CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – Suzann Pettersen took a one-stroke lead Saturday in the Manulife LPGA Classic, making an eagle and four birdies on the first 11 holes and closing with seven pars for a 6-under 66.

Pettersen had a 19-under 197 total at Whistle Bear Golf Club. Bothered by a shoulder injury this season, the 34-year-old Norwegian player won the last of her 14 LPGA Tour titles in 2013.

“I can only look upwards, only I can set the pace,” Pettersen said. “Yeah, there’s a lot of people in the hunt for this and the course is playing great. I think it’s fun for the fans to see us shooting low scores and I’m excited to go back out there tomorrow and fight it to the very end.”

Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe was second after a 67.

“I’m a pretty aggressive player, so luckily I didn’t have to change my strategy here,” Uribe said. “I feel really confident right now, my driver’s pretty straight, so I like it.”

She won the tour’s unofficial HSBC Brazil Cup in 2011.

Cristie Kerr was third at 17 under, also after a 67. The American won the Kia Classic in California in March for her 17th LPGA Tour title.

“I think you can’t get too far back on a course like this,” Kerr said. “You’ve got to be able to stay within sight. Just got to play my own game and just start walking some putts in and put some pressure on the other people.”

Petersen birdied the first three holes, eagled the par-5 ninth and made another birdie on No. 11.

“I got off to a fantastic start,” Pettersen said. “Then, coming off 18, I don’t know if I felt like I played that well today. I kind of dried up a little bit towards the end. … Overall very happy, in a good position, but there’s a good job to be done tomorrow.”

Uribe rebounded from a bogey on No. 11 with birdies on 12 and 14.

“I just tried to stay patient, there’s so many options there to make birdie,” Uribe said. “I didn’t really start that well, birdie on No. 1, and then didn’t really make birdie til the end of the front nine, so just stayed patient there. I think of just my game.”

Kerr saved par with 15-foot putt on No. 16 and closed with a 15-footer for birdie on 18.

“That was a great birdie on the last hole,” Kerr said. “I think I jumped up in the air. I made a great putt on 16 and that was not an easy pin there, either. You know what, I was hitting so many good putts all day that nothing was dropping and I was getting a little frustrated. … I just got really determined down at the end there to make up a couple so I stay within reach tomorrow.”

Canadian Alena Sharp is currently T15 after a third round of 68. Natalie Gleadall carded a round of 70, while Sara-Maude Juneau and Sue Kim both shot a round of even par.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Mark Calcavecchia was carrying groceries into his brother-in-law’s house on Thanksgiving morning when he stumbled.

Calcavecchia’s right hand went through two panes of glass, slashing a tendon and leaving a finger dangling. Six months later, the 1989 British Open champion is finally playing like his old self.

Calcavecchia made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole Saturday for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic.

“I like it here,” said Calcavecchia, who grew up in nearby Laurel, Nebraska. “A lot of good things going on here for me.”

Calcavecchia had a 9-under 135 total at Wakonda Club.

Joe Durant was second after a 68. Paul Goydos, Brian Henninger and Michael Allen were tied for third at 7 under, all shooting 70.

The 54-year-old Calcavecchia had surgery in early December. He couldn’t swing a club for three months, and the lingering pain has limited the time he can spend on the range.

Calcavecchia entered the week with just one top-10 finish in seven events. He has two career victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 13 times on the PGA Tour.

“There’s still a whole bunch of guys that can win. So, basically (Sunday), I’m just trying to do what I’m doing,” said Calcavecchia, who has notched top 10s in each of his four previous trips to Iowa.

Durant bogeyed his first hole Saturday. He rallied, briefly holding the lead before Calcavecchia’s strong finish.

He’ll join Calcavecchia in Sunday’s final group in search of his second win of the year.

“I just didn’t get flustered,” Durant said. “I think you just have to stay very patient on this golf course. … The leaderboard is really bunched up. Someone is going to come out and shoot a good round. It’s going to take a good round from any of us to have a chance to win. But you just play the first round to put yourself in position.”

