SUN CITY, South Africa – South African golfer Jaco van Zyl birdied three of the last five holes to ensure some local representation at the top of the Nedbank Challenge leaderboard with Henrik Stenson in the first round at Sun City on Thursday.

Sweden’s Stenson shook off the illness that hampered his buildup to record five birdies by the turn, but was less prolific over the final nine holes and finished with a 6-under 66 that was matched by Van Zyl.

England’s Danny Willett ended the day in third after shooting 67, while South African Branden Grace and Australia’s Mark Leishman were a further shot back in fourth.

GOLD COAST, Australia – Brandt Snedeker, the top-ranked player at the Australian PGA championship, shot a 12-over-par 84 in the opening round Thursday.

Snedeker, ranked 38th and one of only three players in the top 100 at Royal Pines this week, was 7-over after five holes. Starting on the back nine, he had two bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey to start and made the turn in 9-over 45.

On his last nine, the American golfer had four bogeys and his only birdie of the day, on the par-4 sixth.

The course played tough early with rain showers and strong, gusting winds.

“It was just a horrible day,” Snedeker said. “There is nothing else to say. I wish I could put a spin on it. I think the conditions obviously played a part in it. But I think it was way more execution than it was conditions. When you’re not firing on all cylinders and the wind is blowing the way it did out here, your mistakes are going to be exacerbated. Mine were.”

Snedeker was 17 strokes behind first-round leader Zander Lombard of South Africa, who shot 67 to lead by two strokes from England’s Mark Foster in the co-sanctioned Australian and European Tour event.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Brandt Jobe shot a 6-under 65 on Wednesday to take a one-stroke lead over Willie Wood and Gibby Gilbert in the Champions Tour qualifying tournament.

Jobe, a six-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour, had an 11-under 131 total on TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course. Wood, a PGA Tour and Champions Tour winner, had a 66, and Gilbert shot 68.

Mike Grob and Jean-Francois Remesy were tied for fourth at 9 under after rounds of 68.

Neil Lancaster followed an opening 73 with a 63 to move into a tie for 11th at 6 under.

In Canadian action, Jim Rutledge is tied for 48th at 1-under 141, Rick Gibson has a share of 54th at even-par 142 and Stuart Hendley – a Texas born Canadian resident – is 74th at 4-over 146.

The top-five finishers Friday will earn fully exempt status, and the next seven will be conditionally exempt. The top 30 finishers and ties will be eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers.

Motivated by his daughters and fresh off a break from golf, Mike Weir is ready to start his comeback.

The Canadian golfer will play his first tournament since taking a months-long hiatus when he tees off at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He must make a certain amount of money within the first eight events of the 2015 season to hold on to his PGA Tour playing privileges.

After withdrawing from the John Deere Classic in July, the native of Bright’s Grove, Ont., said he was going to be taking an “indefinite leave of absence from golf.”

Once the No. 3 golfer in the world, Weir slid down to 620th. He was divorced last December, and, after fighting a myriad of injuries, the eight-time PGA Tour champion and 2003 Masters winner decided enough was enough.

He needed a reset.

Weir admitted he didn’t swing a club for seven weeks after his announcement. He enjoyed spending time with his daughters, 17-year-old Elle and 15-year-old Lili. They went to the south of France, they went to visit family in Southwestern Ontario, and family visited them.

But once the girls got back to school, Weir began practising again during the day. He would travel to Florida to work with his coach David Leadbetter – one of the world’s most renowned teachers.

All the while, his daughters kept him motivated.

“We talk all the time when I get home. They’re asking how my practice is going and they can see how things are coming along, and see how I’m excited,” Weir said. “They definitely want me to go out there and do well”

“I just want to get back to playing good golf, which I think I’m capable of doing. Right now I’m very motivated and I’m giving it one good go.”

There was a slight pause when Weir said, “good,” as if he was holding himself back from saying “last.”

Time is catching up to the 45-year-old, and the past five years have been a struggle for Weir.

In 2012, he played in 14 events, and didn’t make a single cut. Weir was injured often over the next few seasons and had only made one cut in 2015 before his announcement in July.

