PHOENIX – Na Yeon Choi feared the worst Thursday in her return from a back injury. She ended up high on the Founders Cup leaderboard.

Choi shot a 7-under 65 at Desert Ridge in her first tournament round in 11 months, leaving her a stroke behind first-round leader Celine Boutier in the event that honours the 13 women who founded the LPGA Tour.

“ Golf is really funny game. I didn’t expect any good score today because this is first day,” said Choi, the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open champion and nine-time tour winner. “I practice hard, of course, but it’s hard to tell how I’m going to shoot. Less expectation, I think, always give you better result.”

Close friend Jenny Shin waited around for Choi to finish and threw a cup of champagne on her in celebration.

“I’m just happy be on the fairway and walking with friends,” Choi said.

The 31-year-old South Korean tried to play through the back problem before finally shutting it down last April, taking the advice of friends and former tour stars Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon.

“I just kept playing golf and my swing got worse and worse and hitting my ball going left and right,” Choi said. “My mentally is like totally broken, so I just need my body get ready first.”

She took a two-week European vacation to help clear her mind.

“I didn’t think about golf,” Choi said. “I didn’t set alarm every day, you know. I just wake up whenever I want and I just eat whatever I want. It was different life I think. I think I was kind of robot when I was growing up and then playing golf well in LPGA Tour. I think I was like living in the box. I couldn’t do anything besides golf. Only golf, only golf. Like 100 per cent focused ongolf.”

When she got the golf bug again, she took it slow and relaxed.

“I try to drink some beer and get a little tipsy and playing golf,” Choi said. “Because we always play golf in serious mode. I just like to play more fun.”

Boutier closed her late round with a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth. The Frenchwoman won the Vic Open last month in Australia for her first LPGA Tour title.

“It’s definitely made me more confident in my game, my ability to win out here,” Boutier said. “I feel like I was kind of lacking that confidence last year.”

Also Thursday, PXG announced it added Boutier to its tour staff.

“It’s super exciting because I’ve been playing their clubs a full year now,” the former Duke player said.

Alana Uriell, Charlotte Thomas, Jin Young Ko and Nanna Koerstz Madsen joined Choi at 65. Uriell won a Symetra Tour event two weeks ago in Florida in her pro debut, making an eagle on the first hole of a playoff.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence coming into the LPGA having a win under my belt,” Uriell said. “Feel a little more at home out here, so I don’t mind letting loose and seeing what I’m capable of.”

Top-ranked Sung Hyun Park, Shin, Carlota Ciganda, Pornanong Phatlum and Monday qualifier Cheyenne Knight shot 66.

Former Phoenix high school star Sarah Schmelzel opened with a 67 in her third tour start. She was the 2011 Arizona high school champion at Xavier Prep.

“It was very comfortable looking over outside the ropes and seeing my boyfriend, my mom, my dad, and my brother and people from my golf club that I grew up at here,” Schmelzel said.

In 2001, her golf-loving father – alerted by a friend that Annika Sorenstam was tearing up their home course of Moon Valley in the Standard Register Ping – pulled her out of elementary school in time to watch the final nine holes of Sorenstam’s tour-record 59.

“I just remember I got called up to the office,” Schmelzel said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no. That’s not good.’ I saw my dad standing at the front desk and he said, ‘All right, we’re going to Moon Valley.”’

Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., also shot 67.

Highlights from @BrookeHenderson’s 5-under 67 Thursday at the @LPGAfounders. She currently sits T12. pic.twitter.com/y3QbFkVQ3v

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 22, 2019

Nelly Korda had a 68. She won the Women’s Australian Open last month for her second LPGA Tour victory and leads the money list.

Defending champion Inbee Park shot 69.

Xiyu Lin had a hole-in-one on the 17th in a 70. She used a 9-iron on the 142-yard hole.

Brittany Marchand (71) of Orangeville, Ont., was tied for 62nd, Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee (73) was tied for 90th, Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (74) was tied for 11th, and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (75) was tied for 128th.

This week’s Valspar Championship is playing right into Nick Taylor’s hands.

Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C., is looking forward to taking on the difficult Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla., this week at the Valspar because it is just that – a challenging par-71 7,340 yards.

“It’s typically a difficult golf course. You have to keep it in play. Par’s not going to hurt you,” said Taylor on Wednesday. “I just prefer courses where 2- or 3-under par is a great score instead of being a shootout like some tournaments where the winner is 20- to 25-under.

“Here, 10- to 14- under is where winners have been and it’s where I would prefer it if I were to pick a tournament.”

The timing is great for Taylor, too. He’s coming off his strongest performance of the season, tying for 16th at 10 under at the hyper-competitive Players Championship.

“My iron play was really solid all week, made a few mistakes the first day. I felt the greens were tough in the afternoon,” said Taylor, who shot a 73 in the first round but recovered with a 69-69-67 line the rest of the way. “I played really well the last three days and cashed in a lot of opportunities on the Sunday to have my best round of the week so that was pretty much the difference.”

Pleased with his overall performance, Taylor isn’t looking to tweak anything about his game, instead focusing on maintaining what brought him success at the Players to the Valspar.

Taylor will be joined by seven other Canadians at the Valspar Championship, matching the record for Canadians at a PGA Tour event outside of the RBC Canadian Open. Monday qualifier David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, dual citizen Austin Connelly, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., will also play, with the latter being added to the field on Wednesday.

Already a tough course, Taylor played nine holes on Tuesday at Copperhead and another nine at the Pro-Am and said that the greens are firm.

“Early in the morning was a little chilly, but the course is in great shape,” said Taylor. “The greens are fast and pretty firm. If the weather holds up it might be tough.”

The LPGA is unveiling its new brand positioning that embraces its history and pushes toward the future with two simple words: Drive On.

Drive On is clearly rooted in golf, but it’s a bigger idea. It captures the power and potential in each of us and celebrates the hard work, focus, and tenacity that it takes to achieve our goals.

That the LPGA has refined its brand positioning isn’t remarkable. What is remarkable is the process that led us here.

Over the past few years, the LPGA has had more new corporate partners come on board than at any time in its history. The growth of the LPGA and the strength of these partnerships reflects the quality of our Tour, the approachability of our athletes, the expertise of our Teaching and Club Professionals and the relentless dedication of everyone that is connected through our networks and associations.

In a very real sense, our sponsors, players and fans have led us to “Drive On.” More and more companies want to be associated with what the LPGA and its members stand for – on and off the golf course. They see our athletes as positive, visible leaders and role models who represent the important values of diversity, authenticity, a commitment to excellence and fierce determination. And they appreciate our nearly 70-year track record of “driving on” to break barriers and provide opportunities for women.

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This is for every girl. Let’s crush it ?? #DriveOn

A post shared by CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) on Mar 20, 2019 at 10:00am PDT

Drive On isn’t just about golf and it isn’t just about women. For girls and boys, women and men. It’s about the fire that burns inside you when you discover your passion. It’s about the motivating power of big dreams and the resolve to defy convention and stereotypes. It’s about finding the vision to see beyond what has already been done and to believe something greater is possible.

We think the time is right to celebrate that spirit of determination – that drive – within. This is the moment to shine a light on the stories of dedication, resilience and sheer grit that it takes to excel.

For nearly 70 years, the LPGA has been “driving on” to create greater opportunity for women. Standing on the shoulders of our 13 Founders and the other outstanding women who came before them, the members of the LPGA today are fully prepared to carry the future on their shoulders. Crushing it everyday so that today’s youth can crush it for the next generation.

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada announced its 2019 schedule today, featuring 12 events that will once again take the Tour from coast-to-coast.

The season will begin with the Freedom 55 Financial Open (May 20-26) at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. All regular events feature purses of $200,000 (CDN) and a $225,000 (CDN) purse for the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship (Sept. 9-15) at Highland Country Club in London, Ontario.

“Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our host organizations, along with our great sponsors, we are pleased to announce the schedule for our seventh season,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “We look forward to the players taking advantage of the opportunity to advance their careers and are particularly excited to add an event in Atlantic Canada.”

