Miguel Angel Jimenez a pris les commandes de l’Omnium de Thaïlande, vendredi, à l’issue de la deuxième ronde disputée sur les verts du Black Mountain Golf Club, à Hua Hin.

Jimenez, qui souffrait d’une grippe, a joué 66, soit six sous le par, et détient présentement un coup d’avance sur Kiradech Aphibarnrat, qui suit au deuxième échelon à -10.

Scott Hend, Thongchai Jaidee et le Canadien Richard T.Lee, de leur côté, se partagent le troisième rang à -9, un coup devant Matthew Baldwin, Johan Carlsson, Michael Hoey et Tom Lewis.

Gregory Havret, Rikard Karlberg, Alexander Noren, Wade Ormsby, Carlos Pigem et Jeunghun Wang, pour leur part, sont sur un pied d’égalité au 10e rang à -7, à quatre coups de la tête.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Mark Hubbard faced more pressure than anyone else Thursday on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.

It wasn’t about making par, but a marriage proposal.

A plan in the works for two months came off perfectly when the PGA Tour allowed his proposal to Meaghan McCurley to be flashed on the video board. Their families knew what was going on. She was the last one to figure it out.

Moments after tapping in for par, the 25-year-old rookie from San Jose dropped to a knee behind the 18th green with the ring in hand.

“Her mom had the idea when I asked her dad for permission,” Hubbard said after an even-par 72. “She just thought it would be cool to include golf, and we’ve been together for so long I felt like I had to do something different than just take her out to dinner or something. So it just kind of all clicked.”

Hubbard’s first idea was to put the proposal on a caddie bib when the tour approved of a message on the video board. It helps that as a rookie he tends to be in the last grouping of the opening rounds. He planned the proposal for whatever day he was at Pebble Beach.

“If I had a really good round going, I definitely would have been thinking on 18, `Oh God, don’t blow this.’ But it was just a frustrating, ho-hum day, so it kind of kept my attention off the last hole,” he said.

The hard part was getting through the final hole. Turns out he had enough difficult shots to keep his mind in the right place, starting with a tee shot that features golf’s biggest water hazard – the Pacific – hugging the left side of the hole. He faced a bunker shot close to the lip. And then he had a 20-footer for birdie.

“I wasn’t thinking about it until I ran my putt 2 feet by and I was like, `Man, it would really (stink) to three-putt right now,” Hubbard said. “So I was pretty glad I made that second one.”

And when is the wedding?

“Tomorrow at Monterey Peninsula,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know. We haven’t gotten that far yet.”

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Sunshine is always a pleasant surprise at Pebble Beach, and Thursday brought a real stunner: John Daly was near the top of the leaderboard.

With his best opening round on the PGA Tour in nearly 10 years, Daly kept a clean card at Pebble Beach on a magnificent day along the Monterey Peninsula for a 7-under 65, leaving him one shot behind J.B. Holmes and Justin Hicks in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Daly won an exhibition in Turkey last year. The last official win for the two-time major champion was at Torrey Pines in 2004. So when Daly rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole, one of the volunteers wasn’t joking when he said, “Daly is at 7 under? On his own?”

Daly laughed when he heard that. Then again, this day could put anyone in a good mood.

His golf was as glorious as the sunshine. Three years ago, a beautiful day gave way to fog and then rain without notice in a two-hour span. Last year, the third round was ravaged by rain and 30 mph win. Thursday brought long shadows.

“To have weather like this now – it’s supposed to be like this all week – it is absolutely incredible,” said Jim Furyk, who made his 2015 debut with a 64 at Monterey Peninsula. It’s already one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to and then to have weather like this, it’s just spectacular.”

Hicks and Holmes each shot 8-under 64 at Pebble Beach, typically the easiest course in the rotation in benign conditions.

Furyk, former Pebble winner Brandt Snedeker and Chesson Hadley were at 7-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula, while J.J. Henry and Dudley Hart joined Daly at 65 at Pebble Beach. The low score at Spyglass Hill belonged to Alex Prugh at 6-under 66.

Jason Day, coming off a playoff win at Torrey Pines that included Holmes, struggled to a 72 at Pebble Beach. He wasn’t even the low Day in the day. Glen Day, in his final year before he is eligible for the Champions Tour, shot a 5-under 66 at Monterey Peninsula.

Holmes had a start as ideal as the weather. He holed a wedge from 123 yards on the 10th hole for eagle, and then hit another wedge to 5 feet for birdie on No. 11. For all his length, he only birdied one of the par 5s, and that was with a 20-foot putt.

Even so, it was good way to forget last week, where he lost on the second playoff hole.

“I’ve just got to keep reminding myself it was a great week for me, and I did everything I could do and just carry that on to this week and maybe things will go a little bit different this week,” he said.

