BELMONT, Mass. – Bernhard Langer has an eight-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Senior Players Championship, and that doesn’t leave much hope for the golfers chasing him.

The defending champion shot a 4-under 67 in the third round on Saturday and is 16 under in the third senior tour major of the year. Langer has never shot worse than 70 in the final round of the Senior Players.

At the Senior British Open last year, he led by eight strokes after 54 holes and won by 13 – the largest margin of victory in Champions Tour history.

“My goal is to shoot under par. And, if I can do that, it will be very difficult for anyone to catch me,” said Langer, who is trying to become the first repeat winner at the event since Arnold Palmer in 1984-85. “I’m eager to put a `W’ behind my name. But I’m not saying I’m there yet.”

Russ Cochran was even for the day and in second place at the 6,812-yard, par-71 Belmont Country Club.

“He’s a heck of a player and you expect him to take care of his business,” said Cochran, who hasn’t won on the Champions Tour since 2013. “I’m hoping to use this as a building block. … You never know, a victory down the line might start right here.”

Scott Verplank shot a 66 in the third round to move into a four-way tie for third with Colin Montgomerie, Jeff Hart and Guy Boros. Billy Andrade started the day at 1 under and birdied three of the first four holes. He eagled the par-4 eighth hole and finished at 6 under, tied for seventh.

“I knew I needed to shoot a couple of 65s and maybe Bernhard would relax over the weekend,” said Andrade, who is from Bristol, Rhode Island. “But he’s playing so good I don’t know if anyone has a chance.”

After matching 65s in the first two rounds, Langer had a pair of birdies on the front nine and two more on the back in his second straight bogey-free round. He is seeking his 24th victory on the Champions Tour, tying him with Miller Barber for fourth on the career list.

His eight-stroke lead after 54 holes is tied for the largest in the tour’s history. He was ahead by eight after three rounds at Royal Porthcawl last year, matching Jack Nicklaus’ lead in the 1991 Senior PGA Championship.

“Whenever you have a lead on a very good field it takes some really good play,” Langer said. “There are some great champions out there.”

Hale Irwin, who turned 70 on June 3, shot 70 on Saturday. It’s the 18th time he has matched or bettered his age on the Champions Tour.

Montgomerie and Boros each threatened Cochran for second place, improving to 8 under before bogeying the 17th hole. When Langer came around to the 501-yard, par-5, he chipped to six feet to set up another birdie.

“We all kind of marvel at his clarity. He stands over it and he performs,” said Cochran, who will be in the final group with Langer again on Sunday. “So that’s what I take from the day: just how he goes about his business and what a great performer he is.”

ATZENBRUGG, Austria – Gregory Bourdy of France carded a 69 to maintain his lead at the Lyoness Open Saturday, two strokes clear of Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello and five ahead of England’s Chris Wood.

Bourdy, eyeing his fifth European Tour win and the first since the Wales Open two years ago, had four birdies to go 15-under 201.

Cabrera-Bello eagled the par-4 third along with six birdies for a 6-under 66.

Wood trailed Bourdy by four overnight but the Englishman lost another stroke, mainly because of a double bogey on the last hole of his front nine.

Scott Jamieson shot a 7-under 65 for the lowest score of the round and the Scotsman climbed to shared fourth position, six strokes off the lead.

Play was interrupted for more than 90 minutes because of thunderstorms.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brooks Koepka is tuning up quite nicely for the U.S. Open at the event he added at the deadline.

Koepka, who had a share of the lead after the first round, shot a 3-under 67 Friday to lead the St. Jude Classic by a stroke after 36 holes. He turned in a four birdie-one bogey round for a 9-under 131.

“Playing solid golf, no mistakes, being very patient, waiting for my opportunities to come,” Koepka said. “And when they have come, I’ve kind of taken advantage of them, but I still feel like I could be about 5, 6 under par … Really haven’t been firing on all cylinders, but good enough to be at the top.”

Austin Cook (64) was at 132. The Arkansas native is playing his tour event after getting a sponsor’s exemption.