The inaugural HFX Pro-Am is set to take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia from July 15-21 at Oakfield Golf & Country Club and is part of a multi-year agreement with the Mackenzie Tour. The tournament will consist of 128 Mackenzie Tour professionals and 64 amateurs. Sports & Entertainment Atlantic (S|E|A), a leading production company for world-class sports and entertainment events in Atlantic Canada, will serve as the host organization.

Oakfield Golf & Country Club was designed by Robbie Robinson, who apprenticed under the legendary Stanley Thompson, and opened in 1962 before a redesign in 2003 by Graham Cooke. Oakfield has previously hosted the Men’s Canadian Amateur in 1989 and numerous provincial championships over the years, including most recently the 2017 Nova Scotia Men’s Mid-Amateur.

“The club is thrilled to play host to this wonderful event, and our membership and community alike look forward to showcasing our championship golf course this summer to both the professional golfers and amateurs,” said Oakfield Golf & Country Club General Manager Eric Tobin. “I am confident this event will be one of the highlights of the season for the players and will be one they look forward to year after year.”

“We are thrilled to bring a PGA TOUR sanctioned golf event back to Nova Scotia this summer,” said Sports and Entertainment Atlantic President and Founder Derek Martin. “This is an exciting opportunity to bring a fun and entertaining Pro-Am concept to the Mackenzie Tour and showcase our wonderful East Coast hospitality.”

Mackenzie Tour players will once again look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR. The Order of Merit winner will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for the following season, with those finishing in the second-through-fifth positions earning conditional status. Players who finish in the Nos. 2-10 spots will also earn an exemption into the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, while Nos. 11-25 on the Order of Merit will earn an exemption into the Second Stage of the Qualifying Tournament.

Players will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Mackenzie Hughes, Tony Finau, Nick Taylor, Aaron Wise, and mostly recently, Adam Long, who became the fifth alum to win on the PGA TOUR with his win in January, at the Desert Classic. In total, 31 alumni have gone on to earn their PGA TOUR cards, while more than 190 Mackenzie Tour players have earned Web.com Tour status, including 83 for the 2019 season.

Off the course, Mackenzie Tour events will look to build off a third consecutive season of more than $1 million raised for local charities across Canada, bringing the total since 2013 to more than $4.1 million.

Presidents Cup International Team Captain Ernie Els announced Korea’s K.J. Choi, South Africa’s Trevor Immelman and Canada’s Mike Weir as his final three captain’s assistants for the 2019 Presidents Cup, which will return to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia for a third time Dec. 9-15, 2019. Els previously named Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy as captain’s assistant in late November.

Weir will return for his second stint as a captain’s assistant after serving for Nick Price at the 2017 Presidents Cup. He has competed in five Presidents Cups (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009) and was a teammate of Els four times. The eight-time PGA TOUR winner is 13-9-2 all-time at the Presidents Cup and one of five International Team members with 10 or more match wins in the competition. In 2007, the Presidents Cup was staged in Canada for the first time, and Weir put on a show for his Canadians fans with a 3-1-1 record that was capped by a thrilling 1-up victory over Tiger Woods in Singles.

“The Presidents Cup has been a big part of my career. I grew up playing a lot of team sports and when I made my first Presidents Cup team in 2000 it was really one of the highlights,” Weir said. “So it’s been special to still be part of the team as an assistant to Nick and now Ernie. We have a long history. We’re basically the same age, we’ve played a lot of golf together so it’s going to be really fun to try to get the Internationals over the line this time.”

Of his eight PGA TOUR victories, Weir’s most triumphant moment came with his breakthrough playoff win at the 2003 Masters – one of three titles he collected that season.

“I’ve played on the same International Team with Mike on four occasions and he’s one of the most passionate guys I know when it comes to the Presidents Cup,” Els said. “I also worked alongside Mike as a captain’s assistant in 2017 and he brought a considerable amount of experience and input into our team room and provided a positive influence on our players. His presence will be invaluable as we seek to regain the Presidents Cup.”

