After close to 43 years of commitment and dedication to Golf Canada, the organization shared today that Bill Paul will be stepping down from his role as Chief Championship Officer.

Paul, who will continue as an advisor to Golf Canada beyond the end of July, has done a great job during his tenure helping to shape and drive both the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open, with both events well positioned for success. Through his leadership, Golf Canada has brought the focus of a dedicated operational team for each of Canada’s National Open Championships and has helped make both national championships incredibly successful.

His career at Golf Canada includes more than 23 years as Tournament Director of the RBC Canadian Open. He also served as Tournament Director of the Canadian Senior Open Championship as well as the 1992 World Amateur Team Championships and played a significant role in securing an LPGA Tour event (now the CP Women’s Open) for Golf Canada.

As Golf Canada’s Chief Championship Officer since 2015 and a member of Golf Canada’s Executive Team, he was a lead conduit for key relationships including the PGA TOUR and LPGA TOUR as well as directly with players, agents, corporate partners, host clubs, volunteer committees, government officials and other golf industry stakeholders. Prior to joining the organization full-time, Paul spent five years as a summer student prior to becoming a full-time employee working as the Assistant Tournament Director.

STATEMENT FROM BILL PAUL

“It has been an honour and a privilege to be a part of and represent Golf Canada for 43 years and I believe that the organization is well positioned for success going forward. I am extremely proud of the many milestones that our team have accomplished together. I value the deep friendships developed with so many staff, volunteers, players, agents, sponsors, media and industry colleagues across the Canadian and international golf landscape and it is humbling to know that I’ve helped to advance our National Open Championships and the sport golf in Canada”

STATEMENT FROM GOLF CANADA CEO LAURENCE APPLEBAUM

“Bill Paul has played an incredibly meaningful role with Golf Canada and he has represented Golf Canada with the highest measure of integrity and played a major part in so many successes during his tenure. He has had a tremendous effect within our organization, and we are extremely appreciative of his contributions, professionalism, mentorship, and commitment to so many facets of our business.”

“Together with Golf Canada’s staff, volunteers, partners and many golf industry stakeholders, please join us in thanking Bill Paul for his outstanding career contributions to Golf Canada.”

Fifteen years ago, golfers didn’t have to worry about making the Olympics. The sport hadn’t been featured at a Games since 1904 when Canada’s George Lyon won gold.

But since golf returned to the fold for the 2016 Rio Olympics, it’s been a priority for Derek Ingram and the rest of Golf Canada’s high performance team. In fact, Ingram has been preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics since the last Summer Games ended.

“Canadians are super patriotic and they love sport. Our athletes on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour are no different. They love it. You think they don’t want to be like Sidney Crosby?” Ingram, the head coach of Canada’s men’s team, said on Thursday from Winnipeg. “In that respect, the Olympics have gone from not on the radar at all to probably one of their top four or five events and as time goes along it may become No. 1 or 2.”

Qualifying players for the Olympics – the men’s tournament is July 30-Aug. 2 and the women’s event is Aug. 5-8 – can be tricky but the format will benefit Canada.

A total of 60 players will play in each gender’s 72-hole, stroke-play tournament, with qualification based on world rankings. The top 15 players of each gender can play, with a limit of four golfers per country. The remaining spots will go to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified, with a limit of two per country.

The International Golf Federation also guarantees that at least one golfer from the host nation – in this case, Japan – and each geographical region (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) will qualify. The fields will be set based on the world rankings on June 22, 2020 (men) and June 29, 2020 (women).

In practice, that will make for a relatively weak field that Canada’s golfers can take advantage of.

If this week’s rankings were used, the United States men’s golf team would consist of world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, No. 2 Dustin Johnson, fifth-ranked Tiger Woods and sixth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau. No other Americans would be able to play, eliminating 24 of the top 60 players in the world. Similarly, Great Britain would be represented by world No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Justin Rose and Paul Casey would squeak in as the 15th-ranked golfer in the world. All other Britons would miss out.

That means the Canadian’s men’s team, based on current rankings, would be Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. (No. 64) and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. (No. 87). Although both are out of the top 60, they would get “pulled up” by all the Americans, Brits, and other players who are ineligible because their country’s allotments are full.

“It’s a softer field and, all of a sudden, our players go into the tournament as the 15th- or 20th-ranked player in the field,” said Ingram. “In four rounds, in golf, they’ve already beaten all those guys that are in front of them. They don’t beat them every day but they’ve beaten them in tournaments and they’ve beaten them in rounds.”

On the women’s side, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., would represent Canada as the ninth-ranked golfer in the world. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the next highest ranked Canadian at 125th but with 44 players from South Korea ineligible to play after that nation’s top four have qualified, she rockets up the qualification charts. That’s before eliminating golfers from other powerhouse countries like the U.S., Thailand, or China.

A challenge that all teams will face is preparing for the Olympic course at Kasumigaseki Country Club., a private course in Saitama, Japan, that most golfers haven’t seen. Ingram and Tristan Mullally, the head coach for Canada’s women’s team, plan on travelling to Japan in the fall to scout it out for their players.

