Vancouver – Langley, British Columbia’s Thomas Hay fired a 6-under 66 on Thursday at Point Grey Golf and Country Club to take the first round lead at the PC Financial Open, the opening event of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s 2015 season.

The 25-year-old Vancouver-area native, who earned conditional status at the British Columbia Qualifying Tournament two weeks ago, cruised to a bogey-free round to lead by one over Bryn Parry, Nyasha Mauchaza and Jay Myers after 18 holes.

“It was pretty stress-free. I didn’t have too many long par putts out there,” said Hay, a Drury University graduate. “I think the longest par putt I had was about three feet, and out here some three-footers can be pretty tough, so all around it was pretty solid.”

Hay’s solid start marked the continuation of success for British Columbians at the season-opening event, which saw local favourites Eugene Wong and Brad Clapp finish in a tie for second in 2014.

“It’s kind of cool that there’s an event out this way in Vancouver now. It’s such a great city and it’s awesome that there’s an event out here now for us. For me to sleep in my own bed is kind of a nice treat to start the year,” said Hay.

Parry, a former Web.com Tour member who works primarily as an instructor in the Vancouver area, is playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week and made the most of it on Thursday, carding six birdies and a bogey for a 67.

“I’ve worked really hard at it to get as prepared as I could,” said the 43-year old, noting the differences between his time as a full-time Tour player and his current role, teaching at the Bryn Parry Academy at Seymour Creek. “I’ve got to get home and take my kids to golf practice. I didn’t used to think about that. This used to be all-encompassing and now it’s just one of the things you do during the day.”

IRVING, Texas – Steven Bowditch considers the AT&T Byron Nelson his home tournament _ just maybe not to the extent Jordan Spieth does.

The Australian matched his low round on the PGA Tour with an 8-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-shot lead over another Texan, Jimmy Walker. Spieth was seven shots back in his first round as Masters champion in the event that gave the Dallas player his start as a 16-year-old amateur in 2010.

Bowditch, who moved to the Dallas area 10 years ago, has made the cut just once at the Nelson _ in his debut in 2011, when he tied for 60th after a third-round 80. He didn’t make it to the weekend each of the past three years at TPC Four Seasons.

The 31-year-old missed the cut last week at Colonial in Fort Worth, which is a little farther from his home in the suburb of Flower Mound and he says doesn’t have quite the “hometown” draw as the Nelson for Bowditch’s family and friends.

“It’s starting to feel that way, to be honest. Starting to get a lot more ticket requests,” said Bowditch, whose only PGA Tour win was the 2014 Texas Open in San Antonio. “You always want to play well, but I guess it is a little more special when you have everyone around that only get to see you play golf once a year.”

The Nelson had the hometown feel for Spieth the moment he stepped to the 10th tee as a high school junior five years ago, when he tied for 16th as the sixth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour event. He returned as a rising star after his win at Augusta, frequently tipping his cap to large galleries that even cheered as he walked onto greens.

“It feels different when I tee off now versus when I was out there then,” said Spieth, who has finished second at all three Texas events this year, including Colonial. “Obviously, off the course I prepare hard for this and would like to play well and get in contention. But when I’m inside the ropes, it’s just another week. Back then, it was the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in.”

James Hahn and Dallas resident Ryan Palmer shared third at 65, and 2011 Nelson champion Keegan Bradley was in the group 66. Danny Lee aced the par-3 17th with a 5-iron from 190 yards and was tied for ninth at 67.

Defending champion Brendon Todd, playing a group ahead of Spieth, had just one birdie and shot 72.

Despite an opening birdie, the 21-year-old Spieth couldn’t get the warm greetings to escalate on a mostly sunny but soggy course that has absorbed about a foot of rain in less than three weeks. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways.

Spieth didn’t give himself many good chances for birdie, and let a couple get away in the last three holes by missing short putts while playing with Justin Thomas, his friend and opponent in the 2012 NCAA team final when Spieth led Texas over Alabama. Thomas opened with an even-par 70.

A grim-faced Spieth tossed his putter toward his bag after not even catching the lip from 8 feet on 16, but was generally upbeat after the round.

