COURTENAY, B.C. – With a final round 3-under 69, Bear Delaware’s Eric Onesi earned medalist honours at PGA Tour Canada’s British Columbia Qualifying Tournament, finishing with a two-stroke advantage over Kansas City, Missouri’s Michael Letzig and Galloway, Ohio’s Ethan Tracy.

44 players in total earned status on PGA Tour Canada for 2015, including five Canadians. Onesi joins fellow Q-School medalists Albin Choi and Julien Brun and will be exempt on PGA Tour Canada for the 2015 season.

“I hung in there. It’s been a long time coming and I’m kind of at a loss for words, but it feels good,” said Onesi.

The Old Dominion University graduate found himself with a three-stroke advantage over Tracy with three holes to go, and after slipping with a double bogey on the 16^th, rebounded to birdie the 18^th and secure a two-stroke victory.

After having conditional Web.com Tour status in 2011 and 2012, Onesi took time away from competing over parts of the past two years, serving as a caddie at Bay Hill Club and Lodge and working on his game. With a refreshed perspective, the 27-year old decided to take on 2015 in the pro ranks again, and will be able to plan out his season on PGA Tour Canada.

“It’s huge. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to set my schedule with a couple of up-and-down years,” said Onesi. “To nail that down and be exempt through all 12 events puts a big smile on my face. It’s one of the best days of my golfing career for sure.”

Letzig, a veteran of 114 events on the PGA Tour, carded a final round 69 to share second place with Tracy, who was unable to convert the 54-hole lead into victory.

Strathmore, Alberta’s Stuart Anderson and Edmonton, Alberta’s Wilson Bateman were low Canadians, both finishing in a tie for eighth at 6-under.

Olympia, Washington’s Cameron Peck emerged victorious in a 6-for-1 playoff, going birdie-par on the 10^th and 17^th holes in Sudden Victory to earn the 18^th spot and exempt status through the first six events of the 2015 season.

Five Canadians earned status for 2015 – Stuart Anderson (Strathmore, Alta./T8), Wilson Bateman (Edmonton, Alta./T8), Thomas Hay (Langley, B.C./T24), James Allenby (Langley, B.C./T28), Ben Itterman (White Rock, B.C./T34).

BEL OMBRE, Mauritius – Thorbjorn Olesen made five birdies in six holes Friday on his way to a 3-under 68 and a one-shot lead after the second round of the Mauritius Open.

Olesen’s run from No. 4 to No. 9 propelled him to 9-under 133 overall at Heritage Golf Club on the Indian Ocean island. It’s the Dane’s first tournament in three months after hand surgery.

Olesen leads Pelle Edberg (66) halfway through the new, tri-sanctioned European, Asian and South African tour event. Thomas Aiken (66), Dean Burmester (68) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (67) were tie for third, another shot back.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the Race to Dubai’s highest-ranked player in Mauritius, withdrew after an opening-round 77.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The biggest star at The Players Championship was not Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth playing together in the morning. And it wasn’t Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in back-to-back groups in the afternoon.

It was the TPC Sawgrass all day long in another round of big numbers, curious shots and endless entertainment.

Charley Hoffman was among four players tied for the lead at 5-under 67. He was thrilled with his eight birdies, the most of anyone Thursday. What turned a great day into a very good one was that triple bogey out of nowhere right after he made the turn.

How does one make a 7 on the usually harmless first hole?

“Pardon my French,” Hoffman began, before using a familiar English word not fit for print to describe all seven of his bad shots. In fairness, the seventh shot was good. He made a 4-foot putt to keep it from being an 8.

David Hearn of Canada, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Kevin Na also had 67. Each made only one bogey. It was boring, which never hurts around here.

McIlroy also had a boring round by his standards – two birdies, an eagle, one bogey for a 69. It’s a rare occasion when he’ll call that a good day.

“I think that’s what this course is all about,” McIlroy said. “It’s about staying patient. There’s a lot of pars on my card, but I was able to pick off a couple of birdies and a nice eagle on 16. I’m happy with the start, for sure.”

