JACKSON, Miss. – Rain washed out all but 40 minutes of play Saturday in the Sanderson Farms Championship, further delaying the waterlogged event.

Roberto Castro, who set the course record with a 10-under 62 in Thursday’s opening round, holds a four-shot lead at 15 under through 36 holes. Bryce Molder (69) and Jhonattan Vegas (67) are tied for second at 11 under, with Patrick Rodgers (64), Michael Thompson (67), Brian Davis (69) and D.J. Trahan (67) tied for fourth at 10 under par at Country Club of Jackson.

Canadians Nick Taylor (66) are T8, Adam Hadwin (71) T12 and Graham DeLaet (72) T25 respectively.

Seventy-six players have yet to complete their second rounds.

Play is set to resume early Sunday. After the second round is completed, the third and fourth will be played. However, tournament officials are prepared to extend play into Monday if 72 holes can’t be completed by darkness on Sunday.

Clear skies are forecast for Sunday and Monday.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Michael Allen held onto the lead Saturday in the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and playing partner Bernhard Langer pulled within a stroke to easily remain in position to take the points title.

Allen shot a 1-under 69, making six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in breezy conditions on Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course. He had a 12-under 198 total.

The 56-year-old Scottsdale resident birdied the par-3 11th to open a six-stroke lead, then played the next four holes in 4 over. He rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 17th and parred the par-5 18th.

“I didn’t really know what my lead was,” Allen said. “It probably would have been a good idea to look at a board at that point, but I was just trying to do what I’ve been doing all week, which is just try and hit good shots, make birdies and pars. I don’t think my strategy would have changed any.”

Langer birdied the final two holes for a 68. The 58-year-old German star is competing with Colin Montgomerie and Jeff Maggert for the Charles Schwab Cup points title and a $1 million annuity.

Langer began the week third in the standings, 66 points behind Colin Montgomerie and 27 behind Jeff Maggert, in a bid to win the title for the second straight year and record third time overall.

“Obviously, I’m in a unique situation this week where I’m sort of keeping one eye on what’s happening there with Monty and Maggert and I’m trying to win the tournament at the same time,” Langer said.

With players receiving a point for every $500 earned in the $2.5 million tournament, Langer started $33,000 behind Montgomerie and $13,500 behind Maggert. With their current positions, Langer would earn $254,000, Montgomerie $40,500, and Maggert $34,000. Langer also is in position to top the money list.

Montgomerie had a 71 and was tied for 18th in the 30-man field at 1 under. Maggert was tied for 21st at even par after a 71. The runner-up in the points competition will receive a $500,000 annuity, and the third-place finisher will get a $300,000 annuity.

“Right now it’s looking good and it’s still a shootout for the title as well,” Langer said. “Michael played phenomenal on the front and wheels came off a little bit in the middle there, early back nine, and then he pulled himself together again. It’s still anybody’s ball game at this point, the tournament.”

Allen made a double bogey on the par-4 12th after driving into the desert.

“I just think let up for a shot there and it kind of, it really got me. Is that what happened carrying on? Who really knows.I felt like I overcame it all right and I didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, boy, I’m uptight and not doing well.’ I kind of just tried to shrug it off and kind of keep moving forward.”

He bogeyed the par-3 13th, then topped a long-iron approach into the water on the par-4 15th and holed a 10-footer to escape with bogey.

“I was a little out of sorts and probably just didn’t go through the routine quite properly,” Allen said. “I don’t know because it was a perfect number. … I guess it happens once in a while in golf.”

He made an 18-foot birdie putt on 17, and missed a birdie chance on 18 when he pulled his 8-footer to the right.

“I feel good,” Allen said. “I felt like I just lost my swing a little bit there and maybe really my focus more than my swing.”

Allen began the day with a two-stroke lead after opening with rounds of 65 and 64. He won the last of his seven victories on the 50-and-over tour in October 2014.

Mark O’Meara, Canada’s Stephen Ames and Billy Andrade were tied for third at 8 under. O’Meara shot 66, Ames 67, and Andrade 70. Ames was the last player to get into the field, jumping from 31st to 30th on the money list with a ninth-place tie last week at Newport Beach.

SHANGHAI – Even with two majors, five victories, a FedEx Cup title and over $22 million in earnings this year, Jordan Spieth offered an honest appraisal about the final World Golf Championship of the year. He really didn’t think he would have much of a chance in the HSBC Champions.

