Maddie Szeryk has long been considered one of Canada’s top young golf prospects. And so far in her first season as a professional, the former amateur standout is proving that she’s up for the challenge.

Szeryk had an impressive amateur and collegiate career with the Texas A&M Aggies – winning four collegiate tournaments in her four years playing with the team.

She decided to go back for a fifth year to complete her studies and just graduated earlier this year.

“It’s exciting to be able to finished that chapter and to be able to focus full-time now on golf,” said Szeryk at the Team Canada media day in June.

In May, the London, Ont., native had her best result as a pro when she scored a second place finish at the Zimmer Biomet Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez.

The Symetra Tour rookie was happy she was able to raise her level of play for the big tournament.

“It was awesome and it didn’t hurt that it was one of the biggest purses of the year so it was a great tournament to play well at,” said Szeryk of her second place finish.

“It was my first finals pairing on the Symetra Tour, so it’s great to get that experience also. I think its huge to know that I can play so well on such a big stage and to know that I can really turn it on when it counts,” she added.

Szeryk’s strong start to the 2019 Symetra season has her in contention for a spot in the top 10 on the Symetra Tour’s money list. And of course those who finish the season in the top 10 on the Symetra Tour earnings score their full LPGA Tour card for the 2020 season.

According the Tristan Mullally, head coach of the Canadian women’s national team, the second place finish at the Zimmer Biomet Championship provides just a glimpse of what Szeryk is capable of when she plays up to her potential.

“Maddie has been a top amateur in the world for the last couple of years. She was really close to getting her LPGA card last year and she wasn’t happy about not getting it – but she’s refocused and understands that this is her journey.” noted Mullally.

“Playing on the Symetra tour is great experience for Maddie because it gives her opportunity to get out there and play against other good players and cut her teeth a little bit. It allows young players to get used to life as a professional golfer. She’s showed at the Zimmer Bioment that when she plays her game she’s capable of great results,” he added.

Mullally speaks highly about Szeryk’s overall game.

“Inside 150 years she’s lethal. She’s very aggressive to tight pins has great distance control and is one of the best putters that I’ve seen when she’s on,” he pointed out.

“When you combine her great iron play with the fact that she makes her putts she scan go very low – and that’s the kind of thing you need to do be a winner on LPGA Tour.”

The 23-year-old is a fifth year member of the National Team Program – first four years on the amateur squad and now first season on young pro squad – says she’s grateful for the support she’s received over that time.

“Tristan has helped me so much with my game in terms of learning about myself and my game. And we also have physio and a mental coach and they’ve been great. We’ve been supported both on and off the golf course and that’s really helped my game a lot,” said the Texas A&M grad.

Szeryk says her top goal for 2019 is to secure her LPGA Tour card – and is up for the challenge whether that comes from finishing in the top 10 on the Symetra Tour money list or getting it through Q-school in December.

The former amateur standout will have a chance to test her game against the best on the LPGA Tour when she competes at the CP women’s Open.

“I didn’t play last year but I’ve have played the CP women’s open previously.  I just love playing in the event.  It’s always so much fun playing in Canada,” said Szeryk.

“The crowds are great. A lot of people say it’s like one of the majors; and for us Canadians getting that chance to play on home soil and getting all that support from fans is awesome.”

CALGARY, Alta. — For the first time in 2019, 72 holes wasn’t enough as Hayden Buckley needed extra holes to claim the ATB Financial Classic title for his first professional victory. Buckley made par on the first playoff hole to defeat Sam Fidone.

“Sam is a great dude to play with, and we battled all day,” said Buckley, who moves to the fifth spot on the Order of Merit with the victory. “I’ve been close so many times, and finally finishing it off was something I really liked.”

Beginning the day with a three-stroke lead over Fidone, Buckley made two birdies in his first three holes to create some separation. Fighting back, the tournament quickly became a two-man race as Fidone played hole Nos. 2-7 in 5-under par to get within one of Buckley heading into the back nine.

“It felt like I was due for a good ball-striking day,” said Buckley, who was named the University of Missouri Male Athlete of the Year after a four win 2017-18 senior campaign. “I haven’t really hit it well all week. I’ve hit it good enough to compete, but I haven’t hit it where I wanted to, and I did that today.”

While Buckley was striking it well, but failing to convert on the greens, the opposite could be said for Fidone, who made a 40-foot putt for par on No. 10 after driving his ball into the fescue.

Buckley called hole No. 15 a “turning point,” when, for the first time of the day, his name was no longer at the top of the leaderboard.

