RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Lydia Ko missed a chance to break the LPGA Tour record for consecutive rounds under par, closing with a bogey for a 1-over 73 on Friday in the second round of the ANA Inspiration.

Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to extend her streak to 30, the 17-year-old New Zealander hit her second shot into the water after catching a flyer out of the right rough on her layup attempt. After a penalty drop, her fourth shot rolled 15 feet past and she missed the putt.

On Thursday, Ko shot a 71 to tie the record set by Annika Sorenstam in 2004. Ko’s worldwide streak, counting her victory in the Ladies European Tour’s New Zealand Women’s Open, ended at 32.

Ko was seven strokes behind leader Sei Young Kim.

Canada’s Alena Sharp had a 73 to sit 5-over and miss the cut.

Tough week on the greens. I see light at the end of the tunnel thou. Have it figured out. Rest and relaxation for a week and off to Hawaii

— Alena Sharp (@AlenaSharp) April 4, 2015

A hole-by-hole look at Augusta National, site of the 79th Masters to be played April 9-12, with famous shots played at each one, the average score and where each hole ranks in difficulty since 1934:

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No. 1, 445 yards, par 4 (Tea Olive): This slight dogleg right plays uphill and has a deep bunker requiring a 317-yard carry off the tee. The bunker has a tongue in the left side, so anything that enters the front of the bunker might be blocked by the lip. A bunker is left of the green, which falls off sharply at the back and to the right.

Masters highlight: Charl Schwartzel pitched a low-running shot from the right mounds across the green and holed the shot for a birdie to begin the final round of his 2011 victory.

Masters lowlight: Rory McIlroy was one shot behind going into the weekend in 2012. He went over the back of the green, chipped through the green and down into a swale, barely got his next shot onto the green and two-putted for a double bogey on his way to a 77.

Average score and rank: 4.23 (6th)

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No. 2, 575 yards, par 5 (Pink Dogwood): A dogleg left that can be reached in two by the big hitters. A fairway bunker on the right comes into play. A big drive kept down the left side shortens the hole, but leaves a downhill lie to a green guarded by two deep bunkers in the front.

Masters highlight: Louis Oosthuizen hit a 4-iron from 253 yards in the final round of 2012 that landed on the front of the green and rolled some 90 feet into the cup for the first albatross in Masters history. It took him from a one-shot deficit to a two-shot lead. He went on to lose in a playoff.

Masters lowlight: David Duval hit into the ditch to the left, took two penalty shots before he escaped, and made a 10 in 2006.

Average score and rank: 4.79 (16th)

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No. 3, 350 yards, par 4 (Flowering Peach): One of the best short par 4s in golf, this hole that hasn’t been changed since 1982. Big hitters can drive near the green. But not many try because of all the trouble surrounding the L-shaped green that slopes sharply from right to left. Most players hit iron off tee to stay short of four bunkers on the left side.

Masters highlight: Charl Schwartzel holed out from the fairway for an eagle in the final round of 2011 on his way to victory.

Masters lowlight: Jeff Maggert was leading in the final round in 2003 when he found a fairway bunker to the left. His shot ricocheted off the face of the bunker and struck him in the chest for a two-stroke penalty. He took triple bogey on the hole and never recovered.

Average score and rank: 4.08 (14th)

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No. 4, 240 yards, par 3 (Flowering Crab Apple): This has become a long iron for big hitters, fairway metal for others. A deep bunker protects the right side of the green, with another bunker to the left. Club selection remains crucial because of the deceptive wind. The green slopes to the front. This hole features the only palm tree on the course.

Masters highlight: Jeff Sluman made the only ace on this hole in Masters history with a 4-iron from 213 yards in 1992. It carried him to a 65 and a share of the first-round lead.

Masters lowlight: Phil Mickelson was one shot out of the lead in the final round in 2012 when he purposely tried to hit into the front left bunker for his easiest chance at par. But his shot hit the grandstand and went into the woods. Lefty played two right-handed shots to get it out, hit his fourth into the bunker and got up-and-down for a triple bogey. He finished two shots behind.

Average score and rank: 3.28 (4th)

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No. 5, 455 yards, par 4 (Magnolia): An uphill, slight dogleg to the left with two very deep bunkers guarding the left side some 300 yards from the tee. The green slopes severely from back to front, and a small bunker catches anything long. If an approach is long and misses the bunker, it could roll down the slope and into the Magnolia trees.

