ORLANDO, Fla. – Toronto’s Albin Choi and Uniontown, Ohio’s Ross Beal shared the lead midway through the third round of PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament before play was suspended due to dangerous weather in the area.

Choi, a 22-year old member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Team, carded a bogey-free 32 on his first nine holes, while Beal, a 30-year old who lives in Orlando, posted an eagle and a birdie on his front nine, both reaching 14-under par through 45 holes. The pair were atop a jumbled leaderboard, with 10 others players within three strokes of the lead.

With thunderstorms moving into the Orlando area in the late afternoon, play was suspended at 5:11 p.m. and later called for the day. Play will resume on Friday morning with players in position at 7:45 a.m. and the fourth round beginning at 8:45 a.m.

“It really helped getting off to three birdies early and hitting some really good shots,” said Choi, who opened with three consecutive birdies. “It was nice to see some putts fall and get the confidence going early on. The course is going to be soft tomorrow morning after the rain so I’m looking forward to some of the get-able scoring holes out there.”

“I’m just trying to continue what I’m doing and keep the good play going into tomorrow morning,” said Beal, taking an optimistic approach to resuming his third round tomorrow. “I feel like I lucked out being able to come back and finish in perfect conditions tomorrow morning and I’m just hoping to keep giving myself opportunities to make birdies.”

One stroke behind Beal and Choi were Spence Fulford and Cody Martin, both of whom made a move with a 5-under 31 on their first nine holes to reach 13-under.

The medalist this week will earn exempt status on PGA Tour Canada for 2015. Finishers 2-18 will be exempt through the first six events and subject to the re-shuffle, with the rest of the top 40 (plus ties) earning conditional status. The cutoff for the top 18 through the first round was at 9-under, with the cutoff for the top 40 at 6-under.

SAN BUENAVENTURA, TLALPAN, Mexico – Team Canada’s Development Squad built up a six-stroke advantage on Thursday’s final round for the wire-to-wire victory at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup Qualifier at the Golf Club of Mexico.

The Canadian quartet finished at 14-over par after three rounds, led by 6-over (222) individual scores from Tony Gil of Vaughan, Ont. and Patrick Murphy of Crossfield, Alta.

Murphy, 18, fired a tournament-low, 2-under 70 in Thursday’s final round, which was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 11^th.

Rounding out the scores for the Canadians were Waterloo, Ont., native Trevor Ranton (+10) and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué. native, Étienne Papineau (+16).

With the win, Canada secured one of two spots to play in the World Cup—runner-up Mexico received the second.

The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup is held in Japan in June. It is the world’s only junior golf championship in which 20 national teams, winners of regional qualifiers held across six continents and participated by more than 60 national teams, compete for the world champion trophy.

In 2014, the Men’s Development Squad placed seventh, 11 strokes back of champion Norway. The best Canadian finish came in 1994 when the team took home runner-up honours.

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With nearly 5.7 million enthusiasts and 60 million rounds played annually, Canadians are passionate about the game of golf.

As Canada’s most participated sport, every golfer has a unique story to tell—now the Canadian golf industry is encouraging golfers to share those stories, aligning on a national campaign to market the game of golf in Canada.

The campaign – Golf Canada Golf – is designed to inspire Canadian golfers through storytelling, inviting enthusiasts to share their stories and special connections to the game through a series of promotional activities across video, broadcast, print, online and social channels.

“Among golfers, there’s always a story—memorable shots, a round with family, playing your favourite course, a golf trip with friends, witnessing first hand the incredible skills of PGA TOUR or LPGA Tour players, or using the game to overcome personal adversity,” said Golf Canada Chief Commercial Officer and campaign spokesperson Gavin Roth. “The Golf Canada Golf campaign invites Canadians to share their own experiences as well as read or watch other compelling stories to remind us what makes the game great and ultimately encourage enthusiasts to play more golf.”

The campaign’s objective is to motivate golfers to share their stories, welcome new enthusiasts to the sport and celebrate the game all season long. As part of this industry campaign, a custom website – www.golfcanadagolf.ca – was launched as a portal for stories to be shared. The site will feature a mix of stories, from professionally filmed feature segments to others submitted by everyday golfers with a unique story to share.

The site will also feature a social media hub that curates stories using the hashtag #golfcanadagolf as well as resources for golfers looking to find a course, connect with a PGA of Canada professional or learn more about junior golf programs in their community.

Sharing golf’s story means celebrating the health, social, economic, competitive and charitable benefits of the game. A snapshot of the Canadian golf landscape reveals an industry that is worth more than $14.3 billion annually to the Canadian economy, numbers that reinforce the massive financial, charitable, social, tourism and environmental impact golf has in communities across Canada.

In addition, Canadian golf facilities are a channel for major charitable giving with close to 37,000 events at Canadian courses helping to raise more than $533 million annually for worthwhile causes.