Spieth wasn’t so fortunate. He was 40 yards away from the green at the par-5 11th and used a wedge three times to get on the green. That doesn’t explain the horrible lie he had in the grass, followed by the lie in the sand just below the lip of the bunker. He shot a 75, matching his worst score of the year.

“Just a really, really poor day,” Spieth said.

Woods hit a tee shot on a par 3 that went into the water, which is not unusual. But it wasn’t on the island-green at the 17th. It was at No. 8, with a clunker that found a creek some 40 yards short of the green. Woods didn’t even know there was water on that hole.

“I’ve never seen it,” he said after a 73.

At least one player made a 7 or worse on 10 of the holes on the Stadium Course. Brooks Koepka made a 7 on the 17th by putting two balls into the water. And then he made an 8 on the next hole by putting only one ball in the water. He played the other 16 holes in 1 under.

The Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass holds a certain mystique after more than three decades. Even in reasonable conditions – warmth, sunshine and a little wind – no one fared better than a 67.

After 12 hours of theater that Sawgrass so often provides, they return to repeat the process.

There was more energy than usual for a Thursday morning, especially with Woods and Mickelson (73) playing in the afternoon. McIlroy is No. 1 in the world and coming off a win at the Match Play Championship, while Spieth became the de facto challenger with a dominant Masters win that moved him to No. 2 in the world.

They warmed up next to each other on the range. And it was clear from the start this day would be a solid one for McIlroy, not so much for Spieth. Along for the ride was Jason Day, who isn’t exactly on the B-list of rising stars. Day, who jokingly described himself as the third wheel, had a 69 with a double bogey on the 18th.

“I’ve got to beat those guys, but I think the biggest thing is not beating myself,” Day said.

Big numbers can be found anywhere, though. Hoffman didn’t see his coming.

“Obviously, you don’t ever want to take a triple, double, quad, whatever it is,” Hoffman said. “But at least I gave myself time to get them back. It’s better than doing it on the 72nd hole, I can guarantee you that.”

The 18th hole was no picnic after a long day. Mickelson hit the wooden plank and went into the water for a double bogey. He shot 73 with five birdies. Adam Scott wasted a reasonable start by finding water for a double bogey on the 18th. Woods hit into the water and made double bogey.

Two dozen players broke 70, while 76 players in the 144-man field were at par or better.

Spieth, who also had a 75 when he missed the cut at Torrey Pines, felt something wrong with his alignment when he arrived Monday, and he still hasn’t sorted it out. He got behind quickly, and that didn’t help. Most telling of his day was No. 11.

His second shot was left of the green in a grass bunker, the ball sitting so far down in the grass that Spieth walked up to it and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” With a full, powerful swing, he advanced it some 50 feet – from a regular lie, that shot would have gone 110 yards – to just under the lip of a bunker. It was another bad lie, and he only advanced the next one 18 feet to the collar.

“It’s just one of those days where I started maybe looking into it a little too much rather than just accepting it and going forward,” he said. “Just going to have to find some answers.”

COURTENAY, B.C. – Galloway, Ohio’s Ethan Tracy maintained his three-shot lead at PGA Tour Canada’s British Columbia Q-School on Thursday, carding a 4-under 68 to reach 14-under par through 54 holes at Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community.

The 25-year old will head to Friday’s fourth round three-strokes ahead of Bear, Delaware’s Eric Onesi in the chase to earn medalist honours and exempt status on PGA Tour Canada for 2015.

“I’m not making a whole lot of birdies, but I’m just keeping it consistent and giving myself a lot of good looks,” said Tracy, who made just one bogey against five birdies on the day. “I can’t really pinpoint it on anything, but in this tournament I’m really minimizing my mistakes and not having to grind over any par putts.”

The Ohioan came into the week on a streak of solid play, with top-10 finishes in each of his last two PGA Tour Latinoamérica starts, including a tie for second at last week’s Lexus Panama Classic presented by World Jewelry Hub. With one round to go, Tracy said he’s hoping to keep the solid play going for one more round.

