LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson got most of the attention in his return to competition after a four-month break. Blake Adams got a lot more out of his comeback round.

Mickelson shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday in the Humana Challenge in his first event since the Ryder Cup, leaving him eight strokes behind leader Michael Putnam.

“Even though this score is the worst I’ve had in a long time, in months, I’m excited about my game and getting back out tomorrow,” Mickelson said. “I can’t wait to get started again, because I just feel like I played a little tight today, kind of steered it a little bit.”

Adams had a 64 on PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Private Course in his return from hip replacement surgery. He last played a PGA Tour event in March and had surgery in July.

“Very, very blessed to be back out here,” Adams said. “It’s been a long road to get back. You never know what you’re going to get when you have total hip replacement.”

The 39-year-old Adams had six straight birdies from No. 14 to No. 1, added three in a row on Nos. 5-7 and closed with a bogey. Playing on a major medical extension, he has 16 events to earn $497,044 to keep his tour card.

“If the putts fall, great, if they don’t, so be it,” Adams said. “I had a great day today. I’m going to go out there tomorrow and do my best and if I shoot 64 again, great. If I shoot 74, so be it.”

Mickelson opened at tree-lined La Quinta Country Club. He made a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third, holed out for birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-4 fourth and made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 sixth. After dropping shots on Nos. 12, 14 and 16, Lefty hit a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on the par-4 17th.

“It was the first round in four months and I’ll loosen up,” Mickelson said. “Hopefully, the way I’m playing will show in the score. But today, it just didn’t.”

The 44-year-old Mickelson, the 2002 and 2004 champion, is winless in 27 PGA Tour starts since the 2013 British Open. He has lost weight and gained strength working with trainer Sean Cochran during the long break from competition.

“My body hasn’t felt this good in years,” Mickelson said.

Putnam made nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch in his 63. He birdied Nos. 7, 9 and 10 on the Nicklaus course and ran off six in a row on Nos. 12-17.

“The course is in perfect shape,” Putnam said. “Greens are good. … I made a lot of birdies at the end. Hit a lot of close shots, a lot of 5-, 10-foot putts. I made them all, so I got to be happy about that.”

Mark Wilson, John Peterson, Francesco Molinari and Scott Pinckney matched Adams at 64. Wilson and Peterson played the Nicklaus course, Molinari opened on the Arnold Palmer Private Course and Pinckney was at La Quinta.

The 40-year-old Wilson won the 2012 tournament for the last of his five PGA Tour titles.

“I came in feeling OK, nothing great about the game, but it was ideal today,” Wilson said. “I made some saves when I needed it and capitalized on my good shots.”

Defending champion Patrick Reed had a 65 at La Quinta. He’s coming off a playoff victory over Jimmy Walker two weeks ago in Hawaii in the Tournament of Champions. Last year, Reed shot three 63s to open a seven-shot lead and closed with a 71 for a two-stroke victory.

“I feel like I left a lot out there, but it’s always good to shoot 7 under,” Reed said. “My confidence is as high as it could be and the main thing is just not getting ahead of myself and not really being over-confident where I take too many unnecessary risks.”

Playing partner Matt Kuchar, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 11 in the world, also had a 65. He closed with a bogey.

Canada’s Nick Taylor opened with a 66 and held a share of 11th, while Graham DeLaet was two-shots back after a 68. He had a share of 29th.

Here are the complete opening-round Canadian scores.

FAIRHAVEN, Mass.– It’s hard to belive 15 years have passed since the first Titleist Pro V1 was introduced.

It was in October 2000 when the original Pro V1 prototype first appeared on the PGA Tour at the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas. Forty-seven players put the ball in play that week, marking one of the largest pluralistic shifts of equipment at one event in golf history. In March 2001, just months after launching to golf shops, Titleist Pro V1 became the best-selling golf ball in the marketplace.

“The launch of Pro V1 was especially significant in that for the very first time the best performing golf ball for tour players was also the best performing golf ball for all golfers,” said Mary Lou Bohn, Vice President of Titleist Golf Ball Marketing and Communications. “You no longer had to choose between distance over short-game control, or durability over soft feel. There were no trade-offs. Pro V1 delivered total performance.”

Pro V1 and Pro V1x (which launched in 2003) have been the most played golf balls at every level of competitive golf and the best-selling models around the world ever since.

