SYLVANIA, Ohio — South Korea’s Ha Na Jang birdied the par-5 18th for a 5-under 66 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic.

She chipped to 6 feet to set up the final birdie after hitting a 3-wood approach to the front edge.

“Just really good shot,” Jang said about the chip with a 52-degree wedge.

“I feel happy today because in the morning … I was very tired in my bed, so no practice today. I don’t think about the score, so really good play today.”

Winless in 23 career tour events, Jang birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine at Highland Meadows, dropped a stroke on the par-4 15th and rallied with the closing birdie.

“I like the course,” Jang said. “Very narrow fairways and small greens. Very close to Korean golf course, so I think it’s very easy for my feel. … Really good golf course.”

She took a simple approach on the course softened by a rainy month.

“Just always thinking about fairway and greens,” Jang said. “Very easy thinking.”

Sarah Kemp, Nannette Hill, Wei-Ling Hsu and Lee-Anne Pace were tied for second.

Kemp bogeyed her final hole, the par-4 ninth. The Australian has missed the cuts in seven of the 12 tournaments this season.

“My caddie and I were actually talking before I teed off that I had not had a 4 or 5 under in a while,” Kemp said. “That was the plan today, so it was nice to pull it off. It’s confidence. I’ve had an inconsistent year, some good and some bad. Hopefully, for the rest of the three days I can keep it up.”

Kemp’s approach on No. 9 landed in the rough to the left of the green. She hit to the fringe, but came back with a chip that hit the flagstick and she was able to make her putt for bogey.

“It was a funny lie,” Kemp said. “I had a bad lie for the first chip, where I shouldn’t have been in the first place.”

Hill had three straight birdies on Nos. 6-8 to reach 4 under and parred the final 10 holes.

“I feel really good,” Hill said. “All season I feel like I’ve been very consistent and building off good stuff. So, came to this course on Sunday and felt like it fit my eye really well.”

Top-ranked Inbee Park, a three-time winner this season, birdied her final hole for a 70.

“I hit a lot of greens, but not really close,” Park said. “Irons just weren’t as pure as I thought it would be. Missed couple putts here and there. Only two birdies and one bogey. Not a bad start.”

Defending champion Lydia Ko, ranked No. 2 in the world, opened with a 71.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis also had a 71.

Canadian Alena Sharp is T6 after an opening round of 68. Jennifer Kirby posted a score of 74, while Rebecca Lee-Bentham had a round of 80.

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Two weeks ago, Matt Marshall was on the verge of quitting professional golf. After Thursday’s opening round in Thunder Bay, he finds himself in a completely different place: co-leading the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

Thanks to some support from friends and family and a timely dream, the 30-year old from Portland, Oregon finds himself tied for the lead after shooting an 8-under 64 to share the first round lead with Burlington, Ontario’s Michael Gligic at the sixth event of the 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

“After Saskatoon, I almost quit. I almost left the game. So, to be here right now is kind of a big 180 for me,” said Marshall, who found himself questioning his role in the game following a missed cut at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel. After friends and family convinced him over the phone to stick it out for a while longer, the seven-year Mackenzie Tour veteran had a dream that appears to have changed his fortunes.

“I literally had a dream that I needed to switch to a Scotty Cameron putter, so I bought one the next day, and since then I’ve been making a lot of putts,” said Marshall, who made his first cut of the season last week at The Players Cup and finished T25. “I’ve been grinding out here for a while, and it all just kind of hit me in Saskatoon. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing. I called everyone in my family and everyone I’m close to for advice and stuff, and they told me to stick it out for a couple more weeks, and here I am.”

Marshall’s 64, which included nine birdies to offset just a single bogey, tied him with the 25-year old Gligic, who defeated Marshall in a playoff at the 2012 ATB Financial Classic, the only Mackenzie Tour win between the two players.

“I got off to a good start. The irons were great, and what’s been kind of holding me back lately is the putter, and it was nice to see everything going in today,” said Gligic. “There’s still 54 holes left with a heck of a lot of good players behind me, so I can’t let off the gas at all by any means. I need to keep going and keep making birdies tomorrow.”