Masters highlight: Jack Nicklaus made two eagles in the 1995 Masters, with a 5-iron from 180 yards in the first round and with a 7-iron from 163 yards in the third round.

Masters lowlight: Defending champion Cary Middlecoff had a four-putt double bogey in the final round in 1956 and wound up with a 77 to finish two shots behind Jack Burke Jr.

Average score and rank: 4.26 (5th)

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No. 6, 180 yards, par 3 (Juniper): An elevated tee to a large green with three tiers, with significant slopes marking the three levels. Getting close to the hole is a challenge. The easiest pin might be front left. The hole has not been changed since 1975.

Masters highlight: Billy Joe Patton, trying to become the first amateur to win the Masters, made a hole-in-one with a 5-iron from 190 yards in the final round in 1954. He missed the playoff between Ben Hogan and Sam Snead by one shot.

Masters lowlight: Jose Maria Olazabal had two chips roll back to his feet and a third go over the green in the second round of 1991. He took a quadruple-bogey 7 and wound up one shot behind Ian Woosnam.

Average score and rank: 3.13 (13th)

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No. 7, 450 yards, par 4 (Pampas): This hole literally has come a long way, from 320 yards to 450 yards. The tee was extended by 40 yards in 2003, then two years ago the tee box was lengthened to allow the hole to play shorter if necessary. The tee shot is through a chute of Georgia pines, played to the left-centre of the fairway into a slight slope. The green is surrounded by five bunkers, the most around any green.

Masters highlight: Byron Nelson drove the green in the 1937 Masters for a two-putt birdie when it played at 320 yards. That inspired Augusta National to alter the hole, moving the green back 20 yards and to the right on an upslope and surrounding the green with bunkers.

Masters lowlight: Defending champion Charles Coody, coming off an ace on the sixth hole, struggled to get out of the front bunker and took a triple-bogey 7 in the first round of 1972.

Average score and rank: 4.15 (tie for 11th)

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No. 8, 570 yards, par 5 (Yellow Jasmine): An accurate drive is important to avoid the fairway bunker on the right side. The hole is uphill and features trouble left of the green. There are no bunkers around the green, just severe mounding.

Masters highlight: Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros were paired r in the final round in 1986, both in contention. Kite hit a sand wedge from 80 yards that bounced twice and dropped in for his first eagle to get within two shots of the lead. Ballesteros, not the least bit bothered, played a pitch-and-run from 40 yards short of the green and matched his eagle to take the lead.

Masters lowlight: Tony Lema took double bogey in the opening round of 1963 and shot 74. He eventually finished one shot behind Jack Nicklaus.

Average score and rank: 4.83 (15th)

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No. 9, 460 yards, par 4 (Carolina Cherry): The tee shot should be aimed down the right side for a good angle into the green, which features two large bunkers to the left. Any approach that is short could spin some 25 yards back into the fairway.

Masters highlight: Jack Nicklaus hit 9-iron into 12 feet in 1986 and was ready to putt when he heard back-to-back cheers from behind him on the eighth green. “Why don’t we try to make some noise ourselves?” he said to the gallery. He made the birdie putt, and so began his charge to his sixth green jacket.

Masters lowlight: Greg Norman went after the pin on Sunday and saw the ball spin down the hill back into the fairway, the start of his record collapse in 1996.

Average score and rank: 4.14 (12th)

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No. 10, 495 yards, par 4 (Camellia): A long hole that can play shorter if the drive catches the slope in the fairway. It is difficult to save par from the bunker right of the green. The putting surface slopes from right to left. It has played as the most difficult hole in Masters history.

Masters highlight: Bubba Watson was deep in the trees to the right of the fairway, 155 yards away, when he played a 40-yard hook with a wedge that landed about 10 feet beneath the hole. He two-putted for par to win the 2012 Masters.

Masters lowlight: Scott Hoch had a 3-foot putt to win the Masters in a playoff in 1989. He missed, and lost to Nick Faldo on the next hole.

Average score and rank: 4.31 (1st)

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No. 11, 505 yards, par 4 (White Dogwood): Amen Corner starts here. The tee was lengthened by 15 yards in 2006, but some pine trees have been removed on the right side, although the landing area is still tight. A big tee shot _ and a straight one _ is required to get to the crest of the hill. A pond guards the green to the left and a bunker is to the back right. The safe shot is to bail out short and to the right.