The new 2015 Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x models, available in golf shops beginning January 30, are the result of a continuous process rooted in rigorous research and development, technological advancements, comprehensive player testing and validation, and precision manufacturing.

Designed for all golfers seeking to shoot lower scores, 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x deliver exceptional distance with consistent flight, more short game control and even softer feel from a new, patented urethane elastomer cover formulation, and long lasting durability.

Comparatively, Pro V1 has a softer feel, slightly more long game spin and a penetrating trajectory for a shallower angle of descent for more roll. Pro V1x offers a slightly firmer feel, lower long game spin and launches higher with a steeper angle of descent.

The total performance of Pro V1 and Pro V1x tee-through-green – providing the best combination of distance, flight, short-game scoring control and feel – makes them the best fit for any golfer.

“Golfers often ask us what sets Pro V1 and Pro V1x apart from other golf balls. You can’t just point to one or two things,” said Bill Morgan, Senior Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball R&D. “The difference is everything. We have more people with more experience designing and making golf balls, the largest intellectual property portfolio and the most sophisticated precision manufacturing processes. The 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the culmination of all that knowledge and all of that technology. The original Pro V1 was revolutionary, no question, but we’ve learned a lot in the last 15 years and these new Pro V1 models are the best we’ve ever made.”

The Titleist Golf Ball R&D team, driven by a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, is made up of chemists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers and technicians, as well as PGA Professionals and turf management specialists. Due to their work, Titleist owns the industry’s largest portfolio of golf ball intellectual property with more than 1,000 patents. Since 2010, Titleist has been awarded nearly 50 percent of all golf ball patents issued in the United States. There are more than 100 patents that cover the technologies and manufacturing processes for 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x combined.

Before being introduced to the market, new Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls are tested and validated by golfers at every level of the game, from the world’s best tour players to amateurs of all skill levels and swing speeds.

So, you might ask yourself, should you play the Pro V1 and Pro V1x?

Both Pro V1 and Pro V1x deliver extraordinary distance, the best scoring performance for all golfers, and long lasting durability, yet differ in feel, long game spin and flight.

Pro V1 has a softer feel, slightly more long game spin and a more penetrating trajectory for a shallower angle of descent for more roll than Pro V1x. Pro V1 is a three-piece, multiple component technology with a very soft compression ZG process core, ionomeric casing layer, softer thermoset urethane elastomer cover, and spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design.

Pro V1x has a slightly firmer feel and lower long game spin and launches higher with a steeper angle of descent than Pro V1. Pro V1x is a four-piece, multi-component technology with a ZG process dual core, ionomeric casing layer, softer thermoset urethane elastomer cover and spherically-tiled 328 tetrahedral dimple design.

DOHA, Qatar – Bernd Wieseberger birdied his last hole to join South Africans Branden Grace and George Coetzee on top of the Qatar Masters leaderboard after the second round on Thursday.

Wieseberger’s 6-under-par 66 included four consecutive birdies from his fourth hole, the par-3 No. 13. The Austrian totaled 9-under 135 to share a one-shot lead with Grace (68) and Coetzee (67).

Wieseberger and Coetzee teed off in the morning, while Grace enjoyed near windless conditions in the afternoon, and was surprised at the end of the day that nobody achieved double figures under par.

“I really thought somebody was going to push (10 under),” said Grace, who won his fifth European Tour title last month in South Africa.

“You saw the guys from this morning, there were 6 unders and 5 unders and 7 unders, and nobody really pushed toward the end of the day.”

Grace thought one of the reasons could be that the greens were not that much quicker than he thought.

“They (greens) are still very good. They didn’t spike up at all, so it’s a big surprise nobody really pushed on,” he said.

Scotland’s Marc Warren (65), South Korea’s Byeong-hun An (69), and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (69) were one stroke behind at 8 under. Warren shared the day’s best score with England `s Tommy Fleetwood and Sweden’s Johan Carlsson.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia was three shots behind the leaders at 6 under after consecutive 69s.

Charl Schwartzel shot a 6-over 78 to finish at 3 over, missing the cut by four strokes.

Earlier, Wieseberger, who tied for sixth at last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, dropped only one shot at the par-4 7th, but quickly carded a birdie to finish an impressive day.