“I don’t think I need to change anything up. I just need to keep it in the fairway and try to hit as many greens as possible. If you’re hitting 12 or 13 greens a round, you’re going to make a few birdies and you’re not going to make many bogeys,” said Tracy.

Onesi carded a 6-under 30 on his first nine holes and finished with a 67 to hold solo second place, while London, England’s Charlie Bull managed a 3-under 69 to sit four shots back at 10-under.

Wil Bateman of Edmonton is the low Canadian heading into the final round. He carded a 71 Thursday and has a share of 9th.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With his feet positioned near wooden planks and his ball resting on the fringe at the treacherous island green, Tiger Woods tried to decide between bellying his sand wedge and toeing his putter.

He went with the iron.

Good call. It resulted in Woods’ most memorable – maybe even best – shot during the opening round at The Players Championship on Thursday.

Woods holed out from the edge of the daunting par-3 17th at the TPC Sawgrass, making a highlight shot that helped him shoot 1-over 73 in windy conditions. Woods ended the day six shots behind the leaders but feeling good about his game.

“Probably the highest score I could have shot today,” said Woods, who was over par in the first round for the fifth consecutive event. “I didn’t get much out of that round. I hit the ball better than the score indicates, and I got a couple good breaks and never took advantage of them.

“Just really struggled hitting the putts hard enough to get them to the hole. Even when I tried to ram them, I still didn’t get the ball to the hole, so I need to make a better adjustment on that.”

Maybe he should just go with the wedge.

It worked to perfection at the 17th.

His ball hit the back of the cut, rolled around and dropped. He smiled, tipped his hat to the raucous crowd and looked as if he had found a little something with back-to-back birdies that got him to 1 under as he walked to the 18th tee

But he failed to stay in red numbers on the final hole.

Woods took an aggressive line and found the water off the tee. He finished with a double-bogey 6.

“I tried to hit kind of a low, hard, cut 3-wood up there and just kind of bank it up against the wind,” he said. “I just tried to hit a low one, tried to get on top of it and I just happened to pull it just a touch. It was the right shape, the right height, but my start line was probably just a few yards left, which ended up costing me.”

It was one of just a few errant shots for Woods, who won The Players the last time he played in 2013.

He yanked his first two drives left, leading to a bogey at the par-4 first, and really turned heads when he shanked his tee shot at the par-3 eighth. His ball bounced into a water hazard he said he didn’t even know was there. He dropped and ended up with a double.

“It’s only one bad swing, one bad shot,” he said. “I had to fix what I had starting out the round more importantly. Eight just, I just happened to make a bad swing. So what, move on. But I had a bad pattern starting out and I rectified that, which was nice.

“I put together a pretty good round and until 18.”

Woods missed seven months across parts of last year while recovering from back surgery. He sat out two months this year to work on his game – particularly his chipping – after posting a career-high 82 in the Phoenix Open and withdrawing during the first round at Torrey Pines because of tightness in his back.

He has shown much better form since – especially with that nifty shot at the 17th.

“He looked all right,” said playing partner Adam Scott, who shot an even-par 70. “I haven’t played with him for a while. He hit a couple bad shots, but it was tough out there today. I hit a couple bad shots, too. I don’t think anyone made any putts in our group, scores were pretty good considering nothing was going in.”

BEL OMBRE, Mauritius – Thorbjorn Olesen, Wang Jeung-hun and Carlos Pigem all opened with a 6-under 65 Thursday for a share of the first-round lead at the inaugural Mauritius Open.

The three were the early pacesetters on the Indian Ocean island in a new tournament shared by the European, Asian and South African golf tours.

Denmark’s Olesen picked up six birdies in his opening nine holes, with the putter working well after returning from a three-month injury layoff caused by hand surgery.

“I holed a 40-foot putt on the first and just kept going,” he said. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Three months to play a competition round.”

South Korea’s Wang had six birdies and didn’t drop a shot at Heritage Golf Club at the Domaine de Bel Ombre resort on the south coast to match Olesen’s newly-set course record.

Pigem of Spain birdied four of his last six holes.

They are being pursued by Oliver Bekker and Terry Pilkadaris, who were one stroke back.