.@MikeWeir is back as one of 4 @PresidentsCup Assistant Captains for the #IntlTeam, working with @TheBig_Easy pic.twitter.com/eTfYC6zvad

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 19, 2019

Choi will return as an assistant for the second time after serving as vice captain to Nick Price when the Presidents Cup made its debut in Korea in 2015. A three-time Presidents Cup competitor (2003, 2007, 2011), Choi owns a 6-8 overall record and posted a 3-2 mark in 2011 at Royal Melbourne, where he partnered with fellow captain’s assistant Ogilvy to win two Four-ball matches.

“I’m personally very happy and honored,” Choi said. “You need amazing teamwork to win the Presidents Cup. It’s our role as captain’s assistants to bring together players of different nationalities and have them blend well together. It’s our role to have them open up to us and help relieve some of the pressure they might feel.”

Choi’s more than 20 professional victories worldwide included eight career PGA TOUR titles, which were highlighted by his dramatic playoff win at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2011. Considered Asia’s most successful golfer to date, Choi spent 40 weeks inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

“As the most successful Asian golfer on the PGA TOUR, K.J. certainly commands a lot of respect amongst our players and I believe he will fire up our guys at Royal Melbourne,” Els said. “K.J. has a calm demeanor, which will be a valuable asset in our team room and out on the golf course during the heat of battle. I’ll be counting on K.J. to impart his vast experience of being a three-time International Team member as well as a captain’s assistant when we map out our strategies during the competition.”

Els also tabbed fellow South African Immelman, who will make his debut as a captain’s assistant with two Presidents Cup berths on his resume (2005, 2007); he and Els shared one Presidents Cup appearance together in 2007. In 2017, Immelman served as the first-ever International Team Captain for the Junior Presidents Cup, which debuted at Plainfield Country Club just days prior to the Presidents Cup at Liberty National.

After competing for years in the ⁦@PresidentsCup⁩ excited to be back to help captain ⁦@TheBig_Easy⁩ bring the cup back to the internationals! ?? pic.twitter.com/r89nZyTYeB

— Weirsy (@MikeWeir) March 19, 2019

“I’m very excited. I can’t wait really. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities to play in ’05 and ’07, and it was a very enjoyable time in my career,” Immelman said. “For me, I probably know [Ernie] better than any of the other people on TOUR and so hopefully that’s what I can bring to the team is the fact that I really understand the captain. I know his history, I know his record, I obviously hold him in great esteem and so maybe I can be a good conduit from players to the team captain.”

Immelman is a two-time PGA TOUR winner whose career is highlighted by his victory at the 2008 Masters, where he edged Tiger Woods by three strokes. He also teamed with Rory Sabbatini in 2003 to win South Africa’s most recent World Cup of Golf title.

“I have known Trevor for a very long time and trust him fully to know that he will be an integral element in our team,” Els said. “As a fellow competitor, Trevor is as steely as they come and I am sure this attribute will rub off positively onto our players. When I played in the same team as Trevor in 2007, he was one of our most determined players and I know he will contribute to our cause in Australia.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – His best swing was followed by his biggest drive, both setting up birdies, and from there Rory McIlroy knew how to finish.

Suddenly staked to a one-shot lead, McIlroy had a 125-yard walk along the water to the 17th hole to face an island that never looks smaller than on Sunday at The Players Championship, followed by the toughest hole on the TPC Sawgrass with water down the entire left side.

“Just make three more good swings … and this thing is yours,” McIlroy kept telling himself.

He delivered in a major way to win the next best thing to major.

McIlroy made two late birdies to regain the lead, was at his best when the pressure was the highest, and he closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory over Jim Furyk in his 10th appearance at The Players Championship.

“To step up and make those three good swings, it’s very satisfying knowing that it’s in there when it needs to be,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy could not afford a mistake over the final hour because of Furyk, the 48-year-old former Ryder Cup captain who nearly pulled off a stunner. Furyk, one of the last players to qualify for the strongest field in golf, capped off a 67 with a 7-iron into the 18th so good that he started walking when he hit it. The ball plopped down 3 feet from the hole for a birdie to take the lead.