“I had 95 yards in, hit it over the green and made bogey as (Fidone) made birdie and jumped ahead of me,” said the 23-year old. “I got a little flustered because I wasn’t sure how that happened. I got a little momentum, and the ball started flying farther. It was a pretty emotional day.”

With Buckley comfortably on the green on the 17th, looking at a 12-foot birdie chance, Fidone flew the green from 75 yards and left himself a tricky pitch, short-sided with the green sloping away from him.

Buckley watched as Fidone hit his chip well past the pin, to 50 feet.

“I’ve always been taught, and a lot of guys will say that you always expect somebody to make it,” said the Tupelo, Miss., native, whose premonition came to life as Fidone buried the putt and delivered a massive fist pump. “It kind of hurt me right before I had to hit my putt next. It went in and I immediately thought, ‘Do it right back to him.’”

Buckley’s try narrowly missed, and after the two players made two-putt pars on No. 18, that set the stage for a sudden-death playoff.

“I haven’t been in the final group this year. I’ve been close but had a lot of experience in the past three or four weeks competing and falling short so many times,” said Buckley. “There were times on No. 18 and in the playoff I still felt some nerves.”

Buckley was unable to make his 10-foot birdie try on the first extra hole, leaving Fidone with a slippery five-footer to extend the playoff. He was unable to convert.

“It was one of those days that didn’t feel like I went out and got it but did enough to get it done,” said Buckley. “Winning with a par in the playoff, it didn’t feel like I won it, but it was good enough.”

While the finish was Buckley’s first win as a professional, he has knocked on the door many times this season, finishing in the top 10 in five of nine starts.

“A lot of confidence has been built up over the past year,” said Buckley. “My senior year in college I had a good stretch, winning four out of nine tournaments, and I came close a few more times, so it’s not like all of a sudden that I feel like I belong. I’ve felt like I’ve belonged for a long time.”

Due to a birdie on the final hole, Taylor Pendrith picked up his fourth consecutive Canada Life Canadian Player of the Week Award as the highest Canadian finisher. It is his fifth honor of the season. Pendrith finished the event tied for fifth, marking the fourth consecutive event the 28-year old has finished within the top five.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The harder he worked, the farther Patrick Reed felt he was falling behind. That’s when the people around him sought drastic measures by making him leave his golf clubs alone for 10 whole days.

Recharged from his pre-summer break, Reed finally found the result he was looking for Sunday in The Northern Trust, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

He delivered key shots on three straight holes on the back nine at Liberty National – two for birdie, one for par – to overtake Jon Rahm, hold off Abraham Ancer, close with a 2-under 69 and win the FedEx Cup opener.

It was his first victory in 16 months over 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2018 Masters.

“The longer that time period is in between wins, it just makes it tougher,” Reed said. “I was pushing too hard and was trying harder and all of a sudden, it was going the wrong direction. My team was smart enough to tell me to back off, shut it down and reset and get clear, because we can finish the year right. We can get a couple Ws, and no better place that starting the first week of the playoffs.”

Points are quadrupled in the PGA Tour post-season, so the victory vaulted Reed from No. 50 to No. 2. His place in the Tour Championship is secure. His odds of the $15 million prize are greatly increased.

It still wasn’t enough for him to get in the top eight qualifiers for the Presidents Cup, to be decided after next week. Reed went to No. 12 and he would have to win the BMW Championship next week to qualify.

Even so, it was the kind of victory to at least get the attention of U.S. captain Tiger Woods.

Reed finished at 16-under 268 and won for the seventh time in his career on the PGA Tour.

Ancer felt like a winner when it was over. He also played bogey-free over the final 12 holes, and his birdie on the 17th gave him hope. But his approach to the 18th came down below a ridge, and his long birdie putt to force a playoff went some 6 feet by the cup. He made that to finish alone in second, his best PGA Tour finish.

That was enough to send him from No. 67 to No. 8, with more perks that he could count.

Ancer is a lock to make it to the Tour Championship in two weeks, meaning he earns his first spot in the Masters. He wrapped up a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup, making him the first Mexican in the event.

“When I finished, I was a little down because I didn’t get it done and I feel like I played good,” Ancer said. “But then getting all this news that I’m going to the Tour Championship, playing all the majors, going to Masters, all that, I was like, ‘Man, this is not too bad.’ I’m extremely happy, proud of the way I performance. I still obviously want that W, but really proud with all the boxes that I checked off today.”

