NEWPORT, Wales – Joost Luiten birdied three of his closing four holes in a 6-under 65 at the Wales Open on Saturday to take a two-shot lead.

The three-time European Tour winner came from a stroke back at the start of the third round to overhaul Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) and move to a total of 14-under 199 in ideal scoring conditions on the Twenty-Ten course at Celtic Manor.

The 28-year-old Luiten arrived in Wales having finished fifth in his defense of last week’s KLM Open title and is now primed to become the first Dutch-born winner of the Wales Open.

“I played solid, consistent, hit a lot of greens, and got my round going with some nice putts at the beginning,” Luiten said. “I didn’t really make a lot of putts in the middle part, but came back strong at the end with three birdies on the last four so I have to be happy.”

He could have finished three clear of his rivals when his long eagle putt from the back of the green at the 18th hit the edge of the hole before Luiten managed the sixth birdie of his round from four feet.

Luiten finished 15th overall on the European Ryder Cup points table but was overlooked for a wild card pick by the 16th-placed and eight-time Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood.

“Since the qualifying process ended I have been fourth and then fifth last week, so if you have these last couple events counting for the qualification of the Ryder Cup, maybe I may have had a chance,” Luiten said.

“Bu then we know the date when qualification ends and you have to play well before that and I didn’t do that.”

Lowry got the start he wanted to his third round with birdies at Nos. 2, 3 and 6 but the Dubliner stalled to then par his closing 12 holes.

“I’m still there and that’s the main thing,” he said. “If you had given me this Thursday morning before I stood on the first tee, I would have taken your hand off. “

Former Welsh Open winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand shot a 67 to share third on 11 under with Frenchman Gregory Havret who signed for a 66.

Havret, who last won in 2008, is looking to follow compatriot Gregory Bourdy who captured last year’s Wales Open.

European Ryder rookie Jamie Donaldson continues to impress, shooting a 68 to move to 8-under overall while Westwood jumped 23 spots with a round of 68 to be in a share of 32nd on 3 under.

However, Dane Thomas Bjorn slipped two dozen spots with a round of 71 and is tied in 46th position at 2 under.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Fred Funk shot a 10-under 62 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Paul Goydos in the Champions Tour’s Hawaii Championship.

Funk had 11 birdies and a bogey at Kapolei Golf Club.

“You’ve got to make a lot of birdies out here,” Funk said. “My putter came around. … Never seen greens this good. They’re pretty fast. They’re pristine.”

Goydos shot a 63 to match Funk at 15-under 129. They broke the tournament 36-hole record of 13-under set by Bill Glasson in 2012.

Playing his fifth Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, Goydos holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 first hole and closed with a short birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

“Making the putt on No. 1 was key for me,” Goydos said. “A good thing happened!”

Funk made seven birdies – most on short putts – in an eight-hole stretch from No. 4 to 12. He also bogeyed No. 8. He added birdies on the par-5 14th and 17th and closed with an 8-footer on 18.

“Today, was an exceptional day hitting close,” Funk said. “I’ve been playing well tee to green this year, but the putter has let me down. I switched putters this week.”

The 58-year-old Funk has nine Champions Tour titles, the last in June with partner Jeff Sluman in the Legends of Golf team event.

Corey Pavin and Vijay Singh were 13 under. Pavin birdied the last five holes for a 61, and Singh shot 65.

Pavin holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th. He also made birdie putts of 25 feet on No. 8, 15 feet on No. 10 and 25 feet on No. 16.

“I made some putts, finally,” Pavin said. “I’ve been working on working on it. It’s nice to see some putts going in. I hit a really solid firm putt on 18. … I like Hawaii a lot. When I come here it kind of puts me at peace. I feel relaxed here.”

Tom Pernice Jr., the first-round leader after a 60, was in the group at 12 under after a 72.

Davis Love III followed his opening 69 with a 72 to drop into a tie for 57th at 3 under in his Champions Tour debut. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Tom Pernice Jr. birdied his final four holes for a 12-under 60 and a four-stroke lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s Hawaii Championship.

Pernice finished a stroke off the tour record of 59 set by Kevin Sutherland last month in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York.