“I feel comfortable. I haven’t really expected it, especially because I played quite poorly last year,” said Wiesberger, who won his only two tour titles in 2012. “It gives me great confidence; if I keep on doing what I’m doing, I’ve worked on the right things the last couple of weeks, and it shows.”

Coetzee matched him with six birdies.

“I’m playing well. My swing is coming along slightly, and I’m putting pretty nicely,” Coetzee said. “I’ve just got to wait for my birdies and not force it and kind of play the golf course like I know it.”

ACTON, ONT. — The PGA of Canada’s most prestigious championship is set to be contested at the country’s most talked about golf venue.

Cabot Links plays host to the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf June 14-18.

Cabot Links, which debuted at No. 2 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Ranking and is currently No. 42 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is located on the western shores of Cape Breton Island in Inverness, N.S.

“The PGA of Canada is very proud and excited to be headed to Cape Breton Island and the awesome Cabot Links,” said PGA of Canada president Constant Priondolo. “I truly believe that all the competitors who play in this year’s PGA Championship of Canada will come away singing the praises of the Cabot Links golf experience.”

Nestled between the rural community of Inverness and the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Rod Whitman-designed course Canada’s first authentic links layout. The natural and rugged Nova Scotia landscape—dramatic seaside, undulating terrain, sandy soil—dictates the layout of the course with every hole affording an ocean view and five holes playing adjacent to the beach.

“We are thrilled and honoured to host one of Canada’s most storied championships, the PGA Championship of Canada—an event dating back to 1912 with decorated winners such as George Knudson, Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer—that continues to produce exceptional champions,” said Cabot Links managing partner Ben Cowan-Dewar. “We look forward to watching the PGA of Canada’s top-ranked players battle it out in this compelling format—a format that greatly complements the links style of golf offered here at Cabot Links.”

The PGA Championship of Canada will be the first professional championship Cabot Links has hosted since opening in the summer of 2012.

Since re-launching in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada has been contested as a match play event with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy.

However, this year’s championship at Cabot Links will see a format change with the top 64 players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC playing two rounds of stroke play. The top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event will fill our the four match play brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.

“The format change for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada is bound to be an exciting one,” said the PGA of Canada’s Managing Director of Championships and Events Adam LeBrun. “We feel the players who are playing the best will ultimately make it through to the match play portion of the event where the matches will undoubtedly tight, tough and exciting affairs.”

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Currently Markham, Ont.’s, Bill Walsh sits No. 1 on the player rankings with 316 points, ahead of 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and 2013 winner Bryn Parry of North Vancouver.

Past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada include Moe Norman, George Knudson, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.

The first PGA Championship of Canada was contested in 1912 at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club.

ROSEBERY, New South Wales, Australia—Team Canada’s Corey Conners and Jaclyn Lee have advanced to the second round of match play at the Australian Amateur.

Conners, a 23-year-old National Team member, took down Korea’s Sung-Ho Yun 3&2 in the men’s opening match play round of 64. The Listowel, Ont., native is coming off an impressive win at the Lake Macquarie Championship last week and will look to keep rolling in Friday’s match against Japan’s Daisuke Matsubara.

Jason Goldsworthy, a Calgary native now living in Australia, fell to the No. 6 seed, Ryan Chisnall of New Zealand, 5&4.

The men will play their round of 32 tomorrow morning, then the round of 16 in the afternoon on a marathon day.

In the women’s opening round of 32, Calgary native Jaclyn Lee bested Hayley Bettencourt of Australia, 2&1. Lee, 17, was the only member of Team Canada’s Development Squad to advance to match play. The Ohio State University commit faces another Aussie, Liz Elmassian in tomorrow’s round of 16 match.

Click here for full scoring.

Oakville, Ont. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – PGA Tour Canada’s 2015 schedule will include 12 events from May to September and purse increases for each event from $150,000 to $175,000, as the pursuit to earn status on the Web.com Tour goes from coast-to-coast for its third season.

The season will once again begin in May with the PC Financial Open (May 25-31) at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver and conclude in September at the Tour Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial (Sept. 14-20) at Highland Country Club in London, Ont.