“It’s not down the street, they can’t take a trip down there on a Monday of a PGA TOUR event and play 18 holes and get to know it. It’s a bit of a hike,” said Ingram with a laugh. “We have to be prepared as we can be. That’s doesn’t mean the player and the caddy and their coaches won’t do their due diligence when they get to the event and have lots of time but it’s nice to have a little bit of background information or a lot of background information. It just makes it a little bit easier when they get there.”

PORTRUSH, Ireland – Brooks Koepka’s biggest asset during this year’s British Open won’t be in his bag, it’ll be on his bag.

The four-time major winner will be walking around Royal Portrush, a course new to most of the players in the field, with a native expert helping him negotiate the sharp elevation changes of the century-old links course on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. His caddie, Ricky Elliott, is a local lad.

“Every hole I just step up on, ‘You tell me what to do. You’ve played it more than anybody,”’ said Koepka, who is on such a roll at majors he may be one of the few players who doesn’t need extra help. “So just let him figure it out. He knows his spots to miss it. The spots to come in from, with different hole locations and different winds.”

Elliott grew up in Portrush, and grew up playing at Royal Portrush. The pair started working together shortly after the 2013 British Open, when Phil Mickelson won at Muirfield.

It only took a phone call to put things in motion.

“We had about a 30-minute phone conversation. I liked the way he went about things,” Koepka said. “He was kind of light. He was joking on the phone. And that’s somebody I want, I want somebody that’s not going to be so focused in all the time. My personality, I laugh and joke on the golf course. I know it doesn’t look like it, but the camera is not on us all the time. He’s pretty laid back.”

Koepka has excelled over the last couple of years with Elliott on his bag, particularly at the major tournaments. After winning his second straight U.S. Open title last year, Koepka won his second straight PGA Championship this year. And he didn’t do badly at the other two majors this season either, finishing second at the Masters and at the U.S. Open.

“The whole reason I show up is to win. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Koepka said of his major results. “It’s incredible. But at the same time, it’s been quite disappointing, you know? Finishing second sucks. It really does.”

Koepka will play his first two rounds at Royal Portrush alongside 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Shubhankar Sharma.

And like many great champions in all sorts of sports, Koepka is full of self-belief heading into the final major of the season.

“I think you always have to have a chip on your shoulder, no matter what it is,” Koepka said. “Every great athlete and every major sport always has one.

“Over the last year and a half, I just felt like if other guys had done what I had done it would be a bigger deal. Now it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got my own chip on my shoulder for what I’m trying to accomplish. … How many majors I want to win, how many wins, my own accomplishments.”

With his trust in his own ability to deliver the big shots and his trust in his caddie’s ability to deliver that little bit of extra insight on a course that hasn’t hosted the British Open since 1951, Koepka is on the short list of favourites this week.

“Definitely have a little bit more confidence having him on the bag this week,” Koepka said of Elliott, “knowing this golf course so well.”

If a ball subsequently moves after a player has marked, lifted and  replaced the the ball on the putting green, the player must always replace the ball back on its original spot.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

CALEDON, Ont.—Co-leading the Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos and CBM Aggregates at 14-under alongside JD Fernandez through two rounds of play, Paul Barjon has yet to make a bogey this week on the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North course as he seeks his second win of the Mackenzie Tour season.

With a scoring average just a hair below 67 this season – tops on the Mackenzie Tour – another trophy to accompany his hardware from the Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist would propel Barjon to the top spot on the Order of Merit.

However, even with four top-10s, a T19 at the RBC Canadian Open, and not a single Mackenzie Tour round over par this season, this is the first time the 26-year old heads into a Saturday as a leader.

“So far, I’ve always seemed to be coming from behind, so this is fun,” said the Dumbea, New Caledonia native. “We’ve played 36 holes, but there are still 36 left. As Tyler (McCumber) showed last year, a 61 is out there, so anybody can catch you.”

So far this week, it has been Barjon’s efforts on the par-4s, which he has played 9-under par, that has set him apart – along with his ability to grind for pars when the North course shows its teeth.

“I’m 1-under this week on the par-3s, which is good because they’re not easy,” said Barjon. “I’ve made a couple 15-footers for par when I’ve missed in the wrong place, but I found a little something with my swing on the back nine with my irons, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Heading into the weekend, Barjon says two holes, No. 7 and No 11, are going to be key, and could determine who adds their name to the trophy.

“No. 11, you have to hit a good shot, you don’t have a choice or else you’ll make bogey or worse,” said Barjon. “And then No. 7, those two holes are key because right after you have a stretch of easier holes, so you have to set the tone.”

Meanwhile Fernandez (65-65) is off to the best 36-hole start of his Mackenzie Tour career and has momentum on his side after firing four sub-70 numbers at the Windsor Championship on his way to a T28 finish.

Sitting one stroke back is a group of three players: Taylor Pendrith, Sean Walsh and Carter Jenkins. Pendrith is seeking his second Canada Life Canadian Player of the Week Award after claiming the prize with a T10 finish at the Bayview Place DCBank Open and is looking to become the first Canadian to win on the Mackenzie Tour since 2016.