Rahm wasn’t quite that happy.

He made a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 12 and reached the par-5 13th in two to set up another birdie, giving him a two-shot lead. And then it all fell apart for the Spaniard. He was on the wrong side of the green at the par-3 14th and three-putted for bogey from 50 feet. His tee shot narrowly found a bunker on the 15th, leaving him no shot at reaching the green, and he had to scramble for bogey from the thick grass behind the green.

Rahm never caught up, closed with a 69 and tied for third with Harold Varner III.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian at 8 under after posting a final round of 2-under 69. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., also shot 69 Sunday and finished at 4 under. Roger Sloan of Merritt. B.C., struggled Sunday with a final round of 74 to finish at 1 under, one stroke ahead of Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. (73).

Reed began his move with a pitching wedge that caught the ridge at the back of the 14th green perfectly, sending it down to 8 feet for birdie. He was in thick rough right of the 15th green and looked certain to drop a shot when he holed a 10-foot putt for par. And then he pitched perfectly from 25 yards short of the 16th green to about 4 feet for birdie.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup advance to the BMW Championship next week at Medinah, so there were other players who took home consolation prizes. One of the strongest bids belonged to Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who was in the middle of the pack and knew it would be close.

He slammed his iron into the turf on the 15th when he hit into a bunker, such was pressure on him. Niemann made a 6-foot par save there, drove the green on the 296-yard 16th hole for birdie, saved another par on the 17th and closed with a 66.

He tied for 30th, enough to move up four spots and get the 70th spot.

Varner might have had the biggest day in that regard. He started the PGA Tour post-season at No. 102, and while he came up two shot of his first PGA Tour victory, his tie for third moved him to No. 29. That not only gets him in the BMW Championship, he has a realistic shot at East Lake.

Reed will be there, a trip that most likely began with that 10-day break in the Hamptons. He had a rental house with a manicured yard 300 yards long and 50 yards wide, ideal for hitting balls, and he didn’t touch a club.

The vacation was two weeks, though. When the 10 days were up, he was at National Golf Links the next morning, drove the first green and made eagle.

LIMA, Peru – Canadian Mary Parsons shot an opening-round 68 (-3) to take a one-stroke after the opening round of the Pan American Games individual competition at the Country Club Villa.

The 20-year-old Delta, B.C., native holds a minor lead over Venezuela’s Vanessa Gilly.

Fellow Canadian and National Team member Brigitte Thibault of Rosemère, Que., sits a 3 over par in a tie for 19th.

In the men’s competition, Canadian Austin Connelly of Lake Doucette, N.S., opened with a 2-under 69, good for a share of 8th. Teammate Joey Savoie of La Prairie, Que., is one behind Connelly, with a share of 10th.

The field for the 2019 Pan Am Golf Competition will include 32 women and 32 men competing in  women’s individual, men’s individual and mixed team competitions (low female and male score combined).

Lima 2019, which will run from July 26 to August 11, will bring together approximately 6,700 athletes from 41 nations of the Americas and feature 62 disciplines in 39 sports. It will be the largest sporting event ever held in Peru.

Click here for scoring.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Troy Merritt isn’t obsessed with his position in the FedEx Cup and what he needs to advance in the PGA Tour’s post-season. He figures the best solution is good golf, and he delivered his best round of the year Thursday in The Northern Trust.

Merritt began with a 10-foot par save, followed with a pair of 20-foot birdie putts and took advantage of calm, rain-softened Liberty National by tying the course record with a 9-under 62 for a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.

It wasn’t a career low – Merritt twice has shot 61 on the PGA Tour – but it might have been his best round hardly anyone saw.

The storm was so fierce on the eve of the FedEx Cup playoffs opener that the public was not allowed in until 10 a.m., nearly three hours after the round began. And when the fans arrived, most of them were watching the action – what little there was – two groups behind him with Tiger Woods.

Woods, in only his third round since the U.S. Open, made double bogey on the shortest hole on the course, three-putted from 15 feet and had three bogeys from the fairway in a listless round of 75. Along with being 13 shots out of the lead, he was in danger of missing the cut for the first time in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which also would jeopardize a return to East Lake for the Tour Championship.

“We all knew it was soft out here with the rain last night,” Woods said. “I knew I had to go get it, post a low one, and didn’t do it. It’s certainly out there. Greens are soft. Fairways are soft. You can play aggressively and not have any real ramifications for playing aggressive.”

Johnson ran off four straight birdies near the end of his round for a 63, a good start in a tournament he already has won twice.