Masters highlight: Larry Mize was in a sudden-death playoff with Greg Norman in 1987 when he missed the green to the right. Mize’s 140-foot chip was gaining steam when it dropped in for birdie, giving him the green jacket and dealing another blow to Norman’s hopes of winning the Masters.

Masters lowlight: Raymond Floyd pulled his approach into the water on the second extra hole to lose a playoff in 1990 to Nick Faldo.

Average score and rank: 4.29 (2nd)

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No. 12, 155 yards, par 3 (Golden Bell): This is among the most famous par 3s in golf, and the shortest hole at Augusta National. Club selection can range from a 6-iron to a 9-iron, but it’s difficult to gauge the wind. Rae’s Creek is in front of the shallow green, with two bunkers behind it and one in front.

Masters highlight: Fred Couples’ tee shot came up just short of the green and began to tumble down the bank into Rae’s Creek when it was stopped by a blade of grass. He chipped to 4 feet to save par, and went on to beat Raymond Floyd by two shots in 1992.

Masters lowlight: Tom Weiskopf hit 7-iron into Rae’s Creek, and then hit four shots with a sand wedge into the water in the opening round of 1980 to make a 13, the highest score ever on this hole.

Average score and rank: 3.28 (3rd)

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No. 13, 510 yards, par 5 (Azalea): An accurate tee shot to the centre of the fairway sets up players to go for the green. A tributary to Rae’s Creek winds in front of the green, and four bunkers are behind the putting surface. From tee to green, there are about 1,600 azaleas.

Masters highlight: With a two-shot lead in the final round in 2010, Phil Mickelson was in the pine straw behind a pair of trees. He hit 6-iron through a small gap in the pines and over the creek to about 4 feet. He missed the eagle putt, but kept his lead and went on to win.

Masters lowlight: Curtis Strange had a three-shot lead with six holes to play in 1985 when he went for the green with a 4-wood, hit into Rae’s Creek and wound up making bogey on his way to a back-nine collapse.

Average score and rank: 4.79 (17th)

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No. 14, 440 yards, par 4 (Chinese Fir): This is the only hole on the course without a bunker. Even if the drive avoids trees on both sides of the fairway, the green has severe contours that feed the ball to the right.

Masters highlight: Phil Mickelson holed out for eagle during an eagle-eagle-birdie stretch on Saturday in 2010 that helped him get into the final group. He won his third green jacket the next day.

Masters lowlight: Fred Couples had a 4-foot birdie putt to pull within one shot of Mickelson in the final round of 2006. He three-putted for a bogey and tied for third.

Average score and rank: 4.17 (8th)

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No. 15, 530 yards, par 5 (Firethorn): A cluster of pines is starting to mature on the right side of the fairway, making it critical to be straight off the tee. The green can be reached in two with a good drive, but a pond guards the front and there is a bunker to the right. Even for those laying up, the third shot requires a precise wedge.

Masters highlight: Gene Sarazen was three shots behind when he hit the “shot heard ’round the world” in 1935. His 4-wood from 235 yards went into the hole for an albatross. He tied Craig Wood and defeated him the next day in a playoff.

Masters lowlight: Tiger Woods was one shot out of the lead in the second round in 2013 when his wedge hit the flagstick and caromed into the water. Woods returned to his original spot and dropped the ball a few behind to make sure he wouldn’t hit the pin again. He made bogey. But his incorrect drop was not discovered until after his round. He was assessed a two-shot penalty, making it a double bogey. He was allowed to stay in the tournament because of a committee error. Woods tied for fourth.

Average score and rank: 4.78 (18th)

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No. 16, 170 yards, par 3 (Redbud): The hole is played entirely over water and eventually bends to the left. Two bunkers guard the right side, and the green slopes significantly from right to left. The Sunday pin typically is back and on the lower shelf, and pars from the top shelf that day are rare.

Masters highlight: Tiger Woods had a one-shot lead over Chris DiMarco when he missed the green long in 2005. He chipped away from the hole up the slope, watched it make a U-turn at the top and roll back toward the hole, pausing for 2 full seconds before dropping for birdie.

Masters lowlight: Despite a collapse in the final round of 1996, Greg Norman was still only two shots behind when he hooked his 6-iron into the water.