SILVIS, Ill. – Jhonattan Vegas shot a 9-under 62 on Friday in the John Deere Classic to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend.

Off since missing the cuts in the Memorial and U.S. Open in June, , the three-time PGA tour winner from Venezuela said he “found something really good” on the range Thursday after an opening 67.

“Probably the best I’ve felt all year, to be honest,” Vegas said. “I hit the ball extremely well, kind of what I’ve been struggling with a little bit the past few months. It felt really good, in control the whole time with the ball-striking, which is my type of game. So I’m glad that stuff is back.”

Vegas had a 13-under 129 total at TPC Deere Run.

“It’s usually soft, and it’s been a little firmer because of the conditions, obviously a little warm,” Vegas said. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen it. The greens are perfect. The fairways are rolling more. It’s actually a little bit tricky because a lot of the fairways, as undulated as they are, you have to be a little careful with some of those run-outs.”

He last won on the tour in 2017 at the RBC Canadian Open.

Andrew Landry was second after his second 65. He birdied the first three holes on his second nine, then played the next six in 1 over with a bogey on the par-4 sixth hole.

“I’ve been hitting the ball very, very well all year long,” Landry said. “The putter has just kind of been letting me down all year long, and it seems to be working pretty good the last two days.”

Lucas Glover had an albatross on the par-5 10th in a 64 that got him to 11 under. He holed out with a 3-iron from 255 yards after a 318-yard drive.

“Honestly, I was trying to hit it over short left, chip up the green, and I pushed it 5, 8 yards, and it bounced and rolled and I guess it went in. I didn’t see it,” Glover said. “I was just trying to make birdie, and I got lucky with a 2.”

Three Canadians made the weekend cut.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 65 and sits 9 under, while Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., also had a 65 and is 7 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is 6 under after shooting 69.

Harold Varner III (65), Russell Henley (68), Daniel Berger (66), Cameron Tringale (66) and Adam Schenk (65) were 10 under. Varner chipped in for eagle from 42 yards on the par-4 14th.

“I hit a really good drive in the rough and it was perfect, and I blasted it and it went too far and smashed the pin and went in,” Varner said. “It was awesome.”

First-round leader Roberto Diaz closed with a double bogey for a 73 that left him at 7 under.

Matthew Wolff, the rookie who won last week in Minnesota, was 4 under after a 71.

Michael Kim, the winner by eight shots last year, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 72.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Sei Young Kim shot a 7-under 64 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 in the Marathon Classic.

Kim had four straight birdies on Nos. 3-6 and also birdied the par-4 12th and 15th holes and the par-5 18th to get to 11-under 131 at Highland Meadows Golf Club. The South Korean player won the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in May in California for her eighth tour title.

“My play wasn’t good the last two weeks,” Kim said. “I’m just trying to do my best this week. So, I’m very happy with the (better) result than I expected.

Lee6 shot her second straight 66. The South Korean birdied two of the last three holes.

“It was pretty good,” Lee6 said. “The greens were not too soft, not too firm. It was so easy to play with my second shot in order to control my shots. Satisfied with it.”

Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Jennifer Kupcho were 9 under. Kupcho shot 66, Thompson 67, and Lewis 68, with Lewis playing alongside Kim the first two days.

Lewis won the last of her 12 LPGA Tour titles in 2017. She was born in nearby Toledo and has an endorsement deal with Marathon Oil. From Texas, she’s treated like a hometown player.

“I love it,” Lewis said. “It was pressure at first, but now it’s fun. It’s nice having the crew out there behind me and give them something to cheer about this year, which is awesome.”

Canadian Alena Sharp carded a 1-over 72 to slip into a tie for 11th after holding a share of the 18-hole lead.

Kupcho is making her sixth tour start as a pro. The former Wake Forest star won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April.

“I’m hitting the ball really good this week, reading the putts well, and putting good rolls on them,” Kupcho said.

She parred the par-5 17th and 18th after birdieing three of the previous four holes.

“Obviously, walking off 17 and 18, two par 5s to finish, you expect to get at least one,” Kupcho said. “Left 17 short and just pushed 18’s putt. It’s a little upsetting.”

Thompson is coming off a two-week break.

“I just took yesterday’s round and came into today with the same confidence and same mindset,” Thompson said. “Just firing at pins and focusing on one shot at a time. I feel good with where my game is at. It was perfect weather. Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Yealimi Noh, the 17-year-old from California who tied for sixth last week in Wisconsin in her LPGA Tour debut, missing the cut with rounds of 73 and 72. She played on a sponsor exemption after Monday qualifying last week.

The 2019 Rules include a new form of stroke-play called “Maximum Score” where a player or side’s score for a hole is capped at a maximum number of strokes set by the Committee.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

Golf Canada caught up with 21-year-old superstar Brooke Henderson at Magna Golf Club, site of the 2019 CP Women’s Open from August 19-25.

If you take an action near your ball and cause it to move, you get a one-stroke penalty, unless your ball is on the putting green.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.