Davis Love III opened with a 69 in his Champions Tour debut. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

Pernice played his final nine holes – the front nine at Kapolei Golf Club – in 7-under 29, also birdieing Nos. 1, 2 and 4. He had five birdies on his opening nine.

The 55-year-old Pernice, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour winner, won the Principal Charity Classic in June in Iowa for his third Champions Tour title.

Michael Allen was second after a 64.

Joey Sindelar and Scott Dunlap shot 65, and Jay Haas, Vijay Singh, Paul Goydos, Jim Carter and Mike Goodes followed at 66.

Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ont. is the leading Canadian after 18 holes. He’s 4 under after a 68.

Bernhard Langer, the tour leader with five victories, skipped the tournament to play in a European Senior Tour event in Germany.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – South Africa’s Paula Reto birdied her final hole Friday for a 6-under 66 and a three-stroke lead in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Reto had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on her opening nine – the back nine on Capitol Hill’s Senator layout. The 24-year-old former Purdue player finished with eight birdies and two bogeys to reach 13-under 131.

“I was just really patient with myself,” said Reto, playing her first season on the LPGA Tour after a year on the Symetra Tour. “I hit a couple good irons, especially early in the round. I hit a couple close, 5 feet, so that was nice, got the momentum going pretty early. It was nice to birdie the last hole yesterday as well as today, that was really nice. Just trying to stay patient and not think too much, just simple things.”

She started playing golf when she was 16.

“I moved from South Africa with my family in `05,” Reto said. “We moved to Florida and I used to play field hockey and ran track. So I tried to start a team over here in Florida and the track and the field hockey wasn’t as good, so my dad used to play golf and he said, `So, why don’t you just try golf.’

“So got in my freshman year of high school and tried golf. I loved it and ended up just dropping track and field hockey and just kept playing and loved the game.”

South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur, tied for the first-round lead with top-ranked Stacy Lewis at 64, was second after a 70. Hur had four birdies and two bogeys.

“I had a cold last night, so it was really hard to focus today,” Hur said. “I finally wake up on the back nine and had a good nine holes.”

Lewis, the 2012 winner in the event that was dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor, was third at 9 under after a 71. She had five birdies and four bogeys.

“Just got in trouble a couple times off the tee and made some bogeys that I shouldn’t have,” Lewis said. “Really just got in some bad places where I couldn’t make par.

“The hole locations are a lot tougher today. Especially, you look at yesterday, some holes we had front pins and today they’re back pins. That’s an extra 30 yards on these greens.”

Sydnee Michaels, Alison Walshe and Moriya Jutanugarn were 7 under. Michaels shot 65, Walshe 68, and Jutanugarn 69.

Former University of Alabama star Stephanie Meadow was 2 under after a 74.

Lexi Thompson, the 2011 winner at age 16, missed the cut with rounds of 70 and 78.

Sue Kim is the top Canadian after two rounds. The Langley, B.C. native is tied for 45th at at 1-under 143. The only other Canuck to advance to weekend play was Hamilton, Ont.’s Alena Sharp, who is 2 over and tied for 70th.

NEWPORT, Wales – Shane Lowry shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the Wales Open on Friday, while Stephen Gallacher missed the cut in his last tournament before his first Ryder Cup.

Lowry didn’t drop a shot as he moved to 9-under 133, one shot ahead of Joost Luiten (69) and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who eagled the 18th hole for the second day in a row in shooting a 68.

Gallacher failed to recover from his opening round of 78 at Celtic Manor, with his 70 leaving him five shots below the cut line.

“I’ve missed the cut but there’s no alarm bells ringing and I am looking forward now to next week,” Gallacher said. “I just felt that I was trying maybe a wee bit too hard yesterday and teeing-up thinking too much about next week, whereas today I was a lot more focused. … I feel good both mentally and physically so there should be no concern come next Friday.”

Fellow Ryder Cup player Lee Westwood nearly missed the cut but birdied two of his closing four holes for a 69 to sit nine shots behind Lowry. Westwood will be making his ninth straight Ryder Cup appearance for Europe, but this is his first tournament since missing the cut at The Barclays last month.