He has used both of his career money list exemptions, but he will be entered into eight PGA Tour events in 2016 thanks to a combined major and minor medical exemption awarded to him by the Tour.

He said he is open to playing on other golf tours.

“I might mix in a few Web events to stay sharp, and I may even look at some events in Europe,” he said. “I need to play, and play a lot to get back mentally as much as physically. That just takes you playing.”

Despite the ongoing mathematics that will determine if Weir will be a full-fledged PGA Tour member through 2016, he is just trying to play good golf.

“A lot of the ‘life’ stuff is behind me now, and things are going pretty good. I can get back focused, and have a clear path in my mind,” he said. “I’m at a stage right now with my girls and the age they’re at that they’re fully on board.”

While the veteran begins his 20th year on the PGA Tour, he’s encouraged at what he sees from the future of Canadian golf. And, he’s happy to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of golfers.

“Watching them brings back memories of what I had to go through, and the way they go about it now,” Weir said. “It’s a little different times, but it’s fun to watch them.”

NASSAU, Bahamas –  Tiger Woods painted a bleak picture Tuesday on when he can return to golf or even get back to doing anything more than just walking.

Woods had two back surgeries in a span of 18 months followed by what he described only as another “procedure” in the same area in October. He has not started rehabilitation and does not know when his back will allow for that.

“The hardest part for me is there’s really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build toward,” Woods said. “It’s just taking it literally just day by day and week by week and time by time.”

Woods is at the Hero World Challenge as the tournament host, not one of the 18 players at Albany Golf Club. The only time he touched a club was to pose for a photo, and he leaned on it while talking to Justin Rose and Zach Johnson on the putting green.

A month away from turning 40, the smile did not come as easily for Woods.

He has not competed since Aug. 23 at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he attracted record crowds in his first appearance and played his best golf of a bad year. He went into the final round two shots behind and tied for 10th.

He didn’t realize that would be his last event of the year, and last tournament for longer than he knows.

“Was it a surprise? Yeah,” Woods said. “Because as I was alluding to that week and subsequent weeks, I felt my hip was killing me and I didn’t think it was coming from my back. We worked out in the trailer each and every day and just tried to loosen up my hip. And OK, fine, we went out and played. But I didn’t feel any back discomfort.

“Come to find out it wasn’t my hip, it was coming from my back.”

He had another microdiscectomy Sept. 16 and then he revealed he had another “procedure” Oct. 30, which he said was in the same spot. Asked the degree to which he can function, Woods said, “I walk. I walk and I walk some more.”

Woods, who has spent 683 weeks at No. 1 in the world ranking, is now at No. 400, his lowest as a professional. He has not won since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2013, when he was the PGA Tour player of the year.

And now he can’t even begin to imagine when he might play again.

“I have no answer for that, and neither does my surgeon or my physios,” he said. “There is no timetable.”

Woods said this was different from his four knee surgeries, even the worst one in 2008 after he won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines for his 14th major. He had a reconstruction of his left knee and was told it would be about nine months before he could get back. Woods returned eight months later and won in his third start.

“For nerves, there are really no timetables and therein lies the tricky part of it because you can come back earlier or you can come back later. It just depends on how the nerve heals and how it settles,” he said.

Would he be surprised if he was nothing more than a host at the Hero World Challenge a year from now? He couldn’t answer it.

“So where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I don’t know, so that’s been hard,” Woods said. “I had to reset the clock each and every day and OK, here we go. This is a new day and this is taken for what it is. I listen to my surgeon. I listen to my physios and we just take it day by day. Hopefully, the day-by-day adds up to something positive here soon.”

He agreed to be a vice captain under Davis Love III at the Ryder Cup next year, though Woods still wants to play in the matches. He says it has been two months since he hit a golf ball – “a chip shot left handed” – and that he passes most his time playing video games.

Woods said he wants to play again and that anything he accomplishes the rest of his career “will be gravy.”