Kevin Kisner and Jon Rahm were at 64, while the group at 65 included Rory McIlroy and the suddenly hot Webb Simpson, who posted his sixth straight round of 65 or better dating to the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational two weeks ago.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian at 5-under 66, one shot ahead of Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford were at 3-under 68, while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was at 2-over 73.

The wind arrived in the afternoon, slowing the onslaught of low scores, with no round better than the 66 by Justin Rose.

“Got a bit tricky this afternoon,” Rose said. “I didn’t pay too much attention to this morning’s scores. Saw a scoreboard at one points – 9 (under), 8, 7s, 6s – and I knew it was on. This golf course, if you’re playing well, you can take it on and challenge it. … If you’re not 100 per cent on your game, you have to play conservatively.”

Merritt is No. 72 in the FedEx Cup, with the top 70 advancing next week to the BMW Championship at Medinah. Points are quadrupled in the post-season.

“I know good golf will take care of itself,” he said. “You just try to play the best you can. Obviously, I’ll be watching throughout the weekend, but just getting off to a good start, put that to the back of the mind and try to win a golf tournament.”

Johnson has no such worries as the No. 7 seed, though this time of the year means a lot to him only because of past failures. The FedEx Cup isn’t the same as winning a major championship, and Johnson has gone three years since his lone major at the 2016 U.S. Open.

He narrowly lost out on the FedEx Cup in 2016 when he had a share of the 54-hole lead, shot 73 and still could have won the cup if anyone but McIlroy had won. McIlroy won in a playoff. Four other times he went to the Tour Championship among the top five seeds and didn’t get it done.

“Absolutely – especially with what they’re paying this year,” he said with a smile, referring to the $15 million payout. “That’s like winning five majors.”

His math was a little off, but point taken – his interest level is high, and his game was sharp. Even with a 63, Johnson couldn’t help but recall four birdie putts of inside 10 feet in a five-hole stretch around the turn that didn’t fall.

Brooks Koepka, who has won four majors in the last three years, still hasn’t found his groove in the FedEx Cup. Koepka is the No. 1 seed. In 15 playoffs events, he has managed only two top 10s – his best is sixth place at the Tour Championship two years ago – and he didn’t get off to a great start at Liberty National with only three birdies in his round of 70. Either way, he’s assured of being in East Lake.

That isn’t the case for the likes of Phil Mickelson at No. 34, who opened with a 72. And it’s never been this big of a struggle for Jordan Spieth, who is No. 69 and can’t even bank on next week. He played bogey-free for a 67 in the afternoon.

“I don’t like starting where I did this playoffs, and I don’t plan on ever starting this far down again,” Spieth said before he paused to smile. “Last year I said that, and then I did. But things are improving. Today was a good day.”

Catching up with Bruce Mitchell to reflect about his experience as the first Canadian to be named captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) is a daunting task. That, no doubt, is because he’s still doing his own catching up after a whirlwind year in the post, one of the most prestigious in the world of golf.

A member of the R&A since 1988, Mitchell was nominated by past captains to become just the ninth internationally appointed captain of the revered organization. The captain’s duties include representing the R&A and aiding its effort in developing golf around the world as well as attending all R&A championships while embracing the role of ambassador for the club. It’s an exhausting but exhilarating experience.

“They send you a letter telling you that the past captains want to bestow this honour on you,” Mitchell told SCOREGolf’s Rick Young. “I have to tell you I was in absolute shock. I read the opening paragraph, read it again and was simply lost for words. My wife and I were in the kitchen. She looked at me read it and she said, ‘Who died?’”

Born in Victoria and raised in Edmonton, Mitchell is the founder, owner and president of Toronto-based Permian Industries, a management and holding company with sole or significant shareholdings in two food companies and two software providers. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Montreal and other public company, private corporation and not-for-profit Boards. He is on vice-chair of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, on the Board of St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation and a trustee of the Ridley College Foundation.

His golf resume is as impressive as his business portfolio. A past-president of the Toronto Golf Club, Mitchell is a past club champion of Windermere Golf and Country Club where he was a trustee and co-chair. In 2001, he won both the Queen Victoria Jubilee Vase and the Royal Sydney Plate, which are matchplay knockout competitions played during the R&A’s autumn meeting.