Billy Andrade, tied for the first-round lead after a 66, double-bogeyed his first hole Saturday and stumbled to a 76. He was tied for 32nd at 2 under

Jose Coceres, who joined Andrade atop the first-round leaderboard, shot a 73 to drop into a tie for 11th at 5 under.

One of tour’s oldest players made one of the best shots in the 15-year history of the Iowa event.

Larry Nelson, 67, used an 8-iron to ace the 172-yard 17th hole. It was the second hole-in-one for Nelson on the Champions Tour. He celebrated by tossing his ball to the crowd.

Nelson was tied for 42nd at 1 under after a 70.

MALMO, Sweden – Swedish golfer Alex Noren carded a 5-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead of the Nordea Masters in the third round on Saturday, while local favorite Henrik Stenson flew up 28 places to lie five shots back.

Noren, whose victory here in 2011 was his third and last on the European Tour, birdied four of his first five holes. He has three top-10s this year, including runner-up at the Dubai Desert Classic to Rory McIlroy.

Maximilian Kieffer of Germany was two shots behind after a 70, and Sebastian Soderberg (71) another shot back with Swedish countryman Jens Dantorp (73).

Stenson, the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 4, scored an eagle-3 on the first hole and birdied his last hole in a 68 to climb into a three-way tie for sixth.

Local amateur Marcus Kinhult, who led during the first two days, shot 77 and dropped into a tie for 14th.

MALMO, Sweden – Amateur golfer Marcus Kinhult of Sweden held on to a share of the lead of the Nordea Masters after a 4-under 68 in the second round Friday.

The 18-year-old Kinhult made his only bogey of the day on the sixth hole but bounced back with a birdie on the seventh. He is tied with fellow Swede Jens Dantorp (68) on 9-under 135.

The duo was two shots clear of countryman Sebastian Soderberg (70) and Germany’s Maximilian Kiefer, who bogeyed the final two holes to settle for a 69.

Mark Foster of England had a hole-in-one on the fourth hole but was tied for 80th after a 71.

Chris Paisley of England, who was in a three-way tie for the first-round lead with Kinhult and Dantorp, fell down the leaderboard after a 73.

PUMA Golf Canada & Golf Town have joined forces to pledge their support for Graham & Ruby DeLaet’s efforts to improve the health and wellness in children, as well as the development of junior golf.

PUMA Golf & Golf Town have joined forces to develop a Graham & Ruby DeLaet Foundation signature cap that will be sold exclusively at Golf Town locations throughout Canada. Proceeds from the sale of this cap will be donated to both Graham & Ruby the week of the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

“Both Graham & Ruby have been amazing ambassadors for not only PUMA Golf, but also for the entire Canadian golf community as a whole,” said Dave Burgess, Sr. Marketing Manager for COBRA PUMA Golf Canada. “We are extremely honoured to have them both as part of the PUMA Golf family and are particularly grateful that we can support such an amazing foundation.”

“This foundation continues to make such a great impact in both health and wellness initiatives and in the growth of golf in Canada,”  said Jane Hooper Perroud, Director of Marketing for Golf Town. “We know how important it is to promote and grow grassroots and amateur golf and are extremely pleased we can assist both Graham & Ruby with this program.”

The limited edition cap is currently is currently available at each of the 56 Golf Town locations throughout Canada. The cap was developed with Graham’s Canadian themed Sunday colour preference, Red, White & Black. Supporters are encouraged to help promote the campaign by using the hashtag #forekids.

“I am excited to be able to take my partnership with PUMA Golf to the next level, improving the wellness of children and the development of junior golf, through their support of the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation,” said Graham DeLaet. “By distributing these special edition caps through a top retailer like Golf Town, and proceeds benefiting the Foundation, I think we can raise a lot of funds to support some valuable initiatives.”

In mid-April, I had the pleasure of traveling to the Nova Scotia Golf Association’s spring meeting – an unofficial launch to the province’s golf season.  The gathering’s new educational format featured speakers from Golf Canada, the Golf Association of Ontario (GAO), and the USGA sharing valuable insights about membership, course rating, handicap, golf communities and pace of play.  We all left energized and ready for the start of another great season.  There was just one problem: only a single course was open throughout the entire province with lots of snow still lingering. The weather did not look as though it would provide any relief with cool temperatures on their way to keep the snow in place.

