear.

“I know we don’t like it when it’s talked about about us, but it’s nice when we can sort of say, ‘Yeah, you’re in Canada. It’s a little bit different here.”‘

Sixteen Canadian players are expected to be in the field for Canada’s national open. That group features Graham DeLaet, David Hearn, Adam Hadwin and recent PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor.

No Canadian has won this event since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters winner who withdrew for personal reasons to take a leave of absence from golf, came the closest when he was a playoff runner-up to Vijay Singh in 2004.

Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons said the organization had to close the gates and stop selling tickets at Glen Abbey twice: when Tiger Woods was at his peak and won in 2000 and then when Weir had the Sunday lead in 2004.

“It just shows you what can happen when a homegrown does well on Canadian soil, and I hope we see that (this week), come Sunday we’ve got some Canadian flags at the top of the leaderboard,” Simmons said Sunday after the inaugural Pan Am Games golf tournament.

Of course the event will be a smashing success and keep up the Pan Am nationalism in the Toronto area if a Canadian is close to the lead this weekend. But there’s no safe bet on that, what with a field that includes world No. 3 Bubba Watson, No. 7 Jim Furyk and No. 9 Jason Day, who tied for fourth at the British Open.

Even though Brandt Snedeker pulled out with a hip injury, Simmons considers this one of the deeper fields the RBC Canadian Open has had in a while. That’s certainly a selling point, but McLaughlin also instituted “Red And White Day” on Friday to encourage fans and golfers to show off national spirit and added food trucks serving things like poutine and Beavertails.

“This is a festival,” he said. “It’s just a fun atmosphere to get involved with. More so than just focusing on the talent and the Canadian players and anybody in the field in general, it needs to be an event. People love events.”

People don’t love traffic, a Toronto hallmark that’s worse given that the Pan Am Games are going on throughout the region. With high-occupancy lanes set up for three or more people for the duration of the Games, McLaughlin said the RBC Canadian Open has done everything possible to warn people what to expect.

Golf Canada will offer shuttle service from the Oakville and Bronte GO stations Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and trips home on those days are free with a RBC Canadian Open ticket. Kids under 17 are also free, part of the reason McLaughlin thinks the HOV lanes won’t stunt any crowds.

“Our statistics have shown that most people that attend sporting events and other functions travel in larger groups,” he said. “So I think it actually helps us. It’s almost like a true event feel having the 3-plus. I don’t think it’s going to affect us.”

If anything, the timing of the Pan Am Games, where Canada is enjoying substantial success on home soil, could benefit the RBC Canadian Open. Simmons hopes the 2010 Olympics and “Own the podium” movements stir up more nationalism at Glen Abbey.

“We’ve always known to be a very respectful bunch,” Simmons said. “But it’s time to kind of puff our chests out and be proud of who we are: our country, our players.”

ALBERTON, Ont. – Justin Shin of Pitt Meadow, B.C., David Mathis of Wakeforest, N.C., Roberto Castro of Alpharetta, Ga., and Josh Teater of Lexington, Ky., have earned their way into the field for this week’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Shin led scoring in the Monday Final Qualifier with a 7-under-par round of 64 at Heron Point Golf Links in Alberton, Ont. After opening with a bogey, Shin would go to record six birdies and an eagle to earn low qualifying honours.

“I was pretty pumped for this week and I’m really excited,” said Shin. “It has been my dream to play in the RBC Canadian Open. I’ve wanted to play it ever since I was a junior. I really enjoyed it out there today with my buddy caddying for me.”

Shin is currently ranked fourth on the PGA TOUR China Order of Merit with a win at the 2015 United Investment Real Estate Wuhan Open. He recently finished T6 in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada’s The Players Cup in Winnipeg, Man.

Finishing with a share of second were Mathis and Castro with rounds of 6-under 65 while Teater secured the final RBC Canadian Open spot in a playoff after carding a 5-under 66. Teater beat out Eric Hawerchuk of Barrie, Ont. in an extra hole to earn the final Qualifier spot.

With the addition of Justin Shin, a total of 16 Canadians are set to compete in the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.

Full results from the 2015 RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier are available here.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Zach Johnson cradled the silver claret jug in his arms. Jordan Spieth let it slip through his fingers.

Spieth was right where he wanted to be in his spirited bid for the Grand Slam – tied for the lead with two holes to go in the British Open, right after making a 50-foot birdie putt that made it feel as though he were destined to win at St. Andrews for his third straight major.