Throughout his one-year tenure, Mitchell told Young, “Everywhere I have gone, I have been treated almost like royalty. It really doesn’t have anything to do with me as an individual, Bruce Mitchell, golfer or lack thereof. It really has everything to do with the respect and reverence in which the R&A is held throughout the world. There is a governing body heavily invested in golf while trying to do the best and everything it can to preserve a game we all love. I just happen to be the representative of it.”

Past captains of the R&A have included six members of the Royal Family including the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VIII. In 1922, during the ceremonial “driving in” for all new captains, he hit his shot off the toe of his club, scattering bystanders and striking a fence 50 metres away.

In contrast, Mitchell, despite feeling “huge excitement and a lot of nerves as I addressed the ball,” managed to sail his ceremonial tee shot down the hallowed first fairway of the Old Course at St Andrews.

It was an auspicious start to an incredible year.

Garrett Rank, of Ont., beat the odds to win the 117th Western Amateur at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club on Saturday.

The 31-year-old Rank, an NHL referee, earned the George R. Thorne Trophy with a 3 and 2 victory over Daniel Wetterich, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The last mid-amateur to win the Western Amateur was Danny Green in 1997 at The Point, which was hosting the tournament this week for the first time since 2008.

“This is the end of a dream week,” said the Team Canada alumnus.

Rank, who finished fifth at 6 under in stroke play on Thursday, trailed in all four of his matches. He was 1 down after five in the final, but took the lead with a birdie at No. 7. Rank went 2 up after making a birdie on the ninth.

Wetterich answered with a birdie at No. 10, but Rank took control with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14-15 to go 3 up. He parred the 16th to end the match.

Rank carded six birdies and won seven holes. Wetterich made four birdies and won four holes. The two didn’t tie a hole until No. 8.

“The front was back and forth, and it was fun,” said Wetterich, who graduated from Ohio State in the spring. “He just made a lot of putts, and he wouldn’t give me any wiggle room.”

A native of Elmira, Ontario, Rank played golf and hockey growing up and earned scholarships in both sports to University of Waterloo in Ontario. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer in his second year of college, he quit hockey and focused on golf.

In 2012, Rank was the runner-up to Nathan Smith at the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois.

“I’ve had a lot of close calls in big events,” Rank said. “To finally break through is huge. I’m a big believer in the more you put yourself under pressure you learn something every time. I relied on that.”

The win gives Rank an exemption into next year’s Evans Scholars Invitational at The Glen Club in Glenview, Illinois. Wetterich also received an invitation into the Korn Ferry Tour event.

“I’m really excited about how I played,” Wetterich said. “Overall, I’m really content with the week, and I will build on what I did [Saturday] going forward.”

Rank is the second Canadian champion – Jim Nelford won the tournament in 1977 at The Point. He’s the first international winner since Danny Lee in 2008.

“I know how important and cool this is in amateur golf,” Rank said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, and I’m sure I’ll be even more proud when it does.”

After playing in the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship on Aug. 20-23, Rank reports to NHL training camp Sept. 9. Even following a win at the Western Amateur, among the most prestigious tournaments in the world, Rank isn’t compelled to turn golf into a full-time job.

“I have no regrets about not being professional,” he said. “I have no doubt I could be a great pro and could do well in the game of golf. But I love my job. I have one of the coolest jobs in the world. I know how the ups and downs of golf work and have seen a lot of great players not make it.

“When you get to play in tournaments like this and have success, I don’t know why you would want to chase being a professional golfer.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Byeong Hun An shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship.

An was at 17-under 193 entering the final round of the PGA Tour’s final event before the playoffs.

Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and Brice Garnett were tied for second, with Simpson shooting a 65 and Garnett a 66. Ryan Armour was 15 under following a 65.

An has held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, and has yet to play a hole worse than par. The 27-year-old South Korean with three international victories has put himself in position to claim his first win on tour.

Canadian Mackenzie of Dundas, Ont., is in a tie for 10th at 12 under par. Fellow countryman Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is tied for 16th at 11 under.

Overall, it was yet another low-scoring day at Sedgefield Country Club. For a while midway through An’s round, six players were tied for the lead at 13 under.

An started to get some separation from the crowd with three birdies in the four-hole span from Nos. 5-8, moving to 16 under.

Then came his best shot of the day, a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th. He then closed with four straight pars.

Simpson – a native North Carolinian who named his daughter Wyndham after his first career victory came here in 2011 – strung together three birdies around a bogey midway through his back nine to move to 16 under. If nothing else, he’s in good position to claim his fifth top-10 finish in six years at this tournament.