“There’s a lot of people here, and I’m sure lot more buying tickets right now to come tomorrow,” Cook said after matching the best round.

TPC Southwind played firmer with temperatures in the 90s drying out the course, and that has greens playing faster along with some tricky pin placements Friday.

Koepka hit 14 of 18 greens for a second straight round and needed 28 putts Friday. The Floridian who won his first career title in February in Phoenix likes his chances going into the weekend as he tries to join Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker as multiple winners on tour this season.

“I haven’t blitzed the golf course yet,” Koepka said. “You can shoot 8, 9 under in a round out here. I feel like the greens are so good, you put the ball in the fairway you really take it 8, 9 under. Being in the lead is nice, but would have liked to have been a few more under par.”

Steve Alker briefly had the lead at 10 under with two holes to play only to finish bogey-double bogey. He had a 68-133 total and needed only 23 putts Friday as he got to 10 under with his sixth birdie of the round.

Alker said he picked the wrong club on the par-3 No. 8 where his tee shot landed short of the green leading to his second bogey of the round. Then he put his first three shots on No. 9 – his 18th hole – in the rough leading to double bogey.

The New Zealand native who now lives in Arizona said he wasn’t aware he was the first to 10 under at TPC Southwind.

“It’s a good thing it’s not Sunday and finish two behind that would be bad,” Alker said. “You have to look at the positives and say, `I’ve got two days left.’ I’ve been swinging it pretty good and still learning the putter, so there’s a lot of good things going on.”

Chris Smith (67), Russell Knox (64) and Greg Owen (70) were among seven tied at 134. Ryan Palmer (71) shared the first-round lead with Koepka and Owen and was tied with three others at 135.

At one point Friday, as many as five were tied atop the leaderboard with eight having a piece of the lead at some point.

Koepka was tied with four others when he teed off in the afternoon and promptly birdied his opening hole to take the lead to himself. Koepka, who played at Florida State and joined the PGA Tour last year, took the lead back with consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

He called his birdie on the par-5 16th a bit embarrassing after his attempted chip for eagle missed by 3 feet.

Phil Mickelson was tied with seven others at 137 after a 69. He spent some time on the range before his afternoon tee time, which helped him hit better shots both off the tee and with his irons. Mickelson said pin placements kept him from attacking the greens, but he agrees that this course can give up even a 7-under round to anyone making birdies.

“The swing is starting to feel a lot better,” Mickelson said. “I feel a lot more confident on where the ball is going to go, and so hopefully I’ll be able to put it together tomorrow and have a good round and get in contention.”

Divots: Steven Bowditch and Retief Goosen were among those missing the cut at 1 over with 76 playing the weekend. … David Hearn had his hole-in-one on tour on No. 4 with a 6-iron from 185 yards and shot 68 to make the cut, and Hudson Swafford had an ace on No. 14 with a 9-iron from 169 yards. Hearn said this was his eighth overall and first since holing out on No. 8 here in a practice round with the same club. … Kevin Chappell tied the course record with a 29 on the back nine with six birdies. He finished with a 64-135.

Other Canadians in the field to miss the cut include Corey Conners (72), Mike Weir (75) and Roger Sloan (79).

HARRISON, N.Y. – Sei Young Kim of South Korea has already won twice in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour.

Now the 22-year-old is taking aim at a major title, making an eagle on the 15th hole for a 5-under 68 Friday and a one-shot lead after the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Kim overtook Hall-of-Famer Karrie Webb, who birdied the 18th for a 71. Kim, who turned pro in 2010 and played on the LPGA of Korea Tour, shot bogey-free golf to finish at 8-under 138 at the Westchester Country Club.

“My goal for this year is to become top five,” Kim said through an interpreter, “and if I win a major, I could be one step closer.”

Two-time defending champion Inbee Park (68) joined Webb a stroke back.

Suzann Pettersen rallied with seven birdies for the best round of the day at 66 and tied Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson (73) at 6 under. Overnight leader Jenny Shin (75) and third-ranked Stacy Lewis (71) were three shots behind the leader.