And he was still there at the very end Monday, but only as a spectator.

The slam gone, Spieth graciously returned to the steps of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse to watch Johnson finish off a sterling performance of his own. Johnson rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that got him into a three-man playoff, and he outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman to win the British Open.

Johnson described himself as a “normal guy” from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he won the Masters in 2007.

And now?

“I’m a normal guy from Cedar Rapids … with a green jacket that has something that most guys don’t get to drink out of right now,” Johnson said, smiling as he looked at golf’s oldest trophy with his name etched alongside most of the game’s greatest players.

Spieth was close to having his name on that jug. No one ever came closer to the third leg of the Grand Slam.

He fought back from taking four putts for a double bogey on No. 8 with back-to-back birdies. He rolled in that long birdie putt on the 16th for a share of the lead. After missing an 8-foot par putt on the tough 17th hole, Spieth needed a birdie on the closing hole to join the playoff.

“Up and down for a playoff,” was the last thing Spieth said to caddie Michael Greller from about 90 yards away. It was too far right and quite hard enough, and it rolled to the edge of the Valley of Sin short of the green. His birdie attempt up the slope stayed inches left of the cup, and he tapped in for a 69.

“We gave it a great effort,” Spieth said.

At least he was in elite company. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – the three biggest names in golf over the last 50 years – were the only other players to capture the Masters and U.S. Open in a bid to sweep the four professional majors in the same year. All came up short in the British Open. Spieth was the only one who had a share of the lead so deep in the final round.

“I’m going to go home and reflect,” Spieth said. “It won’t hurt too bad. It’s not like I really lost it on the last hole, and 17 was brutally challenging. I just didn’t hit a great putt there, and I just picked the wrong wedge out of the bag on 18. I made a lot of the right decisions down the stretch and certainly closed plenty of tournaments out. And this just wasn’t one of those. It’s hard to do that every single time.

“I won’t beat myself up too bad, because I do understand that.”

It took a superlative effort from Johnson, who now has two majors among his 12 PGA Tour victories, an astounding record and a reminder that a good wedge game and a putter can still go a long way in this era of power.

Johnson was in tears when he was interviewed off the green.

“I’m grateful. I’m humbled. I’m honored,” Johnson said. “This is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports.”

On a tense afternoon of shadows and showers on the Old Course, Johnson closed with a 6-under 66. He was the first in at 15-under 273.

Leishman, who considered giving up golf in April when his wife nearly died of a rare respiratory illness, fell out of the lead with a bogey on the 16th hole. He had a birdie putt for the win on the 18th that was wide left and gave him a 66. Oosthuizen made a 10-foot par putt on No. 17 to stay one shot behind, and he delivered a clutch moment of his own with a wedge to 5 feet for birdie and a 69 to join the playoff.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. finished as the low Canadian and ended the tournament at 1-under par, tied for 68th.

It was the first British Open playoff since Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009, and the first involving more than two players since 2002 at Muirfield, the year Woods failed in his bid for the third leg of the slam.

Johnson matched Oosthuizen’s birdie on the first hole and pulled ahead with another birdie on No. 2. Both made bogey on the 17th – Oosthuizen by missing a 5-foot putt to tie Johnson – and the South African had one last chance. Oosthuizen, who won the British Open when it last was at St. Andrews in 2010, had a 12-foot birdie putt to force sudden death. It touched the left side of the cup and kept going, and Johnson was introduced as the “champion golfer of the year.”

Spieth showed guts over the final two hours, and class when his bid was over. He stuck around to hug Johnson before he walked over to get his trophy.

Just two weeks ago, Spieth went to Iowa to take part in a charity event for Johnson before playing – and winning – the John Deere Classic. He was questioned for not coming over to St. Andrews to prepare for a rare occasion of attempting the Grand Slam. Spieth put that to rest with a performance that kept him around the lead all week.

It was the first British Open to end on Monday since 1988 because of a brief rain delay Friday morning and 10 1/2-hour wind delay on Saturday. But what a show. With 14 players separated by three shots, no one seized control the entire day. Eight players had at least a share of the lead at one point. Most of them fell away.

Spieth kept a golfing nation in suspense until the very end. Now, he goes to the PGA Championship with a tiny piece of history left to chase. Woods in 2000 and Ben Hogan in 1953 are the only other players to win three majors in a year, and no one has ever swept the three American majors.

At 21, he can only hope he gets another shot at the slam. Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods never did.

