SUN CITY, South Africa — Luke Donald birdied seven of his first 10 holes Friday to shoot 63 and take a two-shot lead after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

The former top-ranked Englishman was one shot off the course record at the Gary Player Country Club, giving himself a chance of a memorable end to a pretty average year.

Donald’s round was four strokes better than anyone else to move to 10-under 134. He leads Ross Fisher (70), with Alexander Levy (70) a further two shots back at 6 under.

Brendon Todd of the United States was another big mover with a 4-under 68 to tie for sixth in the European Tour season-opener.

Friends, join me. Rise as one and raise your glass to the dedicated stewards entrusted with the living, breathing land canvases we draw (and fade) on every day. To greens superintendents right across Canada I’d like to propose this toast.

Here’s to these consummate professionals’ expertise, their resourcefulness, vision and, most importantly, here’s to the inherent ability they have for striking balance.

How, we need to ask ourselves more
often, do our “supers” do what they do? In
 a profession dictated by the randomness
 of Mother Nature’s moods they find the common ground necessary for scratch players, intermediate players, men, women, juniors, seniors, beginners, long-knockers and short hitters all to be collectively challenged. At the same time they manage to keep the game fun and interesting while respecting and preserving the traditions and integrity of the sport. You would be hard pressed to find a more delicate juggling act.

Here’s to the devotion greens superintendents have; how they rise before the crack of dawn, work long hours to
give us the best conditions possible, yet never complain about overtime. Here’s to their knowledge of turf management, soil conditions and, critical to the game’s most important financial asset, the foresight they possess in identifying disease or potential issues before they start. Those instances mostly go unnoticed.

Here’s to their understanding of sun angles, a golf course’s requirements for proper air flow, just the right amounts of irrigation and the positive attributes of a well-intentioned tree program. Let’s not forget their respect for environmental sustainability. Using
due diligence, not abuse, as their agenda, superintendents’ control of chemicals correlates with wildlife preservation and natural habitats. Each day they seek to reduce the game’s footprint on the land while ensuring healthy turf conditions.

Neither to be forgotten is how these
men and women serve the game beyond their primary responsibilities. While providing a conduit between the golf course and management, ownership, greens committee, and members/consumers,
many superintendents also serve as brand ambassadors. For their clubs, profession, and even the game itself they create awareness through media relations, promotion and education. They might well be golf ’s most diverse multi-taskers.

I ask now that you raise your glass even higher. Here’s to supporting our superintendents, to expressing our appreciation for everything they do for the game. Especially in need of support right now are those affected by the recent catastrophic events inflicted by Mother Nature’s ill will. None have been more dramatic or destructive than last year’s floods in Alberta and the winter carnage seen at courses across various regions of Ontario, Alberta and Quebec this season. Some facilities have seen merciless devastation. A few went months without opening this year; others still remain closed.

As these events unfold the uninformed or those who simply take certain unrealistic standards for granted will look for a venting portal, a scapegoat, someone to blame. Wrongly, and all too often, superintendents bear the brunt of this frustration. As if they don’t have enough pressure already, their shoulders are weighed more heavily by unfair and unmerited criticism regarding situations beyond their control.

At this timely juncture, with course
budgets tight, resources under siege and the industry experiencing a variety of issues, including weather, here’s to standing in our superintendents’ corner. By providing them and their equally dedicated staffs in their employ with words of encouragement, not misguided condemnation, we show our respect for this fraternity of skilled experts and the indispensable role they play in the sport.

Dr. Alister MacKenzie so eloquently wrote in his marvelous book, The Spirit of St. Andrews, “A good greenskeeper keeps a careful watch on his turf, and has sleepless nights until he has overcome everything that may be the matter with it.”

Next time you’re out on the course, take a moment, look around and ask yourself one simple question: without greens superintendents where would golf be?

Can I get a hear, hear?

This commentary originally appeared in Golf Canada magazine.

WINDERMERE, Fla. — Tiger Woods returned to competition Thursday and it was like he never left – except that he looked healthy.

Woods flubbed four chips around the green, only had four birdie chances inside 20 feet and stumbled to a 5-over 77 in the opening round of the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth, his home course for the first 16 years of his pro career.

He was in place among the 18-man field, already 11 shots behind Jordan Spieth, who is coming off a runaway win last week in the Australian Open.

“One of those days where nothing went my way,” Woods said.

