KARUIZAWA, Japan – Canada sits alone atop the leaderboard after Wednesday’s record-setting opening round of 9-under par at Karuizawa 72 Golf East. They hold a two stroke advantage over defending champion Korea in the quest for the Espirito Santo trophy.

Canada’s combined score of 135 is the lowest first-round score in Women’s World Amateur Team Championship history. The record was previously held by USA, who recorded a 136 at the 2010 playing in Argentina.

The Canadian trio was led by teen sensation Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. The 16-year-old Team Canada member fired a bogey-free 6-under 66 to record the day’s lowest score. Henderson is very pleased with her start, but is looking forward to the next three rounds.

“Yeah, it was a great day today, I hit the ball really well and had a lot of opportunities to make birdies and I capitalized on a lot of them,” said Henderson, the world’s no. 2 ranked female amateur. “It’s good to get a run on the first day and I’m really excited to play the next couple days and hopefully continue at the top of the leaderboard.”

Augusta James, the reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, posted a 3-under 69 – recorded as the team’s second lowest score for the day. The Bath, Ont. native was happy with her ability to stay calm and bounce back after bogeying the 10^th and 12^th holes.

“I had a bit of a hiccup in the middle with a couple bogeys, but I was happy to come back and finish strong,” said the N.C. State senior. “I felt like I could get to three or more under, so I was happy that I did that.”

Brittany Marchand, also a member of Team Canada’s National Squad, posted a 1-under 71 which was discounted as the team’s highest score for the day. Having an under-par score discounted is always a promising sign for any team moving forward.

“It’s always good to have a throwaway score be under par – it’s awesome that my teammates helped me out today,” said the Orangeville, Ont. native. “I made a lot of up-and-downs to save par and I missed quite a few opportunities for birdies, but I’m hoping those are going to drop the rest of the week.”

Although very pleased with the team’s performance in the opening round, captain Liz Hoffman is determined to keep the team focused on the remaining three rounds.

“I’d say we played the easier of the two courses and we saw some wonderful scores out there so we know we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Hoffman. “We have three more rounds to play – we’ll take it one shot at a time, one day at a time.”

The Canadian contingent tees-off Thursday morning starting at 9:15 a.m. (JST) on the Iriyama Course.

Click here for scoring.

Brooke Henderson & Augusta James (USGA)

NEW YORK – U.S. captain Tom Watson went with experience and a gut feeling Tuesday night when he filled out his Ryder Cup team with Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan and Webb Simpson.

Not so valuable was recent success. He left out Chris Kirk, who finished higher in the final Ryder Cup standings than Simpson, and who won the Deutsche Bank Championship a day earlier by going head-to-head with Rory McIlroy the final 36 holes.

“That was a snapshot,” Watson said of his decision not to take Kirk.

The other two choices were not surprising. Even though Bradley has not won a tournament in two years and missed out by three spots qualifying on his own, he has raw power suited for this event and won all three matches in a partnership with Phil Mickelson two years ago at Medinah.

Mahan is the only pick who has been on a winning team, though he is associated more with the wrenching emotion that losing brings. Mahan was in the decisive match four years ago at Wales when Graeme McDowell made all the right shots in another European victory.

Mahan was left off the 2012 team, even though he narrowly missed qualifying.

Whomever he chose, Watson’s message was clear. The Ryder Cup, to be played Sept. 26-28 at Gleneagles, is all about redemption.

The Americans were poised to win at Medinah two years ago when they took a 10-6 lead into the final day, only for Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer to deliver key putts and big comebacks that allowed Europe to retain the cup.

Europe has won seven of the last nine times, and it will be heavily favored in Scotland.

Earlier Tuesday, at the European Tour headquarters in Wentworth, captain Paul McGinley selected Poulter, Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher, who will be 39 when he makes his Ryder Cup debut in his home country.

Bradley said last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship there wasn’t a moment that he was not thinking about the Ryder Cup. He feared being left off the team when he finished his round on Monday, and shared an emotional hug with his girlfriend when Watson gave him the good news.

“I made no secret how badly I want to go back and win the Ryder Cup,” he said. “This is a redemption year for a lot of guys who were on the team last year.”