European Tour rookie Daniel Woltman of the United States was tied for sixth after a 67.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat is the highest-ranked player on the Race to Dubai standings in Mauritius at No. 9, but he had an awful opening day for a 77.

Kiradech made six bogeys, three of them in a row, a double bogey, and his only hole under par was an eagle three on No. 18. Tipped to be among the title contenders this week, last month’s Shenzhen International winner was tied for 123rd in the 132-man field.

His playing partner Thomas Bjorn, who has 15 European Tour wins, didn’t fare too much better with a 74.

South Africa’s George Coetzee shot a 70 playing in the same group as Aphibarnrat and Bjorn.

Before every round Rory McIlroy plays on the PGA Tour, he goes through an extensive warmup routine. Here’s an all-access look inside what McIlroy is working on.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy turns into a different player when he tees it up at the TPC Sawgrass.

It’s not by choice.

McIlroy found out quickly that his free-swinging power game isn’t the best fit at The Players Championship. In three appearances, he never broke par. That’s when he decided to scale back his game and play a bit more conservatively.

He at least is making progress. After missing the cut three times in four years – he didn’t even bother playing the other year – McIlroy has a pair of top 10s. A year ago, he closed with a 69-66 weekend and tied for sixth, though he was never in contention.

“It’s always hard for me when I can’t get driver in my hand, because I feel like when I get driver in my hand I can give myself an advantage over the rest of the field,” McIlroy said. “It’s just about being very patient and approaching it a different way, winning a different way.”

The Players Championship begins Thursday with the strongest field in golf.

It also might be the most wide-open field in golf.

The PGA Championship is renowned for having the most players from the top 100 in the world ranking. It also has a few past champions (John Daly, Mark Brooks) and 20 club pros. What differentiates The Players is that everyone in the field is capable of winning. The last player in was 21-year-old Justin Thomas, who already has played in the final group on the weekend at three tournaments this year.

Martin Kaymer is the defending champion. Tiger Woods won the year before that. Those are multiple major champions. The list of champions at Sawgrass also includes Fred Funk and Henrik Stenson, Tim Clark and Fred Couples.

McIlroy recited a favorite line about the golf course. It favors no one and tests everyone.

It might not be the same feeling as Phil Mickelson winning the British Open on a links course, but McIlroy believes a victory in the so-called fifth major would make him a more complete player because it’s a different kind of golf that he prefers to play.

“Winning around this golf course would … I definitely have a feeling that if I was able to do that, I would be able to win a different way,” he said.

He compared it with Wentworth, where he had struggled until winning the BMW PGA Championship last year. Then again, it was a wet week in England and he was able to hit driver more than he normally would.

Asked to describe the course in one word, McIlroy wasted little time.

“Frustrating,” he said.

One-word answers from other players over the years have included “exciting” and “dramatic” and “challenging.” Geoff Ogilvy once took five days to find the right answer. He saw a reporter who had asked the question walking along the 14th fairway in the final round, walked over to him and said, “Annoying.”

One other word comes to mind for Thursday’s opening round: Anticipation.

Only this has nothing to do with the golf course.

Playing along McIlroy on Thursday morning will be Masters champion Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, who in this case might feel like a third wheel. McIlroy and Spieth have been the center of golf over the last few months – McIlroy because he is No. 1 in the world, Spieth as the Masters champion and No. 2 in the world.

A budding rivalry?

Not quite. Or at least not yet.

“He is as far ahead of me as I am with the next eight guys,” Spieth said, referring to the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world ranking. “So with that being said, it’s kind of anybody’s game to get up and make it interesting with him. I just happen to be the one that occupies No. 2 right now.”

McIlroy responded to all the hype over Spieth and his green jacket by winning the Match Play Championship last week in San Francisco. He provided another answer to the chatter about a rivalry by practically yawning.

“Last year it was Rickie (Fowler). This year it’s Jordan, might be someone else, could have been Tiger,” McIlroy said. “There’s been four or five rivalries over the past year. So it doesn’t really do anything for me.”

He then borrowed a line that Jack Nicklaus once told Tiger Woods. Both had a revolving door of rivals over the years.