But not for long.

Coming off a careless bogey on the 14th, McIlroy thought he was in trouble when his tee shot went well to the right toward a clump of native grass. He was lucky it came down into the bunker, and from there he drilled a 6-iron from 180 yards.

“Some golf shot there,” Harry Diamond, his caddie and best friend, said as the ball was in the air.

McIlroy called it “the best shot of the day, by far,” and it settled 15 feet behind the hole for a birdie to tie. Then, he blasted a 347-yard drive – the longest of the day on the par-5 16th – into a good lie in the rough that left him a 9-iron to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie and the lead.

Most important, he found dry land on the 17th with a 9-iron, and relied on a memory from 10 years ago in Hong Kong – pick a target and swing hard – to hammer a tee shot down the 18th fairway to set up the win.

He finished at 16-under 272 and earned $2.25 million, to date the biggest winner’s check in golf.

The timing was ideal. McIlroy had not finished worse than a tie for sixth in his five previous starts this year – three of them playing in the final group – with no trophy to show for it. And one month away is the Masters, the final piece for McIlroy to get the career Grand Slam.

It wasn’t easy. Eight players had at least a share of the lead at some point, and a dozen players were separated by two shots at various times.

“I think the toughest part is seeing yourself up there, whatever score you’re on, and seeing 10 or 11 guys with a chance,” McIlroy said. “I guess that was the hardest thing was just getting yourself to the point mentally where you say, ‘Well, why not me? This is my tournament. I’m going to finish it off.”’

Furyk didn’t know he was in The Players until one week ago, and he was on the verge of winning until McIlroy came through in the end. Furyk started the back nine with two birdies to get in the mix and finished strong. His only regret was a 3-foot par putt on the 15th.

Even so, it showed he has plenty of game left after devoting two years as Ryder Cup captain. The runner-up finish moves him high enough in the world ranking (No. 57) to qualify for the Match Play in two weeks.

“A shot here, a shot there, maybe could have been a little different,” Furyk said. “But ultimately, left it all out there. It was also nice to get in contention, to get under the heat, to have to hit shots under a lot of pressure, and then to respond well to that and hit some good golf shots. It’ll be a confidence boost going forward.

Some of the most entertaining moments came from everyone else.

Eddie Pepperell of England, in his Sawgrass debut, ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to briefly share the lead, none bigger than a putt from just inside 50 feet on the 17th. One group later, Jhonattan Vegas holed a putt from the bottom left to the top right pin position, just under 70 feet, the longest putt made on the island green since the PGA Tour had lasers to measure them. That gave him a share of the lead, too.

“Magic,” Vegas said. “If I tried it a thousand times I wouldn’t even come close to making it.”

Both shot 66 and tied for third.

Canada’s Nick Taylor went 5 under in his final round to climb into a tie for 16th—his best result this season on TOUR. The Abbotsford, B.C., product closed the event at 10 under par.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 15: Nick Taylor of Canada looks over a putt on the 14th green during the second round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 15, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood lost their way early, and then late.

Rahm, who had a one-shot lead, started with three bogeys in four holes and recovered until a curious decision. Tied for the lead, he was 220 yards away in a bunker, partially blocked by trees on the par-5 11, when he went for the green and hit into the water, making bogey. He was still in the game until failing to birdie the 16th and hitting into the water on the 17th. Rahm shot 76.

Fleetwood opened with a three-putt bogey and made all pars until hitting into the water on the 11th for bogey. He made eagle on the 16th to have a fleeting chance until coming up short of the island. He shot 73 and tied for fifth with Brandt Snedeker (69) and Dustin Johnson (69).

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jon Rahm felt like every shot would be good and most of them were Saturday as he posted an 8-under 64 and built a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in The Players Championship.

Five shots behind going into the third round, Rahm shot 30 on the back nine at the TPC Sawgrass and surged into the lead when McIlroy and Fleetwood couldn’t keep pace. His only bogey was on the sixth hole, and even that landed next to the pin until running over the back.