Pettersen improved her score from the opening round by eight shots, making seven birdies from No. 5 to No. 15. Coached by Butch Harmon, Pettersen was coming off a win in Canada.

“I felt my speed of the greens was a little bit off yesterday. But stuck to the game plan,” she said. “I didn’t practice much after. I’m right where I want to be.”

Top-ranked Lydia Ko (76) missed the cut, which was 2 over, ending her streak of 53 consecutive made cuts. She had a double bogey on No. 2 to start her day and finished with four bogeys and three birdies.

“I just made a double and just couldn’t get anything turned around,” said the 18-year-old from New Zealand. “I missed a lot of 9-footers. I made two good putts the last two holes; it was already kind of too late.”

Kim won LPGA Tour events in the Bahamas and Hawaii this year. She said she likes the West Course, and watched a talented male pro play on the longtime home of the PGA Tour event now called The Barclays.

“I was inspired by Tiger Woods, how he was able to make shots and shot-making,” Kim said.

The 40-year-old Webb had three birdies and a bogey on the par-3 16th on another steamy day with temperatures in the 80s, which helped dry the greens. She hit her pitch shot within 5 feet on the par-5, 525-yard final hole.

“Nice to finish with a birdie on the last,” Webb said. “It was a little bit more difficult today. I think the greens really dried out a little bit. It was still quite challenging to get the ball close to the hole.”

The 17-year-old Henderson had five birdies and five bogeys in an up-and-down round with her father Dave as caddie. After three-putting on her final hole Thursday to finish a shot behind Shin, she bogeyed two of the first five holes on Friday.

She hit her approach shot at No. 17 within 8 feet for a possible birdie putt and a tie for the lead, but it ran past on the right.

“I didn’t have my A game,” said Henderson, playing in her fourth major. “I hit a lot of shots just really close to being really good but would just roll off the back because the greens. Just one of those days you have to learn from and move on.”

Henderson, who turned pro in December, is playing on a sponsor exemption because she is below the LPGA Tour’s age requirement of 18.

“It’s really exciting seeing my name up there with Stacy Lewis and Karrie Webb and all the big names,” she said. “It’s awesome. I think I just have to stay patient, stay consistent and keep working on my game and I think good things will happen.”

After shooting a bogey-free, 7-under 66 Thursday for a one-stroke lead after the opening round, Shin needed nine more shots on Friday. The 22-year-old Shin, who is seeking her first major, started on No. 10 and eagled the par-5, 525 yard 18th hole. But she had bogeys on Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 8, with a birdie on No. 7, to finish the front nine at 39.

“I wanted to shoot under par and try to get away from everybody as much as possible and do the Jordan Spieth and win by like 10 shots,” Shin said. “But I was so frustrated, and I think that’s one of the reasons why I made so many bogeys.”

Lewis recovered from a double bogey on No. 2 with consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh holes and capped her round with a tap-in birdie at the 18th.

“I think the officials didn’t quite like the 7 under they saw yesterday, so the golf course was set up a lot tougher,” said Lewis, a two-time major winner. “It played more like a major, which I like.”

Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, and British teenager Charley Hull were in a group at 4 under. Hull, tied for the lead at 8 under at the 12th, bogeyed four of the last six holes to finish at 74.

Michelle Wie, bothered by ankle and hip injuries, birdied the 18th for a 72 to make the cut.

Canadian Alena Sharp shot a 1-over-par 74 today to make it to the weekend. Rebecca Lee-Betham shot a round of even par today but missed the cut along with fellow Canadian Sue Kim.

The sun was out as junior golfers took to Cooke Municipal Golf Course for the first round of the 2015 CN Future Links Prairie Championship in Prince Albert, Sask. Alexander Smith and Mary Parsons, both 16 years of age, shot 69 to top their respective leaderboards.