“With the Ryder Cup next week I needed to play all four rounds here, so after not being too competitive yesterday when it was pretty scrappy, I played bit more solid today,” Westwood said. “After taking three weeks off I am not quite match fit and you do lose your sharpness, so that’s the pleasing thing about getting those two birdies.”

Jamie Donaldson, another Ryder Cup rookie, remains well-placed to become the first Welshman to win the Wales Open after a bogey-free 67 put him four shots back. Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who is playing in his first Ryder Cup since 2002, added a 69 to move to 2 under.

Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe’s winning captain in 2012, missed the cut after scores of 82 and 76 before also heading north to Scotland as a vice-captain at Gleneagles.

BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Garrett Rank rolled in a short birdie putt on the first playoff hole to capture the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Barrie Country Club.

Rank, 27, finished the championship tied with Rob Couture of Dallas, Texas at 4-under 284 after Couture forced the pair into a playoff by birdieing the par-5 18th hole in regulation.

The pair headed back to No. 18 tee for the first playoff hole, where Rank found the right rough off the tee. He went on to hit a magnificent 3-iron, leaving just 20 feet for eagle, putting the pressure squarely on Couture.

“It wasn’t a great lie, it was advanceable and I knew I could get some club on it,” Rank said. “I just took one extra club and it came out perfect. When it was in the air I knew it was going to be pretty good.”

After Couture’s approach from the fairway came up short, he left his third shot 20 feet below the hole and couldn’t convert his birdie putt after watching Rank’s eagle putt slide by. The stage was then set for Rank who was left with only a tap-in birdie for the victory and a spot in the field at the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

“The reason I came here was to win and I was trying to get into the RBC Canadian Open,” Rank said. “Anytime you can win a national championship is a huge honour and I’m glad I pulled it out.”

The Elmira, Ont. native carded rounds of 73-70-69-72 to finish the championship at 4-under 284. His win adds to the list of successes the Team Canada National Amateur Squad program has amassed this season.

“The boys [Team Canada] have been playing really well, we’ve got a lot of trophies to the Golf Canada and Team Canada name in the last couple of years and it’s nice to just add another one my behalf,” he continued.

In the Mid-Master division, second round leader Darren Shaw narrowly missed a spot in the playoff for the overall title after a final round 2-under 70 that left him in solo third. The Stoney Creek, Ont. native ran away with the Mid-Master division finishing seven strokes ahead of Dwight Reinhart of Renfrew, Ont. at 2-under 286.

Complete scoring and results can found online by clicking here.

Sunriver, Ore. – John Gallacher of Burnaby, B.C. and Gudmund Lindbjerg of Port Moody, B.C. posted a 5-under par 66 to come from behind and win the 32^nd Pacific Northwest Men’s Senior Team Championship held at Sunriver Resort. The 54-hole championship was held on the resort’s Woodlands and Meadows courses and was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

The duo of Gallacher and Lindbjerg began the day one shot behind second-round leaders Charles Griswold and Don Orrell, both of Bend, Ore., and posted their bogey-free round in the Four-Ball format on the resort’s Meadows Course for a three-shot victory. Griswold and Orrell finished tied for second.

Gallacher and Lindbjerg had seized an early lead after round one, which was held on the resort’s par-72 Woodlands Course, with a 7-under par 65 in the Four-Ball format. They struggled the second day in the Chapman format, finishing with a 1-over par 72 on the resort’s par-71 Meadows Course. But all scores were higher under the Chapman format, so they didn’t lose much ground.

“John and I have played many years in best-ball events,” Lindbjerg said. “So we know how to do that. It’s difficult to play Chapman. It gets a little confusing.”

Gallacher and Lindbjerg have played as a team in this championship for more than a decade. “We always play to win,” Lindbjerg continued. “And were finally able to finish it this year.”

“You still have to create opportunities for birdies,” added Gallacher. “We’re both pretty consistent off the tee, so that helps (in the Chapman format). But it’s a struggle when you’re playing your partner’s ball and trying not to make things too difficult for him. It’s not alternate shot, but it sure feels like it.”