Average score and rank: 3.15 (9th)

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No. 17, 440 yards, par 4 (Nandina): The only major change to the course this year was not by design. The Eisenhower Tree to the left of the fairway about 210 yards from the tee could not be saved from an ice storm in February and was removed. That should make the tee shot much easier, especially for those with a lower, left-to-right ball flight. The green is protected by two bunkers in the front.

Masters highlight: Jack Nicklaus made his final birdie in 1986 with a 12-foot putt that sent him to a 30 on the back nine and a 65, giving him a one-shot win and his sixth Masters. The pose Nicklaus struck when the putt dropped is captured in a bronze statue of him outside his clubhouse at Muirfield Village.

Masters lowlight: Stuart Appleby had a four-shot lead late in the third round of 2007 when he hit his tee shot so far left it went into a bunker on the seventh green. He hit into another bunker on the 17th, and three-putted for a triple bogey.

Average score and rank: 4.15 (10th)

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No. 18, 465 yards, par 4 (Holly): Now among the most demanding finishing holes in golf, this uphill dogleg right is protected off the tee by two deep bunkers at the left elbow _ the only bunkers in play off the tee on the back nine (except for par 3s). Trees get in the way of a drive that strays to the right. A middle iron typically is required to a green that has a bunker in front and to the right.

Masters highlight: Sandy Lyle was tied for the lead with Mark Calcavecchia when he hit 1-iron in the first of two bunkers down the left side of the fairway. Not thinking he could get on the green, Lyle hit 7-iron over the tall lip and behind the flag, and it rolled back to 10 feet. He holed the putt for birdie to win in 1988.

Masters lowlight: Arnold Palmer walked up the 18th fairway accepting congratulations for another victory, then hit into the bunker and wound up with a double bogey to finish one shot behind Gary Player in 1961.

Average score and rank: 4.22 (7th)

Ten historical nuggets worth knowing to know about the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club:

WHAT’S THE SCORE: Clifford Roberts, co-founder of Augusta National, devised a scoring system for the 1960 Masters that he called the “over-and-under” method. Scores were shown on a cumulative basis on how a player stood with respect to par, such as 10-under par or 3-over par. That has become the standard for scoring at golf tournaments around the world.

MEASURING HOLES: The Masters is the only major golf tournament in which the yardage of each hole is rounded off to end in “5” or “0.” Roberts felt that an exact yardage was not relevant because the movement of tee markers and pin positions for each round changed the distance. The course is listed at 7,435 yards. And no one can be sure it ever plays to that length.

WHAT’S IN A NAME: When the club decided to hold a golf tournament, Roberts suggested it be called the Masters Tournament. Co-founder Bobby Jones vetoed that because he felt it was too presumptuous, so it made its debut in 1934 as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. The title changed to the Masters in 1939.

GREEN JACKET THEN: Augusta National bought green jackets from New York-based Brooks Uniform Company in 1937 for members to wear during the tournament so patrons would know who to turn to for information. Members wore them at the club so that waiters would know who would pay the bill.

GREEN JACKET NOW: Sam Snead in 1949 became the first Masters champion awarded a green jacket, a symbol that winners would become honorary members. The previous champions also were given green jackets. For past champions and members alike, the jacket can only be worn at the club. The exception is the reigning champion, who returns the green jacket when he comes back to defend his title.

AMATEUR HOUSING: Amateurs have the option to stay in the Crow’s Nest atop the clubhouse at Augusta National. It provides space for up to five players, and rising from the room is the 11-square-foot cupola with windows on all sides that can only be reached by a ladder. There are seven amateurs at the Masters this year, though not every man wishes to stay in the Crow’s Nest. Among the amateurs who did were Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw and Tiger Woods. Canada’s Corey Conners will stay there for part of this year’s Masters.

BLACKOUT: The Masters now is the most viewed golf tournament in the world, broadcast in more than 200 countries. But it wasn’t always that way. When it was televised for the first time in 1956, all CBS stations within a 200-mile radius of the club were blacked out from showing the tournament to help with ticket sales. The blackout was lifted in 1969.

ICE ON THE AZALEAS: One of the many myths about Augusta National is the staff places bags of ice on the azaleas and other flowers in the spring to keep them from blooming until the week of the Masters. That was proven incorrect most recently in 2012, unless the town ran out of ice. Every now and again, spring arrives earlier than the first full week in April, and the azaleas and dogwoods no longer are in bloom.