The Golf Canada Golf campaign was developed and executed in partnership with BrandFire Marketing Group, a full-service agency based in Toronto that in 2014 was named among Profit 500’s Fastest Growing Companies in Canada.

The campaign will extend throughout the 2015 season, inviting golfers and sport enthusiasts to share and celebrate the many stories that make the game of golf special in Canada.

SHENZHEN, China – Huang Wenyi, a former laborer from China who didn’t start playing golf until he was 22, shot a 6-under 66 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Shenzhen International.

The 34-year-old Huang had eight birdies to go along with two bogeys. He leads Felipe Aguilar, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Byeong Hun An and Peter Uihlein by one at Genzon Golf Club.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (70) was four shots off the pace at 2 under.

Huang worked at a construction site in China’s Guangdong province to help support his family after his father was injured in an accident. He later got a job as a caddie at China’s first golf course, Chung Shan Hot Spring, and learned the game.

Huang is currently No. 1,189 in the world golf rankings after failing to make the cut in six European Tour events last year.

“This year is new year. Last year, play really bad,” Huang said. “But this year, maybe change the swing and yesterday, change the driver. But I hit driver very good. I like new driver.”

Watson was coming off a tie for 38th place at the Masters last weekend. He said it was difficult to get used to the speed of the greens in China and started his round with two bogeys before sinking three birdies in a row on holes No. 5-7.

“It’s about just feeling the greens out,” the American said. “(It’s) just one of those things that I’ve got to get used to. I think just more practice, more feel and I’ll get it better.”

Uihlein finished his round with four birdies on his last five holes.

“There’s no wind, so we thought the scores would be a lot lower,” said Uihlein, who won his only European Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2013. “You’ve still got to get it in the hole. Pins are pretty tricky. There are some pretty long holes, so it’s good.”

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – I.K. Kim started last and finished first Wednesday in the first round of the Lotte Championship.

Kim birdied her final three holes and four of the last five for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke lead.

Playing in the last group of the day off the 10th tee, Kim had eight birdies and one bogey in wind gusting to 25 mph at Ko Olina Golf Club. The South Korean player won the last of her three LPGA Tour titles in 2010.

“I hit a really good putt at No. 7 and at No. 8 I hit an 8-iron downwind that stayed on top of the green so I was able to look at a makeable putt,” she said. “At the ninth, it was getting really dark. It was dinnertime really. There were just the three of us out there.”

From 190 yards, she aimed 20 feet right and hit her 5-wood into the wind. The ball stopped 12 feet from the hole. She could see well enough to make the putt and shoot the same score she had in the final round two years ago en route to a fourth-place t

“Birdie on the three finishing holes is why 65 was possible,” Kim said. “I didn’t think it was possible when I started today.”

South Korean players held the first five spots on the leaderboard. Na Yeon Choi, Inbee Park and rookie Sei Young Kim shot 67, and Jenny Shin was fifth after a 68.

Choi had four birdies on her second nine to take the lead in the morning wave. Park birdied four of her last six to catch her, slam-dunking a 45-foot putt on the final hole.

“I judged the wind great and holed a lot of good putts,” Park said. “Especially the last putt. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I holed that long a putt.”

Choi, Sei Young Kim and Park have all won this year. Choi won the season-opening Coates Golf Championship in Florida for her eighth LPGA title, Sei Young Kim took the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, and Park won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.

Founders Cup winner Hyo Joo Kim, Kia Classic champion Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer were in the nine-player group at 69.

Hawaii’s Michelle Wie, the defending champion, got to 3 under on the 15th, but bogeyed the next hole and finished at 70. Wie hit the flag with her approach shot on the final hole, but left her 8-foot birdie putt short.

“Some of the putts you kind of have to play for the wind as well, too,” said Wie, who needed 31 putts with a chip-in. “It’s not like it’s a constant, so you have to wait for the right moment for the wind to blow or not blow. It gets tricky out there. You’ve just got to stay patient and try to hit solid putts and take whatever comes at you.”

Four Canadians were in the field with Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. leading the way at T24 following a round of 71. Alena Sharp sits T51 after opening at one-over 73. Jennifer Kirby finished the day at 74 while Rebecca Lee-Bentham carded a 76.

Orlando, Fla. – Ty Dunlap of Trophy Club, Texas continued his solid play at PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament Wednesday, firing a second straight 6-under 66 at Orange County National Golf Club’s Panther Lake course to lead by one over a trio of players through 36 holes.

The 21-year old made six birdies, two bogeys and an eagle to reach 12-under par, one-shot ahead of Orlando’s Ross Beal, Tulsa’s Talor Gooch and Louisville’s Jared Wolfe.