Now he does.

The third round at Sheshan International ended Saturday in the dark with Kevin Kisner holding a one-shot lead, Russell Knox choosing to return Sunday morning to finish the round and see if he could tie him, Dustin Johnson playing mistake-free to pull within one shot, and Li Haotong giving China hope that one of its own could win on a world stage.

And then there was Spieth, right where he has been so much of the year.

“My theory on the tour and trying to win is your lead is never safe because some guy is going to make birdies,” Kisner said after a 2-under 70. “Look at Jordan today. His name popped up. I don’t even know where he started and he was on the leaderboard.”

Some 24 hours earlier, Spieth was 12 shots behind and wondering he could even make another par. He ended Friday with two birdies, and then raced up the leaderboard in soft conditions Saturday with a 9-under 63 to go from the middle of the pack to three shots behind.

“This will be the first and only time I would say this, but I was not expecting myself to be in this position come Sunday when the week started,” Spieth said with a smile. “I came in with very little confidence in my trust of what I’m trying to do in my swing. … But yeah, I’m extremely pleased just to be in contention.”

Finishing it off doesn’t figure to be easy.

Kisner chipped in for birdie on the 15th hole to go from a two-shot deficit to a tie for the lead when Knox three-putted for bogey, and the 31-year-old American pulled ahead with a birdie on the 16th and two pars to finish at 16-under 200.

Johnson, who won the HSBC Champions the last time he was here two years ago, has made 10 birdies in his last 21 holes and shot a 65. Li wasted no time getting the Chinese gallery fired up when he opened with four straight birdies on his way to a 66.

“It’s going to be a dog fight tomorrow no matter what,” Kisner said.

Spieth felt he was struggling to avoid his club face being shut during the final month of the PGA Tour season, and he has been working on a fix that is difficult for him. But he found a swing thought on the practice range Saturday morning and hit the ball so well that he shot 63 despite missing four putts inside 10 feet.

“I’m not going to complain about the round, but I felt like the way I played could have been 10 or 11 (under) for sure,” Spieth said.

He finished with a bold move. Spieth had 239 yards to the hole, which required a precise carry over the water, on the par-5 18th. He could get there with a 3-iron if he flushed it, so caddie Michael Greller suggested he play it safe.

“Michael said, ‘It’s a bad number. Let’s lay up and make birdie with a wedge,’ Spieth said. “I said, ‘I’m not laying up from 239. So I hit a 3-wood and aimed 30 yards left of the green with a big cut. I cut it a little too much. I was trying to get in the middle of the green, and it went further right and closer to the hole.”

He missed the eagle putt from 15 feet, typical of his round. He still had another chance to win, typical of his year.

Knox birdied his opening three holes and built a two-shot lead with a birdie on the 11th. But he three-putted the 15th, narrowly avoided another bogey on No. 16 by making an 8-foot putt and missed on a short birdie attempt on the 17th. With the option to finish in the dark – as Kisner and Branden Grace did – Knox chose to wait.

Li might have wished for this day to never end.

China’s brightest young star, he played the PGA Tour China series last year and earned Web.com Tour status, and he was in range to earn a PGA Tour card this year until fading late in the season. Playing before a home crowd – he grew up in Shanghai and plays out of Lake Malaren, home of next week’s BMW Masters – he prepared Friday night to cope with the stress and pressure and turned it into the most fun he’s had on a golf course.

“I never thought I could play that good,” Li said. “Can’t believe it.”

Liang Wenchong, who tied for eighth in the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, is the only other Chinese player to finish in the top 10 in a PGA Tour event. Even though Li is only one shot behind, he kept his goal modest. He wants to finish in the top 10.

Can he win?

In an press conference in Chinese, Li answered in English with a big laugh.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

Patrick Reed (68) and Ross Fisher (65) joined Spieth at 13-under 203, with Grace playing the final three holes in 3 under for a 70. He was four shots behind. Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler each shot 68 and were eight shots behind.

SHIMA, Japan – Jenny Shin shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over fellow South Korean player Ha-Neul Kim in the LPGA Tour’s Toto Japan Classic.

Shin had her second straight bogey-free round at Kintetsu Kashikojima, reaching 13 under with a birdie on the par-3 17th and closing with a par. The 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion is winless in five seasons on the LPGA Tour.

Kim had a 66. She has one victory this year in her first season on the Japan LPGA.