Last year’s champion, Karl Smith of Gig Harbor, Wash. who won the championship with partner Jim McNelis, finished tied for seventh this year with partner Dave Schrenk of Fox Island, Wash. Ron Younglund of Sutherlin, Ore. and Kenneth Linden of Roseburg, Ore.posted rounds of 61-65-61 to win the championship’s net division title.

For complete final results, please click here.

The Pacific Northwest Men’s Senior Team Championship is one of 16 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.

Steve Stricker never felt more alone in front of so many people.

All he could do was watch on the 18th green at Medinah two years ago when Martin Kaymer made the best 6-foot putt of his life that won the Ryder Cup for Europe. He went to shake Kaymer’s hand and couldn’t find him because the German was swept up in the flag-waving, champagne-spraying mass of winners. Stricker walked quietly over to his wife, captain Davis Love III and the rest of the Americans.

“That whole day was so difficult that none of the guys … when I looked over at them, you could see it in their faces,” Stricker said. “No one was happy. There was a crappy feeling among us all. That’s why you were hearing how guys wanted to be part of this team and get back something that we had one hand on.”

That something is a 17-inch gold trophy, one of the most coveted in golf. And it has belonged to Europe for all but two years dating to 2002.

The Americans have made “redemption” their singular focus going into the 40th Ryder Cup matches at Gleneagles Resort in Scotland, even though only five players are back from the last team. Stricker will be there as an assistant captain.

Missing from the U.S. team is Tiger Woods, who completed only 25 rounds this year because of an ailing back. Then again, the Americans won the Ryder Cup without him in 2008 at Valhalla. But that was a home game.

Europe is a heavy favourite. It already has the No. 1 player in the world (Rory McIlroy), three of the four major champions this year and four of the top six players in the world ranking. The odds are stacked even more in its favour because of where it is played.

The Americans haven’t won on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry. The captain that year was Tom Watson, and the PGA of America went outside the box by asking Watson to return at age 65. He is the oldest Ryder Cup captain in the 87-year history of the matches.

Watson has never been part of a losing Ryder Cup team as a player or captain, though a tie when he played in 1989 felt like a loss because Europe retained the cup. He says he had a pit in his stomach watching the Americans lose at Medinah, and he has been trying to convey his own memory to this team.

“Watch the stands. Watch the fans leave early,” Watson said.

He recalls running back to join Raymond Floyd in the joyous moments after Love’s clinching putt in 1993. He was walking up the fairway with Floyd when the late Payne Stewart slapped him so hard on the back that Watson nearly lost his breath.

“He said, ‘Captain, look up there.’ And I looked up there at the green, at the stands, which had been completely chock-a-block full when Davis Love made his 5-foot putt. And they were over half-empty,” Watson said. “And that’s what I told my players.”

Watson could not have imagined when he left The Belfry that the Americans would go 21 years without winning on the road.

They had their chances in Wales four years ago until the Americans failed to win any of the six matches in the final team session and Graeme McDowell thwarted a rally by winning the final match. The Americans were poised to win in 2002 at The Belfry until Phillip Price upset Phil Mickelson in singles, and Paul McGinley made an 8-foot par putt to win the Ryder Cup.

Watson is idolized in Scotland, where he won four of his five British Open titles. It would be hard for any captain in Europe to measure up to Watson’s stature in the game. That task falls to McGinley, a tough-as-nails Irishman who has never lost in the Ryder Cup as a player (three times) or an assistant captain (twice).

“It’s not about reinventing the wheel,” McGinley said. “I don’t see my job as a maverick. I see the job of captain as taking what’s working, making it better – which is a tough job – and rolling it out again.”

Watson’s job is to make sure the Americans come home with that trophy.

The Americans have five players who haven’t a tournament all year, including Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. They do not have FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel, who won his two biggest events after Watson made his captain’s picks, and Dustin Johnson, who took a voluntary leave from golf for “personal challenges.”

Five Americans from the top 25 in the world ranking are not on the team.

“It’s the mix I was dealt,” Watson said. “We’re going in a little under the radar because of the notoriety of the European team – Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Kaymer. But we’ve got the guts. We’ve got the team to do it. People don’t expect us to win. I fully expect us to win.”