THE GREAT SWITCH: The most exciting back nine in golf used to be the front nine at Augusta National. The opening tee shot was what now is No. 10. Amen Corner would have consisted of Nos. 2, 3 and 4. But after the inaugural tournament in 1934, officials decided to flip the two nines.

MEMBERSHIP: Ever wonder how to be considered for membership at Augusta National? Don’t bother. Much like the tournament it runs, club membership is by invitation only. Golf World estimated in 2009 from a member who didn’t give his name that the initiation fee was “low five figures” and annual dues were “a few thousand” a year. When the club opened, the initiation fee was $350 with annual dues of $60. And by the way, Augusta National is closed from the middle of May to the middle of October.

HOUSTON – After his record-tying round Thursday, Scott Piercy let his thoughts drift toward qualifying for the Masters with a win this week.

Piercy tied a tournament record with a nearly flawless 9-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Houston Open.

“It’s the first round,” he said. “If I’m sitting here Sunday, then I’ll be super-excited. If I (keep playing) like I did today, I would say there’s a pretty good chance of that.”

Alex Cejka, in an afternoon group, made four birdies on his back nine – the course’s front nine – to finish with a 64, one stroke behind Piercy.

J. B. Holmes was next at 65, having also gotten to 8-under with four holes to play before finding a fairway bunker with his first shot at No. 6. After badly missing the green, Holmes had to scramble to a bogey.

Phil Mickelson, Luke Guthrie, Charles Howell III and Houston’s Shawn Stefani each shot a 66 and trail Piercy by three strokes.

Piercy, who made five birdies in a row over one torrid stretch during the middle of his round, became only the fifth player to card a 63 since this PGA Tour stop moved to the Golf Club of Houston Tournament Course in 2003. Two of the others, Mickelson in 2011 and Johnson Wagner in 2008, went on to win the championship.

The 36-year-old Piercy, a pro from Las Vegas, missed only one green in regulation and needed just 26 putts. Two days earlier, however, feeling so discouraged by the way he’d been playing of late that it crossed his mind while he was out grinding on the driving range “to go home and not waste my time.”

Piercy, instead, decided to keep practicing. He wound up hitting golf balls for “12, 13 hours. … In the 13th hour, something kind of clicked and I kind of figured it out. On Wednesday, I kind of engrained it, kept working and got pretty good. Today was awesome. It really was.”

Piercy was off the PGA Tour for six months last year while recovering from elbow surgery and said he still hadn’t felt quite right before arriving in Houston. But he liked his form Thursday the moment he first swung his driver. He began the day with a birdie on No. 10 and capped it by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the No. 9, his final hole.

“Everything went right,” said Piercy, who last won on the Tour at the RBC Canadian Open in 2012. “I hit the ball so good. It’s been building. I kept hitting good shot after good shot. By the end, I was (only) trying to make birdies.”

Teeing off 20 minutes before Piercy, Mickelson made himself the early front-runner by chipping in for birdie on his first hole, then turning the corner at 3-under, about the time Piercy began his birdie run. Mickelson reached 7-under at one point but bogeyed the par-three ninth, his final hole.

The three-time Masters champion, one of at least 36 players in the Houston field who are headed to Augusta National next week for the season’s first major, had skidded to a final-round 76 Sunday in the Texas Open. So, his late lapse here notwithstanding, Mickelson called his effort “a good round, a good start to the tournament. I got off to a quick start, birdieing three of the first four holes, and kept it going.

“The course is in pristine condition. The greens being soft are going to allow us to get more aggressive (aiming for) the pins and make some more birdies. The scores are going to be low” he said. “I’m just glad I was one of them.”

Piercy wasn’t the only one thinking about qualifying for The Masters.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet opened with a 5-under 67.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.  –

Lexi Thompson figured young friend Lydia Ko was dead in the woods to the left of the seventh fairway.

“I didn’t know she had that kind of shot because she was on an upslope,” Thompson said. “I didn’t know she could keep it under the trees.”

Trying to tie Annika Sorenstam’s LPGA Tour record for consecutive rounds under par, the 17-year-old Ko was even par with three holes left Thursday in the first round of the ANA Inspiration. And she was stuck behind five large trees.

“It was a pretty nasty place to be,” Ko said.

To escape, she needed to a hit a sweeping, low hook.

She did, with the ball scampering onto the green and stopping pin-high 25 feet to the right.