One shot behind Marshall and Gligic was Ostego, Minnesota native Clayton Rask, who rebounded from an early triple bogey with 10 birdies for a 7-under 65. The start of round one was delayed for an hour due to lightning in the area.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) remembers watching videos in the early 2000’s of Jim McLean golf tips to learn how to play. Fast forward 14 years and Ardina has the lead at the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic after carding a 6-under 66 in the first-round at Brook-Lea Country Club on Thursday. Ardina would become just the second player from the Philippines to win on the Symetra Tour. The only player to win was Lynda Jensen, who won once in 1985 and twice in 1988.

A total of 49 players finished at even-par or better and the cut line stands at 2-over heading into second-round play.

The 21-year-old, who ranks 23rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, was on fire with the putter. She needed just 24 putts.

“It was a good start today, I made a 35-foot birdie putt on the first hole,” said Ardina. “I made a bogey on five and then I ran off five straight birdies from the sixth through the tenth holes. My goal was 2-under on the front and 2-under on the back, I definitely wasn’t expecting a six-under.”

Ardina was 4-under at the turn and then made her fifth straight birdie on 10 and then made birdie on the 13th hole. Ardina closed with five straight pars including a save on 18.

“I did some adjustments with my putting, my stroke and I’m trying to get my speed better,” said Ardina. “Before, my putting was everywhere – push, pull – so I watched some tips on the Golf Channel and searched putting drills and it worked.”

Ardina said she watches School of Golf with former Symetra Tour and LPGA Tour player Sara Brown and Martin Hall.

Her first round shouldn’t come as a surprise. She has finished inside the top 25 in three consecutive events including her career best finish, a tie for second at the Four Winds Invitational.

“I think I am more relaxed and since I changed my putting, I started playing really well,” said Ardina. “My mom is now my caddie and that really helps keep me calm and keep the pressure away.”

Ardina said part of the reason she played well today was the insider information she received from her pro-am partners on Wednesday, who are members of Brook-Lea Country Club.

“I only played once on the front side and twice on the back side so they told me where to hit the ball and where the good angles are,” said Ardina. “They really helped me a lot.”

The sun shone bright over Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B., as Calvin Ross and Allison Chandler secured the CN Future Links Atlantic titles to conclude the championship’s 2015 series.

Calvin Ross was locked in a four-way tie for the lead following the first day of competition before breaking through with a three stroke lead after day two. The Fredericton, N.B., product maintained momentum into the final round, posting a 1-under par 71 for a 215 total.

“Today started out well, I got off to a great start with a birdie and from there, I was just playing conservative and trying for a few more birdies. I was really just trying to hit greens and make some pars and continue on,” said Ross. He went on to string together eight pars to follow up his opening birdie for a 1-under on the front nine.

Ross claims the Atlantic title after having recently recorded runner-up finishes at the 2015 New Brunswick Junior Boys Championship and at the 2015 Kent Ford Motors Bouctouche East Coast Junior Championship. “It feels great to finally break through. I’ve been playing well all year, but I have just been coming up a little bit short, so it’s great to finally win one.”

Challenging Ross was Ryan Legault who opened the day with an impressive 6-under front nine before finishing with at 67 for the low round of the tournament. The early push from the Charlottetown, P.E.I., native earned him second place at 218. Finishing in third at 221 with a final round of 74 was five-time Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Boys Champion Blair Bursey of Gander, Nfld.

The 16-year-old Ross has earned an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Junior Boys Championship to gauge his skills against a field of top juniors. The five runner-up finishers in the Junior Boys division at the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship have also earned exemptions to compete in the national championship from August 2-6 at Summerlea Golf & Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.

Allison Chandler opened the third round with a three-stroke lead over Claire Konning of Indian Mountain, N.B., but it was Laura Jones of Moncton, N.B., who would challenge Chandler down the stretch. After hole 13, Jones had climbed within two of the lead, but Chandler maintained her focus to secure the win.

“I was more nervous than I thought I would be,” said Chandler on playing with the lead. “I tried not to think about it and instead tried to think of it as any other round.”

Chandler signed for a 3-over 75, matching her opening round for the lowest score in the Junior Girls division. The Chester, N.S., native concluded the competition with four birdies to finish at 227. The 17-year-old credits her tee shots for the victory. “I drove the ball really well and very consistently.”

Runner-up Laura Jones posted a round of 4-over 76 with three birdies to finish at 232. Third-place finisher Felixe Jacques of St-Gabriel de Valcartier, Que., shot a final round 79.

With the victory, Chandler has earned her place in the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Deer Park Golf Course in Yorkton, Sask., from August 3-7. Chandler looks to improve upon a T15 finish at the 2014 edition of the national championship hosted at Thornhill Golf & Country Club in Thornhill, Ont. She has also earned an exemption into a 2016 Canadian Women’s Tour event of her choice.