Alexander Smith registered the day’s only score in the 60s in the Junior Boys division. The Calgary, Alta., native set an early pace for his round by recording an eagle on the second hole en route to a 3-under par 69. Josh Miller of Victoria, B.C., sits one shot back after a 2-under 70. In third place, from Yorkton, Sask., is Kade Johnson who opened with a 1-over-par round of 73.

Delta, B.C., native Mary Parsons carded a 69 to lead the Junior Girls Division following an impressive round that included seven birdies. Team Canada Development Squad member Alisha Lau of Richmond, B.C., holds solo second after carding a 2-over par round of 74. In third place is fellow B.C. native Phoebe Yue from West Vancouver with a score of 76.

The top six finishers in the Junior Boys and Junior Girls divisions from the CN Future Links Prairie Championship and the other five editions of the CN Future Links Championship series will be awarded direct entry into their respective national junior championships.

The 2015 Canadian Junior Boys Championship will be hosted by Summerlea Golf and Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., from August 2-6, while the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship will take place in Yorkton, Sask., from August 3-7 at Deer Park Golf Course. In addition, the six CN Future Links Junior Girls champions will gain exemptions into a 2016 Canadian Women’s Tour event of their choice.

Second round action at the CN Future Links Prairie Championship begins tomorrow with the Junior Girls teeing off at 7 a.m. CST followed by the Junior Boys at 8:20 a.m. CST.

Additional information including full first round results from the 2015 CN Future Links Prairie Championship can be found here.

BELMONT, Mass. – Jesper Parnevik took one look at the tree-lined, hilly Belmont Country Club this week and immediately found a favorite.

“This is very much a Bernhard Langer-type of golf course,” Parnevik said he remembered thinking.

Langer has proved him right, posting a second consecutive 6-under 65 Friday in what he called a “stressless” bogey-free round that gave him a four-shot lead halfway through the Senior Players Championship.

“Somebody said, `That’s pretty boring stuff: 65, 65,'” Langer said after hitting all but one green in regulation. “I don’t think it is. I’d like to do it every day.”

Russ Cochran’s slump-busting 65 left him alone in second, while Steve Pate set a course-record with a bogey-free 63. That put him in a three-way tie for third and six shots back with the weary Lee Janzen and Parnevik, the Champions Tour newcomer who shot 66.

All have plenty to do to catch Langer on the old-school Donald Ross layout hosting this tournament for the first time. Langer took command by sinking a 40-foot putt on 16 for his sixth birdie. His lone hiccup was a three-putt par from just off the 17th green.

“That German engineering,” Parnevik said of Langer. “He never breaks down. He’s tough to beat at a place like this. He’s so systematic.”

Langer is without a victory this year in which he’s been slowed by injuries. But this week he’s looked much like his 2014 self that won this event and four others.

The 57-year-old Langer is nearing a 24th Champions Tour title. He’d also be the first repeat winner of the Senior Players since Arnold Palmer in 1984-85.

And the wiry Langer’s fitness should help this weekend as the over-50 tour deals with another difficult walking course.

“French Lick was very tough, Des Moines was maybe even harder, and even Shoal Creek is a pretty good walk,” Langer said. “I just see it going into the fitness trailer, the physio truck at the end of the day. A couple guys get treated and they all fall asleep.”

Janzen is perhaps the most in need of a nap. He was the medalist in a 36-hole sectional Monday in Purchase, New York, that earned him a spot in next week’s U.S. Open. He sat at 7 under before a bogey-par-par finish left him at 69.

Without the wind from a day earlier and with the temperature in the 80s, the course yielded a record round.

A couple hours after Brad Faxon bested the previous course mark by a shot with a 64, Pate eclipsed him with a bogey-free, eight-birdie round with his distinctive yellow ball.

It was a relief for Pate, who entered the week with a 72.82 scoring average. He shot 73 Thursday.

“I was not doing anything really badly. I just haven’t been doing anything really well,” Pate said after his best Champions Tour round. “It’s a very fine line, and quite a bit of it is between the ears.”

Cochran nearly matched him with a seven-birdie round that broke with what’s been a difficult season that’s left him 35th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

“Where I am with my game, I felt like I needed a good round,” Cochran said.