“I said, `I’m going to try to hit the biggest hook,'” Ko said. “It would have probably looked really bad, that swing on camera, but it ended up being OK. … I had to hit it low enough and had to hit a slinging hook, so I didn’t end up in the bunker.”

The New Zealander two-putted for par, then hit a 6-iron to 18 inches on the 158-yard eighth to set up the birdie she needed to get under par. She closed with a par on the par-5 ninth for a 1-under 71 to match Sorenstam’s record of 29 straight rounds under par.

Ko was tied for 10th, four strokes behind first-round leader Morgan Pressel in the first major championship of the season. Pressel won the 2007 tournament to become the youngest major champion at 18 years, 10 months, 9 days.

“I kept the ball in play,” Pressel said. “I was never really in terrible position.”

Ai Miyazato was second at 68, and Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, So Yeon Ryu, Alison Walshe and Gwladys Nocera shot 69. The 54-year-old Inkster won in 1984 and 1989.

“I actually have been hitting the ball fairly well the last couple of weeks and I’ve been out with a bulky putter,” Inkster said. “Today, I made a few putts and I made great par on 16.”

The top six played in the afternoon, long after strong wind tested the morning starters on their opening nines at tree-lined Mission Hills.

Thompson, the defending champion, had a 72 playing alongside Ko in the morning.

“I knew she would salvage the round,” Thompson said. “She might have been a little bit off today, but she has an amazing short game and hit some incredible shots.”

The top-ranked Ko started the streak in the first round of her victory last year in the season-ending event. Her worldwide streak is 32, counting her three rounds in her victory in the Ladies European Tour’s New Zealand Women’s Open.

Sorenstam set the LPGA Tour mark in 2004.

With the wind gusting to 20 mph, Ko opened with a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and made an 8-footer on 12. She bogeyed 13, hitting into the front right bunker and leaving a 25-foot putt.

After Thompson hit into the front water on the 133-yard 14th with the wind gusting to 25-30 mph, Ko hit pin-high to the right and made the 15-footer.

“I had to play like 12 yards (for the wind), so I went up a club and a half,” Ko said.

Ko bogeyed three of the next four holes to make the turn at 1 over.

Playing into a right-to-left crosswind on the par-4 15th, she drove into the front of the left fairway bunker. A half-foot from the lip, she chipped 30 yards to the fairway and hit her 6-iron third to 35 feet.

On the par-4 16th, she drove left into rough on the front edge of a bunker. Her fairway wood with the ball below her feet was short of the green in the left rough and she hit her third to 20 feet.

She was fortunate to drop only one shot on the par-5 18th. After going from the right to left rough and sending her third through the green, Ko hit a flop shot that ticked a palm tree and stopped in the fringe. Her downhill putt raced 15 feet past, but she holed the comebacker.

“I would have never thought I would hit the tree that was like 3 yards away right on my target,” Ko said. “But holed a good putt, so maybe that was the turning point.”

Ko got back to even par on the par-5 second, chipping to a foot. She also chipped to a foot on the par-3 fifth after missing to the left.

She was too busy scrambling to worry about the record.

“A record was the last thing I was thinking about,” Ko said.

Ko won in Australia in February – the week before her New Zealand victory – for her sixth LPGA Tour victory. She has 10 worldwide titles in professional events.

Canada’s Alena Sharp opened with a 76 and was tied for 85th after the opening-round.

Golf Canada announced today the 2015 schedule for the Canadian Women’s Tour. The tour’s 14^th season will feature three tournaments, and offer five exemptions into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

Each event champion will earn direct entry into the 43rd playing of Canada’s National Women’s Open. Following the tour’s finale – the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada – two additional exemptions will be awarded to the top two competitors (not otherwise exempt) on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit.

The 2015 season will see a total of $180,000 being awarded through the Canadian Women’s Tour.  Each 36-hole competition purse has been set at $60,000, while the winner of each event will come away with $10,000.

“Golf Canada is thrilled to announce the venues for the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour,” said Tournament Director Mary Beth McKenna. “Our competitors will have the opportunity to demonstrate their elite skill level on three challenging, competitive courses. The additions of these marquee clubs will add to the proud tradition of the tour and help demonstrate the passion for golf in Canada.”

Glencoe Golf and Country Club, located just outside of Calgary, will play host for the tour’s season-opening event. From May 25-27, the picturesque course situated along Elbow River will feature a field of top golfers from Canada and abroad.