The five runners-up in the Junior Girls division of the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship have also earned their way into the field at the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship.

The CN Future Links Atlantic Championship marks the final stop in a series of six tournaments presented by Golf Canada in partnership with CN. The 2015 series opened at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach, B.C., where Team Canada Development Squad members Trevor Ranton (Waterloo, Ont.) and Grace St-Germain (Ottawa, Ont.) found the podium at the championship’s Pacific edition. Ontarians Jack Simpson (Aurora, Ont.) and Alyssa Getty (Ruthven, Ont.) captured the titles in their home province at Pine Knot Golf & Country Club in Dorchester, Ont.

Joining the winners circle at the Prairie Championship were Alexander Smith (Calgary, Alta.) and Development Squad member Alisha Lau (Richmond, B.C.) at Cooke Municipal Golf Course in Prince Albert, Sask. At Golf Château-Bromont in Bromont, Que., Alyssa Getty claimed her second CN Future Links title of the season while Jason Chung (Thornhill, Ont.) took the Quebec Junior Boys title. Jason Martens (Edmonton, Alta.,) and Kenna Hughes (Calgary, Alta.,) captured the Western Championship at the Goose Hummock Golf Course in Gibbons, Alta.

For full results from the 2015 CN Future Links Atlantic Championship, please visit the tournament website here.

In just its second year, Team Canada’s Young Pro program is showing strong signs of progress in supporting Canada’s bright young professionals in their long journey to success in the professional golf ranks.

Brooke Henderson and Sue Kim both notched Symetra Tour victories in 2015, Adam Svensson won three of his first four professional events, Albin Choi won on the Mackenzie Tour in 2015—to name a few.

Launched in 2014, the Young Pro program was added to Golf Canada’s high performance program to fill the gap of support available for amateurs transitioning to professional golf. In just its second year, the program expanded from five to eight athletes to accommodate for the growing pool of elite Canadian talent.

Three of Canada’s Young Pro Squad men (Svensson, Pendrith, Conners) will look to make their mark on the PGA TOUR in the upcoming RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., from July 20–26.

Click here to learn more about the athletes and Team Canada

Click here to donate to the program through the Golf Canada Foundation

While most of the golf world went to sleep Wednesday dreaming of the third major championship of the year and Scottish greens, Austin Connelly, Garrett Rank, and Lorie Kane did not.

Instead, they were getting ready for the Pan American Games, and dreaming of gold, sliver and bronze.

The three aforementioned golfers will represent Canada when the golf portion of the 2015 games begins Thursday. It will wrap up Sunday afternoon.

Brooke Henderson was supposed to round out the foursome but withdrew June 29th to concentrate on her professional career.

However, on a conference call with Canadian media Wednesday, the conversation had shifted away from who wasn’t there to who were, and what they were trying to accomplish this week.

“It’s too bad for Brooke that she’s not here, but we’ve got a really strong team in myself and the two guys across the table from me. We do have an opportunity to still medal,” Kane said. “I understand Brooke’s situation and it’s a difficult one, but this is where we are.”

“I’m going to tee it up tomorrow as part of Team Canada and I’m going to do my best, as will the other two guys here, and we’ll see how it goes,” she continued.

Rank, Connelly and Kane will combine their scores for the team portion of the competition, while Rank and Connelly will try for a medal on the men’s side, and Kane will go for gold on the female side of the draw.

To get to this point, Derek Ingram – the men’s coach – said the process is something that has been in the works for several years.

“We’ve been preparing a lot of things behind the scenes for a long time – two years or more in some cases – so it’s nice that it’s finally arrived,” he said. “We’re down to crunch time and playing golf, which is what everyone loves to do.”

Tristan Mullally joins Ingram in the coach’s corner.

Mullally, Golf Canada’s women’s national team head coach, will concentrate on Kane over the four days of competition. He admitted there is much more happening now than at a regular golf event.

“We’re part of a team and that’s a great honour, but there are lots of great athletes around. There are people here who are sporting legends and heroes,” he explained. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure these guys can go play and that’s what they will do. And, they’ll do it well.”

Despite the excitement for the Pan Am Games, Connelly and Rank will both be making their debuts at the RBC Canadian Open next week. That said, they both are committed to focusing on one thing at a time.