“Today, I had to work a little harder for it,” said Dunlap, who said Wednesday’s 66 required more patience than his matching round from the day before. “Yesterday, I was super solid tee-to-green and to be honest with you it wasn’t a great warm up today, but I kind of found the one shot I could hit consistently. Out here you can start it off the tee pretty much anywhere if you commit to it.”

The former Texas A&M standout, who made one PGA Tour Canada start after turning pro last summer at the National Capital Open to Support our Troops and finished T54, said he’s enjoyed taking on the challenge of the strong competition this week at Q-School.

“I did a great job of controlling my emotions and controlling what I can,” said Dunlap. “In college a huge part of what we pride ourselves on where I went to school was being mentally tough. I feel like having a good perspective is the most important thing in a 72-hole event. There are a lot of mentally tough guys out here. No one is coming up to play in Canada unless they’re pretty tough.”

Gooch and Wolfe posted the best rounds of the day with a pair of 7-under 65s, while Beal posted a 68 to match them at 11-under. Toronto’s Albin Choi carded a 6-under 66 to hold solo fifth place at 10-under.

“My game feels good. I kind of struggled the last year-and-a-half, and seeing some good shots definitely gives me confidence,” said Choi, a Team Canada Young Pro Squad member who is sitting at the top Canadian after two rounds. “I love the course this week and I’m really looking forward to the next two days.”

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.– Masters champion Jordan Spieth is back to work this week at the RBC Heritage Classic after two days celebrating his victory at Augusta National and being showered with attention.

Spieth arrived at Sea Pines Resort late Tuesday night after a media whirlwind in New York since tying Tiger Woods’ Masters record of 18-under 270 to capture the green jacket. The 21-year-old said it was a dizzying stretch with 26 appearances and interviews in 25 hours.

“It was a little crazy in New York having paparazzi know where we were going to eat dinner even though we never told anybody,” Spieth said Wednesday.

Spieth doesn’t believe the success will change him. In fact, he said he upheld his commitment to the RBC Heritage in part to chase down Rory McIlroy for world No. 1.

“I wouldn’t come to a tournament just to come to a tournament, especially with that goal still in mind,” said Spieth, who moved to No. 2 in the world rankings with the Masters’ win.

Spieth has had two victories and two runner-up finishes in his past four events. He would have liked to have had his normal pre-tournament preparations at Harbour Town Golf Links. Instead, he’ll go into his first-round tee time Thursday not having played a hole of practice on the tricky, Pete Dye-designed layout.

“I’m sure Jordan’s wiped,” said Kevin Streelman, the Par-3 contest winner at Augusta National last week who finished tied for 12th behind Spieth. “But he’s 21 years old, he can handle it.”

Spieth has had success here the previous two years, finishing ninth in 2013 and 12th last year. The RBC Heritage gave him an invite two years ago when Spieth was a rising, yet largely unknown 19 -year-old trying to make his way on tour. The top-10 finish, Spieth said, helped his confidence and status on the PGA Tour.

“This tournament helped with job security,” Spieth said. “So it’s a tournament that’s close to me and I love it here.”

Most Masters champions – and many of the game’s best players – take the next week off after a pressure-packed week at Augusta National. Spieth heads a group of five ranked in the top 20 of the world (No. 10 Jim Furyk, No. 14 Patrick Reed, No. 17 Matt Kuchar and No. 19 Billy Horschel are the others) to compete this week.

Streelman enjoys playing right after a major, knowing his game is honed in and peaking after a Grand Slam event.

“Your game is really primed and amped up,” he said. “I’m very prepared.”

Kuchar is the tournament’s defending champion, holing out from a green-side bunker on the 72nd hole to defeat Luke Donald by a stroke.

Spieth’s success has him atop the FedEx Cup standings, the youngest player ever to lead that category.

There have only been two Masters winners the past 15 years to follow up their victories by playing Harbour Town. Vijay Singh tied for third here in 2000 a week after winning the Masters while Zach Johnson was sixth in 2007.

Only Bernhard Langer is 1985 followed a Masters victory with a triumph a week later at the RBC Heritage.

Spieth believes he’ll be the same driven, focused competitor he’s always been after winning the major he dreamed of as a child. That might be difficult after this week’s spotlight. Spieth got congratulatory Tweets from stars like Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and about 200 texts and emails since the victory.

“Given some time, that will subside a little bit,” he said.

What won’t ease up, Spieth said, is his desire to achieve the very best in golf, a quest that continues at Harbour Town.

“I was very much looking forward to getting back here, getting on solid ground and taking a deep breath,” Spieth said. “I’m really looking forward to this week.”

BRISBANE, Australia – A golfer who was bitten on the leg by a crocodile while playing at an Australian tourist resort said Tuesday he was partly at fault for hitting his ball in the water and disturbing the aggressive reptile while it sunbaked.