“I just didn’t give myself enough looks inside of 15 feet today,” said Spieth, who won the Valspar Championship about a month before the Masters. “That’s the only reason I’m at 1 (under) and not better. I felt comfortable driving the ball and striking it.”

Bowditch made three putts of 24 feet or longer while shooting a 30 on the front nine and had the last of eight birdies in a bogey-free round with a 6-foot putt after a long bunker shot at the par-5 16th. His previous best round at the Nelson was a second-round 65 that helped him make his only cut four years ago.

“Probably my best putting in the way of longer putts made,” said Bowditch, whose other 62 was in the final round of the 2011 Viking Classic in Mississippi. “I typically don’t make a lot of longer putts.”

Walker, who picked up his second win of the year in March not far from home at the Texas Open, birdied four of his last five holes. All of the putts were inside 10 feet.

“I’m a Texas guy and lived here a long time, so yeah, winning in Texas is cool,” said Walker, a five-time winner who is second to Spieth in FedEx Cup points. “It was a nice finish. Good iron shots.”

Hahn, also starting on No. 10, was 6 under with six holes to play but had a pair of bogeys before a finishing birdie.

Canadians Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin and Austin Connelly – a Dallas-born dual citizen who is a member of Team Canada’s National Squad – were all in a tie for 33rd place after shooting 1 under.

NEWCASTLE, Northern Ireland –  Rory McIlroy can’t seem to perform in front of a home crowd.

The Northern Ireland star looked bewildered as he shot a 9-over-par 80 – his worst score of the season – in Thursday’s opening round of the Irish Open. He fell to the bottom of the morning’s leaderboard and finished tied for 150th place at the end of the day.

Many other players struggled amid gales and pounding showers at Royal County Down, a links course in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains famed for its stunning seaside setting, blind approaches and undulating greens. But the scores improved as the winds eased somewhat and the afternoon sun came out.

Taking advantage were Irish veteran Padraig Harrington and unheralded Maximilian Kieffer of Germany, who both shot 67 to share the lead.

The 43-year-old Harrington, who hasn’t won on the European Tour since 2008 but took the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in March, said understanding the strong winds gave him a tactical advantage. He birdied five of the final eight, but edged an 8-foot putt for birdie just wide on the final hole. Had he made it, Harrington would have tied the 76-year-old course record.

“There’s plenty of ways to get around this golf course in the wind. I was happy to see it,” said Harrington, who won the Irish Open in 2007.

The 290th-ranked Kieffer, 24, was in the last group to start and not expected to contend. But he eagled the par-5, 525-yard 12th hole on his way to one of his best rounds since finishing second in the 2013 Spanish Open.

McIlroy bogeyed half of the course and couldn’t hit a birdie. The sellout crowd of nearly 20,000 gasped with each miss, and offered relieved applause as he narrowly two-putted his final hole for par.

“My poor iron play led to missed greens, which led to giving myself a lot of 8- to 12-footers for pars, and that led to missing all of them,” said McIlroy, who described his play as “worse as I got closer to the green.”

He had played three practice rounds at the course south of Belfast after failing to make the cut at Wentworth last weekend, but the unexpected extra practice didn’t help his play.

If McIlroy fails to make the cut Friday, it would be his third straight early exit at the Irish Open. He’s never come close to winning the event in eight tries.

McIlroy, whose Rory Foundation children’s charity is hosting the Irish Open for the first time, said he might need to shoot a 66 on Friday to make the cut. That would match the course record set by Jimmy Bruen in 1939.

McIlroy said his first goal is to give Northern Ireland fans “something to cheer about and not just have sympathy claps.”

Local fan favorite Darren Clarke, who has rarely contended since winning the 2011 British Open, also struggled in shooting a 75.

“We all want to play well,” he said, “but sometimes the ball doesn’t realize that.”

BARRIE, Ont. — It was a beautiful day at Horseshoe Resort – Highlands Course as 48 champions, from Ontario golf clubs, teed it up for the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Ontario Men’s Champion of Champions.