“This is a great opportunity and a really cool environment to be a part of. Austin and I will probably not get a chance to play in something like this again, so it’s just a matter of staying focused and enjoying the opportunity,” explained Rank.

“It’s an honour to represent Canada,” continued Connelly. “While the PGA Tour event is really an honour to play in, it’s going to be a fun week this week.”

Despite the difference in ages – Kane is 50, while Rank is 27 and Connelly is 18 – the triumvirate is all working towards the same goal.

“We played a practice round together as a team and they kicked my butt to be honest,” said Kane with a laugh. “These two have lots of experience, it’s just a little different than my 19 years on the LPGA Tour. But, we’re all here doing the same thing – representing our country – and we’re all proud to do that.”

And for Rank – who works full-time for the National Hockey League as a referee – this week is particularly special.

“It’s the pinnacle of my golf career so far,” he said.

It might be time for some of those dreams to become a reality.

The Pan Am Games golf competition gets started at 8 a.m. Thursday from Angus Glen. The full schedule can be found here.     

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – On a day for reminiscing at the home of golf, a team led by Arnold Palmer captured the Champion Golfers’ Challenge.

The four-hole exhibition on the eve of the British Open pitted squads comprised of past winners, with the best individual score on each hole going toward that team’s total.

The 85-year-old Palmer, who spawned an American invasion with his Open victories in 1961 and `62, hit the opening tee shot for his team Wednesday. He then turned things over to Paul Lawrie, who eagled the second hole and rolled in a long birdie putt on the 18th to give his team – which also included Darren Clarke and Bill Rogers – a 3-under total.

The squads captained by Tony Jacklin, Tom Weiskopf and Peter Thomson also were 3 under. But Palmer’s team won the top prize of >100,000 ($156,452), which will be donated to a charity of their choice, by having the highest average age.

Team Jacklin (which also included John Daly, Nick Faldo and Tom Lehman), Team Weiskopf (Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods) and Team Thomson (Ben Curtis, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson) all posted three birdies in four holes.

Tom Watson’s team (Ian Baker-Finch, Todd Hamilton and Louis Oosthuizen) finished at 2 under. Team Charles (Bob Charles, David Duval, Justin Leonard and Sandy Lyle) and Team Player (Gary Player, Stewart Cink, Mark Calcavecchia and Padraig Harrington) only managed to birdie the first hole.

No one seemed too concerned about the scores, however.

There were plenty of laughs and everyone paused for group pictures on the Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Tom Watson is filled with all sorts of conflicting emotions.

He’s melancholy that such a big part of his life is winding down, yet there’s an immense sense of pride in what he’s accomplished.

He’s realistic that it’s the right time to step away, but he can still flash that ol’ competitive streak when anyone suggests this is nothing more than a nostalgic farewell at the home of golf.

“This is not a ceremony at all,” Watson said Wednesday, his eyes steely and firm. “I’m trying to compete against these players out here.”

Some of them, such as Jordan Spieth, are young enough to be his grandchildren.

Which is why, in all likelihood, the 65-year-old Watson will be playing the British Open for the final time, a five-time champion making one last crossing of the Swilcan Bridge.

“There are some tools missing now, especially distance,” he moaned. “I need everything to compete against these kids,” pausing for emphasis. “Everything.”

Watson could earn the right to play another five years if he finishes in the top 10 this week, an exception that was hastily added to the Open’s 60-year-old age limit after he nearly became golf’s oldest major champion at Turnberry in 2009. Watson went to the 72nd hole with a one-stroke lead, only to make bogey and lose to Stewart Cink in a playoff.

That one still stings a bit, but Watson doesn’t spent too much time dwelling in the past.

When he does, the mind inevitably drifts to all the good times he had during the past four decades on the links courses of Scotland and England, a brand of golf he initially despised for the inexplicable bounces and the persnickety weather, for a capriciousness that was very much at odds with his desire to be precise in everything he did.

“I fought it. I didn’t particularly like it,” Watson recalled. “In fact, I didn’t like it at all when I first played here at St. Andrews in `78. I didn’t like the uncertainty of it, didn’t like the luck of the bounce, just didn’t like links golf.”

That would change, of course, as a victory at Carnoustie in his very first British Open in 1975 would lead to another two years later at Turnberry in the famous “Duel in the Sun” with Jack Nicklaus. Another title followed at Muirfield in 1980, then back-to-back wins at Troon and Birkdale in 1982 and `83. The claret jug would come to define his career, the Open providing five of his eight major titles and transforming this stoic man of the American Midwest into a beloved figure on this side of the Atlantic.