Hicks saved his best for the final hole, reaching the par 5 in two and making an 18-foot eagle putt. His week began with a big laugh. His back felt tight, so Hicks went to see a local chiropractor to relieve some of the pain. Then he went to the tour’s chiropractor, who told him his glutes weren’t activating.

“I almost fell off the chair,” Hicks said. That was the phrase Tiger Woods used last week when he withdrew after 11 holes. “I never quite used that term myself to describe an injury. I never really even heard that term. So to have him tell me that, I was just thinking, `You’re kidding, right?'”

Daly, however, caused the biggest stir. It was his best start since a 64 in the Byron Nelson Championship in 2005.

He can deliver a good round – or win a major, for that matter – out of nowhere. Still, this wouldn’t seem to be the place for it. Daly tied for 20th at Pebble Beach in his rookie season in 1991 and he hasn’t made the cut in 10 tries since then. And he still hasn’t.

“That wouldn’t shock me,” Daly said when told of his record. “I still haven’t made it yet.”

Next up is a trip to Monterey Peninsula, and Daly isn’t sure what to expect. Part of him was still in shock over the colors – emerald green on the fairways, blue in the ocean and that big yellow ball in the sky, always a welcome guest.

Of course, he had those colors and more in the pattern of his Loudmouth pants. Daly said that pattern is called, “In the Jungle.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t shoot something in jungle today,” he said.

It was a simple round, or at least he made it look that way. Daly only missed three fairways and took 26 putts, two areas of his game that have cost him over the years. And for all the great golf he played, he couldn’t stop talking about the weather. He usually only sees Pebble like this on a postcard.

“It’s just great to be able to come out here and not have to survive the weather and survive the golf course,” he said. “But we’ll just see what happens.”

It wasn’t clear if he was talking about the weather or his game.

David Hearn was the low Canadian after 18 holes. Playing at Pebble, the Brantford, Ont. native carded a 5-under 67 for a share of 15th Thursday.

Merrit, B.C.’s Roger Sloan opened with an even-par 72 at Spyglass Hill, while Bright’s Grove, Ont.’s Mike Weir had a 74 at Pebble.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. each carded 4-over 76s at Spyglass.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – CN and Golf Canada are pleased to recognize the Blomidon Golf and Country Club with the CN Future Links Facility of the Year award for the 2014 season.

Blomidon, nestled in the heart of Corner Brook, Nfld., earned the award for its marked performance and delivery of CN Future Links, Canada’s junior golf program. Under the direction of head PGA of Canada professional Wayne Allen, Blomidon instilled the fundamentals and values of golf through CN Future Links to over 280 juniors—all of whom graduated stages of the Learn to Play program.

“We are very proud to acknowledge Blomidon’s dedication to junior golf with this important award,” stated Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “We thank Wayne Allen and the golf club for their leadership, delivery and support of the program. There were many qualified facilities to choose from that have been delivering exceptional junior golf activities—Blomidon should feel very proud of this accomplishment.”

“CN is proud to honour Blomidon with this award for their dedication to the well-being of children in delivering the CN Future Links program,” said Claude Mongeau, CN President and Chief Executive Officer. “Golf and its inherent values are good for our children and we appreciate clubs like Blomidon for delivering Canada’s national junior golf program in communities across Canada.”

Learn to Play is a four-stage rewards program that tracks progress performance of participants through reports issued by the instructor. New in 2014, juniors received complimentary hats courtesy of program partner Cobra Puma Golf upon graduating a stage to represent their progress.

“CN Future Links helps me give kids the opportunity to reach any level that they want to achieve—which is very important for me,” said Allen, a PGA of Canada Class ‘A’ member. “I think any pro who is not using the tools available through this program is putting their club at a disadvantage.”

With large junior camps, Allen maximized admin time by entering progress reports on-the-go through the mobile app, available on the App Store. In total, Allen and his team were successful in completing 100% of the progress reports of their juniors. With the success of Allen’s CN Future Links programming, Blomidon has opened two new streams of membership—family and intermediate—to accommodate the growing demand.

Allen is very active in other areas of junior golf; most notably, he conducted four CN Future Links Field Trip events, which connect local students to nearby golf clubs for introductory lessons. In addition, Allen delivered eight different golf lessons to school sites registered in Golf in Schools—a program that CN has supported with over 100 adoptions.

Blomidon is the second Canadian golf club to receive the CN Future Links Facility of the Year Award, which was introduced in 2013. The club, which also serves as a National Junior Golf Development Centre, will host local media and representatives later in the spring to celebrate receiving the award.