The National Golf Course Owners Association Canada (NGCOA Canada) has released its “Rounds Played Reports” up to June 1, and the results are encouraging for most of the country.

Of the 49 major regional markets surveyed, only 10 showed declining rounds when compared to the 3 year average, with all other regions reporting varying degrees of good news.

Western Canada definitely leads the charge with BC rounds 10 per cent above average, Alberta up 60 per cent, Saskatchewan up 41 per cent and Manitoba up 33 per cent. Ontario and Quebec showed more modest increased rounds played, as did Newfoundland. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI were all down in rounds played, largely due to a late start to the golf season.

The accompanying Weather Score, measuring the impact of local weather on each participating golf course, demonstrates any correlation between weather and rounds played across the country. BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced significantly more favorable weather conditions for golf than normal years. Manitoba and Ontario had slightly better than average weather, as did Newfoundland. Quebec’s golf weather was average, while the Maritime Provinces were hurt by a long and severe winter followed by below average spring golf weather. As expected, the correlation to weather is strong.

The NGCOA Canada “Rounds Played Reports” are derived from monthly surveys of golf course data throughout Canada, segmented into National, Provincial and Regional Reports. Each monthly report tracks the Month to Date and Year to Date for the current year and the 3 year average. Those statistics are presented in actual rounds played and the per cent change.

The Regional Reports are sent to each participating golf course with custom data to compare their own Rounds Played Report with the group data of golf courses in their local competitive market. The National and Provincial Reports are published by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada for industry-wide use.

Jeff Calderwood, NGCOA Canada CEO, notes that “We’ve been steadily building the sample size for a couple of years allowing us to publish these Rounds Played Reports with high statistical confidence and the ability to segment the data down to 49 key golf markets. I encourage all golf course operators to take advantage of this free and valuable management tool.”

View the report here.

MARKHAM, Ont. – When Graham DeLaet checked his golf clubs with Aer Lingus for his transatlantic flight to the British Open, bewilderment followed.

After a series of Twitter posts from DeLaet, expressing concern that no one knew where they were, the clubs were delivered 54 hours later. When the Weyburn, Sask., native opened up his travel bag, he found dirty clubs that looked like they went through a battle.

“You just can’t make this stuff up,” DeLaet tweeted.

DeLaet went on to play St. Andrews after caddy Julien Trudeau cleaned up the clubs, tweeting a photo with the message, “like new.”

Even though the clubs were no worse for wear, DeLaet won’t have to have to risk the same aggravation on his way back to North America.

DeLaet is one about 30 golfers travelling from Scotland to Toronto on Golf Canada’s charter flight for the RBC Canadian Open. It’s an annual tradition that helps ensure a strong field for Canada’s national open the week after a major championship.

“It’s the single biggest thing that we’ve got going for us,” said Golf Canada chief championship officer Bill Paul, who’s in Scotland organizing the charter. “It’s a necessary perk that we have and a very, very valuable perk that we have.”

It became especially important when weather delays forced the first Monday finish since 1988. Paul had to adjust on the fly.

“That’s why we need someone over there because of things exactly like this,” Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons said Sunday. “We’ve been working on this for months, but the schedule changes.”

Paul was the Canadian Open tournament director from 1993 until 2014 and has organized the charter since it began in 2007. The 56-year-old called it a huge expense but one that makes a difference in getting the best players to commit.

Of course the US$5.8 million purse and a winner’s share over $1 million aren’t too shabby, either.

Each first-class seat goes for $1,500. Paul typically starts reserving spots three months in advance, but players’ plans are often in flux.

“Once the players start to go to work on the golf course, you’re sort of at the mercy of them when they come off,” Paul said in a phone interview from St. Andrews.

Needing to figure out customs and other logistics along the way, Paul lined up three buses to leave St. Andrews at various times. His original target was for an 8 p.m. local time takeoff Sunday night, though of course the postponement turned it into a Monday night scheduled departure.

Paul is always thinking about what could change.

“If we’ve got the champion there, I’ve got to make a decision: Do we fly without him? Am I going to try to find another way for him back to Toronto?” he said. “There’s a lot of different scenarios.”

There’s certainly no shortage of demand. Start with Canadians DeLaet and David Hearn, add Team RBC golfers like Ernie Els, Luke Donald, Jason Day and Jim Furyk, and it’s not hard to fill up a plane.

It also nice that the flight is a direct trip from Edinburgh Airport to Toronto’s Pearson International, which is situated a short drive from Glen Abbey Golf Club.