In what is turning out be a theme with GAO events this season, this championship needed a playoff to determine a winner. Despite many players having difficulty with the course, Oakville’s Mike Kray and Bognor’s Josiah Dixon both managed to finish the round one-under (70).

On the playoff hole, Kray, from the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club found the rough on his tee shot and had tree branches between his ball and the hole. He would get out and on the fairway but was short of the green. He would go on to bogey the hole. As for Dixon, he put his tee shot in the fairway and found the fringe with his approach. The Legacy Ridge Golf Club member, chipped it to within a couple feet and made his par putt for the win.

“It feels good, I really enjoyed the course it was in great shape,” said Dixon. “I had a pretty good day out there, I struck the ball well. I probably should have made a few more putts than I did, but overall it worked out well. I hit fairways and greens. That was what you really had to do out there. I didn’t have to look for the ball except once and even then I was able to make par.”

For Dixon, this was his first GAO championship, a win that he said tops his list. “I haven’t won any GAO events before. I have won a couple Amateur Tour events, but overall this has to be my biggest win.”

Earning the bronze medals were Whitby’s Spencer Dobbs, from the Cherry Downs Golf & Country Club and Wasaga Beach’s Dean Henry, from the Mad River Golf Club. Both Dobbs and Henry finished the round two-over (73).

With his win, Dixon also receives an exemption into the Investors Group Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship July 14-17 at the Peterborough Golf & Country Club.

Click here for complete tournament results.

GRAND LEDGE, Mich. – A wife and husband from Michigan say they both got a hole-in-one in consecutive shots at the same hole.

Tony and Janet Blundy tell the Lansing State Journal that their aces came while golfing Sunday at Ledge Meadows Golf Course in Grand Ledge. The couple says Tony hit a hole-in-one first at the 16th hole, and Janet then equaled his feat.

The newspaper says two golfers who didn’t know the Blundys verified the back-to-back holes-in-one.

According to contest prize insurer National Hole-in-One Association, the odds of two amateur golfers in a foursome getting an ace on the same hole in the same round are 26 million-to-1.

The Blundys say they typically golf at least 18 holes a week together.

Calgary (Golf Canada) – For the second consecutive year, Michelle Piyapattra has won the season-opening event on the Canadian Women’s Tour. The Corona, California native fired a final round 3-under par 69 and tournament total 4-under par 140 at the Glencoe Golf and Country Club in Calgary to claim her second career Canadian Women’s Tour victory.

With the victory, Piyapattra earns the $10,000 winner’s cheque as well as the coveted exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, August 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C.

Piyapattra, who began the final round at 1-under par in the second last group, carded three birdies in a bogey free round to win by two shots over opening round co-leader Seul-Ki Park of Northbrook, Illinois.

In 2014, playing as an amateur, Piyapattra won the Canadian Women’s Tour stop at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville, B.C. in a playoff, eventually making her pro debut at the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at the London Hunt and Country Club in London, Ont.

“I played about [the] same as yesterday, but near the end my putts we’re going in; really a lot more putts were falling today,” said Piyapattra, a LPGA Symetra Tour regular who was playing in her fifth career Canadian Women’s Tour event. “Last year I won as an amateur so it’s nice to come back and win as a professional and get the exemption into the [Canadian Pacific] Women’s Open.”

Park, who began the day with a share of the lead, shot a final round 2-over 74 and tournamenttotal 1-under 143 to finish alone in second, while Lauren Mielbrecht of Gulf Stream, Florida and Kristen Park of Buena Park, California finished tied for third at even-par 144.

Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C. finished tied for fifth (1-over 145) to claim low Canadian honours, while Doris Chen of Bradenton, Florida finished tied for eighth (2-over 146) to capture the Low Amateur Award.

The shot of the day Wednesday went to Erica Rivard of Tecumseh, Ont. who used a 9-iron to ace the 140-yard third hole on the Bridges course.

With the victory, Piyapattra vaults to the top of the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Money List as well as the Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the Year Order of Merit.

Only two players (Michelle Piyapattra at 4-under and Suel Ki-Park at 1-under) finished below par for the championship at The Glencoe Golf and Country Club.