Our club visits in Nova Scotia brought us down to West Pubnico GC – the first club open this year. It was certainly refreshing to see flags waving on the greens and some golfers enjoying a cool but sunny day.  Shirley d’Entremont, President of the NSGA, took Dave Campbell, Executive Director of the NSGA, and I on a tour of her home course and it was delightful to feel the start of another season.

Once the season is in full swing, Nova Scotia is home to countless treasures. On a trip to Nova Scotia last fall, our visits took us up to Amherst and through some of the surrounding area.  One small quaint town near Springhill had a storied history surrounding a coal mine and a nice golf club supported by a tireless group of volunteers.  Parrsboro was another beautiful little 9-hole course in the area with a vista overlooking the exquisite Minas Basin.  As golfers, we usually think of the bigger destination courses when travelling, but it is important not to miss out on the many lesser known gems along the way.  You will not be disappointed.

After our tour, I had the thrill of spending some time on a lobster boat with Carl d’Entremont who was kind enough to take Dave Campbell and I out for a ride.   What an opportunity to enjoy a slice of life in West Pubnico!  The sea, the lobster, the fishermen – all parts of the passionate Nova Scotian lifestyle. With its seasonality, working in the concentrated lobster fishing season is in many ways similar to the drive that it takes to be in the golf industry in Canada.

Fast forward six weeks: the west has enjoyed a fabulous start; the prairie provinces were a little late, but are now rounding into form; and the Atlantic is now just starting to see some warmer temperatures.  Unfortunately, the same type of ice damage that affected Ontario last year is now an issue throughout parts of the Atlantic Provinces.

But with warming temperatures, it does seem as though that golf is finally underway throughout the country and hopefully, Mother Nature will provide some good weather for everyone to make some great golf memories. As the season unfolds, why not share those memories with all of Canada?

Tell us your story on golfcanadagolf.ca and read all about your fellow Canadians’ golf journeys or share your thoughts and pictures through social media with the hashtag #GolfCanadaGolf. I love telling you about my stories “On the Road” and would love to hear where you’ve been and what our great game has shown you.

Christine Dengel is a PGA of Canada golf professional with more than 30 years of experience in multiple facets of the golf industry, and a lifelong passion for and commitment to the game of golf. Prior to joining Golf Canada, she was a Territory Sales Manager for Callaway Golf Canada for 18 years. During her time with Callaway, Dengel managed the GTA and Southwestern Ontario territory from 1992-2005 and has managed the Southern Ontario territory since 2006.

Victoria – Toronto, Ontario’s Albin Choi, Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Taylor Pendrith and Seal Beach, California’s Dan Buchner shot matching rounds of 6-under 64 on Thursday at Uplands Golf Club to share the lead after one round at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist.

Pendrith, a 24-year old Mackenzie Tour rookie and co-runner-up in last week’s PC Financial Open playoff, birdied his final hole to join Choi’s early clubhouse lead, while Buchner navigated his way around Uplands without a bogey to match the lead at 6-under late in the afternoon.

“Obviously there are a lot of positives last week. Just being in the playoff was awesome. I had a really solid last round and I’m playing really well right now,” said Pendrith, who is now 14-under for his last 36 regulation holes after closing with an 8-under 64 last Sunday in Vancouver. “It’s nice to have another 64 today. I’m pleased with the round. It could have been a couple lower, but I’m happy.”

Buchner, a fifth-year Mackenzie Tour member, credited his solid play to familiarity with Uplands and a well-executed game plan on Thursday.

“I’m not the longest driver out here, but I might be the straightest, so this is a good course for me,” said the 41-year old Buchner of the tree-lined Uplands layout. “The one drive I hooked into the trees I pitched out and got up and down from 150 yards, so for the most part I stayed out of trouble.”

Earlier, Choi, who recorded his first career top-10 on the Mackenzie Tour last week, held the lead for most of the morning before finishing with a bogey on the ninth, his final hole of the day, to settle for a 6-under 64.