Bradley and Simpson are among seven players who were on that U.S. team that was on the losing end of the “Miracle at Medinah.” The others are Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.

The U.S. captain will be 65 when he leads his team, the oldest captain in history. Watson last was at the helm in 1993 at The Belfry, which also is the last time the Americans won the Ryder Cup in Europe.

He said Bradley and Mickelson likely will play together, as will Simpson and two-time Masters champion Watson. The captain said he was leaning toward a couple of players Monday night, but went with his instincts in taking Simpson. He said he looked at the 2012 results and saw a pair of 5-and-4 victories by Simpson and Watson during team matches. In the Sunday singles, Poulter won the last two holes for a 2-up victory over Simpson.

As for Kirk, he might as well keep those tickets for the Tennessee-Georgia game on Sept. 27. Even after winning a FedEx Cup playoff event for the biggest title of his career, Kirk said he was not entitled to a pick because he didn’t earn his spot on the team. Watson loved the attitude. He just went with Simpson, instead.

Simpson is No. 32 in the world, the lowest-ranked player on the U.S. team.

He tied for ninth at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and knew it might be tough when Kirk won the tournament.

“It was a big win for him. I knew it was going to be a difficult decision,” Simpson said. “But I knew a good, solid week would make it tough for the captain not to pick me.”

Mahan was a popular pick after his victory at The Barclays against one of the strongest fields of the year.

Furyk, Mahan and Mickelson are the only Americans on the team who know what it’s like to celebrate a victory. They all played on Paul Azinger’s team at Valhalla in 2008, while Furyk and Mickelson were part of the Great American Comeback at Brookline in 1999.

Mahan knows better than most what it’s like to lose. The 2010 matches came down to the final game, and McDowell went 2-up with a birdie on the 16th hole. Mahan stubbed a chip short of the 17th green that all but secured a European victory, and it seemed to him as though all of Wales stormed across the green when it was over.

“Losing lingers,” he said. “It’s been four years, but it feels like yesterday. I remember walking off the green and everyone was having a big party, and I felt like I was walking by myself for 600 yards to the clubhouse.”

BOND HEAD, Ont. – Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club outlasted 27 other teams, along with heavy rain, to claim the George S. Lyon Championship title September 2 at The Club at Bond Head.

Four-man teams from golf clubs across Ontario came together for the 79th playing of the event. Players took to Bond Head’s South Course in a combined gross-score format, with Cedar Brae earning the title by three strokes at 16-over (304).

The team from Cedar Brae, in Scarborough, was comprised of Toronto’s Robert Gibson, Scarborough’s Richard Persaud, Markham’s Wesley Kwok and Toronto’s Marc St-Germain.

At the end of the round it was Gibson who led the way finishing in a tie for second among all players at even-par (72). Persaud and Kwok were both second on the team at four-over (76) and St-Germain finished eight-over (80). It is the third title for Cedar Brae since the inaugural event in 1931. Cedar Brae’s last title came in 2006.

“Winning this is a big deal for us,” said Gibson. “There are so many good players at our club so I think just to be here and represent the club in a competition like this is an achievement. There are a lot of folks that are going to be proud of us when we get back. We’ve had our name on here (the George S. Lyon Shield) before, but it has been a while, so it is good to have it back on here.”

Gibson went on to discuss how the team dealt with the day’s rainy conditions.

“We just tried to keep the big numbers and damage down,” he added. “It was easy to give up, make big numbers and shoot high scores but we stayed patient and didn’t try to get any big numbers back, that was the main thing.”

Runner-up honours went to the team representing the Sarnia Golf and Country Club – Ethan O’Meara, Eric Pattenaude, Stephen Brown and Aaron Pedlar, who were three shots back finishing at a combined 19-over (307).

The bronze medals were awarded to the team from The Club at North Halton. They finished the day at a combined 22-over (310). North Halton was comprised of Darren Morris, Brendan Heinz, Adam Salisbury and Rick Cody.

Pickering’s Christopher Kertsos, from York Downs Golf & Country Club, walked away with the top-individual award. He finished at two-under (70) and was the only player to finish the day under par.

For the final individual and team leaderboard, click here.

