SHANGHAI – Russell Knox raised both arms in the air, closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the heavens as if he couldn’t believe what he had just done.

Dating to when the World Golf Championship began in 1999, no one had ever won in his debut. Knox wasn’t even eligible for the HSBC Champions until he got in 10 days ago as an alternate, and then it was a mad scramble in Malaysia to get a Chinese visa in time to play.

Walking out of the Sheshan International clubhouse on Sunday with a share of the 54-hole lead, Knox noticed a billboard with names and images of past winners at the HSBC Champions – Phil Mickelson and Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

“Everyone who wins this tournament is a superstar,” Knox said. “I knew this would be the hardest day in my life.”

For a 30-year-old from Scotland who had never won in 92 previous tries on the PGA Tour, Knox made it look like a breeze. He broke out of a five-way tie for the lead with two quick birdies to start the back nine and was flawless the rest of the way for a 4-under 68 and a two-shot victory over Kevin Kisner.

“I always thought I was going to win a big one for my first one,” he said. “But this is going to take a long time to sink in.”

He played alongside Johnson, whose power can be so intimidating that Knox didn’t watch him hit a shot for 12 holes. In the group ahead was Jordan Spieth, on his way back to No. 1 in the world. The cheers were for Li Haotong, the 20-year-old from Shanghai who received rock-star treatment during a wild final round that ended with the best finish ever by a Chinese player on the PGA Tour.

“Incredible for me this week,” Li said. “This for me is very, very big.”

Imagine how it felt for Knox, whose unexpected trip to China ended with a most surprising victory.

Knox finished at 20-under 268 and earned $1.4 million, along with perks that include his first trip to the Masters in April.

“I got married on Saturday of the Masters,” he said. “What a great wedding anniversary we’re going to have.”

It was the fourth runner-up this year for Kisner – the other three were in playoffs. He closed with a 70, though his birdie putt on the 18th hole was worth an additional $285,000, a small consolation.

“That’s all right,” Kisner said. “I’ll keep finishing second and I’ll keep giving myself a shot, and I know I’ll win one of them.”

His birdie was expensive for Danny Willett, who closed with a 62 and tied for third with Ross Fisher (68). If Kisner had not made birdie on the final hole, Willett would have overtaken Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. Willett is playing next week in the BMW Masters in Shanghai – McIlroy is not – and even if he doesn’t pass him, the Race to Dubai will come down to the final event.

McIlroy closed with a 50-foot birdie putt for a 66, ending a week in which his energy was low while recovering from food poisoning, and his putter was cold, as it has been since he returned in August from his ankle injury.

Spieth, who started the final round three shots behind, didn’t feel comfortable with his swing and didn’t make enough putts in his round of 70. Two birdies on the back nine at least allowed him to tie for seventh, and that was enough to move back to No. 1 in the world.

“Everyone is pushing each other a little bit, and when that No. 1 ranking slips away, it leaves some unrest in you and you really want to get back at it,” Spieth said.

Johnson wound up four shots behind, and with more reason than anyone to feel as though a third WGC title got away. He was one shot behind Knox on the par-5 eighth hole when his wedge covered the flag and appeared that it would land a few feet behind the hole or a tap-in birdie. Instead, it struck the pin and caromed harshly off the green and into the creek. A birdie turned into a double bogey, and Johnson never recovered. He closed with a 71.

The hopes were with Li, and the crowd stood four-deep behind the range with cameras on him at all times. The attendance this week (34,790) set a record, topping 2009 when Mickelson and Tiger Woods played in the final round.

But those hopes ended quickly. Li hooked his opening tee shot and had to scramble to make bogey. He hooked his second tee shot into the hazard and made double bogey. He didn’t make a par until the seventh hole, and only because he missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

But he kept fighting until the end, making two late birdies and saving par after a second shot into the water on the 18th, finishing tied for seventh.

“He was really off with his game, but man, did he have heart,” Spieth said. “He didn’t have his best stuff. If he did, he really could have done some damage today.”

Canada’s Richard T. Lee finished T46 at 4 under.

SHIMA, Japan – Sun-Ju Ahn won the Toto Japan Classic on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour victory and 20th Japan LPGA title, beating fellow South Korean player Ji-Hee Lee and American Angela Stanford with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

Ahn hit a 6-iron from 165 yards to 5 feet on the par-4 18th to set up the winning putt.

“I’m very happy,” Ahn said. “I didn’t think that I’d be able to win the tournament, but it’s a nice surprise. I’m very happy.”

Lee left a 50-footer short, and Stanford missed from 33 feet.

“About halfway I thought it might have a chance, but it broke more than I thought it would,” Stanford explained. “Sun-Ju hit a really good shot in there. If you stick it on 18, with this hole, you deserve birdie and you deserve to win.”

The 28-year-old Ahn closed with a 5-under 67 at Kintetsu Kashikojima to match Stanford and Lee at 16-under 200. Stanford also shot 67, and Lee had a 66.

Ahn has an option to take LPGA Tour membership next season and is eligible for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

“I haven’t thought much about that yet,” Ahn said. “I’m just going to enjoy this win and this moment.”

Ahn is projected to jump from 29th to 22nd in the world ranking. She also won the Japanese tour’s Century 21 Ladies in July, and had seven career Korea LPGA victories.

The 37-year-old Stanford won the last of her five LPGA Tour titles in 2012. She dropped to 1-4 in playoffs, including a loss in the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open.

She played the first two Asian Swing events in Malaysia and South Korea, then skipped the stops in Taiwan and China.

“When I left Korea I was pretty upset because I played bad in Malaysia and Korea,” Stanford said. “I went home put my head down and wanted to get better. I’m happy with this week.”

South Korea’s Jenny Shin, the second-round leader, had a 70 to finish a stroke back.

Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a 64 – the best round of the week – to finish fifth at 14 under. She began the day tied for 29th.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis and No. 4 Lexi Thompson topped the group at 12 under. Lewis shot a 68, and Thompson had a 69. Thompson won three weeks ago in South Korea for her second victory of the year.

Michelle Wie tied for 59th at 2 under after a 71. She was one of 21 women to play in all five events on the Asian Swing.

Canada’s Alena Sharp tied for 22nd at 8 under after  a final round 72.

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.