“Didn’t miss many shots out there,” Rahm said. “Really, really confident with my irons. Every time I stepped up, I felt like I was going to hit a good shot.”

There were too many to single out for the 24-year-old Spaniard, who was at 15-under 201.

McIlroy and Fleetwood struggled from the start and both eventually recovered, McIlroy sooner than Fleetwood.

McIlroy muffed a chip and had to scramble for bogey on the opening hole, hit a chip over the green on the par-5 second hole and turned potential birdie into bogey, and that was as bad as it got. He still was under par at the turn by running off three birdies, including a 4-iron to a foot on the hardest par 3 on the course at No. 8.

But after a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th, McIlroy’s chances dried up. Even on the par-5 16th, he tried a low runner out of the pine trees and it came out so hot that it ran through the green and into the water.

Even so, he was bogey-free over the last 16 holes and shot 70. And he can at least avoid questions about winning from the final group, something McIlroy hasn’t done in his last nine occasions dating to the start of 2018.

“I just need to hit fairways and greens. If I can do that, and take the opportunities I give myself, hopefully I can turn tomorrow into the best Sunday of the year so far,” McIlroy said.

Fleetwood missed a 30-inch putt on the opening hole and took double bogey, and he fell three shots behind through seven holes. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 8 after McIlroy tapped in for his birdie, and then picked up four birdies where they were available for his 70.

“It was just a grind,” he said. “I’m glad I showed the strength mentally more than anything. Under par is always a good score around here no matter how you play.”

Jason Day had a 68 and was three shots behind.

Tiger Woods was five shots better on the par-3 17th – a quadruple bogey on Friday, a 2-foot birdie putt on Saturday – but still started so slowly that even a late run of birdies was only good for a 72. He was 12 shots behind in his last stroke-play event before the Masters.

Five players were within five shots of Rahm, the deficit the Spaniard made up on Saturday. That group included Brandt Snedeker (65) and Keegan Bradley (68), and Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world who played the par 5s at even and still shot a 69.

Rahm, who already has six worldwide victories in just short of three years as a pro, was still lagging behind when he made the turn, and then quickly moved to the top. After a short birdie on the 10th, he hit 4-iron from 243 yards to 3 feet on a front left pin at the par-5 11th for an eagle. He hit the right shot on the par-3 13th, with the pin below a ridge near the water, into 3 feet for another birdie.

By the end of the day, his 64 was about as high as it could have been. He two-putted from just inside 15 feet for a birdie on the 16th, and he had another birdie chance from about that range on the 18th that would have tied the course record.

No matter. He was in the lead, facing a Sunday pairing with Fleetwood as he goes for the most important win of his young career.

It figures to be a mental test as much as anything he does with his irons.

The Players Stadium Course can take as quickly as it gives, and the forecast was for much stronger wind – compared with very little on Saturday – and cooler weather. Rahm is fiery, and his emotions at times can get in his way.

He has worked hard to control his temper and still let his passion carry him to great shots.

“It was a year of personal growth rather than golf game,” Rahm said. “It’s been a work in progress of many years to get to this point, and it’s hard to do when you’re playing highly competitive golf. … This is what I called earlier a midterm of hopefully a very good final project.”

Canadian Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., notched a 4-under 68 to move to 6 under for the tournament, good for a share of 24th heading into Sunday’s finale. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is one behind Conners at 5 under.

After a bogey-free, 7-under par 65 in the first round of the 11th annual Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Sherbrooke, Quebec) mentioned how she typically begins every season strong. This afternoon was the latest performance that backed up the talk.

In 2018, she made the cut in each of her first four starts on the LPGA Tour. Rewind back to the second tournament of 2017 on the big stage and the Canadian turned in a career-best tied for seventh result at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

“I just get excited to play,” said Leblanc. “It gets boring to me taking a few months off, so I always look forward to playing the first tournaments. Now, just have to keep that same energy level for the rest of the season.”

At the SKYiGOLF Championship in North Port, Fla., Leblanc had to withdraw because of an injury. Even so, the Purdue University alumna is right back in mid-season form to open the year.