“On behalf of the PGA of Canada and its 3,700 members, I’d like to congratulate Wayne Allen and his staff on the CN Future Links Facility of the Year Award,” said PGA of Canada President Constant Priondolo. “It’s important for PGA of Canada professionals like Wayne to be recognized for all their hard work in growing the game of golf in Canada through the CN Future Links program.”

Last year alone, CN Future Links junior golf activities were conducted at 455 golf facilities with more than 7,000 juniors registered in the Learn to Play program. In addition, 160 golf facilities took part in the Junior Skills Challenge while more than 56,000 youngsters participated in more than 1,200 mobile golf clinics across the country. Since 2006, more than 1 million children have been introduced to golf through the CN Future Links program.

PRACHUAB KHIRI KHAN, Thailand – Michael Hoey shot an 8-under 64 Thursday to set a course record and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Thailand Classic.

The former British Amateur champion from Northern Ireland had eight birdies at the Black Mountain Golf Club to lead three others by one shot. David Lipsky of the United States, Hung Chien-yao of Taiwan and Carlos Pigem of Spain were tied for second at the European-Asian Tour event.

“I know the course is scoreable because there’s not a lot of rough, but the wind picks up and the last few holes were tricky today,” Hoey said. “We probably had 10 or 11 holes with not much wind, which was the advantage of teeing off early. But the last few holes were tricky.”

Canadian Richard T. Lee carded a 4-under 68 for a share of 14th place.

PEBBLE BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods said Wednesday his game is “not acceptable” to compete in tournaments and he will return when he thinks it is.

Hopeful of having injuries behind him, Woods made a horrific start to the new year. He shot a career-high 82 in the second round of the Phoenix Open to miss the cut by 12 shots. And then he withdrew after 11 holes of ordinary golf at Torrey Pines because of tightness in his back from a fog delay.

Woods said on his website the last two weeks have been disappointing, especially at Torrey Pines, where he is an eight-time winner. He said he never wants to withdraw, but recent injuries have allowed that to happen too often.

Woods said his latest injury was not related to the back surgery he had last spring, and that he is feeling better every day with physical therapy.

“Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me,” Woods said. “My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I’ve said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”

Woods is not playing Pebble Beach or Riviera, and said he would practice next week at his home and at The Medalist “getting ready for the rest of the year.”

He said he wants to play the Honda Classic, which starts Feb. 26, but he won’t be there unless his game is tournament ready.

“That’s not fair to anyone,” Woods said. “I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon.”

Ernie Els, who has known Woods longer than any other active PGA Tour player, heard about his woes while playing in Dubai and later saw highlights.

“As competitive as we are, we don’t want to see anyone suffer like that,” said Els, who has finished second to Woods more than any other player. “We’ve got to do our stuff in public. I don’t care if you’re Tiger Woods, Ernie Els or whoever. If you have some error in your game, you get exposed.”

Woods, the winner of 79 PGA Tour events and 14 majors, has never looked this bad on the golf course. He had back surgery to relieve a pinched nerve a week before the Masters and missed three months (including the first two majors), and then he took four months off at the end of last year to regain strength and get his back fully healed.

He also hired a new swing consultant and embarked on the fifth swing change of his career.

His chipping was shockingly bad at the 18-man Hero World Challenge at Isleworth in December, when he tied for last. His chipping looked even worse at the Phoenix Open, a collection of shots that he either flubbed short or bladed across the green.

Woods is at No. 62 in the world, his worst ranking since before he won his first PGA Tour event in 1996. He is not eligible for the World Golf Championship at Doral.

“I am committed to getting back to the pinnacle of my game,” Wood said.

SAN FRANCISCO – Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley had his golf clubs and some Ryder Cup mementos stolen in a smash-and-grab not long after arriving for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that McGinley went from the airport to Ocean Beach to get some fresh air and have lunch. When he returned to his SUV outside the restaurant, he was startled to see the back window shattered.

McGinley says his golf clubs and travel bag, a carry-on bag, travel documents and his passport were taken. He says the thief also took Ryder Cup items he had set aside for a charity auction. Europe’s winning Ryder Cup captain was testing new equipment on Tuesday.

McGinley says he was disappointed but that it can happen in any country or city.

LAKELAND, Fla. – Team Canada’s Adam Svensson continued his winning ways Tuesday, notching the second win of his junior season with a victory at the Matlock Collegiate Classic.

Svensson, 21, carded rounds of 67-67-70 for a 12-under 204, good for a two-stroke victory at the Lone Palm Golf Club. He recorded 14 birdies en route to his second individual win this season in as many events—he won the Guy Harvey Invitational in the fall.

The Surrey, B.C., native continues to roll for Barry University. He set a school record last year in his sophomore season with seven individual titles, winning the Jack Nicklaus award for the top golfer in Div II in the process.