The George S. Lyon Team Championship was first played in 1931 and ran consecutively until 2000. Originally an inter-club championship, the event was reinstated in 2006 and is named after 1904 Olympic Golf gold medalist George S. Lyon, who still stands as the reigning Olympic champion of the sport.

KARUIZAWA, Japan – The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship begins Wednesday, bringing the top amateur golfers from 52 countries around the world to 72 Golf East in Japan.

The Canadian squad is set to tee-off first thing in the morning at the Oshitate Course. Augusta James, a Bath, Ont. native and reining Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, tees off at 6:45 a.m (JST). Brooke Henderson, a native of Smiths Falls, Ont. and world no.2 ranked amateur, will follow at 6:55 a.m. Brittany Marchand, an Orangeville, Ont. native and first-time selection, will close out the group at 7:05 a.m.

The Canadian contingent will be grouped with Hong Kong and Sweden in their quest to capture the Espirito Santo Trophy from defending champion Korea. The scoring format is four rounds of stroke play, with the best two scores from each day being counted towards the team total.

The men’s competition gets underway on Sept. 10 following the women’s competition.

The Team Canada women got a pleasant surprise when they arrived in Japan earlier this week – decorated rooms and letters from children.

Click here for live scoring.

It was an accomplishment that probably should be heralded as one of the greatest in the history of Canadian golf. Instead it is barely remembered.

It was 30 years ago, September 2 to be exact, that Jerry Anderson a Montreal native and Cambridge, Ont. resident became the first, and some would argue the only Canadian to win an event on the European Tour.

And he did it in spectacular style. Against a field that included Americans Payne Stewart and Hubert Green and every top player in Europe except Seve Ballesteros, Anderson won the 1984 Ebel European Masters Swiss Open the second biggest event on the European Tour behind only The Open Championship.

He fired rounds of 63-66-66-66 on the Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre at Crans-Montana in Valais Switzerland, where the event is still held, to beat Howard Clark by five strokes.

His 27-under-par was a European Tour record that stood for 19 years until Ernie Els finally beat it.

“Personally, that was one of my most remarkable achievements, not only winning the event but against the best Europe had to offer with the exception of Seve,” says Anderson who turns 59 later this month.

“I played with Hubie Green and Sandy Lyle on Saturday and with Jose Maria Canizares on Sunday in the last group.”

Anderson had a remarkable career that included multiple wins on the Canadian Tour (the forerunner to PGA Tour Canada). He captured the Quebec and Saskatchewan Opens twice, the Ontario Open, the Manitoba Open, the Canadian Professional Golfers Association Championship (now PGA of Canada Championship), the Windsor Charity Classic and the Canadian Tour Championship. He won on the Hogan Tour (now The Web.Com Tour) and came close to winning in Asia and Africa.

“The players I looked up to were guys like Graham Marsh and Gary Player, the international players that were able to take their game throughout Europe and Australia and Asia,” said Anderson. “That concept of golfer appealed to me more than the one-tour type.

“And I’m a little surprised that the emphasis for young golfers is still so pointed toward the U.S. I had a chance to see the planet and play golf everywhere and enjoy the experience of what the planet has to offer. There’s opportunities out there.”

For much of the 1980s Anderson played in Europe.

Obviously his win in the European Masters was the highlight of his career but for a four-week period in August and early September 1984 Anderson may well have been the hottest golfer on the planet.

“Four weeks before the win I had finished ninth in the Irish Open at Royal Dublin despite a double bogey on the last hole,” said Anderson. “I think the double bogey left me eight strokes behind Bernard Langer.

“The following week in York, England (Benson & Hedges International Open) I birdied the last hole to finish sixth. At that point I was something like 27-under for those two events.”

Those two tournaments set the stage for the (Lufthansa) German Open in Frankfurt.

“I played with Bernard Langer in the third last group and shot 63 on the Sunday,” says Anderson. “I was with Renton Laidlaw and some of the other European Tour reporters and they were getting ready to crack open a bottle of champagne for my first win when Wayne Grady finished birdie-birdie-eagle-par to beat me by one.

“I ended up shooting 17-under at that event and finished second.”

After closing with a 63 in Germany, Anderson opened with a 63 the following week in Switzerland and he thinks that might still be a European Tour record.