American Angela Stanford was 11 under along with South Korea’s Sun-Ju Ahn and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum. Stanford, tied for the first-round lead, had a 68. Ahn, a 19-time winner on the JLPGA, shot 65, and Phatlum birdied six of first eight holes in a 66.

Canada’s Alena Sharp shot 69 and has a share of 15th at 8 under.

JACKSON, Miss. – Roberto Castro’s second round at the Sanderson Farms Championship included some sunshine, thunderstorms, a five-hour rain delay, yellowjackets and a snake.

None of it mattered. He navigated the elements and the unwelcome wildlife to shoot a 5-under 67 on Friday at the Country Club of Jackson to take a four-stroke lead.

“That’s why I stay in the city,” Castro said. “I’m not good in nature.”

But he has been very good in Mississippi, following up a 10-under 62 on Thursday with another impressive round. The highlight was an eagle on the par-4 eighth when his 122-yard shot with a pitching wedge spun back about 10 feet into the cup.

“It’s fun to get one to fall,” Castro said. “Sometimes you go a couple of years without making one and then you make a couple in a couple weeks.”

Bryce Molder, Jhonattan Vegas and D.J. Trahan were tied for second at 11 under. Molder shot a 69, while Vegas and Trahan had two holes remaining when play was suspended for the day.

Molder had two bogeys and five birdies, including a tricky 6-foot putt for birdie on the final hole.

“To knock it in the middle felt good to at least finish that way,” Molder said.

But the story of the day was once again Castro, a 30-year-old who is winless on the tour in more than 100 starts.

He struggled with his driving on occasion during the second round, but made it up for it with a good short game and putting. It helped that the course was once again exceptionally soft, making for forgiving landings on the green when trying to power out of the rough.

“For how much rain they’ve had, (the course is) holding up well,” Castro said.

Castro played three holes before the five-hour delay, making a birdie on No. 3 before the rain came. His round really because interesting when play resumed.

He was on No. 5 when a yellowjacket crawled up his shirt and stung him on the left side. He said he hadn’t been stung since he was a kid. Castro went to Georgia Tech and joked that he was upset “one of my own kind” attacked him.

Georgia Tech’s mascot is the Yellowjackets.

“It just kind of got up under my shirt, and I knew it, and it just got me,” Castro said. “It still stings now, but it didn’t really bother me.

A little later, he saw a snake, leading to his jokes with his caddie about the joys of city life.

“It was a lot to take in,” Castro said. “But I feel like I stuck to my routine and made a lot of good shots.”

Defending champion and Canadian Nick Taylor is tied for 8th at 9 under after his opening 36 holes.

Adam Hadwin didn’t hit a shot Friday. The Canadian, who held a share of 4th heading into Friday, is tied for 17th at 7 under.

The second round was set to resume Saturday morning. More rain is expected.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Michael Allen made a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole Friday to take a two-stroke lead over playing partner Bernhard Langer in the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Warned for slow play around the turn, Allen finished with a 6-under 64 for an 11-under 129 total on Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course. The 56-year-old Scottsdale resident played the final six holes in 5 under with the eagle and three birdies.

Langer was second after a 68, leaving the 58-year-old German star in position to win the season points title and a $1 million annuity.

Langer began the week third in the Charles Schwab Cup points race, 66 points behind Colin Montgomerie and 27 behind Jeff Maggert, in a bid to win the title for the second straight year and record third time overall. With players receiving a point for every $500 earned in the $2.5 million tournament, Langer was $33,000 behind Montgomerie and $13,500 behind Maggert.

Montgomerie had a 68 and was tied for 18th in the 30-man field at 2 under. Maggert was tied for 22nd at 1 under after a 67. The runner-up in the points competition will receive a $500,000 annuity, and the third-place finisher will get a $300,000 annuity.

Kenny Perry (66) and Billy Andrade (67) were tied for third at 8 under, and Jeff Sluman (64) and Olin Browne (67) were another stroke back.

Allen chipped in for birdie on the par-3 13th, two-putted for birdie on the par-5 15th and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He won the last of his seven victories on the 50-and-over tour in October 2014.

Langer birdied three of the first four holes, three-putted for bogey on the par-3 seventh and birdied the ninth. The two-time Masters champion dropped another stroke after failing to get up-and-down from the greenside rough on the par-4 12th, took another bogey when he missed an 8-foot par on 17, and got up-and-down for birdie on 18.