“It’s just a convenient way to get there,” Paul said. “It’s not a luxurious thing. When you’re over the pond, you’re that far away, this just provides a hassle-free way of getting from one event to the other event.”

Simmons was at Hoylake last year and got a first-hand look at the charter’s smooth operation and appreciates its value to players.

“When you can make it that easy for them, it just gives them that much more opportunity to say, ‘Yeah, I’m going to come play Canada,”’ Simmons said. “These guys play week after week, after week, after week. At some point they have to take weeks off, so you don’t want to give them any reason to have our week as a week off.”

OPELIKA, Ala. — Scott Piercy won the Barbasol Championship on Sunday for his third PGA Tour title, closing with a 6-under 65 for a three-stroke victory.

The 36-year-old Las Vegas player made a 57-foot birdie putt on the second hole en route to his first victory since the 2012 RBC Canadian Open. Tied for the third-round lead with Ricky Barnes, Piercy birdied three of four holes starting on No. 13 and finished at 19 under on Grand National’s Lake Course.

“I struck it beautifully all week and made enough putts to get it done,” Piercy said.

He began the season on a major medical extension after surgery on his right arm early last year, sparking initial fears about how he’d fare upon his return.

“It’s been a long road,” Piercy said. “My whole goal after coming back from surgery was to come back better. The way I played (Sunday) compared to my last two victories was a lot better.

“I struck the ball so well, so I’d say I’m kind of right where I imagined I would be.

He had also finished second at the Sony Open in Hawaii before capturing the inaugural Alabama event for players who didn’t make the British Open field.

Piercy had a bogey and double bogey on the first four holes Thursday after arriving the previous morning and not getting in a practice round. He appeared quite comfortable on the course after that.

Birmingham native Will Wilcox was second after a 67, virtually guaranteeing a PGA Tour card for next season in just 13 starts. It was his second straight top-10 finish.

“That’s something I never thought in a million years I would have done,” he said.

Wilcox closed with two straight birdies, pumping his fists and hollering after sinking a 60-foot birdie putt on the closing hole. The former UAB player had once made dough at a local pizza place during a short time living in neighboring Auburn and estimated he had 50-60 friends and family members on hand.

“Having my family here, you always dream about doing something like that in front of them,” Wilcox said. “Just the good vibes were flowing this week. It just worked out so well. My aunt and uncles, they’d never seen me play. The fact that I could finish solo second in front of them was pretty shocking.”

Barnes, University of Alabama junior Robby Shelton and South Korea’s Whee Kim tied for third at 14 under. Shelton shot 67, Kim 69, and Barnes 70.

Shelton, a two-time All-American, had four straight rounds in the 60s.

“It was amazing,” said Shelton, from Mobile. “I played well, that’s all I could ask for. To do this with a sponsor exemption, it’s great. I mean, I’m speechless right now.”

Barnes was seeking his first PGA Tour victory in 202 starts, but finished with a 70 and bogeyed the final hole. It was his best finish since taking second at the 2009 U.S. Open, the only other time he shared a 54-hole lead.

The round was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes because of rain and lightning before the leaders teed off.

Canadian Roger Sloan posted an even-par 71 today to finish at 5-under for the competition and T48.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – For a place dripping with centuries of history, St. Andrews got more than it could have wanted Sunday.

Jordan Spieth punched his golf bag in frustration after a careless bogey, perhaps sensing the British Open was slipping away. Just like that, and because this is what Spieth does in big moments, he salvaged his bid for a Grand Slam. He made three straight birdies. He took 10 putts on the inward nine. And when he walked off the 18th green, he had a 6-under 66 and was one shot behind with one round left.

“I’m going to play to win,” Spieth said. “I’m not playing for a place. I don’t want to place third tomorrow. I want to win.”

But if there is history in the making at the home of golf, it no longer has to come from just Spieth.

Fans who filled the two-story grandstand and watched from the tops of buildings on Golf Place witnessed a moment not seen at St. Andrews in 88 years – an amateur in the lead going into the final round of the British Open.

Paul Dunne, the 22-year-old from Ireland, rolled in putts like this was the prestigious St. Andrews Links Trophy for amateurs instead of the oldest championship in golf. He played bogey-free for a 66 and shared the lead with former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day.

Bobby Jones is the last amateur to win the British Open in 1930 when he came from one shot behind in the final round. He was the last amateur to lead after 54 holes three years earlier at St. Andrews, and he won the claret jug that year, too.