The most difficult hole of the championship was the 393-yard par-4, 18th hole (10 birdies, 79 pars, 54 bogeys, 18 double bogeys, 6 other – scoring average 4.60) while the 533-yard, par-5 1^st hole played the easiest (34 birdies, 105 pars, 22 bogeys, 6 double bogeys – scoring average 5.00). Complete course stats are available here.

A total of 84 players including 42 international golfers competed in the season opening Canadian Women’s Tour stop in Calgary.

The next Canadian Women’s Tour event will be contested at the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club in Smiths Falls, Ont., from June 15-17. The final stop on the Canadian Women’s Tour will be the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada at Burlington Golf & Country Club in Burlington, Ont., from July 20-22.

The winners of each stop on the Canadian Women’s Tour will earn exemptions to compete in the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Also receiving exemptions will be the top two competitors on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit. To be eligible, participants must play in at least two of the three events on the 2015 schedule.

At season’s end, the five highest ranked players on the Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit will be awarded direct entry into the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School.

Click here for complete scores.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., and TORONTO – The PGA TOUR and Mackenzie Investments announced today a six-year agreement making the investment management firm the umbrella sponsor of PGA TOUR Canada.

The Tour is being renamed the Mackenzie Tour–PGA TOUR Canada, effective immediately with this week’s season-opening event in Vancouver.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this landmark sponsorship and to welcome Mackenzie as the umbrella sponsor of PGA TOUR Canada,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “Mackenzie’s involvement will enable us to continue to strengthen and grow the Tour throughout Canada.”

“Golf has a strong and proud history in Canada and we are thrilled to be umbrella sponsor of the prestigious PGA TOUR Canada,” said Jeff Carney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mackenzie Investments. “As one of Canada’s largest investment management companies, we are pleased to help support and inspire athletes in their pursuit of excellence both through our sponsorship of Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and Snow Sports Canada. We are also excited to be part of an organization that has contributed more than $2 billion to charity and we look forward to partnering with the PGA TOUR and continuing the tradition of giving back to Canadians.”

The relationship provides a good strategic fit in regard to philanthropy as the PGA TOUR’s well known charitable efforts, which has totaled $2.14 billion all time including a record $140.5 million in 2014, complement the goals of the Mackenzie Investments Charitable Foundation. In association with the new relationship, the 12 tournaments on the Mackenzie Tour will share a $150,000 donation being made to support their charitable efforts.

In addition to naming rights, Mackenzie Investments will receive a comprehensive list of benefits as umbrella sponsor, including client entertainment opportunities; branding on-site at tournaments; a strong presence on PGATOUR.COM, which includes a dedicated site for the Tour, as well as the TOUR’s mobile and social media platforms; plus ongoing exposure through the Tour’s half-hour highlight show in Canada, PGA TOUR telecasts and ancillary programming, and Sirius/XM Radio’s PGA TOUR channel.

This is the second significant sports sponsorship for Mackenzie Investments. The company has a long-term sponsorship with Snow Sports Canada, which was expanded earlier this year with a sponsorship agreement with three-time Olympic downhill racer Manny Osborne-Paradis.

This marks the first umbrella sponsorship for the Tour, which launched in 2013 as PGA TOUR Canada after the TOUR lent strategic and financial support to the former Canadian Professional Golf Tour the previous year. The new season begins this week with the PC Financial Open at Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.

“This commitment by Mackenzie will provide long-term continuity to the Tour and impact the charitable mission of our tournaments,” said Jeff Monday, President of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. “By strengthening our Tour through Mackenzie’s support, our members will have a greater opportunity to pursue their ultimate goal of someday playing on the PGA TOUR.”

The Mackenzie Tour provides direct access to the Web.com Tour for its leading money winners, based on the final Order of Merit. The top five players receive playing privileges on the Web.com Tour, while the next five are exempt into the finals of the Web.com Tour qualifying school. The five players who qualified for this year’s Web.com Tour, based on the 2014 Order of Merit, were, in order, Joel Dahmen, Matt Harmon, Timothy Madigan and Brock MacKenzie of the U.S. and England’s Greg Eason.