Colin Montgomerie, who won last month’s Senior PGA Championship for his third major victory in six starts, shot 71 and was nine shots back.

Even with the daunting task of catching Langer, Parnevik was thrilled to be in the hunt in the 81-player field that had no 36-hole cut. Parnevik turned 50 in March.

“I’ve been so injured the last seven years,” Parnevik said. “I’m so happy the body feels OK and I can play again.”

INVERNESS, N.S. – Excitement for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf has been building for months.

The buzz comes to a head this Monday however with 64 of the PGA of Canada’s best players teeing it up at the famed Cabot Links, in Inverness N.S., all battling for the association’s most prestigious championship and historic P.D. Ross trophy.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out to Cabot Links for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada,” said Billy Walsh, the No. 1 player from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC. “I’ve heard nothing but incredible things from people who have been onsite at Cabot Links. It really looks to be a perfect spot for the PGA of Canada’s biggest and most prestigious championship.”

Cabot Links, which debuted at No. 2 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Ranking and is currently No. 42 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is located on the western shores of Cape Breton Island in Inverness, N.S.

Nestled between the rural community of Inverness and the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Rod Whitman-designed course Canada’s first authentic links layout. The natural and rugged Nova Scotia landscape—dramatic seaside, undulating terrain, sandy soil—dictates the layout of the course with every hole affording an ocean view and five holes playing adjacent to the beach.

“We are thrilled and honoured to host one of Canada’s most storied championships, the PGA Championship of Canada—an event dating back to 1912 with decorated winners such as George Knudson, Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer—that continues to produce exceptional champions,” said Cabot Links managing partner Ben Cowan-Dewar. “We look forward to watching the PGA of Canada’s top-ranked players battle it out in this compelling format—a format that greatly complements the links style of golf offered here at Cabot Links.”

Since re-launching in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada has been contested as a match play event with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy.

However, this year’s championship at Cabot Links, which takes place June 15-18, sees a format change, with 64 top-ranked players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC playing two rounds of stroke play. The top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event will fill out the four match play brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.

“The format change for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada is bound to be an exciting one,” said the PGA of Canada’s managing director of championships and events Adam LeBrun. “We feel the players who are playing the best will ultimately make it through to the match play portion of the event where the matches will be undoubtedly tight, tough and exciting affairs.”

For first round tee times, click here.

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Currently, Walsh sits No. 1 on the player rankings with 316 points, ahead of 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and 2013 winner Bryn Parry of North Vancouver.
The PGA of Canada is also pleased to announce a new host club exemption into the PGA Championship of Canada starting in 2015 and continuing for all future PGA Championships under the current format. This year, Cabot Links’ PGA head professional Ryan Hawley has accepted the exemption and will tee it up.

Levesque looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the championship since Knudson won in 1976 and 1977. In 2014, Levesque bested Walsh 2-up in the final match at Uxbridge, Ont.’s, Wyndance Golf Club to become the third winner from Quebec since 2011 to capture the championship. Vincent Dumouchel won in 2011 at Cottonwood Golf and Country Club in Calgary, while Laporte won the following year at Country Hills Golf Club, which is also in Calgary.

The players who don’t make the 36-hole cut will compete in the GolfNorth Skins Game Wednesday at the historic Cape Breton Highlands Links in Ingonish, N.S.

Attendance to the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during tournament play.

The 14th Canadian Women’s Tour continues with its second stop of the season heading to Smiths Falls, Ont. at the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club from June 15-17.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brooke Henderson – the highest ranked Canadian professional – and her older sister Brittany will headline the competition to be contested at their home club. The younger Henderson is the defending champion of the Canadian Women’s Tour’s Ontario stop, having won last year’s event as an amateur in Niagara Falls. The 17-year-old went on to claim the Tour’s finale at the 2014 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.