This time he would get to uncork the bubbly. Tied with Clark after the first round he led by three after two and four after three.

“I putted the lights out during that streak,” Anderson recalls. “I holed out a couple of times from the fairway and my driving was so good that I was just never in any trouble.”

Until that magic month Anderson said the season had not been going well.

“Whatever I earned in Ireland double the money I had won to that point,” he said. “I basically kept doubling my money every week over a four-week time frame.”

For winning in Switzerland he took home $25,000 pounds which at the time converted to about $48,000 Canadian dollars.

Anderson had success on virtually every tour but the PGA Tour. He played two seasons on golf’s biggest stage, 1990 and 1992 but couldn’t recreate the success he’d had on other circuits.

“It wasn’t for lack of trying,” he says.

The end of Anderson’s competitive career came in the fall of 1994.

Seeing the world and playing golf in remote locations that he had loved so much early in his career suddenly became a grind. His wife Barbara, who had travelled with him during his European Tour days, was home in Cambridge with their young children Chrysse and Luke.

“I had been in South America for 25 days,” he recalls. “I shot 77 in the first round of the Ecuador Open. I went to the tournament organizers and withdrew and caught the next flight home.”

He’s played hardly any competitive golf since, other than the odd one-day pro-am.

Anderson’s time these days is taken up at Credit Valley Golf and Country Club where’s been the teaching professional for the last three years.

He was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. He’s not, however, in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame nor was he included in the PGA of Canada’s inaugural Hall of Fame class this past January. Although in fairness to the PGA of Canada their inaugural class was made up entirely of PGA of Canada members who were already in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Anderson says he’s always believed he didn’t get as much recognition here in Canada for his win in Switzerland because the European Tour itself didn’t get much publicity on this side of the pond back then.

“Don’t forget that was before Europe started dominating the Ryder Cup,” he says.

“But I still get a kick out of watching a European Tour event on the Golf Channel and hearing the commentators mention my name and the record and wondering what I’m doing these days.”

VIRGINIA WATER, England – European captain Paul McGinley chose Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher as his wild-card selections Tuesday for the Ryder Cup – leaving former No. 1 Luke Donald off the team.

Donald has been on the winning side in each of his four Ryder Cup appearances but has struggled for form this year after making changes to his swing.

“He wasn’t expecting it – he was very disappointed,” McGinley said after announcing his picks at European Tour headquarters at Wentworth.

Gallacher will be one of three rookies in the 12-man European team that will face the United States at Gleneagles, Scotland, from Sept. 26-28, along with Victor Dubuisson and Jamie Donaldson.

The other players who qualified automatically for McGinley’s team were Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn and Graeme McDowell.

Europe will be defending the trophy after its 14 1/2-13 1/2 win over the U.S. at Medinah in 2012. U.S. captain Tom Watson will announce his picks later Tuesday.

Gallacher, a Scot, narrowly missed out on automatic selection after finishing third at the Italian Open on Sunday. A top-two finish would have seen him oust McDowell as the final qualifier.

But it was Gallacher’s eighth top-10 finish in 2014, leaving him as the form player of the four in contention. He lives only 35 miles (56 kms) from Gleneagles and has played well on the course in recent years, losing out in a three-man playoff at the Johnnie Walker Championship in 2013.

“His first words were: `That’s brilliant, wee man,'” McGinley said when asked what Gallacher’s reaction was to his selection. “Of course it’s a concern to me that he’s a rookie, and it’s very difficult to pick a rookie for a Ryder Cup. But I’ve said all along from day one, I’m not afraid to pick a rookie if he proves himself.

“And there’s no doubt Stevie Gallacher has proved himself and earned his spot on this team.”

Gallacher’s uncle, Bernard, captained Europe in the Ryder Cup in 1991, ’93 and ’95.

Poulter, Westwood and Donald have been stalwarts for Europe over the past decade, helping the team win five of the last six cups, but haven’t been in top form this year.

Poulter was unlikely to be left out as he usually saves his best performances for the Ryder Cup. He has 12 wins from 15 matches, and is on a seven-match winning streak – the last four coming at the “Miracle in Medinah” when Europe came from 10-6 down on the final day to retain the cup.

“Ian Poulter is a bundle of energy whenever you speak to him. You could feel the energy coming down the phone,” McGinley said.