Europe’s victory at Medinah matched the largest comeback in Ryder Cup history. The Americans also trailed 10-6 going into Sunday singles when they won in 1999 at Brookline. Europe won back the cup the next time, and Watson can only hope he gets the same result.

Keegan Bradley, who played the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles with Watson in July, never unpacked his suitcase when he returned home from Medinah. The clothes are dirty. The memories are foul. He was as excited getting a captain’s pick as he was going 3-0 with Mickelson in a strong partnership two years ago.

“I made no secret of how important this team is to me, and how bad I want to go back and win the Ryder Cup,” Bradley said. “I think that this is a redemption year for a lot of guys that were on the team last year. And it’s just going to be an unbelievable trip over to Scotland.”

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Lewis, the 2012 winner in the event that was dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor, had a bogey-free round on The Senator course. She has a tour-high three victories this season.

“I grew up playing on Bermuda grass, which I think that helps a lot, you know, just reading greens and understanding the different types of lies, but it feels like home,” said Lewis, the former University of Arkansas star from Texas. “The heat, the humidity, I’m used to it.”

Lewis tied for 16th last week in France in the Evian Championship in the final major of the year.

“I played really solid last week and that golf course was just a little goofy and the scores just didn’t really show how I played,” Lewis said. “So I felt like things were coming along and getting closer and it showed out there. I hit my wedges a lot better, which is always a good sign for me. When my wedges get back on track that usually gets the entire swing back going in the right direction.”

Hur also had a bogey-free round. The South Korean player won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2009.

“It was awesome with bogey-free,” Hur said. “That was my goal for today and I make it. My shot was really working good and also my putter was very good, so everything was perfect.”

South Africa’s Paula Reto had a 65, and Cydney Clanton was another stroke back along with Sweden’s Karin Sjodin and Japan’s Ayako Uehara.

Hur tied for third in the 2012 event.

“I feel pretty much good with this course,” Hur said.

She’s coming off a tie for ninth in Portland, Oregon, and a tied for third in France.

“I feel so much comfortable after I did the top 10 in Portland,” Hur said. “I think my confidence, it made me feel better and better. Also my putting doing really great.”

Former University of Alabama star Stephanie Meadow shot 68. She played alongside fellow former Crimson Tide players Jenny Suh and Kathleen Ekey.

“It was fun,” said Meadow, from Northern Ireland. “I mean, it’s not every day you hear Roll Tide for all of us, so it was really something special and I think it’s really cool we got to do it.”

Suh and Ekey shot 71.

Lexi Thompson, the 2011 winner at age 16, opened with a 70.

BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Rob Couture edged into the lead at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a third round 3-under 69 at Barrie Country Club.

Couture, of Dallas, opened a three-stroke lead at the turn after a front-nine 4-under 32, but carded two bogeys on his closing stretch to finish a stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank at 5-under 211.

“I feel like obviously I can get it done and it’s one thing to hope you can get it done and think you can get it done but I know I can,” said Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion. “I don’t think there’s any concern with Garrett either, he’s won plenty of tournaments and he knows that he can do it too so I’m just going to go and try to play a really good round of golf, add it up at the end and see what happens.”

Playing alongside Couture, Rank of Elmira, Ont. cut into the lead with a back nine 2-under 34.  His third round 3-under 69 leaves him in striking distance of a spot into next year’s RBC Canadian Open and a second national championship title — Rank captured the Canadian University/College Championship Individual title in 2012.

“I finished well, I made three birdies in the last six holes so that was good because I think at one point he [Couture] had stretched out to five or six ahead of me,” Rank said. “I like being one back better than two back but I can’t really worry about what he’s doing. I just have to go out there tomorrow, control what I can control, stick to my game plan and continue to play some pretty good golf.”

Windsor, Ont.’s Michael Rutgers will join the final pairing on Friday after carding even-par 72. Rutgers sits in solo third at 1-under 215 for the championship, while Darren Shaw of Stoney Creek, Ont. is in fourth at even-par 216.

Shaw, the overnight leader, struggled in the third round with a 3-over 75, but remains ahead in the Mid-Master competition by three strokes over Calgary’s Kevin Temple.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.