The score was not nearly as significant as his health in what has been a lost year for Woods because of back problems. He had surgery a week before the Masters that kept him out for three months. He had not played since Aug. 9 at the PGA Championship because of lingering back issues, and the need to build up his muscle structure.

Woods missed the cut at Congressional in June in his first tournament after back surgery. This time, he is coming back from injury and he is working with a new coach. In that respect, the score was not a surprise.

It was the 10th time in 12 rounds that he failed to break par since his first return in June.

Even so, some of the shots were shocking, especially around the green.

He flubbed one chip behind the eighth green on his way to double bogey and a 41 on the front nine. After his lone birdie at No. 12 – a wedge that spun back to tap-in range – Woods blasted a driver and hit a long iron that came up just short of reaching the top ridge. Instead, it rolled off the green and into a steep collection area.

His first pitch was too soft and rolled back down toward his feet. Woods came in too steep on the next pitch and the ball moved only a few feet forward, leading to his second double bogey. And on the par-5 17th, he was in another swale pin-high in two and flubbed his fourth chip, angrily swinging the club and turning his back while the ball slowly rolled back to his feet. He had to make a 10-footer for par.

“It is surprising that I could hit chips that poorly,” he said.

The 77 was his second-highest score of the year. He had a 79 on the South Course at Torrey Pines in January. What kept the day from being a total loss is that Woods reported feeling “zero pain.”

“I haven’t said that in a long time,” Woods said. “It’s very exciting to step up there and hit the drives I hit – especially on the back nine – and feel nothing.”

The opening drive set the tone for the day – and his return.

Woods was about to hit his first shot in nearly four months when he heard a loud click of a camera and backed off. Then, he tugged his 3-wood through the fairway, beyond an iron fence into someone’s backyard and presumably into a swimming pool. He had to hit another from the tee and did well to escape with a bogey.

Any questions about his back were answered on the seventh hole when he hit a long iron from an awkward stance just beyond the lip of a steep bunker. He wound up in a bunker right of the green, and took two shots to reach the green.

Rust would seem to be an issue, but it certainly wasn’t the case for Steve Stricker. He hasn’t played since the PGA Championship, either, yet Stricker made five birdies in a bogey-free round of 67 and was one shot behind Spieth, along with Dubai World Tour Championship winner Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson and Rickie Fowler.

Woods played with Jason Day, who last competed at the Tour Championship three months ago. Day shot a 71. FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel and Patrick Reed, both at 73, were the only other players over par on a warm, breezy afternoon.

Woods felt as though he hit the ball, though certainly not as close as we would like.

Even when he did hit the green in regulation – only four times in his opening 10 holes – he was never close enough for a reasonable birdie chance. He finally got that on the par-3 11th hole, only to miss a 10-foot putt.

When he hit his stride on the back nine, his putting was off. Woods missed a 3 1/2-foot birdie putt on the 14th, and he never came close on an 8-foot attempt on No. 16.

“Today was weird,” Woods said. “I didn’t feel like I hit it that bad. My short game was awful. Didn’t make anything. … Bad chips, bad putts and a couple of missed shots on the front nine on the wrong side compounded the problem.”

Daytona, Fla. — Samantha Richdale played stellar golf at the LPGA final qualifier Thursday, carding the second best round of the day with an impressive 6-under par 66.

The Kelowna, B.C. native made eight birdies on the difficult LPGA International track and leapfrogged 18 spots into a tie for 3rd at -7.

Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. and Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham finished their second rounds tied for 39^th at even par.

Kim posted a 73 to fall back one shot, while Lee-Bentham, who was in 8^th place when the day began, carded a 2-over 74 after an opening round 70.

Sara-Maude Juneau of Fossambault-Sur-Le-Lac, Que. also shot a 74 and currently sits tied for 48^th position, three strokes ahead of Bath, Ont.’s Augusta James, who captured the Canadian Women’s Amateur title earlier this year. Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que. and Brogan McKinnon of Mississauga, Ont. are all tied for the 103^rd spot at +5

Smith Falls, Ont. native Brittany Henderson improved 20 spots thru 36-holes with a score of 74. She is currently a single stroke ahead of Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont. (+8) and three ahead of Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane (+10).

SUN CITY, South Africa — Ross Fisher opened the 2015 European Tour season with a 6-under 66 to lead the Nedbank Golf Challenge after Thursday’s first round.

