BATH, Ont. – In an impressive show of skill and composure, Kitchener, Ontario’s Chris Hemmerich is making the most of his professional debut at The Great Waterway Classic.

The 21-year, playing on a sponsor’s exemption as a recent graduate of Golf Canada’s National Amateur team, took the solo lead during Saturday’s third round at Loyalist Golf and Country Club before play was suspended due to darkness, reaching 17-under with a birdie on the 15^th hole, his last of the day, to lead by two over England’s Kelvin Day.

“I knew that if I came in playing well, I might not be sleeping on a lead, but I could definitely put myself in contention on Sunday,” said Hemmerich, stating a goal that has clearly been accomplished with one day to go. “I just hope that I can finish off those three holes strong tomorrow and be in there battling for it on the last nine holes of the tournament.”

The 21-year old former University of Guelph Gryphon began the day by concluding his second round, which had been delayed on Friday, and reaching 10-under and a tie for third through 36 holes. Through 15 holes in Round 3, Hemmerich is 7-under and without a bogey, putting him squarely in contention for Sunday’s finale.

“I just continued what I’ve been doing each of the first two days. I’ve started to putt a little bit better each day, and I’m just trying to hit fairways and greens,” Hemmerich, the 2014 Ontario Amateur Champion.

The third round will resume at 8:30 AM on Sunday, with fourth round times expected to run from 10:40 AM to 12:30 PM. Groups will once again tee off in threesomes off the 1^st and 10^th tees.

Despite being up against some stiff competition, Hemmerich said he doesn’t expect to feel too many extra nerves on Sunday, and that he’ll rely on his existing competitive experience.

“I won the Ontario Am this year, and that wasn’t sleeping on the lead, but I was close,” Hemmerich said. “I’m pretty easy-going, so I tend not to put too much pressure on myself. It’s towards the end of the season anyway, so it will be hard to get into the top five. I’m just out here enjoying myself and trying to get a little bit of experience going into next year.”

Day, who began the third round tied for the lead with California’s Micah Burke, had carded two birdies, an eagle and a bogey on the day before play was suspended to sit in solo second spot at 15-under. Argentina’s Tommy Cocha, who fired a 6-under 66 in round three, and Burlington, Ontario’s Michael Gligic were one shot further back at 14-under when play was suspended.

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Scott Dunlap leads the Boeing Classic after his second-round 9-under 63 Saturday.

Dunlap, in his first full season on the Champions Tour, birdied five of his final seven holes for a two-day 12-under 132 at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge course.

He leads by one stroke over Doug Garwood, who shot a 6-under 66 for a two-round 11-under 133.

Tommy Armour III and Mark Brooks are tied for third at 9-under 135.

Fred Funk, Woody Austin and Joe Durant are tied at 8-under 136, four behind the leader.

Six of the top seven players are seeking their first Champions Tour victory.

Dunlap has never led entering the final round in the PGA Tour, the Web.com Tour or the Champions Tour.

Asked if he can hang on to win Sunday, Dunlap said, “I know I can. It’s will I? For the past couple months, I’ve been playing better every week.”

In his 16th start on this Tour, Dunlap got his round going with an eagle 2 on the par-4 fourth hole. His 150-yard approach hit 30 yards to the left of the hole then found its way into the cup.

“We couldn’t see it from where we were,” Dunlap said. “It was a good sensible shot, but didn’t think I holed it. Good bumper-pool on that one.”

He saved par on the 10th and 11th, then started a three-hole birdie run. He finished with a 45-foot eagle putt on 18, just missing to the right for a seven-birdie bogey-free round.

Dunlap played seven seasons on the PGA Tour in three separate stints. He did not play on the PGA Tour from 2002 until he regained his card in 2012. During that time he toured the world.

“I’ve been to some places that you’d have absolutely no reason to go to if wasn’t for playing a golf tournament,” he said. “I think you mature much quicker than what you would otherwise.

“The globe-trotting is out of necessity. One, I needed to make a dollar. And, two, I don’t look back at any of that and think of disappointment. It’s been great.”

Garwood had a chance to tie Dunlap on the par-5 18th. His two-iron approach hit the pin and caromed 15 feet away. He missed his eagle putt, but earned his seventh birdie – against one bogey.

“I was telling a guy, I can hit the hole from 230 yards, but miss it from 15 feet,” Garwood said.

The closest Garwood has come to victory in his two seasons on the Champions Tour was in June when he lost in a playoff to Tom Pernice Jr. at the Principal Charity Classic.

Garwood said he gave up the game for most of the 1990s, working different jobs in the Los Angeles area. He returned to the game to qualify for the 1990 U.S. Open and has played since.