Can it happen again?

“It’s surreal I’m leading the Open, but I can easily believe that I shot the three scores that I shot,” Dunne said. “If we were playing an amateur event here, I wouldn’t be too surprised by the scores I shot. It’s just lucky that it happens to be in the biggest event in the world.

“Hopefully, I can do it again tomorrow,” he said. “But whether I do or not, I’ll survive either way.”

The way the weather-delayed Open ended on Sunday, expect just about anything.

Oosthuizen, the last player to lift the claret jug at St. Andrews in 2010 and a runner-up at the U.S. Open last month, birdied three of his last five holes for a 67. Day is just as big of a threat. He shot 67 and shared the lead for the second straight major, and he has challenged in four of them since 2011.

They were at 12-under 214, one shot ahead of Spieth with plenty of others that cannot be dismissed Fourteen players were separated by three shots. Half of them were major champions, and there was yet another amateur among them – 21-year-old Jordan Niebrugge of Oklahoma State.

Such an opportunity might not come around again for Spieth. Only three other players won the first two legs of the Grand Slam since the modern version began in 1960. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods only got one shot at it, and none ever started the final round of the British Open so close to the lead.

And so it was Spieth, a 21-year-old Texan with an uncanny sense of occasion, who brought the gray, old town to life in a mixture of sunshine and rain. He rolled in birdie putts on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to share the lead. He saved par from the high grass on the 13th, stuffed his approach to 4 feet for birdie on the 15th and made another tough par save on the Road Hole at the 17th.

A victory would send him to the PGA Championship with a shot at the Grand Slam, and at worse put him in elite company. Ben Hogan in 1953 is the only other player to capture the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.

“Only one person has ever done it before. That opportunity very rarely comes around,” Spieth said. “And I’d like to have a chance to do something nobody has ever done. … To be able to go into the last major and accomplish something that’s never been done in our sport is something that only comes around to a couple people ever. And I’d like to be one of those people to have that happen.”

Rarely has the Old Course been as easy as it was Sunday.

One day after raging wind off the Eden Estuary caused a 10-hour delay and forced a Monday finish, the flags were soaked from passing showers and limp from no wind. The leaderboards were loaded with birdies, and seven players had at least a share of the lead at some point in the third round.

That’s what made Dustin Johnson’s collapse so shocking. With a one-shot lead after powering his way around St. Andrews for 36 holes, he was the last player in the field to make a birdie Sunday, and that wasn’t until the 15th hole. He followed with three straight bogeys for a 75 to fall five shots behind.

Spieth, the youngest professional in the field, seemed calm despite the historic moment in front of him.

His goal at the start of the week was to treat the British Open like any other tournament he was trying to win. Even during the long delay on Saturday, he said he hasn’t thought much about the slam. There is no escaping it now, and Spieth doesn’t see that as a problem.

“If I have a chance coming down the stretch, if it creeps in, I’ll embrace it,” he said. “I’ll embrace the opportunity that presents itself. As far as handling it, I don’t look at it as a negative thing. I look at it almost as an advantage. Why should it add more pressure in a negative way?”

SYLVANIA, Ohio — Ji Leon Choi promised his daughter he would caddie for her until she won the LPGA Tour.

Chella Choi isn’t so sure she’s ready to break up the team after winning the Marathon Classic on Sunday.

“My father wants to retire because we promise, but I don’t know,” Choi said. “We will talk later.”

The 24-year-old South Korean player broke through in her 157th start on the tour, beating compatriot Ha Na Jang with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

“You know, first time win is hard,” Choi said. “I cannot believe it. Hopefully, this is a turning point for me. … It’s been a long time, seven years. So, I was really, really excited and happy.”

In the playoff on the par-5 18th, Choi chipped onto the green from 87 yards and two-putted from 25 yards for the par – holing a 1-footer for the victory. Jang bogeyed the hole after hitting approach long into high rough.

Choi closed with a 5-under 66 to match Jang at 14-under 270. Jang, the leader after each of the first three round, finished with a 68.

Jang didn’t speak to the media after the round.

Choi opened with a 73, then moved into contention with rounds of 66 and 65.

“I made just made one birdie on Thursday,” Choi said.

Her father was a police officer before joining her on the course.

“I work with my father eight years and somebody say like that’s why I don’t win, just for my caddie,” Choi said. “So I’m so exciting with my father.”

Choi earned $225,000. She will jump from 40th to 25th in the world ranking.