But he sounded at peace with what he already has done – 79 career victories on the PGA Tour (second only to the 82 by Sam Snead), 14 majors (second to 18 by Jack Nicklaus), PGA Tour player of the year a record 11 times.

“I’ve had a pretty good career for my 20s and 30s,” he said. “For my 20 years out here, I think I’ve achieved a lot, and if that’s all it entails, then I’ve had a pretty good run. But I’m hoping that’s not it. I’m hoping that I can get back out here and compete against these guys. I really do miss it.”

The first step? Getting healthy enough to play soccer with his two children.

“If I can get to that, then we can start talking about golf,” he said. “But let me get to where I can pass the time and really be a part of my kids’ life in the way that I want to be part of it physically, not just as a cheerleader.”

SCOTTSDALE, AZ  – Four golf coaches and educators are joining forces to create GenNXT Golf Academy – the first high performance junior golf academy in the American Southwest.

Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott of VISION54, Dr. Rick Jensen of the Dr. Rick Jensen Performance Center at PGA National and Canadian Henry Brunton have selected the Talking Sticking GC as the home base for the ground-breaking academy for aspiring golfers from 14 to 18 years of age.

The golf athlete development program will open its doors January 5th, 2016 and is currently accepting athlete applications for the semester that runs until June 5th. It’s a full-time residential golf academy for boys and girls ages 14 to 18 with a variety of housing and educational options available for consideration. There are options for athletes to participate in GenNXT for a month, a semester or a full school year. The 2016/2017 GenNXT Academy will commence August 22nd.

“We have created GenNXT to be a boutique style high performance golf academy. We are all committed to providing exceptional coaching and training support while developing personal relationships with all of our athletes,” says Brunton, a GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher who spent 13 years as the Head Coach of Canada’s National Golf Team.

Athletes will have full access to the exceptional practice facilities and two remarkable 18-hole Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed golf courses at Talking Stick Resort, which is also the home base for spring training for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

For more details, visit www.gennxtgolfacademy.com.

Benowa, Queensland, Australia and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.  – The PGA Tour has awarded the PGA Tour Courage Award to PGA Tour member Jarrod Lyle, who has overcome two battles with acute myeloid leukemia in his lifetime. The Australia native is in the second year of a Medical Extension granted to him due to his life-threatening illness.

Former Open Championship winner Ian Baker-Finch presented Lyle with the award on behalf of the PGA Tour and Commissioner Tim Finchem at the inaugural Greg Norman Gold Medal Dinner hosted by the PGA of Australia on the eve of the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort.

The PGA Tour Courage Award is presented to a player who, through courage and perseverance, has overcome extraordinary adversity, such as personal tragedy or debilitating injury or illness, to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the game of golf. Lyle is the second-ever recipient of the Courage Award, joining Erik Compton who received the award in 2013.

The Courage Award includes a $25,000 charitable contribution to be distributed to a charity of the award recipient’s choice; this year’s contribution will be given to Challenge – Supporting Kids with Cancer, an Australian non-profit organization that delivers daily support to children and families living with cancer. Since 1983, Challenge has helped more than 25,000 children and families, improving their quality of life.

“Jarrod is a story of great perseverance and courage in the face of adversity,” said Finchem. “To battle and overcome leukemia twice is a statement unto itself as to his character. But he has also made a significant impression on all of us with his determination to reclaim his career as a professional golfer. Jarrod has a tremendous amount of support behind him, all with their best wishes for his continued good health and success on the PGA Tour in 2016 and beyond.”

In his fifth season on TOUR in 2012, Lyle was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in March that limited his season to just seven starts. At the time of diagnosis, his wife Briony was pregnant with the couple’s first child, Lusi, who was born healthy just days later. It was Lyle’s second bout with the disease, having been confined to bed for nine months while undergoing chemotherapy in 1999 at the age of 17.

After chemotherapy, a double umbilical cord blood transplant and rehabilitation, Lyle made a comeback in December 2013 at the Talisker Masters in his native Australia. He then returned to the PGA Tour at the 2014 Frys.com Open, where he finished tied for 31st and has made 11 subsequent starts, the last being the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship. He enters 2016 with eight events remaining in his Medical Extension.