Langer successfully defended his Senior Players title in June in Massachusetts for his fifth senior major title and won last month in San Antonio for his 25th victory on the 50-and-over tour.

Allen and Langer use long putters with anchored strokes, a method that will be illegal next year.

 Canada’s Stephen Ames has a share of 8th at 5 under.

ACTON, Ont. —The PGA of Canada’s oldest and most prestigious championship is heading to the west coast in 2016.

The Victoria Golf Club hosts the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf June 12-16, 2016.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to take our PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf to Canada’s west coast and the marvelous Victoria Golf Club,” said PGA of Canada president Constant Priondolo. “Next year’s championship will undoubtedly be a success story thanks to the marriage of a one-kind-facility like Victoria and a best-in-class event such as the PGA Championship of Canada.”

Founded in 1893, the Victoria Golf Club is the oldest course in Canada on its original site. Designed by AV Macan, Victoria was ranked No. 14 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Golf Courses in Canada list. The seaside links venue boasts craggy shorelines, lush fairways, challenging ocean breezes and undulating greens, which conjure up images of historic links venues in Scotland.

“When Victoria Golf Club was presented with the chance to host the PGA Championship of Canada, we immediately thought it was an amazing opportunity,” said Victoria Golf Club’s general manager and PGA of Canada member Scott Kolb. “We feel our club is an ideal venue for a match play event with its variety of shot options, natural elements and undulating greens.”

Re-launched in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada was contested strictly as a match play event thru 2014 with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy. However, this year’s championship at Cabot Links saw a format change, with 64 top-ranked players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC playing two rounds of stroke play. The top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event filled out the four match play brackets with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.

Next year’s championship at Victoria will follow the same format.

Danny King looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the championship since Knudson won in 1976 and 1977. In 2015, King bested Oliver Tubb 1-up in the final match at Cabot Links.

In addition to King, past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada include Moe Norman, George Knudson, Dave Levesque, Eric Laporte, Bryn Parry, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Tim Clark, Lanny Wadkins, Jim Rutledge, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

The PGA Championship of Canada will be the first national championship Victoria has hosted since the 1993 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.

The first PGA Championship of Canada was contested in 1912 at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club.

UXBRIDGE, Ont. — The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) has announced the retirement of Manager of Sport Performance Mary Ann Hayward, with her final day being January 29, 2016.

Hayward has been with the GAO since May of 2009 when she came onboard as Sport Performance Coordinator. Hayward brought with her a long list of accomplishments as a competitive golfer including: numerous provincial and national championships; a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team for multiple years between 1990 and 2006, as well as being part of the Canadian World Amateur Team on eight occasions. Hayward, a Canadian, Ontario and Quebec Golf Hall of Famer, also served as a volunteer on the GAO’s sport committee before joining the staff.

Looking back, Hayward says that it was her role in the Team Ontario and Regional Team programs that she will remember most. “The athletes, families and coaches that have been a part of these programs have been phenomenal. I have learned even more about golf and performance from them over the past six years.”

Being as close as she was with the athletes, in the various programs, Hayward offered some parting words to the players.

“The only advice I can give is to put 100 per cent into everything they do. We do not always achieve the results we want, but there is never any excuse for not putting forth 100 per cent effort in training and preparation.”

“Although Mary Ann continues to have an incredibly decorated, Hall of Fame playing career, her impact on young juniors and their families is right up there,” added Mike Kelly, GAO Executive Director. “I am personally grateful and feel confident speaking on behalf of all staff and volunteers in sincerely thanking Mary Ann for her commitment and dedication to the GAO. We wish her all the best in this exciting, next phase of her life.”

Moving forward, Hayward says she is focused on playing in more competitions and achieving more goals as a golfer.

SHANGHAI – Two par saves in the middle of his round and two birdies at the end put Kevin Kisner in a place he has never been.

And that has nothing to do with his first trip to China.

Kisner put together another bogey-free performance Friday in the HSBC Champions for a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Russell Knox going into the weekend of the World Golf Championship. He was at 14-under 130, the lowest 36-hole score of his career, and he was the 36-hole leader for the first time in his career.

It was more than Kisner expected at Sheshan International, mainly because he didn’t have any expectations.

A sore back kept the 31-year-old American from seeing the golf course until he teed it up in the opening round on Thursday. He was so lost that walking off the eighth green, he wasn’t sure how to get to the next hole. None of that seemed to matter.