Fisher last won on the tour in South Africa in March and the Englishman felt right at home at a sweltering Sun City with four birdies on the front nine and three on the back. His only slip came with a bogey on No. 16.

He’s two shots clear of a three-way tie for second between South African George Coetzee, Germany’s Marcel Siem and Frenchman Alexander Levy.

Siem had the shot of the day when he holed out with an 8-iron from the fairway for an eagle on the par-4 on No. 17, his ball taking a lucky kick off the right edge of the green to head back across the surface and into the cup to win him a new car.

Defending champion Thomas Bjorn was last after the opening round of the new Oder of Merit schedule following an error-strewn 80. U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, a former winner at Sun City in 2012, started with a 74 for a tie for 22nd. The German had four birdies, but also four bogeys and a double bogey.

Along with Kaymer, there are two other former No. 1s playing the 30-man invitational tournament in the wilderness of northern South Africa this week. Two-time champion Lee Westwood was subdued on one of his favorite courses for an even-par 72. Luke Donald went around in 71.

Brooks Koepka of the United States made a flying start on his Sun City debut with birdies on two of his first three holes. The European Tour’s 2014 rookie of the year found it a little tougher later in his round at Gary Player Country Club, and had a costly double bogey on No. 15 to end with a 70.

Fellow American Brendon Todd was 1 over and Kevin Na 5 over.

That wasn’t as bad as Bjorn, who had two double bogeys and five bogeys in a disastrous start to his title defense after finishing with two back-nine eagles here 12 months ago for the biggest payday of his career.

Major winners Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa both came into the tournament in mediocre form, but returned solid 70s to give the home country four players in the top 10 alongside Coetzee and Tim Clark.

Oakville, Ont. — The TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial, PGA TOUR Canada’s flagship event, will be played at London’s Highland Country Club in 2015, it was announced Wednesday.

A classic 6,600-yard par-70 Stanley Thompson design located in the heart of London, Highland Country Club has been one of the city’s finest member-owned private clubs since 1922. Conducted by Golf Canada, the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial will once again see the culmination of the race to finish in The Five and earn status on the Web.com Tour.

“We’re thrilled to be heading to Highland for the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial next season. The course is fantastic and should be a formidable test for our players as we showcase the finale of our season,” said PGA TOUR Canada President Jeff Monday. “Fans can expect to see an extremely high level of play as these players battle it out to finish in The Five and earn status on the Web.com Tour.”

“As a London-based company, we’re excited about the chance to move the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial to a new location and showcase our event to an even greater audience,” said Mike Cunneen, Senior Vice-President, Freedom 55 Financial/Wealth & Estate Planning Group. “We look forward to seeing players achieve their dreams and make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR next year.”

A three-year agreement will see the event contested at Highland Country Club through the 2017 season.

“On behalf of the membership at Highland, we’re thrilled to be the new host of the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial,” said Highland Country Club President Justin Wismer. “We’re confident the players will love the course, and we look forward to doing everything we can to make PGA TOUR Canada’s flagship event a tremendous experience for players, sponsors and fans.”

“London is a tremendous golf market and bringing the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial close to downtown London at Highland will be a great opportunity to showcase the event to new fans in the community,” said Tournament Director Bill Paul.

Last season’s event saw Vancouver, British Columbia’s Ryan Williams secure his first PGA TOUR Canada victory in dramatic fashion, propelling him to the sixth spot on the Order of Merit and Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year honours.

The event remains in London after two successful seasons at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club, which allowed the event to be contested on a hybrid of its Stanley Thompson and Robbie Robinson-designed courses.

“Golf Canada, PGA TOUR Canada and Freedom 55 Financial would like to thank the Thompson family and the entire Sunningdale team for their passion and commitment in helping launch the event over the past two years,” said Paul.

The TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial is proud to support National Golf in Schools as the event’s charity partner. Through the event’s 2014 community legacy campaign, 18 schools within the London area recieved the Golf in Schools program in honour of the season-ending event of the PGA TOUR Canada season.

Dates for the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial along with the entire 2015 PGA TOUR Canada schedule will be announced at a later date.

Daytona, Fla. — After the opening round of the LPGA qualifying final, Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham is the top Canadian on the leaderboard.

The 2011 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion posted a 2-under 70 at LPGA International on Wednesday and will enter Rd. 2 in an eight-way tie for 8th spot.