“I am very humbled to be receiving this award from the PGA Tour,” said Lyle. “It has taken a lot of fighting for me to get back to the PGA Tour but it has been well worth it. For me to get back after the things I have dealt with shows people in similar situations there is hope for them and if they stay positive and fight for everyday then they can succeed in life. To be back playing with all the guys again and saying thank you was very important to me. The players, officials and fans of the PGA Tour were extremely supportive to me and my family throughout my time away and I can never repay them for that.”

A trio of Canadians will be in the field  of 79 players for the Champions Tour’s Final Qualifying Stage.

The 72-holes event, which has no cut of the field, will be conducted from Tuesday, December 1 to Friday December 4 at TPC Scottsdale’s – Champions Course in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Victoria’s Jim Rutledge will be among those vying for a Top-5 finish to earn exempt status in 2016. In six career attempts, the 56-year-old has managed the feat on three occasions.

Joining him will be fellow native of Victoria, Rick Gibson and Stuart Hendley of Lacombe, Alta. Gibson played in six events during the 2015 season, making the cut three times, including a T20 finish at the Constellation Senior Players Championship. Hendley played in one event, the 2015 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, and registered a T66 result.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament begins Wednesday, December 2 and concludes on Sunday, December 6 at LPGA International, Jones and Hills Courses.

There are 157 players in the field – including 10 Canadians – competing for LPGA Tour membership on the 2016 LPGA priority list.

The top 20 finishers (not including ties) come Sunday earn category 12 membership, while players who finish 21 through 45 plus ties will earn membership through category 17. In layman’s terms, the top 20 finishers will have “full” LPGA membership while those that finish 21-45 will have “conditional” status. For perspective, Alison Lee and Minjee Lee, who shared medalist honors in 2014, played in 23 and 29 LPGA events respectively in 2015. Julie Yang, who finished T21 at 2014 Final Stage, made 12 starts on the LPGA in 2015.

Players will rotate between the Jones and Hills courses over the first four days. There will be a 72-hole cut made on Saturday to the top 70 and ties. The final round will take place on the Hills Course. Play is expected to begin at 8 a.m. all five days.

Players that finish a minimum of 72 holes will earn Symetra Tour membership in category D.

Although secondary to earning LPGA membership, there is a $50,000 (U.S.) purse for the event with the medalist earning $5,000.

There are three ways that players could have earned entry into the field this week: by finishing in the top 80 at Stage II, by finishing 11-33 on the Symetra Tour’s Volvik Race for the Card money list or by having 2015 LPGA Tour membership (61 players had 2015 LPGA status).

Headlining the Canadians in the field is 4-time LPGA Tour winner Lorie Kane of Charlottetown (2000 Michelob Light Classic, 2000 New Albany Golf Classic, 2000 Mizuno Classic and 2001 LPGA Takefuji Classic). At 50 years of age, Kane is the oldest player in the field.

The other Canadians include:

• Augusta James (Bath, Ont.)
• Sara-Maude Juneau (Fossambault, Que.)
• Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Sue Kim (Langley, B.C.)
• Jennifer Kirby (Paris, Ont.)
• Maude-Aimée LeBlanc (Sherbrooke, Que.)
• Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Rebecca Lee-Bentham (Toronto)
• Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.)
• Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Québec, Que.)
• Jessica Wallace (Langley, B.C.)

FAR HILLS, N.J. – Diana Murphy has been nominated to a one-year term as president of the United States Golf Association (USGA).

If elected, she would be the second woman to be president of the USGA. Judy Bell was president in 1996-97. Murphy’s husband, Reg Murphy, was USGA president in 1994-95.

Murphy is in her fifth year on the USGA executive committee. She is chair of the Championship and Compensation committees. She was elected treasurer in 2013 and has been a vice president the last two years.

Murphy lives in St. Simons Island, Georgia. She is managing director of Rocksolid Holdings, a private-equity firm for small business and real estate in the Southeast.

The election will be Feb. 6 in San Diego at the USGA’s annual meeting.