“Thanks to the hard work of our host organizations and the fantastic support of our sponsors, our 12 established Tournaments are all returning this season in a great position to continue to grow, with a significant increase in prize money,” said PGA Tour Canada President Jeff Monday. “We look forward to another season of outstanding golf from our players and an emphasis on positive community impact from our Tournaments,” added Monday.

In addition to the top five players on the Order of Merit earning status on the Web.com Tour for 2016, players 6-10 will once again earn an exemption into the final stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, with players 11-20 gaining direct entry into the second stage. Players competing on PGA Tour Canada will look to follow in the footsteps of Abbotsford, B.C.’s Nick Taylor, who finished 7th on the 2013 Order of Merit, then earned his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour before entering the PGA Tour winner’s circle at the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship.

“The path Nick Taylor and his peers Tony Finau, Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Mark Hubbard used in parlaying their outstanding play on PGA Tour Canada into success on the Web.com Tour and now the PGA Tour is what we envisioned with the launch of PGA Tour Canada in 2013,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. “We anticipate this year’s level of competition to be extremely high as more players look to follow in the footsteps of PGA Tour Canada alumni now on the PGA Tour.”

After kicking off the season with PGA Tour Canada’s first event in Vancouver, the Tour will head to Victoria, B.C. for the 33rd playing of the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist (June 1-7) at Uplands Golf Club. Following two off weeks, the Tour will resume with four consecutive events at the Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON (June 22-28) at Fort McMurray Golf Club in Fort McMurray, Alta., the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel (June 29-July 5) at Dakota Dunes Golf Links in Saskatoon, Sask., followed by The Players Cup (July 6-12) at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Winnipeg, Man. and the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel (July 13-19) at Whitewater Golf Club in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The top three players on the Order of Merit through the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel will once again be exempt into the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.

The season will resume with the ATB Financial Classic (July 27-Aug. 2) at The Links of GlenEagles in Calgary, Alta. Following a two-week break, the 2015 season concludes with five events in as many weeks, beginning with the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops (Aug. 17-23) at Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa, Ont. and The Great Waterway Classic (Aug. 24-30) at Loyalist Golf and Country Club in Bath, Ont., followed by The Wildfire Invitational presented by PC Financial (Aug. 31-Sept. 6) outside Peterborough, Ont., where the top 128 players on the Order of Merit will compete in a unique pro-am format. The Tour will then head east for the Cape Breton Celtic Classic presented by PC Financial (Sept. 7-13) at The Lakes Golf Club outside Sydney, N.S.

The following week, the 2014 season will conclude with the top 60 players on the Order of Merit competing at the Tour Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial, concluding the race for The Five as well as the Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year. Below is a full list of the events for the 2015 schedule.

“In addition to our current Tournaments, we will add new events to the schedule in the future,” said Monday. “Our goal in 2015 is to elevate the stature of our 12 Tournaments, with a focus on bringing new Tournaments to our schedule in 2016.”

Tristan Mullally

Two weeks ago, Women’s Head Coach Tristan Mullally was in Palm Springs, Fla., leading Team Canada’s first training camp of the season with a new squad. While the group is together, Mullally, along with the supporting sport science staff, must ensure they maximize every minute they have with the athletes.

“We’re always trying to enhance our coaching—through different seminars, dialogue with coaches and other pieces that help us create new ideas for how we can continue to move forward,” said Mullally. “With this camp, we are focusing on fine-tuning details and tendencies to ensure we maximize their time in the off-season.”

After the camp, Team Canada athletes usually head back to their U.S. college campus to implement what was worked on at camp in anticipation of the upcoming NCAA spring season. Meanwhile, Mullally dives deeper into planning the competitive year ahead.

In total, he is responsible for coaching seven athletes—four on the Amateur Squad and three on the Young Pro squad. With varying schedules, Mullally designates “contact days” in which he conducts individual visits with athletes throughout the season.

To enhance the team’s communication outside of those days, he uses an online private coaching network, Edufii—accessible by only him, the athletes and the supporting staff. Included in the network are analytics, assigned tasks, voiceover videos and more. Each athlete has their own private network in addition to one team network for all.

Edufii is one of the many tools Mullally will look to maximize in hopes of repeating Team Canada’s remarkable 2014 season.