In recent days, Watson reflected on many of the people who passed through his life because of this tournament, going all the way back to his first Open as he prepared to face Jack Newton in an 18-hole playoff.

“I was leaving the house, and it’s raining, it’s cold, and here comes a little Scottish girl, comes up to the front door and says, `Mr. Watson, please take this for good luck,'” Watson said, his lips curling into a slight grin. “I could barely understand her, but I finally figured it out. She gave me a little thing of tinfoil, and in it was some white heather. I kept that in my bag for many years for luck, and it brought me good luck. But I remember that little girl.”

Watson also remembers an immigration worker at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow, a frequent entry point into the country early in the golfer’s career. The man spoke with a thick Scottish accent that Watson never quite deciphered, but it didn’t matter. They were able to connect on a different level.

“We were friends for years and years, a man whom I never understood, but understood that he liked me and I liked him,” said Watson, his eyes watering just a bit.

“There is a certain sense of melancholy. You can sense that. The regret that it’s over,” he said. “It’s a little bit like death. The finality of the end is here. But what tempers that very much are the memories and the people I’ve met along the way.”

Another big part of his life will end next spring. Watson decided this was also the right time to announce that the 2016 Masters will be his last, his decision influenced in large part by a second-round 81 at Augusta National this year.

“The golf course is too big for me,” he said. “When you shoot 81, it’s time to say goodbye.”

While Watson’s competitive nature would never allow him to totally rule out another turn-back-the-clock performance in the British Open, he knows this will surely be his final trip across the Swilcan Bridge, an emotional crossing that so many greats have walked before him, from Arnold Palmer to longtime friend and rival Nicklaus.

In fact, Watson was paired with Nicklaus for his final British Open a decade ago. That day, the younger man bawled his eyes out as the Golden Bear walked up the 18th fairway.

There will surely be a few more tears shed this week, whether Watson’s final shot comes on Friday or if he manages to hold off the inevitable until Sunday.

“Do I have any regrets?” he said. “The only regret I have is that it’s the end.”

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – With a chance to match history at the home of golf, Jordan Spieth is trying to make the British Open feel like just another event.

And that might be as tough as any challenge at St. Andrews.

The press room was at capacity and spilled out the door when he spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time this week, creating an atmosphere normally reserved for Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy. Fans gathered around a board that listed the practice round schedule, scanning up and down until they found Spieth.

“Please hold the cameras until after the shot,” caddie Michael Greller told the gallery. The sound of shutters began at the top of his swing, and Spieth could only laugh when he launched his tee shot. “It’s like this on every hole,” he said.

The 21-year-old Texan does not have the aura of Woods.

He does not have the accomplishments of McIlroy.

He still is the main attraction at this British Open, and would be even if McIlroy – the defending champion and No. 1 in the world – were not out with an ankle injury.

Folks know their history at St. Andrews.

Ben Hogan in 1953 is the only other player to capture the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year. Only three players since then – Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Woods – have ever come to Scotland with hopes of a Grand Slam.

Spieth knows history, too, as much as he’d rather not think about it until he has no choice.

“I like to study the history of golf, and it’s extremely special what this year has brought to our team,” he said. “And to have a chance to do what only one other person in the history of golf has done … I’m sure embracing that opportunity.

“But by the time I start on Thursday, it won’t be in my head. It’ll be about how can I bring this Open Championship down to just another event, get out there and try and get myself into contention.”

He set out for his final practice round on a cool morning with an overcast sky, occasional rain, and not much wind. There is plenty of talk about how ready Spieth will be for his shot at history. He played two full rounds and 10 holes leading up to the start Thursday. He played the Old Course four years ago on his way to the Walker Cup.

Then again, St. Andrews has rarely been this green, this slow, because of recent rain. That takes some of the roll out of the fairway, and with it the unpredictable nature of links golf.

Spieth is the betting favorite, and it didn’t hurt that he won the John Deere Classic on Sunday for his fourth PGA Tour title of the year. Whatever he lost in study by not coming over early, he might have gained in confidence that not much has changed since the U.S. Open.

“Coming over earlier certainly could have helped,” he said. “I just liked the fact that I could go somewhere I could play hard, and possibly win a PGA Tour event in preparation. But certainly, more time on this golf course couldn’t ever hurt anybody.”