Westwood will be playing in his ninth straight Ryder Cup, with his accuracy from tee to green likely counting in his favor. He has played well below his best for much of 2014 but won the Malaysian Open in April and responded to calls from McGinley to show some form by shooting a final-round 63 at the Bridgestone Invitational last month before finishing tied for 15th at the PGA Championship.

Donald has one of the best short games in the world and is a brilliant putter, making him a key player in Europe’s wins in 2004, `06, `10 and `12.

His second place showing at the RBC Heritage in April was his last top-30 finish on the PGA Tour, and he isn’t close to regaining the form that took him to No. 1 and made him the money-winner on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011.

“That was a very difficult conversation – my relationship with him is very close,” said McGinley, who was Donald’s partner for the Englishman’s first Ryder Cup match.

“He was very, very disappointed and rightly so. He is a former world No. 1, his record in the Ryder Cup stands with anybody in the game. He said, `You know, Paul, I publicly backed you to be the captain. Even though you haven’t picked me, I still believe you’ll be a great captain.’ His last two words were `Go Europe.’ That says a lot about him.”

NORTON, Mass. – Chris Kirk made three big putts and captured the biggest win of his career Monday in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Whether that was enough for U.S. captain Tom Watson to add him to the Ryder Cup team was the least of his concerns.

Kirk won for the second time this season. He went the last 37 holes at the TPC Boston without a bogey. He played the final two rounds with Rory McIlroy and outplayed the No. 1 player in the world. And he closed with a 5-under 66 for a two-shot victory in a FedEx Cup playoff event.

Was it enough to convince Watson that he was worthy of a captain’s pick?

“I certainly don’t feel entitled, or feel like I’m a shoe-in to get a pick,” Kirk said. “I’ve obviously really put myself into consideration, and it’s something that I would love to do. But like I’ve said before, the nine guys that made it are automatic. Those are the guys on the team. The other three? If you get in, it’s a bonus.”

Then he looked at the blue trophy next to him and considered what he had just achieved.

“Winning the Deutsche Bank and going to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup, and $1.4 million, that’s plenty for me for one day,” he said with a smile.

Watson announces his selections Tuesday evening in New York.

Ten shots behind after the opening round, Kirk was so disgusted that he skipped his usual practice session. He was flawless the rest of the week, particularly on Monday in another wild Labor Day finish at the TPC Boston.

Kirk made three big putts on the back nine – two of them for birdie – but what pleased him the most was his 15-foot putt for par on the 15th hole that kept him in the lead.

Billy Horschel had a chance to at least force a playoff – and possibly win – when he stood in the fairway on the par-5 18th hole with a 6-iron in his hand. Horschel chunked the shot so badly that it barely reached the hazard, and he made bogey for a 69.

“The worst swing I’ve made all week,” Horschel said.

Horschel tied for second with 54-hole leader Russell Henley (70) and Geoff Ogilvy, who extended his unlikely run through these FedEx Cup playoffs. Ogilvy was the last of the 100 qualifiers for the Deutsche Bank Championship. He went 65-65 on the weekend without a bogey.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup advance to the BMW Championship in Denver later this week. Ogilvy went from No. 100 to No. 24, and now stands a reasonable chance of getting to the Tour Championship for the top 30.

Kirk won for the third time in his career, though never against a field this strong, and never with this much riding on it.

He was No. 14 in the Ryder Cup standings, five spots away from being an automatic qualifier. This victory could go a long way toward Watson using one of his three selections on the 29-year-old from Georgia. Last week, Hunter Mahan bolstered his Ryder Cup case by winning The Barclays.

Kirk was trying not to think about that, saying he already had plans to be at the Georgia-Tennessee game the weekend (Sept. 26-28) of the Ryder Cup. But he would gladly break those plans for a trip to Scotland for golf’s version of the Super Bowl.

“I would absolutely love to do it, but I’m not going to really base how happy I am with how I’m playing, or how my year has gone, on whether I make the team or not,” Kirk said.

McIlroy, who started the final round only two shots behind on a course where he won two years ago, fell back with successive bogeys on the front nine, bounced back with a pair of birdies, and then fell out of the mix by missing two short par putts early on the back nine.