Second-ranked Lydia Ko, the winner last year, had a 67 to tie for second with Shanshan Feng at 13 under. Fend also shot 67.

“I’m happy that I could give it a run for it to defend the title,” Ko said. “Seeing how average my first day score was, to be top five or whatever, I think it’s a good finish for the week.

“I played really solid the front nine, and that’s all I could really do. I know it would have been great if I could continue that on the back nine, but it just wasn’t going.”

Playing a group in front of the leaders, Ko was looking for a birdie on No. 18 to reach 14 under, but made a par.

“I hit a great 3-wood off the tee and miss-hit it on the second shot,” Ko said. “I guess it’s not the worst place to be, but it’s not the best place to be either.”

Top-ranked Inbee Park tied for eighth at 10 under after a 70 while the top Canadian in the field was Alena Sharp who finished tied for 22nd.

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Newport Beach, California’s J.J. Spaun broke through for his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada win on Sunday, shooting a final round 5-under 67 to win the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

The 24-year old moves into the top spot on the season-long Order of Merit with $70,263, earning an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open to make his PGA TOUR debut next week at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

“It’s a huge relief. I knew if I at least made pars on my way in I’d have some sort of chance at winning,” said Spaun, who finished at 18-under par, one shot ahead of Moscow, Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Reach. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work. I had to change a few things with my regimen and putting my career in the top priority spot, and it shows that the hard work has been paying off.”

The win gives Spaun a $25,813 lead atop the Order of Merit over Drew Weaver, who will join Spaun next week at Glen Abbey along with Albin Choi as the top three players on the season-long money list. The San Diego State University grad has been the most consistent player on the Mackenzie Tour this season, never finishing outside the top-16 and posting five straight 10 finishes capped off by the win.

“I’m in a good position. I’ve got to keep playing solid and keep that top spot under my belt and see how it goes,” said Spaun of the season-long quest to earn status on the Web.com Tour.

Starting the day one shot off the lead held by Corey Conners, Clayton Rask, David McKenzie and Chase Marinell, Spaun came out of the gate quickly with birdies on his first two holes to grab the early lead. After Reach made eagle on the 72^nd hole to post 17-under par as the clubhouse lead, Spaun responded with four birdies in five holes, including three in a row on holes 12-14 to take control of the lead.

“I’ve been playing well enough where I don’t make many mistakes, and fortunately making a lot of birdies as well. I’ve been playing solid, and eliminating the mistakes has been key for how I’ve been playing lately,” said Spaun, who has seen a remarkable turnaround from a dismal 2014 season that saw him miss six of seven cuts and return to Q-School this Spring. Since a T8 finish there, Spaun has been on a tear to build his Order of Merit lead and put himself in excellent position to earn status on the Web.com Tour for next season.

“Now it’s just kind of stress-free golf and going out and having fun. The hard work has kind of been taken care of and it’s time to go out and cruise,” said Spaun.

Reach, a University of Georgia graduate and a rookie on the Mackenzie Tour, notched his best finish as a pro along with Conners, who will play at the RBC Canadian Open on a sponsor’s exemption alongside fellow Golf Canada Young Pro Squad and Mackenzie Tour members Taylor Pendrith and Adam Svensson.

HAYWARD, Calif. — South Korea’s Si Woo Kim won the Stonebrae Classic on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, birdieing the first hole of a playoff with Jamie Lovemark and Wes Roach.

The 20-year-old Kim is the second-youngest winner in Web.com Tour history. Jason Day was 19 when he won the 2007 Legend Financial Group Classic in Ohio.

Kim won with a 3-foot putt on the par-5 18th after pitching from 50 yards.

“Walking up to the green, I felt good,” Kim said through a translator. “I knew that line.”

Kim closed with a 2-under 68 to match Lovemark and Roach at 12-under 268 at TPC Stonebrae. The three players began the round tied for the lead.

Lovemark, playing a group ahead of Kim and Roach, bogeyed the par-5 18th in regulation to fall into a tie. Kim and Roach followed with pars, with Kim missing a 3-footer for birdie.

“I was happy to have another try,” Kim said. “I was very fortunate. This is very big for me.”

Kim earned $108,000 to jump from 67th to 16th on the money list with $162,350. The top 25 after the final five events in the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards.

Roach and Lovemark each made $52,800. Roach went from seventh to third with $236,516, more than enough for a PGA Tour card. He won the El Bosque Mexico Championship in April.

Lovemark jumped from 26th to 11th at $164,921.