The jet lag hasn’t been a problem. Besides, Spieth won the Australian Open in late November, flew straight to Dallas, went to Florida the next day for the Hero World Challenge, and beat an 18-man field of top 50 players by 10 shots.

But this is a full field, and the oldest championship in golf on the links where it all began.

“Maybe a slightly bigger stage,” Spieth said.

The only concern is the weather. It has been reasonable all week, though the forecast is for wind to increase up to 35 mph (55 kph) with shifting directions.

“It seems a little easier than I think it’ll play,” Spieth said. “So I would have liked to see tougher conditions in practice rounds to get used to prevailing winds and wind switches. That’s part of the fun and the adjustment.”

Everything seems fun to Spieth at the moment.

Just two years ago, he didn’t even have a full PGA Tour card when he won the John Deere Classic by holing a bunker shot on the 18th and winning a playoff. The next day he was in Muirfield, and the 19-year-old was three shots off the lead going into the weekend. He faded badly.

“I remember almost thinking like that was too big for me at the time in a way,” Spieth said. “I felt like I wanted to compete, I loved the pressure, and I felt like I could do it, but it was a position I’d never been in, and it was an odd feeling being in contention in a major on a weekend. It was brief. I didn’t finish well that round.”

It’s different now.

He dominated at Augusta National and tied Woods’ record score of 270 in a wire-to-wire victory. In the final hour of the U.S. Open, he kept reminding himself that he had won a major and others in contention had not.

Now, the trick is to forget about the green jacket and the U.S. Open trophy.

“When I step on the tee Thursday, I don’t look at this as trying to win three in a row,” Spieth said. “I look at this as trying to win The Open Championship at a very special place. That’s the hardest thing for me, is trying to forget about where you are because being here at St. Andrews and looking at the past champions and who wins Open Championships here, that’s elite company.

“And that’s something I’m just going to have to forget about more than the other two majors.”

Allison Chandler and Calvin Ross – who held shares atop their respective leaderboards – climbed into solo leads following the second round of the 2015 CN Future Links Atlantic Championship. The juniors encountered wet conditions with periods of rain splitting the sunny skies over Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B.

Chandler began the day holding a share of the three-way tie atop the Junior Girls division. The Chester, N.S., native separated herself from her competitors with a 5-over-par 77 performance to take the solo lead at 152. Chandler recorded birdies on holes 2 and 7, then kept a steady pace through the back nine as the rain began.

Claire Konning moved into second place, posting a score of 6-over 78 to sit 3 strokes behind the lead. The Indian Mountain, N.B., product recently finished runner-up at the New Brunswick Junior Girls Championship. Sharing third place at 156 are the 2015 New Brunswick Junior Girls Champion Laura Jones from Moncton, N.B., and Felixe Jacques from St-Gabriel de Valcartier, Que. The two signed for scores of 81 after holding shares of the first-day lead.

In the Junior Boys division, Calvin Ross emerged from the second round with the lead at even par after beginning the day in four-way tie for first. The Fredericton, N.B., native notched three birdies on the day and matched his opening round of 72. The 16-year-old recently finished second in this year’s New Brunswick Junior Boys Championship – a competition he won in 2014.

Three strokes back of the lead at 147 – and in a tie for second place – is five-time Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Boys Champion Blair Bursey. The Gander, Nfld., product recorded a second round of 2-over 74. He is joined by opening-round co-leader Julien Roy of Rimouski, Que., who shot 75 on the day.

Holding fourth place at 149 are Quebec natives William Gagné of Québec City, who posted a round of 76, and Vincent Poirier from Candiac, who shot 1-over 73.

The juniors at Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club are also vying for the opportunity to compete in their respective national junior competitions next month. The top six finishers in both the Junior Boys and Junior Girls divisions at the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship will be awarded exemptions into their respective national championships.

The 2015 Canadian Junior Boys Championship will be hosted at Summerlea Golf & Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., from August 2-6 while the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship will be contested from August 3-7 at Deer Park Golf Course in Yorkton, Sask. In addition, the CN Future Links Junior Girls Atlantic champion will receive an exemption into a 2016 Canadian Women’s Tour event of her choosing.

The final round of the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship will begin tomorrow with the first group on the tee at 7 a.m. ADT.

For complete scoring, final-round pairings and more information on the 2015 CN Future Links Atlantic Championship, please click here.