He closed with a 70 and tied for fifth with John Senden (66).

Kirk took the outright lead for the first time with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole. And right when it looked as if he was struggling with his swing, he saved par from a bunker with a 15-foot putt on the 15th. On the next hole, he made a birdie putt from just over 12 feet that gave him a two-shot lead.

Kirk, who finished at 15-under 269, failed to make birdie on a par 5 in the final round. He made a weak attempt on his 8-foot birdie try on the 18th.

That left it to Horschel, in prime position for at least a birdie.

“When Chris missed his birdie, I thought I was going to hit it on the green. I thought I was going to make the putt and make the eagle and win it outright,” Horschel said. “But it just wasn’t my day, I guess, to hit that bad of a shot.”

A small consolation for Horschel was going from No. 82 in the FedEx Cup to No. 20, all but assuring a spot in the Tour Championship.

Six players moved into the top 70, though none was more surprising than Ogilvy. He became the first player in four years to go from No. 100 to the third playoff event.

On the Canadian front, David Hearn finished tied for 43rd at 3-under 281. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t good enough to get the Brantford, Ont. native into the FedEx Cup top 70 and advance to the next week’s BMW Championship.

End of one chapter, beginning of a new one #2015

— David Hearn (@HearnDavid) September 1, 2014

 

Weyburn, Sask.’s Graham Delaet finished behind Hearn at the Deutsche Bank – tied for 50th at 1-under 283 – but will finish the week 43rd on the FedEx Cup standings which will see him safety move on to next week.

When three of Europe’s biggest names failed to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team, the equation appeared simple for captain Paul McGinley as he prepared to select his three wild cards.

Stephen Gallacher didn’t read the script.

A slew of top-10 finishes this year may have helped the 39-year-old Scotsman lock down a wild-card selection for a Ryder Cup debut in his home country, leaving Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter competing for two spots when McGinley announces his picks at the European Tour headquarters at Wentworth on Tuesday.

The other player in contention to play the United States at Gleneagles is Francesco Molinari of Italy.

The three chosen will join a team already packed with talent, including four of the top five in the world – Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.

Westwood, Donald and Poulter have made up the backbone of Europe’s dominance of the event since 2002 but have struggled for form this year.

Not Gallacher.

He came up just short in his attempt to snatch the final automatic qualifying place from Graeme McDowell, finishing third in the Italian Open on Sunday when a top-two spot would have seen him make the team.

McGinley was in Turin to see Gallacher’s last-gasp push – the Scotsman finished 65-69-65 – and was impressed.

“His performance this week will very strongly be in his favor when it comes to making the picks,” McGinley said Sunday.

“This has been the toughest ever Ryder Cup team to make from a European point of view, in terms of points you need to amass to make the team, so he has been up against it,” McKinley added. “And for a rank and file guy from the European Tour, who doesn’t play in America and misses out on a lot of the ranking points as a result, to perform as well as he does is all credit to him.”

Gallacher is the form player of the five seemingly in contention, with eight top-10 finishes in 2014 including a win at the Dubai Desert Classic. He also showed his liking for Gleneagles by making a three-man playoff in a European Tour event at the course last year. The case for his inclusion is hard to resist.

Poulter will be difficult to leave out considering he usually saves his best performances for the Ryder Cup. He has 12 wins from 15 matches, and is on a seven-match winning streak – the last four coming at the “Miracle in Medinah” in 2012 when Europe came from 10-6 down on the final day to retain the cup.

Poulter sparked the recovery with a run of five straight birdies in the final fourballs match on Saturday to earn Europe a morale-boosting point. He needed a wild card from Jose Maria Olazabal two years ago and should get another one for Gleneagles.

Like Poulter, Donald – a former No. 1 and money-winner on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011 – is struggling for form on the PGA Tour as he comes to terms with changes to his swing. His second place at the RBC Heritage in April was his last finish in the top 30 on the tour.

But can McGinley overlook Donald’s brilliant short game and putting, as well as a record of 10 wins from 15 Ryder Cup matches? Donald has played in four cups – 2004, `06, `10 and ’12 – and Europe has won them all.

Westwood has played in the last eight Ryder Cups but also is far from his best at the moment.