“As long as I’m one of them, the other can be whoever it is,” McIlroy said. “I don’t mind.”

Nearly forgotten in all this hype is Tiger Woods, who is playing for the first time since he resurrected his short game and tied for 17th at the Masters. Woods is playing in the afternoon with Kaymer and Adam Scott, a trio of champions at Sawgrass.

There is an urgency to find a new star, a new rivalry, in just about any sport. Perhaps this should serve as a reminder to slow down. A year ago at The Players Championship, McIlroy was No. 11 in the world and in one of his mini-slumps.

The No. 1 player? That was Woods, who now is No. 125.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas golfers Taylor Moore and Nicolas Echavarria have been suspended indefinitely from competition following their arrests for allegedly taking sexually explicit photos of an intoxicated woman.

Moore and Echavarria were arrested by Fayetteville police Wednesday and charged with felony video voyeurism.

According to a preliminary police report, the woman said she went to Moore’s house on April 11 to sleep following a night of drinking. She recalled seeing flashes of light and suspected Moore had taken pictures of her.

Police seized Moore’s and Echavarria’s phones, discovering a sexually explicit photo Moore allegedly took on Echavarria’s phone. Moore, 21, is a junior from Edmond, Oklahoma, while Echavarria, 20, is a junior from Medellin, Colombia.

The Razorbacks finished sixth in the Southeastern Conference tournament and are set to complete in the NCAA men’s golf regionals next week in New Haven, Connecticut. Moore leads the team with an average of 71.8 strokes per round this season, finishing second at the SunTrust Gator Invitational.

The university said Thursday it was aware of the arrests and that Moore and Echavarria have been suspended indefinitely.

Both posted $2,500 bond and had were given court dates of June 1.

The incident first came to the attention of police when the victim contacted them on April 18. She told police she met Moore and Echavarria, who she knew previously, while out on the city’s popular Dickson Street on April 11, and after determining she was unable to drive that she planned to sleep at Moore’s house and be taken home the next morning.

While slipping in and out of consciousness, the women said she recalled seeing the flash of light – prompting her to later contact police.

Moore and Echavarria initially denied that any photos of the victim had been taken before later recanting, police said in the report. The report also says the two admitted taking three pictures, two of which had been deleted, and that the victim was unaware the pictures had been taken.

COURTENAY, B.C. – Galloway, Ohio’s Ethan Tracy carded his second consecutive 5-under 67 Wednesday at Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community to take the 36-hole lead at PGA Tour Canada’s British Columbia Qualifying Tournament.

The 25-year old, who finished tied for second at PGA Tour Latinoamérica’s Lexus Panama Classic presented by World Jewelry Hub last week, carded three birdies and an eagle on the day to lead by three over Kansas City, Missouri’s Michael Letzig, Moscow, Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Reach and London, England’s Charlie Bull

“It was a very similar round I just didn’t put myself in trouble. It was very simple golf, making my crucial par-savers and my putts inside 10-feet,” said Tracy, who sits eighth on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica Order of Merit. The University of Arkansas graduate’s 67 was tied for the best round of the day on Wednesday.

Following his runner-up performance in Panama last week, Tracy had a troublesome travel day and did not arrive in Courtenay until late Monday night, and said he’s doing his best to conserve energy this week.

“After the round I did nothing. I just watched a couple of movies on Netflix, relaxed and went to dinner later with my dad,” said Tracy of his opening-round 67 on Tuesday. Despite the hectic schedule, Tracy said he’s comfortable in his position and sees more solid play in his near future. “I’ve always played my best golf when I’m playing a lot, so I’m just trying to keep on playing. If I need a break, I’ll take one, but I’m playing well enough that I need to keep on playing right now.”

Letzig, who led after round one with a 6-under 66, offset four bogeys with five birdies to share second with Reach and Bull, with Taiwan’s C.T. Pan and Bear, Delaware’s Eric Onesi one further behind at 6-under.

Wil Bateman is the low Canadian thru two rounds. He’s tied for 9th at 3-under after a 68.