“It’s just golf, man,” Kisner said. “Doesn’t matter if it was here or wherever. Still get the ball in the hole as fast as you can.”

That proved far more difficult Friday than in the opening round, mainly because the still, soft conditions gave way to a strong wind that never relented. Kisner twice saved par, with a 20-foot putt on the par-3 fourth and a 15-foot putt on the par-4 15th hole.

Only 16 players shot in the 60s on Friday, compared with 41 in the opening round.

Knox started his round with a 40-foot birdie putt that set the tone for the day. He wound up with the low round of the day at 7-under 65, leaving him two shots behind Kisner and with his own tale about being a little unprepared for his first World Golf Championship.

Knox only found out last week in Malaysia that he was in the HSBC Champions when J.B. Holmes withdrew. That was the good news. The problem was getting a visa for China, so wife Andrea came to rescue – twice. First, she filled out all his forms while he played the CIMB Classic and arranged for the meeting with the Chinese consulate in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. Then, she filled in as a caddie for his practice round at Sheshan because Knox’s caddie took an extra day to arrange for his visa.

“My wife was a superstar,” Knox said.

One job apparently was easier than the other.

“We got a stand bag from the pro here and played the quickest practice round ever, and she complained heavily for the last nine holes,” he said with a laugh. “But it was nice to run around quickly, so I did get to see the course. My caddie did not, so I told him what we were going to do.”

The top two players on the leaderboard going into the weekend have never won on the PGA Tour, and both know so much can change over the next two days. Even so, Kisner’s solid play has created a little bit of separation.

Branden Grace of South Africa, who opened with a 63, added three birdies through 10 holes until he forced the issue trying to get further ahead and wound up playing the final eight holes in 2 over. He had to settle for a 71 and was four shots behind.

The buzz came from Li Haotong of China, who spent the afternoon chasing the lead and thrilling the hometown gallery. A bogey on the final hole gave him a 69, and he joined Patrick Reed (70) at 9-under 135.

Li played the PGA Tour China series last year and had a chance midway through the Web.com Tour season to earn a PGA Tour card until fading. Playing at home in a World Golf Championship, he enjoyed the moment – especially seeing his name on the leaderboard.

“Almost every hole,” Li said with a big smile. “Very cool. Very fun.”

It wasn’t a lot of fun for some of the biggest names.

Jordan Spieth missed a few good opportunities at the turn, and then ran off three straight bogeys and wondered if he would make another par. He salvaged his day with birdies on the final two par 5s for a 72, though he was 10 shots behind.

“When I get into the breeze, I hit some shots that I was very shocked with today,” he said. “But I lost a lot of focus there, too. I felt like I was very lazy in my routine, very lazy in picking targets. And it bit me with three unforced errors in a row on the back nine there. But I am pleased with the way that we did rebound, because it looked like I could have just bogeyed in.”

Rory McIlroy winced on the range as he felt cramps in his stomach from food poisoning earlier in the week. He wasted a decent start by playing the last six holes in 2 over for a 72 and joined Spieth at 4-under 140. Dustin Johnson looked like he would throw away his round with three straight bogeys around the turn, only to steady himself and finish with three straight birdies for a 71. He was six behind.

Kisner is coming off a breakthrough season on the PGA Tour without winning, though he sure had his chances. Jim Furyk beat him with a birdie on the second extra hole at the RBC Heritage. Kisner went blow-for-blow with Rickie Fowler in The Players Championship until Fowler beat him a birdie on the fourth playoff hole. Kisner also got into a four-man playoff at The Greenbrier Classic that Danny Lee ended up winning.

“See if I can get it done in regulation this time,” he said.

Canada’s Richard T. Lee is tied for 27th at 4 under.

SHIMA, Japan – Americans Angela Stanford and Ryann O’Toole shared the lead at 7-under 65 on Friday in the LPGA Tour’s Toto Japan Classic.

The 37-year-old Stanford had eight birdies and a bogey at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA. She has five LPGA Tour victories and played a key role in the United States’ Solheim Cup comeback with a victory over Suzann Pettersen.

The 28-year-old O’Toole closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth after playing the previous seven holes in 6 under with an eagle on the par-4 fourth and four birdies. She’s winless in her five-year career.

Japan’s Ai Suzuki was a stroke back along with South Koreans Ha-Neul Kim, Ilhee Lee, Jenny Shin and Mi-Jeong Jeon. Canadian Alena Sharp, Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson topped the group at 67.