All-time, Mackenzie Tour alumni have accounted for 122 wins on the PGA TOUR. Since becoming a part of the PGA TOUR, four players – Nick Taylor, Tony Finau, Mark Hubbard and Carlos Sainz, Jr. – have moved from the Mackenzie Tour to the PGA TOUR. Taylor’s win at the Sanderson Farms Championship came less than 14 months after he played on the Mackenzie Tour.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Mariah Stackhouse rallied to beat Hayley Davis in 19 holes to give Stanford its first NCAA women’s golf title, 3-2 over Baylor on Wednesday in the match-play final.

Stackhouse, a junior from Riverdale, Georgia, won when Davis’ 3-foot par putt missed to the right on the par-4 10th hole at The Concession Golf Club.

Two holes down after losing the par-4 16th, Stackhouse won the par-5 17th with a two-putt birdie and took the par-4 18th with a 15-foot birdie putt. Davis, a senior from England, birdied the 16th, hitting a 134-yard shot from a muddy lie in the left-side hazard to 8 feet.

Casey Danielson and Shannon Aubert also won matches for Stanford in the event that switched to the match-play format for the team title this year.

After Danielson gave Stanford a 2-1 lead with a 2-up victory over Laura Lonardi, Baylor tied it with Dylan Kim’s 3-and-1 victory over Lauren Kim. Stanford took a 1-0 lead when Aubert beat Lauren Whyte 4 and 3, and Baylor pulled even with Giovana Maymon’s 4-and-3 victory over Quirine Eijkenboom.

The Cardinal beat Arizona and Southern California on Tuesday to reach the final.

On Monday, Alabama’s Emma Talley won the individual title.

Calgary (Golf Canada) – Surrey, B.C. native A Ram Choi joined Seul-Ki Park of Northbrook, Illinois and Allyssa Farrell of Edgerton, Wisconsin in firing 3-under 69 Tuesday at The Glencoe Golf and Country Club in Calgary to share the opening-round lead of the first stop on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour.

Choi, who recently finished her collegiate career at Portland State, carded four birdies and a single bogey in her opening-round. The 23-year old amateur wrapped a solid collegiate career at Portland State by winning the Big Sky Conference individual title for the second straight year and being named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year for the third straight year.

“My putting saved my life today, I made a lot of clutch putts,” said Choi. “This course, you need to know where to place yourself, how to play with the wind, where you can miss it and where you can’t.”

A member of The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, host of this year’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, Monday qualified into Canada’s National Women’s Open in 2012 when the event was last hosted at her home club. The opportunity to earn the champion’s exemption into this year’s event at The Vancouver Golf Club adds extra incentive to play well Wednesday.

“The exemption is big,” said Choi, who will likely turn pro later this summer. “It makes the field a lot better and gives us something else to play for.”

Park, a graduate of the University of Illinois, took advantage of favourable front-nine (Bridges Course) scoring conditions collecting four birdies and five pars before a dropping a stroke with single back-nine bogey on the Slopes Course.

“I love the golf course here—it’s definitely a placement course, and if you’re able to hit into the right spots you’re able to score,” said Park, who got in three practice rounds on the tournament course since arriving in Calgary on Friday. “My putter was really nice to me today and I hope to do the same tomorrow.”

Ferrell, who teed off in the final grouping off the tournament back nine (Slopes Course), carded six birdies and three bogies in her opening-round at Glencoe.

Park and Ferrell are among 42 international competitors in the 84-player field. Both acknowledge that the carrot in competing on the Canadian Women’s Tour is the direct pass to Stage Two of LPGA Tour Qualifying as well as an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

“The exemption, that’s why all the girls are out here,” said Park, adding “These events are a great opportunity—if you play good, you get to second stage of Q-School plus an exemption into the [Canadian Pacific] Women’s Open.”

Jennifer Coleman of Rolling Hills Estates, California sits alone in fourth at 2-under 70 while Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C. holds a share of fifth position with four other golfers at 1-under 71.

The final round of the Canadian Women’s Tour Alberta stop gets underway at 8:00 am with the final threesome set to tee off at 10:10 am (MDT).

Click here for scoring.