His father, Kelton Garwood, played a number of supporting roles in TV series during the 1950s and 1960s. His most prominent role was the undertaker on the TV series “Gunsmoke.”

“I take after my dad a lot,” Garwood added. “This is like my stage. When I’m out there, I’m acting like a professional golfer.”

Michael Allen began his round with a flourish, knocking in five straight birdies and briefly held the lead at 9 under. But he opened the back nine with a double bogey and faded to 7-under 137, five shots behind.

First-round leader Mike Goodes, an amateur player until he joined the Champions Tour in 2007, faded with a 3-over 75 and was tied for 16th place.

Two of the Tour’s most successful players, Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer, both struggled. Couples, the most popular player here playing in his hometown, was at 2-under 142. Langer, who had won three of the past five tournaments, was at 3-under 141.

Rod Spittle shot 69 for a share of 20th at the end of the second round.

LONDON, Ont. – Azahara Munoz dunked her ball in the water, but it didn’t sink her round.

Instead, Munoz rebounded to fire a 9-under 63 Saturday to shoot up the leaderboard and vault into contention at the US$2.25-million Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. She’s tied with Na Yeon Choi in second place, four strokes behind So Yeon Ryu, who leads at 20-under par going into the final round.

“The key of my round was on (hole No.) 4, I was going for it in two with a 4-iron and I hit in the water,” Munoz said. “But I kept it calm, I knew I could still make up and down for par, so I did, and after that everything just went my way.”

Except, perhaps, for Ryu, who didn’t drift back to the pack by shooting a 67. She’s looking to become the sixth wire-to-wire winner in this tournament’s history and the first since Michelle Wie in 2010.

Munoz had six birdies on the back nine as part of a bogey-free round, tying the course record at London Hunt and Country Club that Ryu set Thursday. The 26-year-old Spainard felt like she was doing “everything” right.

“I was driving the ball really well, and I was hitting really good iron shots into the greens,” Munoz said. “I had so many chances. And then I made lots of putts, too – I made a couple really long ones and quite a few shorter ones.”

As dazzling as Munoz’s round was, she still has some work to do to catch up to Ryu, who has been remarkably consistent through three rounds with 21 birdies and just one bogey.

Ryu is looking for her first victory since 2012.

“I haven’t won any tournaments the last two years,” the 24-year-old said. “If I’m going to win this tournament, I’m going to break that. I really want to break it, I really want to stop it.”

Ryu is on pace to snap the tournament record of 18 under set by Suzann Petterson in 2009 and is within range of the LPGA Tour record of 27 under, which belongs to the legendary Annika Sorenstam.

“I think my lowest record is 29 under when I was 16 at the Asian Games,” Ryu said. “If I have the chance I want to break my career record, and also if I can I want to break another LPGA record.”

Determined to focus on her own game, the South Korean said she didn’t peek at the leaderboard Saturday. But Ryu already set a goal of sinking seven birdies in the final round.

Ryu, Munoz and Choi, who shot a 6-under 66, tee off as the final group at 11:45 a.m. Sunday. Behind them on the leaderboard are LPGA Championship winner Inbee Park at 14 under, Swede Anna Nordqvist at 13 under and Americans Brittany Lincicome and Danielle Kang at 12 under.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 1-under 71 to get to 4 under as the lowest Canadian left. Fellow amateur Jennifer Ha of Calgary moved to 2 under with a 73, while Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., shot a 76 to drop to 1 under and Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., shot a 74 to drop to 1 over.

Choi set the tone for the low-scoring weekend with an 8-under 64 Thursday morning. After seeing that, Park wondered if it would take 20 under to win the tournament.

Given the way Ryu has been driving, chipping and putting, that turned out to be a conservative estimate.

“It’s going to be over 20, that’s for sure,” Park said. “I don’t know how So Yeon is going to play tomorrow, but if she goes really low tomorrow, 25-under par’s definitely possible.”

Despite being four strokes back of a player she conceded was even more “on fire” than her, Choi was plenty confident about her chances given the course conditions.

“Someone can shoot 9 under, 8 under,” she said. “Even I could shoot like 8, 9 under tomorrow.”

Munoz showed that was possible Saturday, even with more difficult pin placements for the 87 players who made the cut. Her only real glance at the leaderboard was Thursday when she saw Choi’s 64 before she even teed off, but that didn’t make her task feel any more daunting.

“It’s actually good because you have that number in mind, you know it’s possible,” Munoz said. “So at least you go out there thinking you can make lots of birdies.”

Birdies are available all over the course, and players are mindful that each one on the 17th hole means a $5,000 donation from title sponsor Canadian Pacific for the London-based Children’s Health Foundation.