“It always stings to end with a bogey, but that’s why it’s a four day tournament and there are still three days left. I’m just looking forward to what’s coming ahead,” said the 23-year old. Choi was born in Surrey, B.C. and made his pro debut at Uplands in 2013. “I feel great being in British Columbia and on the west coast being from here. I had my pro debut here a couple of years ago and I remember this course very well. It was nice to play well today.”

One shot back of the trio at 6-under was Eugene Wong, making his 2015 Mackenzie Tour season debut, along with J.J. Spaun and Ryan Brehm.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Hideki Matsuyama was bracing for a rough day at the Memorial and wound up with a share of the lead Thursday.

Tiger Woods still doesn’t know what to expect.

Matsuyama made a bold start in his bid to join Woods as the only repeat winners at Muirfield Village by running off four straight birdies on the back nine and one strong par save on his way to an 8-under 64 that tied the Japanese star with Bo Van Pelt.

“To be honest with you, up until yesterday I was not hitting the ball very well, I was not chipping very well, I was not putting very well,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “And I don’t know what happened overnight. We just caught magic.”

It was a dream start for Van Pelt for other reasons. He grew up across the state line in Indiana and used to play hooky from school to attend the Memorial from the time he was 10 until he got out of high school. Muirfield Village is where he first dreamed about playing the PGA Tour. In calm conditions under an overcast sky, Van Pelt made a career-best 10 birdies for his best score in 41 rounds at the course Jack Nicklaus built.

“Other than the Masters, this tournament means more to me than any one I’ve ever played,” Van Pelt said. “So it’s always good to play well around a place that means a lot to you.”

Woods, a five-time winner of the Memorial, wasn’t sure what he was going to get. He hooked his tee shot and started with a bogey for the eighth time in his last nine starts on the PGA Tour. He went so far right off the tee at the 18th that it went out-of-bounds (the next tee shot wasn’t much better) and made double bogey to go out in 40. He hooked his 3-wood on the first hole. It was looking like another big number.

Instead, Woods battled to save pars and convert birdies, and he salvaged a 73 that left him nine shots behind.

“Physically, I feel good. Mentally, I feel beat up,” Woods said. “To turn that round around like I did today … that was hard.”

He was determined to stick with the changes he is making to his swing under a fourth coach as a pro, no matter how long it takes. Considering he hasn’t had a top 10 in his last 13 events dating to the end of 2013, this could take time.

“I was just trying to stay committed to what we’re working on, to what we’re doing,” he said. “I hit it awful, yeah. So what? I was going to go through this phase and stick with it, keep sticking with it. And some of the shots I hit were really, really good. But then I also had some really bad shots, too. And we need to work on that.”

Matsuyama won the Memorial last year in a playoff. It was his first win in America and validated him as one of the many rising stars in golf.

He said every course on the PGA Tour feels difficult to him, and even when he made a pair of 15-foot birdie putts on his way to a 32 on the front nine while playing with Phil Mickelson (72) and Rickie Fowler (72), he wasn’t comfortable.

“I was just trying to hang on,” he said.

So was Jason Dufner, the former PGA champion, whose tied for eighth last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson ended a stretch of 17 events on American soil without a top 10. He was tied for the lead after making a 60-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole and was still poised to join Matsuyama and Van Pelt at 64 until he pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and closed with a double bogey.

That put him at 66, along with Russell Knox, who fed his putts off the ridges beautifully in making seven birdies.

Harris English and Kevin Kisner were among those at 67. Masters champion Jordan Spieth, who saved the start of his round with a world-class short game, was cruising along until one mistake turned a birdie into a bogey on the par-5 seventh late in his round. He had to settle for a 68.

English (No. 70 in the world) and Kisner (No. 61) each have a chance to do well enough at the Memorial to avoid U.S. Open qualifying next week. Another important start belonged to Patrick Rodgers, who has his last chance to gain special temporary membership on the PGA Tour.

Woods grabbed the most attention for two reasons. He’s Tiger Woods, still enough to attract the biggest gallery. And there remains a mystery about the game of a 79-time PGA Tour winner who has plunged to No. 172 in the world.