This year’s event will open with the sisters’ inaugural charity Pro-Am – the “Magenta Mortgage Pro-Am presented by Mike Fair Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac Ltd. in support of the Team Henderson 110% Club” on Monday, June 15 before a field of 86 Canadian and international professionals and amateurs tee off for the 36-hole competition on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The purse for the tournament is set at $60,000 with a $10,000 share awarded to the winner. The champion will also receive an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open taking place August 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C.

“Golf Canada is thrilled to bring the Ontario stop of the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour to Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club,” said Mary Beth McKenna, Tournament Director for the event. “We will have a strong and experienced field with a number of players looking to impress friends and family in attendance. With an exemption into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open for the taking, it should be a very exciting tournament on a beautiful course.”

The Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club will test the talented athletes with a variety of elevation changes, well-protected greens and a winding layout through sprawling forests of mature cedar, spruce and evergreens.

Among those in contention will be Corona, Calif., native Michelle Piyapattra, who won the Tour’s first stop earlier this month at Calgary’s Glencoe Golf & Country Club. It was the second consecutive year in which she emerged victorious on the Tour’s first leg. Piyapattra is currently in her rookie season on the Symetra Tour.

A number of former Canadian Women’s Tour champions will be joining Piyapattra and the Henderson sisters, including Jessica Boris née Shepley. The Oakville, Ont., product has registered multiple victories on the Tour and has claimed two PGA Women’s Championship of Canada titles. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., and Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C., will also set their sights on returning to the winners’ circle of the Canadian Women’s Tour.

Canada’s national teams will be well-represented at the competition. Joining Brooke Henderson from the Young Pro Squad will be Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont., who finished tied for fourth at both the 2011 and 2012 Tour stops in B.C. The four members of Canada’s National Amateur Team – Calgary native Jennifer Ha, Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and Allen, Tex. product Maddie Szeryk who is coming off a strong freshman year at Texas A&M – will also vie for the prized exemption into the 43rd playing of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

The final stop on the tour, the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, is scheduled for July 20-22 at Burlington Golf & Country Club in Burlington, Ont.

The champions of each Canadian Women’s Tour event will earn entry into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Also joining the field will be the top two competitors on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit who are not otherwise exempt, provided they play in at least two of the three events.

The five highest ranked players on the Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit will also be awarded direct entry into the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School.

For more information please visit the tournament’s official website.

ATZENBRUGG, Austria – Gregory Bourdy widened his lead at the Lyoness Open Friday by shooting a 5-under 67 to go four strokes clear of fellow Frenchman Gary Stal and Chris Wood of England.

Bourdy, seeking his fifth European Tour title, followed up his 65 from Thursday with five birdies on his front nine before dropping his first stroke of the week. He’s at 12-under 132 at the midway stage.

Stal carded five birdies on his way to a 68, while Woods had two bogeys on the front nine to go with five birdies for a 69.

Spanish pair Carlos Pigem and Rafa Cabrera-Bello shared fourth, another stroke off the lead.

Former champion Bernd Wiesberger, at No. 37 the highest-ranked player in the field, shot a 67 but missed the cut following his 79 from the first day.

NORTHERN IRELAND, U.K. – Team Canada’s Maddie Szeryk came up just shy in her comeback bid in the Ladies British Open Amateur quarter-final on Friday, falling 1 down to Olivia Mehaffey at the Portstewart Golf Club.

Szeryk, 18, held an early lead after winning the par-3 3^rd but Mehaffey quickly drew even two holes later. The two battled all match, remaining all-square through 13 until Ireland’s Mehaffey built up a 2-hole advantage with consecutive wins on the 14^th and 15^th.  Szeryk made it interesting with a win on the 16^th, but the Texas A&M sophomore could not complete the comeback in the final two holes despite carding a bogey-free round.

Team Canada teammates Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont. bowed out earlier in the morning’s round of 16. Marchand, 22, struggled against world No. 22 ranked Linnea Strom of Sweden, losing 5&3. Tong, a recent graduate of Indiana University, was defeated by Belgian Charlotte De Corte, 2&1.

Tomorrow’s semi-final will take place at 8:30 a.m. BST, followed by the 18-hole finale later that afternoon.

Click here for full scoring