The PGA of Canada class ‘A’ member has been showing off his tech skills in the social scene as well—taking this nice photo blend to the masses on twitter:

Training to believe you can before you ever have! @TheGolfCanada @JenniferHa0201 #godragons pic.twitter.com/6jz8lAVrbU

— Tristan Mullally (@tmullallygolf) January 7, 2015

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – World Cup ski champion Lindsey Vonn is backing boyfriend Tiger Woods’ account of how he lost a front tooth.

One day after winning her record 63rd World Cup race, Vonn posted to her Facebook account Tuesday that she was happy Woods surprised her by coming to the race, and that she felt “terrible that his tooth got knocked out.”

“When he was in the finish area a cameraman accidentally knocked into him and took out his front tooth,” Vonn wrote. “He was still in great spirits though and didn’t complain once or ask for any special assistance or security. We were both just happy to share the moment together.”

Vonn told USA Today in a phone interview: “I didn’t see it happen, but I guess some photographer hit him in the face with a camera and it totally knocked his tooth out.”

Woods missing a tooth created a sensation Monday after the race.

Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at Excel Sports Management, said in an email that during a crush of photographers at the awards podium, “a media member with a shoulder-mounted video camera pushed and surged toward the stage, turned and hit Tiger Woods in the mouth. Woods’ tooth was knocked out by the incident.”

Woods first showed up in the athletes’ area when Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, escorted him in shortly after Vonn took the lead. The golfer then surprised Vonn and gave the skier an emotional hug.

After about 10 to 15 minutes of standing near Vonn with her family, Woods was escorted into a white tent usually reserved for measuring skis. He stayed there for nearly an hour, while the last lower-ranked skiers came down and during the podium celebration.

After the podium celebration, Woods was escorted by police to a waiting snowmobile and taken away.

Race organizers told The Associated Press they were not aware of the incident and that Woods requested extra security and a snowmobile to exit the finish area.

“I was among those who escorted him from the tent to the snowmobile and there was no such incident,” Nicola Colli, the secretary general of the race organizing committee, told The Associated Press. “When he arrived he asked for more security and we rounded up police to look after both him and Lindsey.”

Woods had been wearing a scarf with a skeleton pattern over the lower part of his face, sunglasses and a stocking cap.

This photo was taken when the scarf was lowered.

Steinberg, through a spokesman, said there would be nothing to add Tuesday.

Woods makes his 2015 debut next week in Phoenix.

DOHA, Qatar – Oliver Fisher carded eight birdies on the opening day to take a solo one-shot lead at the Qatar Masters on Wednesday.

The Englishman’s only blemish in a 7-under-par 65 was when he bogeyed the 13th hole, but he edged Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain by one stroke on an eventful first day at Doha Golf Club.

“I played nice, it was a little bit breezy, and I felt like I controlled my golf ball,” said Fisher, who won the Czech Open in 2011 but then went two years without finishing among the top-10 before finding his form last year.

Ernie Els and Paul Lawrie were among 11 players tied for third at 5 under. Els was especially pleased with his putting.

“I’m actually not a grumpy guy, I’m quite a happy guy, but when you’re not making putts, you can’t help yourself,” Els said.

Fisher started in the afternoon from the 10th hole and posted a hat trick of birdies from the 16th hole before carding three more on Nos. 4, 6 and 8.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia, making his first European Tour start of the season, finished at 3 under.

Cabrera-Bello set the early pace by playing an immaculate opening round with six birdies. His best came on the par-3 8th where his tee shot finished few feet away from the pin.

“I had a good stretch from 16 (hole) to 2, which for me are the birdie holes where you can go low,” the two-time European Tour winner said. “I managed to do that with four birdies there, and just kept playing solid till I got home.”

World No. 5 Justin Rose carded 4 under, along with Ryder Cup teammate Stephen Gallacher, Matt Fitzpatrick, Damien McGrane and Scott Jamieson.

“They kind of made us feel like there’s a score to be had out there,” Rose said. “It’s nice to be somewhere in contention, and it’s a score on which to build for the rest of the week.”

This August, The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. will play host to the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Despite the annual event being seven months away, preparations are well underway to handle the logistics behind running an event of this magnitude. Jay Janower of Global BC caught up with Brent McLaughlin, tournament director, CP Women’s Open and Golf Canada’s managing director, rules, competitions and amateur status to see what it takes to stage the championship.