Most intriguing about his assessment of Thursday’s round was a stubbornness to see the changes to a conclusion, no matter how long that takes. Previous changes have taken as long as 18 months for Woods to figure it out. Time is no longer on his side, however, not at his age and with five surgeries behind him.

“I’ve gone through phases like this, rounds like this, where yeah, it’s easy to revert back and go ahead and hit some old pattern,” he said. “But it doesn’t do you any good going forward. And I’ve done it. Sometimes it’s taken me about a year and then it kicked in and I did pretty good after that. … If you believe in it, do it. And eventually it will start turning.

“And when it turns, I’ve had periods where I’ve played good for four or five years, where I’ve won close to 20 tournaments in that stretch.”

The lowest Canadian on the day was Graham DeLaet who shot a 3-under 69 to place him tied 21, and one shot back is David Hearn.

CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – Cheyenne Woods, Cristie Kerr and P.K. Kongkraphan matched the course record at 9-under 63 on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Manulife LPGA Classic.

Woods, Tiger Woods’ niece, and Kerr tied the Whistle Bear Golf Club record set by Matt Bettencourt and Jon Mills, in the Web.com Tour’s 2005 Canadian PGA Championship. The tournament is in its first year at Whistle Bear after three years at Grey Silo in Waterloo.

Woods had an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey in calm morning conditions.

“It wasn’t very windy today,” Woods said. “I thought it played a little shorter than it had the past few days because maybe the wind was down. So, I think there are a lot of birdies out there. The par 5s are birdie-able, eagle-able, so I think it’s playing pretty good. It’s a nice course.”

The 24-year-old LPGA Tour rookie made a 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth.

“I played really solid all day,” said Woods, who won the Ladies European Tour’s Australian Ladies Masters last year for her biggest victory. “I had one bogey, which was a stupid three-putt, but overall I played solid. And I think the biggest thing, we were just having fun out there, Jaye Marie (Green) and I were talking the whole day and it was very relaxed, very relaxed atmosphere while we were playing. That’s sometimes when I play my best.”

The 37-year-old Kerr had 10 birdies and a bogey, playing her opening nine in a career-best 7-under 29. She won the Kia Classic in California in March for her 17th LPGA Tour title.

“The course has pretty generous fairways and, I mean, our tour is so good with talent that I knew somebody was going to shoot a low number,” Kerr said. “Maybe I thought not as many people would shoot such low numbers, but there were definitely birdies out there today.”

Kongkraphan, from Thailand, also had 10 birdies and a bogey.

“I hit the ball very solid today,” Kongkraphan said.

Israel’s Laetitia Beck and Germany’s Sandra Gal were a stroke back.

Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, the winner Sunday in New Jersey in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, topped the group at 65 along with South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, a two-time winner this season.

Second-ranked Inbee Park, the winner last year at Grey Silo, opened with a 69. Third-ranked Stacy Lewis had a 70, and top-ranked Lydia Ko shot 71.

“Hopefully, tomorrow there will be many more birdies,” said Ko, a two-time winner this year.

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian who was third in the Swinging Skirts in April in California, had a 71. The crowd chanted “Go Canada Go!” and cheered loudly for Henderson

“It was different,” said Henderson, from Smith Falls, Ontario. “The crowd was more in my favor, which was amazing and such an awesome experience. I’m hoping that the next couple days I’ll play well enough so that the crowd’s not just there to see me play but to see me play really well.”

Sister Brittany Henderson opened with a 72.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., was the top Canadian at 5-under par 67.

MALMO, Sweden – Swedish amateur Marcus Kinhult was in a three-way tie for the lead after the opening day of the Nordea Masters on 5-under-par 67 on Thursday.

Countryman Jens Dantorp and England’s Chris Paisley were with him, one stroke ahead of nine golfers on 4 under.

The 18-year-old Kinhult sank five birdies on the back nine.

“I just want to keep on playing and hope I’ll be able to accelerate. It’s just the first of four rounds,” he told Swedish news agency TT.

Paisley bogeyed his second hole but hit six birdies at PGA Sweden National.

World No. 4 Henrik Stenson came in at 2 under, while defending champion Thongchai Jaidee scored a 1-over 73.