The second leg of the tour will be played June 15-17 at Smiths Falls Golf and Country Club in Smiths Falls, Ont. Winding through forests of cedar and spruce, the club is home to Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson and her sister Brittany. The pair will kick off the championship by hosting their inaugural charity pro-am in support of the Team Henderson 110% Club.

Conducted in partnership with the PGA of Canada, the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada will close the 2015 tour. From July 20-22, the finale will take centre-stage at the Burlington Golf and Country Club in Burlington, Ont.

The 2014 tour opener saw Michelle Piyapattra earn the season’s first exemption at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville, B.C. Brooke Henderson won both the second leg of the circuit and the 2014 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada in her home province. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C. and Simin Feng of Windermere, Fla. earned the final two exemptions and the right to compete in the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at the London Hunt and Country Club in London, Ont.

The 2015 edition of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open is set to take place August 17-23 at the Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. Four exemptions will be available through an 18-hole qualifying competition held at Pitt Meadows Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, B.C. on August 17. These four qualifiers and those who emerge with exemptions from the Canadian Women’s Tour will join a full field of the world’s top golfing talents to compete for the honour of being named Canadian Pacific Women’s Open champion.

At season’s end, the top five players on the Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit will also be awarded direct entry into LPGA Stage-2 Qualifying. Since its inaugural season in 2002, the Canadian Women’s Tour has served as a platform for amateur and professional players, from Canada and across the globe, to showcase their talents on the international stage.

For more information on the Canadian Women’s Tour, click here.

COQUITLAM, BC – Canadian Pacific (CP) and Golf Canada have announced that BC Children’s Hospital has been chosen as the charity partner for the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open (CPWO). The CPWO will see the top LPGA Tour players in the world compete for the national title at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam from August 20-23, 2015.

Funds raised will be dedicated to the pediatric cardiology research program for BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) Heart Centre. Last year alone, BC Children’s cardiac surgeons performed 337 heart procedures, including 201 open heart surgeries.

“We are seeing incredible work being done in the area of pediatric cardiac care and research at BC Children’s Heart Centre,” said Canadian Pacific CEO E. Hunter Harrison. “By leveraging our CP Has Heart community program and the generosity of our employees, golf fans and supporters of the hospital, we have set a $1,000,000 fundraising target that I know we’ll achieve – but let’s work together to exceed it.”

“We are delighted to be the official tournament charity for the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open,” said Teri Nicholas, president and CEO of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. “CP’s support for our pediatric cardiology treatment and research programs will ensure that children with heart disease, whether they are from BC, the Yukon or elsewhere in Western Canada, will always receive outstanding care and benefit from the latest research when they turn to BC Children’s Hospital for help.”

CP announced that, beginning today, it will match all online donations made to BCCH until the end of the CPWO tournament. Other fundraising initiatives will involve LPGA Tour players, club members and fans through CP’s Birdies for Heart challenge, something LPGA athletes, including CP ambassador Lorie Kane, embraced at the 2014 CPWO.

“CP does a tremendous job of creating an exciting atmosphere over the week and certainly a huge draw for players and spectators alike is the Birdies for Heart Challenge on the 17th hole,” said LPGA Tour player Lorie Kane. “Feeling the energy from the CP Fan Zone when you’re standing on the tee gives you even more incentive to play the hole well and get a birdie, especially knowing you are directly contributing to the funds available for helping sick children.”

Golf fans attending the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open can upgrade their general admission tickets for the CP Fan Zone, which includes premium seating, healthy treats, player meet and greets and giveaways. Proceeds from CP Fan Zone tickets will go directly to BCCH and CP has also pledged to match funds from all Fan Zone ticket sales as part of its commitment.

CP is also extending its fundraising efforts off the course and into the community to promote the importance of keeping fit. The railroad will also match all donations made to Grouse Mountain’s annual fundraiser Grind for Kids which already benefits BC Children’s Heart Centre.

“Canada’s National Women’s Open Golf Championship is about making this great sport, and the professionals who play it, accessible to the host communities and leaving a legacy,” says Scott Simmons, CEO of Golf Canada. “CP is a tremendous partner, and they continue to show their heart and commitment to the communities we play in. We are looking forward to a great week in Vancouver, a market that has always supported golf. The Vancouver Golf Club is an outstanding course and will provide a stiff test to the best golfers in the world. ”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tim Clark of South Africa will miss the Masters next week as he recovers from an elbow injury.