“I was playing really well last week too, but I tweaked my shoulder a little bit sleeping on it the wrong way,” Leblanc said with a chuckle. “I felt like I was hitting the ball really well last week, so it just built momentum for this week. Consistent throughout today. Missed one or two short putts, but other than that it was pretty solid.”

Canada’s @maleblancgolf on her bogey-free round to hold the outright lead on the @ROAD2LPGA pic.twitter.com/CkH6K7lkV5

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 16, 2019

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The easy way out was to go low under a tree 20 feet in front of Rory McIlroy.

He was looking up.

Coming off a 10-foot eagle and a 20-foot birdie that tied him for the lead Friday in The Players Championship, McIlroy risked wasting that great finish with a bold shot. His caddie, Harry Diamond, tried to talk him out of it. McIlroy instead opened the face of a pitching wedge and sent it straight up in the air, letting the right-to-left wind carry it onto the green 15 feet away.

“I stepped over it a couple times like, ‘No, I think I can do this,”’ McIlroy said. “I just opened up a wedge as much as I could and just took a swipe at it, and the ball sort of came out the way I thought.”

He got his par for a 7-under 65 and was tied Tommy Fleetwood, who had a better start than McIlroy finished. Fleetwood opened birdie-eagle-birdie on his way to a 67, giving him a share of the 36-hole lead for the second straight week.

They were at 12-under 132, three shots clear of anyone else.

And they were nine shots ahead of Tiger Woods, who played solid golf except for one hole – the wrong hole. Woods put two balls into the water on the notorious par-3 17th, leading to a quadruple bogey that wiped out a good start and forced him to settle for a 71.

Given the nature of this golf course – and a forecast for a different wind – the fun might just be starting.

And that’s as far as McIlroy was willing to look.

“Winning is a byproduct of doing all the right things, and I feel like if I can continue to do those things well, hopefully I do end up with the trophy on Sunday,” he said. “But there’s a lot of golf to play before that.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., both are 10 shots off the lead at 2 under. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford missed the cut at 7 over.

The biggest surprise from the group three shots off the lead might be the 48-year-old Jim Furyk, mainly because he didn’t think he would be at Sawgrass. After devoting two years as Ryder Cup captain, his world ranking plunged 194 spots to No. 231. But a great finish at the start of the Florida swing to tie for ninth moved him high enough in the FedEx Cup to get into the strongest field in golf at the last minute.

And then he delivered his best score in 80 rounds over 25 years, a 64 that put him in the group at 9-under 135.

“I thought this was an off week,” Furyk said. “It’s a nice gift, an opportunity.”

Ian Poulter, who resurrected his PGA Tour career with a runner-up finish at The Players two years ago, had a 66 and was three shots behind, along with Abraham Ancer of Mexico (66) and Brian Harman (69).

Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player, also had an eagle-birdie-par finish for a 68. He was in the group five shots behind.

McIlroy hasn’t won since Bay Hill a year ago, though he has had his chances for more. The Arnold Palmer Invitational last week was the ninth time in his last 30 tournaments dating to the start of 2018 that he played in the final group without winning.

But he has been patient. He says his attitude has been good all year, and it can be tested severely on the Players Stadium Course. There is no sense of panic or a need to start pressing if he gets into that position again.

“I just need to keep seeing red numbers,” McIlroy said. “I don’t need a win. I’m not putting myself under pressure to … again, winning is a byproduct of doing all the things that I’m doing well. … If I focus on winning, what goes into that?”

After a sluggish start – even par through seven holes – McIlroy ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, and then he poured it on with a 4-iron to 10 feet on the par-5 16th for eagle, and a wedge to the back shelf on the island green for a 20-foot birdie putt.

That was followed by his great escape, so good that McIlroy smiled as he watched a replay of the shot on the large video board as he walked to the green. His 15-foot birdie putt stopped just short of the hole.

McIlroy said he told NBC Sports analyst Roger Maltbie that “playing with Phil the last two days maybe inspired me to play a shot like that.” That would be Phil Mickelson, who didn’t play very inspired, at all. Mickelson had another 74 and missed the cut at The Players for the sixth time in the last seven years.