Sara-Maude Juneau of Fossambault-Sur-Le-Lac, Que., Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C. and Soo-Bin Kim, a resident of Coquitlam, B.C. all carded 1-under 71s in their opening rounds and are well within contention, tied for 24th place.

Seven other Canadians are also in the fold this week, trying to gain membership to the 2015 LPGA circuit.

Brogan McKinnon of Mississauga, Ont. began her week with a 3-over 75, while 2014 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion Augusta James of Bath, Ont. joined Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que. at +4, after all three recorded rounds of 76.

Brittany Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. posted a 77 to begin her week, one stroke better than Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane and Brantford, Ont. native Nicole Vandermade, who began the final week of Q School with 78s.

Oakville, Ont. and Ponte Vedra, Fla. — PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournaments will take place at three separate sites next spring, with three fields of 132 players maximum competing for status during PGA TOUR Canada’s third season.

The three 72-hole, no-cut Qualifying Tournaments will take place at Orange County National’s Panther Lake Course in Winter Garden, Florida from April 14-17, La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, California from April 21-24 and Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community in Courtenay, British Columbia from May 5-8, with fields of 132 players maximum.

Players will have an opportunity to qualify at one of the three sites. The top player at each site will be exempt for the 2015 season, while finishers 2-18 will earn conditional status that will see them exempted through the first and only re-shuffle of the 2015 season, which will come after the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel. Players finishing 19th through 40th plus ties will earn conditional status. 

“PGA TOUR Canada qualifying is aimed at rewarding pro-competitive play and giving opportunities to players who continue to perform well, and we believe that is reflected in the structure of these three Qualifying Tournaments,” said PGA TOUR Canada President Jeff Monday. “Our goal is to provide opportunities for the best players available to earn access to the Web.com Tour, and we look forward to seeing the next generation of players to make the first step on the path to the PGA TOUR.” 

Orange County National’s 7,350-yard Panther Lake course, a David Harman, Phil Ritson and Isao Aoki design, is located just outside Orlando and has hosted the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in the past. La Purisima Golf Course, a 7,105-yard Robert Muir Graves design, hosted U.S. Open Local Qualifying in 2014.

The spring’s final Qualifying Tournament will return to Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community in Courtenay, British Columbia, where qualifying was conducted in 2014. Crown Isle, a 7,025-yard Graham Cooke design, is located just minutes from Comox Valley Airport.

The application to enter PGA TOUR Canada qualifying will be posted live to PGATOUR.COM/Canada on January 16, 2015. Entry fees will once again be $2,750 USD. 
The full 2015 PGA TOUR Canada schedule will be announced in early 2015.

The fight to topple Rory McIlroy starts again on Thursday.

It’s not yet 2015, but the new European Tour season opens this week in South Africa at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, with three former top-ranked players among those looking to get a jump on 2014 money list winner and No. 1 McIlroy.

Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood return to the Gary Player Country Club in the wilderness of northern South Africa as previous winners. Luke Donald is still searching for a win at Sun City, which first offered rankings points on the European Order of Merit last season.

Along with those ex-No. 1s, Thomas Bjorn defends his title following the biggest payday of his career 12 months ago, when the Dane made two back-nine eagles on the last day to claim the hefty $1.25 million winner’s check.

Like a few others in the 30-man field, Germany’s Kaymer faces the balancing act of winding down a tiring 2014 schedule with the chance to kickstart his 2015 season. Kaymer won a second major at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June and was also part of Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning team in September.

“It has been a long season, probably the longest I’ve ever played,” he said. “There won’t be much practice this week as it’s just about conserving energy.”

But Kaymer will rely on “positive memories,” he said, after winning the Nedbank in 2012.

“When I play on Thursday, I’m not going to be tired on the golf course. Once the tournament starts, there’s no problem with motivation.”

Westwood was dominant on the Gary Player-designed layout to win back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

The Englishman has been posting a string of photos from Sun City on his Twitter account over the past few days, saying the four flights he took to get to the resort he likes so much were well worth it.

“It’s always great coming back to a golf course where you’ve had success in the past,” he said.

Kaymer, Westwood and Bjorn are joined by fellow European Ryder Cup winners Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher, and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was one of Paul McGinley’s vice captains at Gleneagles.

Three Americans hope to be the first U.S. winner since Jim Furyk in 2006: Brooks Koepka, Kevin Na and Brendon Todd, with Todd a late addition after Victor Dubuisson withdrew with injury over the weekend.