Thomas Parker, his agent at Professional Advisory Group, said in a text message Wednesday that Clark’s elbow is feeling better but that he has not had enough time to properly prepare for the first major of the year.

The 39-year-old Clark was runner-up to Phil Mickelson at the 2006 Masters.

Clark was eligible by winning the RBC Canadian Open last year. He has not played since the Sony Open in Honolulu the second week of the year. Because the Masters is by invitation only, there is no alternate list.

With Clark not playing, the Masters is assured of having fewer than 100 players at Augusta National for the 49th straight year.

Corey Conners is getting ready for the biggest golf tournament of his life. But, the Canadian is trying to treat it like any other.

As a youngster, Conners said he got a VHS tape of the 1997 Masters when Tiger Woods won by 12 strokes. He watched that video “one or two hundred times.” He also remembered watching on television as Mike Weir sank the final putt to win his own green jacket in 2003.

Now, Conners will be playing in the tournament he’s only seen on a screen.

The 23-year-old from Listowel, Ont., will be in the field for next week’s Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga., thanks to a runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2014. The two finalists are traditionally invited to participate in the Masters each year.

He’ll become the 13th Canadian amateur to play in the tournament, joining names like Sandy Somerville – who played in the first Masters in 1934 – and Moe Norman. He’ll be the 29th Canadian ever.

And, unless Graham DeLaet wins on the PGA Tour this week at the Shell Houston Open, Conners and Weir will be the lone Canadian representatives in the field this year.

Conners hasn’t allowed the big stage to get to him yet. Augusta, although historical, is “pretty cool.” He admits he is “really looking forward to the experience,” but he just wants to play golf.

“I’m really excited for next week,” he said Tuesday. “I’m really looking forward to the experience.”

No amateur has ever won the Masters, but American Ken Venturi came close. He finished one shot back of the eventual champion Jack Burke Jr. in 1956.

Conners doesn’t shy away from saying how Augusta National fits his game.

“Overall the course is beautiful, and it sets up well for my game,” he explained. “It’s a really great course and I think I can do really well.”

He’s not alone in thinking this.

Besides a group of fans from his hometown – Conners says his father will likely caddie for him in the par-3 competition next Wednesday, before the tournament begins – Golf Canada’s men’s national team head coach Derek Ingram will also be in Augusta.

Conners has been part of Golf Canada’s program off-and-on since 2010, and Ingram has watched him grow as both a player and a young man.

“If he plays his game, I really think he can (finish in the) top 20,” Ingram stated. “The course at Augusta suits his game really well.”

Conners has played a handful of practice rounds at Augusta National, including one where Ingram was present. He says they’ve tried to work on hitting shots to the best spot possible on Augusta’s notorious greens.

“He’s trying to treat it like golf. He knows golf really well and he knows tournament golf really well,” said Ingram. “Obviously the Masters is the most iconic and biggest professional golf event in the world, and there will be some challenges there. But we’ve talked about dealing with them.”

Conners is working to arrange a practice round with Weir. He’ll definitely play one with Europeans Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, who are both managed by the same company as Conners – International Sports Management (ISM).

The team at ISM arranged for Conners to get a spot in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in March. He missed the cut, but said that experience was invaluable.

“It was a huge in helping me prepare. I learned a lot playing there and it was great to be out there with a bunch of professionals,” he explained. “I learned a lot that will make me feel comfortable during the Masters.”

Conners has picked the brains of a few fellow amateurs who have played in the Masters in years past, players he crossed paths with while playing for Kent State University.

Conners was a two time All-American there, and was named Kent State’s outstanding male athlete in his graduating year.

The award is given to, “the male member of the senior class who has demonstrated the most exceptional combined qualities of leadership, positive image, athletic ability and academic performance.” According to his college coach, Herb Page, this sums up Conners perfectly.

“I’m really proud of what he accomplished and how he did it,” said Page, a Canadian who is in the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame. “A lot of young men hit a little wall or they don’t keep pushing ahead. But, he kept advancing and getting better. And now he’s at the Masters.”

Conners drove down Magnolia Lane – the entrance-way to Augusta’s hallowed grounds – for the first time a few weeks ago.

“It didn’t feel real,” he admitted.

But, it is. And it all starts next week.

Click here to listen in to a media teleconference with Corey Conners and Canadian golf journalists recorded March 21, 2015.