Garnett made the turn at 15 under following back-to-back birdies, then rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th to pull even with Simpson and saved par on the 18th after rolling his third shot from a greenside bunker to within 3 feet from the flagstick.

Armour climbed into contention with six birdies in a 10-hole stretch midway through his round that put him two strokes back.

And Viktor Hovland finished his season-best round with a birdie on the 18th after landing his 150-yard approach shot some 3 feet from the flagstick. He was tied for fifth with J.T. Poston and Paul Casey at 14 under.

After winning the U.S. Amateur last year, Hovland turned pro two months ago after tying for 12th at the U.S. Open.

“I just try to tell myself that I don’t have anything to lose,” Hovland said. “I’ll be on the Korn Ferry Tour no matter what happens kind of unless I play really well tomorrow, and to be in the spot where I am right now after college, that’s a pretty good spot to be in.”

It wasn’t a low-scoring day for everyone, though: Jordan Spieth had three double-bogeys and a bogey during a birdie-free 77 that left him at 2 under for the tournament. It came two days after he flirted with a career-best round, putting just 23 times during his first-round 64.

“I putted my (butt) off for two days to be able to be where I was at, and you can’t exactly fix your ball striking in a day,” Spieth said. “It’s just too much to try and force it. So this extra day could serve me really well through the playoffs.”

MILTON KEYNES, England – Hinako Shibuno’s dream debut continued Saturday as she fired a 5-under 67 to seize a two-shot lead going into the final round at the Women’s British Open.

The 20-year-old Shibuno, a rookie on the Japan LPGA Tour who is making her LPGA Tour and major championship debut, hit six birdies in the final nine holes of the third round for a 14-under 202.

Overnight leader Ashleigh Buhai (72) started with a three-shot lead at Woburn Golf Club and stretched it to five as Shibuno had bogeys on Nos. 5 and 9. But with Sung Hyun Park also closing in, Buhai stumbled with three bogeys in five holes. The 30-year-old South African, who has never won on the LPGA Tour, dropped to second at 12 under.

Second-ranked Park was a shot further back in third after a bogey-free 68.

Americans Morgan Pressel and Lizette Salas, and top-ranked Jin Young Ko, were tied for fourth on 10 under. Ko (68) is seeking her third major title of the year after winning last week’s Evian Championship in France.

Pressel birdied eight holes on her way to a 66, while Salas (70) had two bogeys in her opening nine.

Defending champion Georgia Hall was 10 shots back after a 74.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson (74) was tied for 37th.

MILTON KEYNES, England – Ashleigh Buhai stretched her surprise lead at the Women’s British Open to three shots, shooting a bogey-free 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round.

Buhai, a 30-year-old South African who has never won on the LPGA Tour, birdied four of the final eight holes to post 12-under 132.

“I’m trying not to keep thinking it’s a major. It’s just another tournament,” said Buhai, whose best previous British Open finish was a tie for 30th in 2017. “I just keep trying to do what I’ve done the last few weeks. I’ve kept the mistakes off the card the last two days.”

Alone in second at 9 under was 20-year-old Hinako Shibuno, a rookie on the Japan LPGA Tour who is making her LPGA Tour and major championship debut.

“I just wanted to make the cut. That’s all,” Shibuno said.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for 18th at 4 under after shooting a 1-under 71 on Friday. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp missed the cut at 4 over.

Shibuno, who shot 66 on Thursday, had a 69 on Friday and wowed spectators at Woburn Golf Club with her fearless play. She led for much of the afternoon before Buhai overtook her. Shibuno has two victories in Japan this year and is ranked 46th in the world.

American Lizette Salas was third at 8 under. She birdied the first four holes en route to a bogey-free 67.

“Awesome day,” Salas said.

Bronte Law, the top-ranked English player at No. 19, also shot 67 and was four shots back alongside Celine Boutier, second-ranked Sung Hyun Park, Caroline Masson and local favourite Charley Hull, who is playing on her home course. Boutier had the day’s lowest round at 66.

Danielle Kang had a disappointing 72 and was six shots back.

“I don’t know, nothing really felt like yesterday,” Kang said. “I guess today was one of those off-days and yesterday was the day that everything comes together. But I know what I’m capable of. Even if I’m playing bad, I know I can give myself opportunities.”

Defending champion Georgia Hall was also 6 under after a 69, along with Ariya Jutanugarn (70), Carlota Ciganda (69) and top-ranked Jin Young Ko, who was frustrated after a 70. Ko is seeking her third major title of the year after winning last week’s Evian Championship in France.