Koepka won his maiden European Tour title last month in Turkey and was rookie of the year, finishing eighth on the money list in his first full season on tour. There’s also a feeling the 7,831-yard (7,161-meter) Sun City design might suit the long-hitter, who called it a “neat course” after his first look.

“It plays to a lot of my strengths, which will be interesting as the week goes along,” Koepka said.

South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen are the only other major winners in the field along with Kaymer. But fans’ hopes of a first home win at South Africa’s favorite tournament in seven years are low judging by their form.

“I’m working on a lot of things,” Schwartzel said. “If you ask me how my game is I won’t lie to you, it’s pretty average.”

WINDERMERE, Fla. – Tiger Woods is making his latest comeback in golf with an eye to the past.

Equipped with a new teacher and a stronger body, Woods said Tuesday he is working on a swing that incorporates previous moves that date as far back as his amateur days. He referred to it as “new, but old,” and the 14-time major champion will start testing it this week against an 18-man field of elite players at the Hero World Challenge.

How old were some of those videotapes he watched of his previous swing?

“Actually, it’s pretty interesting trying to find a VHS recorder,” Woods said. “I have a lot of tape like that. Fortunately, my mom is of age where she has that still in the house. So that was very beneficial to look at some of the old tapes.”

Otherwise, it’s another new beginning.

This is the fifth time Woods has returned from injury – the back, this time – over the last five years. The breaks have ranged from four weeks to four months. He last competed on Aug. 9 when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, ending the shortest season of his career (eight tournaments) and the first time he did not have a top 10.

Woods said he had enough time off to let his body heal and to think about where he wants his game to go.

First, he split with swing coach Sean Foley, ending a three-year relationship that produced eight PGA Tour wins but no majors.

“I think that physically, I just wasn’t able to do some of the things that we wanted to do in the golf swing,” Woods said.

Woods said there was no reason to look back at old swings at the time because he felt he was headed in the right direction – three victories in 2012, and five wins in 2013 in which he was voted PGA Tour player of the year for the 11th time. Those two years were relatively free of injuries.

“But unfortunately, physically I was getting damaged doing it,” he said. “So in retrospect, you look at it. Was I ever hurt when I was little? Granted, I don’t think we all were. I think we all could jump off roofs and nothing would break. But playing detective and looking back on it, you have to somewhat have an understanding physically of where you are at the time.”

He announced just over a week ago that he had hired Dallas-based Chris Como as a swing consultant, after longtime friend Notah Begay put them together.

Woods said he had a plan, and that Como was on the same page.

“I was very surprised and very excited to see what he felt my swing should look like, and should look like going forward,” Woods said. “Because that was very similar to the vision I had.”

Woods did not delve into specifics of his swing, which he rarely did when going through an overhaul with Butch Harmon, then Hank Haney and Foley.

“It is new, but it’s old,” he said. “I say that because I haven’t done it in a very long time. We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior, in junior and amateur golf. … And it was quite interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame. How did I do that? How do I generate that much power? That’s kind of what we are getting back into it.”

Even so, Woods concedes that age – he turns 39 at the end of the month – has kept him from overpowering golf the way he once did.

Along with four operations on his left knee, and problems with his Achilles tendon in 2011, Woods lately has been coping with back problems. He had surgery a week before the Masters and missed two majors. Upon his return in the summer, he had his worst 72-hole showing in the British Open and missed the cut in the PGA Championship.

“I’ve gotten stronger. I’ve gotten more explosive. I’ve gotten faster,” he said. “I now just need to hit more balls. But the body is good. I don’t have the sharp pain like I used to at the beginning of the year. I don’t have that anymore. I still have some aches and pains, just like anybody else who is my age and older.”

It took Woods about 18 months to work out the big change under Harmon, and about a year to adapt to changes under Haney. He won his first tournament just over a year after working with Foley. He doesn’t know how long this change will take, although he said the motor patterns are vaguely familiar.

“Am I game ready? Probably not quite as I would like to be,” Woods said. “How long does it take me to get back into the flow of a round? Sometimes it takes me a shot, sometimes it takes me three or four holes after a long layoff. I don’t know. We’ll see on Thursday.”

Here’s a first glance at Tiger working with his new swing coach, Chris Como.

And, here’s a comparison of Tiger’s swing today from 2013.