John Lahiff, 75, had puncture wounds in his right calf after he was bitten by the 1.2-metre (4-foot) saltwater crocodile on Monday at the Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course in the tourist town of Port Douglas on Queensland state’s Great Barrier Reef, police said.

Lahiff told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from his Cairns Hospital bed that he had seen crocs on the course before and should have been more wary of them.

He was attacked after retrieving a ball from a water trap on the 11th hole.

“I drove a cart around there to retrieve the ball and I didn’t see the croc sunbaking just on the edge of the water,” Lahiff said.

“I’ll just stay away from them, that’s all. Just don’t hit balls in the water,” he said. “It’s partly my fault for disturbing it – it was just sunbaking.”

The croc quickly retreated into the water.

Lahiff drove his cart back to the club house where paramedics were called. They told him he was lucky no artery had been severed.

Lahiff said he played the course three times a week and would return there soon.

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will attempt to catch the crocodile, which is a protected species under Australian law, so it can be relocated to a zoo or crocodile farm where crocs are grown for their meat and hides.

Crocs are a common sight on golf courses in Australia’s tropics and signs warn golfers of the dangers.

The department told the ABC it was unusual behaviour for a small crocodile to interact with people.

The resort’s owner, mining magnate and federal lawmaker Clive Palmer, wished Lahiff a speedy recovery.

“Crocodile has been removed from all menus at Palmer properties following today’s incident,” Palmer joked in a tweet on Monday.

Crocodiles can grow up to 6 metres (20 feet) long and have become abundant across Australia’s tropical north since they became protected in 1971.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tulsa, Okla.’s Chris Worrell shot an 8-under 64 Tuesday at Orange County National Golf Club’s Panther Lake Course to take the first round lead at PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament.

The 24-year old carded eight birdies, an eagle and two bogeys to lead by one over Orlando, Florida’s Ross Beal after 18 holes.

“I rolled the rock pretty well today. I made a couple of putts outside 10 feet today, and I don’t usually do that,” said Worrell, a University of Tulsa grad.

Worrell got off to a hot start with three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes, and said his strong opening round would allow him to ease the pressure of the final three rounds slightly.

“It’s nice to get a start and understand that I’ve got a little bit of room to play with, knowing I can fire at some flags and not worry about it too much,” added Worrell.

A shot behind Worrell was Beal, who took advantage of the par-5s at Orange County National with four birdies and an eagle to sit at 7-under.

“I hit the ball really well tee-to-green. I’m probably one of the longer players here and I was able to get to all the par-5s in two. With five par-5s, I think that’s going to be the key to scoring well here this week,” said Beal.

Three players – Max Gilbert of Saint-Georges, Que., Zack Byrd of Greensboro, N.C. and Ty Dunlap of Westlake, Tex.– were two shots back at 6-under 66 after the first round.

The medalist this week will earn exempt status on PGA Tour Canada for 2015. Finishers 2-18 will be exempt through the first six events and subject to the re-shuffle, with the rest of the top 40 (plus ties) earning conditional status. The cutoff for the top 18 through the first round was at 4-under, with the cutoff for the top 40 at 2-under.

Molson Canadian 67 and Golf Canada officially announced today the renewal of their partnership for the 2015 and 2016 golf seasons that will see Molson Canadian 67 return as the official beer of both the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open.

Molson Canadian 67 will be made available at the host courses, including on-site sampling and beer gardens. Molson Canadian 67 has been the lead beer sponsor of Golf Canada’s National Men’s and Women’s Open Golf Championships since 2011, and is renewing the partnership for the next two years.

“We are pleased to partner with Golf Canada this season, for the fifth year in a row,” says Jeff Harrop, Senior Marketing Director, Molson Coors Canada. “There is a natural synergy between Molson Canadian 67 and golf as one of our favourite summer activities with a strong social element. Golf Canada is the perfect partner to help bring this connection to life.”

As part of the partnership package, Molson Canadian 67 will be supporting Golf Canada’s two marquee events this summer as official beer sponsor, including:

RBC Canadian Open
This world-class PGA TOUR event, which is part of the Triple Crown of national golf championships, will host many of the best golfers in the world at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. from July 20-26. www.RBCCanadianOpen.com

Canadian Pacific Women’s Open
The women of the LPGA Tour will compete for a prize purse of 2.25 million USD at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. from August 17-23. www.CPwomensopen.com.

“Molson Canadian has a rich history of supporting golf in Canada and continues to be a tremendous partner for Canada’s National Open Golf Championships,” says Gavin Roth, Chief Commercial Officer at Golf Canada. “Golf, summer and a cold Molson Canadian 67 go perfectly together, and with the golf season set to gear up, we’re excited to renew our partnership for 2015 and 2016.”

Molson Canadian 67 is a premium light beer with a clean, crisp, fresh taste that is specially brewed to 3% ABV and 67 calories per 341ml, and is the perfect complement to any round of golf, especially on the 19^th hole.