He responded to calls from McGinley to show some form by shooting a final-round 63 at the Bridgestone Invitational last month before finishing tied for 15th at the PGA Championship the following week, but his Ryder Cup record isn’t as strong as Poulter’s or Donald’s and his short game isn’t as good.

“My selections won’t be a surprise,” McGinley said at the Italian Open. “It won’t be coming out of left field. I will be going by logic.”

McGinley will sit down with vice captains Des Smyth and Sam Torrance for one last time Monday to go over the players in contention.

Europe has won five of the last six Ryder Cups, and seven of the last nine stretching back to 1995.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Bud Cauley won the Hotel Fitness Championship on Sunday to regain his PGA Tour card, earning $180,000 in the Web.com Tour Finals opener.

Cauley closed with a bogey-free 7-under 65 at Sycamore Hills for a one-stroke victory over Colt Knost. The 24-year-old former Alabama player won his first professional title.

“I’ve dreamt of winning golf tournaments on tour,” Cauley said. “It’s probably 80-20 between celebration and relief. It was a lot of fun today. Winning is what we aspire to do.”

Sidelined six weeks this summer after dislocating his left shoulder, Cauley birdied five of the first six holes and added birdies on the par-5 12th and 15th. He finished at 20-under 268.

“I knew I had to get off to a quick start and get a few of those (birdies) to get up with those guys and get near the lead,” Cauley said. “I knew a quick start was huge. … The whole day I was watching. I knew with the par 5s on the back that I needed to keep making birdies.”

Cauley was 143rd in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, forcing him to play the Web.com Tour Finals for the second straight year. Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup and Nos. 26-75 on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list are playing for 25 PGA Tour cards based on earnings in the four-event series, with Cauley earning more than enough Sunday to secure a spot.

He injured his shoulder in July in the John Deere Classic, and missed the cut in the regular-season ending Wyndham Championship in his lone start before the Finals opener.

“After sitting around home for a while, it’s nice to come out and play and play well and get my first win as a pro,” Cauley said. “Today was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to playing next week.”

Knost, the third-round leader, shot 68, missing a 10-foot birdie try on the final hole. He earned $108,000 to wrap up a tour card after finishing 34th on the Web.com Tour money list.

“I got off to a shaky start,” Knost said. “The conditions were perfect and it was definitely get-able. It’s not like I went out and shot even-par or anything. I’m really proud of the way I played 18. I sucked it up and a really good iron shot in there. I gave myself a chance and I thought I hit a good putt.”

The top 25 players on the Web.com money list earned PGA Tour cards last week. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship.

England’s Greg Owen, 27th on the Web.com money list, finished third at 16 under after a 70. He earned $68,000, likely enough to get a card.

Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, bogeyed the final hole for a 72 to tie for fourth at 14 under with Tom Gillis and Sweden’s David Lingmerth. They each earned $31,333.

Lingmerth, 134th in the FedEx Cup, finished with a 64. Gillis, 54th on the Web.com money list, shot 66.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. was the lone Canadian to make the cut. He finished tied for 9th at 12-under 276.

Carlos Ortiz, the Mexican player who topped the Web.com money list, missed the cut. He won the regular-season finale in Oregon for his third Web.com victory of the season, making him fully exempt on the PGA Tour. He has earned $515,403 – $175,365 more than second-place Andrew Putnam.

Putnam tied for 12th at 11 under after a 67.

The Chiquita Classic is next week in Davidson, North Carolina, followed by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio, and the Web.com Tour Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Austin Ernst won the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic on Sunday with a par on the first hole of a playoff against South Korea’s I.K. Kim.

It was the first professional victory for the 22-year-old Ernst, who shot a 5-under 67 in the final round to get to 14 under at Columbia Edgewater. Kim, the first- and second-round leader, carded a 68.

Ernst pulled into contention with a 5-under 31 on the front nine, highlighted by a chip-in eagle at the par-5 fifth. Kim made four birdies and no bogeys.

South Korean’s So Yeon Ryu and Chella Choi tied for third at 12 under. Ryu, last week’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open winner, shot 70, while Choi had a 68.

Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. and Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. finished as top Canadians with a share of 52nd at 1-under 287.