Fleetwood knows a thing or two about fast starts. Last month in Mexico, he started eagle-eagle.

This felt just as good, perhaps because of his standing in the tournament. Fleetwood, who shared the 18-hole lead, was two behind when he teed off and back in the lead after just two holes. He made a 12-foot birdie on No. 1, holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 second and then made a 25-footer on No. 3.

“I had a great range session warming up, and all you want to do then is make sure you try and take that out onto the course, which was very different,” Fleetwood said. “I had the absolute dream start. … Today was a little bit more up and down, but it’s going to be. There was a lot of good stuff, and I just feel really happy with it.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – On the 18th green at TPC Sawgrass, Laurence Applebaum was laughing and chatting with whomever was around.

Usually standing on that intimidating tee – with water up the left-hand side and a thin fairway – you’re not happy at all. But Golf Canada’s CEO caught Canadians Nick Taylor and Corey Conners coming through in the final hole of their practice round, and how could he not be happy?

Taylor and Conners were wearing shorts. Applebaum was clad in a grey monotone ensemble, the pop of colour reserved for the red in the Golf Canada logo on his shirt. It was like a scene you might stumble upon at any golf club in the country when a trio of friends got together at the end of a round – it just so happened that two of the three are some of the best golfers in the world.

“They’re true professionals on the PGA Tour,” said Applebaum on the veranda of the iconic clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass. “It seems like the vibe amongst those guys is that every week there is a different guy who is finding his groove. Roger Sloan, for example, had a couple great weeks, and to have Adam Hadwin leading that class… it’s so good to have those guys on the Tour and they’ve been great ambassadors for golf in Canada.”

The Canadians in the field this week at The Players Championship – Adam Hadwin rounds out the Canadian contingent – are only a small part of global group Applebaum has connected with already.

As the CEO of Golf Canada, he’s been thrilled to continue to drive the momentum of the organization forward – ‘momentum’ he said, is probably the one word to sum-up the last 12 months or so.

Applebaum, with his second Annual Meeting as CEO in the rearview – where Golf Canada announced its three-year strategic plan – was happy to mix business with pleasure this week in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, Canadian golf hall of famer Mike Weir, and Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada president Jeff Monday are just some of crew Applebaum has talked with. He’s enjoyed sharing the good-news story behind this year’s RBC Canadian Open.

“The new date. The new purse. The extension of the RBC sponsorship. The recent news that we’ll have three direct qualifiers from the RBC Canadian Open into the British Open is going to be wonderful,” he said. “We have such a great snowball effect of what’s going on.”

The commissioner, Applebaum said, was instrumental with the new date and helping to bring three partners – RBC, Golf Canada, and the PGA Tour – together to make the upcoming RBC Canadian Open a special one.

He said although the PGA Tour is a big professional sports organization, it’s also a really intimate family.

“They’ve wrapped their arms around Canada,” he said.

With The Players becoming the signature event of the PGA Tour, it’s become a spectacle with the global golf community invited. There are things the organizing team will bring from The Players to the RBC Canadian Open this year.

“When you spend any time here, you realize it’s a little beach town outside Jacksonville, Florida, and it’s become a mecca for golf fans. Golfers, sports fans, people looking for fun things to do – like family entertainment – and they’ve brought food, music, a real spectacle in the middle of March which is really nice,” said Applebaum.

“We’ve learned a lot from what they’ve done. We’ve really got to build our own identity for the RBC Canadian Open and it’s going to be the start of summer when our new event is, which is really exciting.”

Not only is there exciting news around the RBC Canadian Open, but Canadian golf as a whole, said Applebaum.

There are eight Canadians with PGA Tour status this year – nine if you count Graham DeLaet, who is on a major medical exemption and 10 if you count Weir, as a past major champion – which is the most ever.

He also points to the success of Team RBC members Dustin Johnson (as world no.1) and new Team RBC member Webb Simpson (as defending champion at The Players) as something else that’s been a positive through late 2018 and early 2019.

“We want to keep that momentum going,” he said – with a smile, of course.