Collectively, the Barry Buccaneers finished runner-up, 10 strokes behind champion Nova Southeastern. Svensson and the Bucs will tee-it-up again in the Warner Invitational in Sebring, Fla., Mar. 2–3.

Click here for full results.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The Royal and Ancient Golf Club announced its first female members on Thursday, among them was Diane Dunlop-Hébert, a past president of Golf Canada and Golf Québec.

The club voted in September to end 260 years of male-only exclusivity by voting in favour of inviting women to join. 

Dunlop-Hébert is one of seven “ordinary” members. She is the first and only Canadian on the list of ordinary members, which was leaked by golf journalists.

An accountant by trade, Dunlop-Hébert has spent the past 18 years as Director and Vice-President of Business Development for Groupe Park Avenue, a multi-franchise automobile mall in Montreal.

The club officially released the names of its seven “honorary” members, which included Swedish great Annika Sorenstam and Britain’s Princess Anne.

Sorenstam, a 10-time major champion, wrote on Twitter: “I am very honored to be one of the lucky ladies.”

Princess Anne, who competed in equestrian for Britain at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and is an IOC member, is the only female honorary member who hasn’t played golf competitively.

Anne is the fourth member of the royal family to become an honorary member of the R&A, joining her father Prince Phillip, brother Prince Andrew and the Duke of Kent.

Two other British honorary members are Laura Davies, who has won four majors, and Belle Robertson, an amateur great.

Two U.S. women were admitted: Renee Powell, only the second black player to compete on the LPGA Tour, and Louise Suggs, a co-founder and former LPGA president who won 11 majors.

Completing the list is Frenchwoman Lally Segard, who won 14 titles before becoming president of the World Amateur Golf Council, which is now known as the International Golf Federation.

The Royal and Ancient has stated it plans to accelerate the process of naming other golfers in the coming months.

St. Andrews will be the venue for the British Open this summer.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Golf Canada’s 2015 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place this week (February 12-14) at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Centre in Mississauga.

The AGM will bring together Golf Canada’s Board of Directors, Governors Council and staff as well as representatives from Canada’s provincial golf associations and Canadian golf industry stakeholders. The group will assemble for three days of meetings in preparation for the upcoming golf season.

The Annual General Meeting will culminate with the appointment of Paul McLean of King Township, Ont. as our 112th President. The induction ceremony will take place during an official ceremony on Saturday, February 14th from 7 to 10 pm at the Delta Meadowvale.

Golf Canada will also present both its Volunteer of the Year Award, as well as its Distinguished Service Award(s). The service awards will honour a trio of individuals for their outstanding contributions to the game of golf.

Golf Canada will also welcome our international governing body partners at the USGA and R&A, who will make presentations on topics of interest to the international golf community on Friday, February 13 from 1-2:30pm. Hunki Yun, USGA Director of Strategic Projects and USGA Technical Director Matthew Pringle will discuss pace of play. David Rickman, R&A Director of Rules and Equipment Standards will present “Golf Today – an R&A perspective” with a report on the association’s activities in Rules, handicapping, golf development and sustainability, as well as updates on The Open and golf’s reintroduction into the Olympics.

Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Development Officer, will be joined by PGA of Canada’s Technical Director Glenn Cundari and player development expert Dr. Istvan Balyi for a 90-minute session on Friday, February 13 from 2:45-4:15pm which will outline the launch of LTPD 2.0 – the second iteration of Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) guide for Canadian golf.

Golf Canada’s Chief Commercial Officer Gavin Roth will outline the development of a unified marketing campaign promoting Golf in Canada on Saturday, February 14 from 8:30-10:15am. Roth will share the process undertaken with the National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) and provincial partners; the agency selected for creative development; and a taste of what to expect this year. He will also share the exciting new direction of golfcanada.ca, set to re-launch in April, and introduce the vendor that will help drive our digital engagement strategy. The session will also include an update on two high profile Golf Canada brand ambassadors and some new corporate partnership developments.

Canada continues to have the highest golf participation rate in the world, and it remains one of the most popular pass times among Canadians. However, the current Association membership has been shrinking steadily over the past 10 years. Why and how do we address this issue? Golf Canada’s Managing Director of Membership & Heritage, Karen Hewson, along with Regional Directors Blair Armitage, Chris Dengel and Remi Bouchard, will share the consultation and information that has led to the development of a new vision for membership within the provincial and national associations Saturday, February 14 from 10:30am-12pm.

These are only some of the highlights of Golf Canada’s 2015 AGM. Golf Canada Member Clubs interested in finding out more information about the 2015 Annual General Meeting can contact us at 1-800-263-0009 or members@golfcanada.ca.