But Ryu hasn’t been saving her best for the second-to-last hole, and Park knows that her friend is so locked in that rivals will have to shoot very low to beat her.

Ryu hasn’t won since the 2012 Jamie Farr Toledo Classic but won two of the three previous times she held the 54-hole lead.

“I definitely think she’s due,” Park said. “I think she was due a long time ago, but she probably threw her opportunities away. If I can’t do it this time, hopefully she does it. I’m really rooting for her.”

LONDON, Ont. – The role models Canadian golfers need are all around them at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

For 20-year-old Jennifer Ha of Calgary, one of them is 16-year-old star Brooke Henderson. Ha and Henderson are roommates this week and were the only two amateurs to make the cut.

After three rounds, Ha is still chasing Henderson to be the low Canadian and the low amateur after shooting a 1-over 72 Saturday to drop to 2 under for the tournament. Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 71 to get to 4 under.

“Brooke’s unreal and she’s No. 2 in the world (among amateurs), so it’d be great if I got a chance to catch up her,” Ha said.

Henderson got to play with one of her role models in 19-year-old Lexi Thompson, who was a teenage golfing phenom at the age of 12. Unprompted, Henderson glowed about playing with Thompson.

“It was a lot of fun being able to play with Lexi today,” Henderson said. “Lexi I’ve always looked up to. She’s definitely a big person in the women’s game and someone that you can look up to and I definitely have.”

Henderson, who again attracted the biggest fan support at London Hunt and Country Club as the most prominent Canadian name in the field, called Thompson one of her idols.

“Just being able to watch her and learn a little bit from her, it was fun,” Henderson said. “I talked to her a little bit today. I asked her a few questions and got a few things answered that I wanted to know.”

Henderson also noticed Lorie Kane following her for the final five holes of her round. The 49-year-old Kane has offered plenty of advice to Henderson during her blossoming stardom.

“She is a huge role model for me,” Henderson said of Kane. “A lot of the women out here are like that. They are really nice and they support young people.”

Four Canadians made the cut, though Henderson was the only one to shoot under par Saturday. Jennifer Kirby (Paris, Ont.) shot a 76 to drop to 1 under for the tournament, and Sue Kim (Langley, B.C.) shot a 74 to move to 1 over.

Ha would have been even par had it not been for a bogey on the 18th hole. But she was happy to be able to get her game together after being 3 over through six.

The Kent State University student returns to school in Ohio next week but is spending this weekend honouring football player Jason Bitsko, who was found dead in his off-campus apartment Wednesday. Ha has 54 – Bitsko’s number – written on each of her golf balls.

Coming into the tournament, Ha’s goal was simply to make the cut. Now that she has, she can set her sights on competing with Henderson and remembering Bitsko, the Golden Flashes’ starting centre who the school said died of an undetermined medical issue at the age of 21.

“I think my main goal right now is just to have the time of my life, Ha said. ”It would be unreal to finish as the low amateur, but I’m out here to have fun for this week and to honour Jason.“

Henderson also pegged making the cut as a pre-tournament expectation and now wants to “climb the leaderboard.”

“Today, 1 under, I didn’t back up, but I don’t think I moved forward too much,” Henderson said. “So tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”

PARAMUS, N.J. — Jim Furyk was steady. Jason Day was wild. Both wound up with a share of the lead Saturday at The Barclays.

Day lost his golf ball in a mound of high grass and took double bogey on the par-5 13th, the third-easiest hole at Ridgewood. He also took four shots to get down from a bunker on the par-5 17th for a bogey. But the Australian made enough birdies for a 3-under 68.

Furyk played bogey-free for a 69 and joined Day in the lead at 9-under 204.

The final round of his opening FedEx Cup playoff event was shaping up as a shootout, with 15 players separated by three shots.

Hunter Mahan was tied for the lead until his approach went right of the green on the 18th and he took bogey for a 68. He was one shot behind. Matt Kuchar, who won The Barclays the last time it was at Ridgewood in 2010, was among seven players two shots behind.

The group at 6-under 207 included Ernie Els and Erik Compton.

Missing from the mix – but not entirely out of the picture – was Rory McIlroy. The British Open and PGA champion made an early move until he was slowed by a pair of bogeys around the turn. He had a 70 and was five shots behind in his bid for a fourth straight victory.

Adam Scott failed to keep pace. Tied for the lead going in a cloudy Saturday, the defending Barclays champion made only one birdie in a round of 75 and left him five shots out of the lead.

At least he’s still playing. Phil Mickelson missed the 54-hole cut, which is in effect when more than 78 players make the 36-hole cut. For the second straight day, Mickelson hit his tee shot onto the terrace of a grandstand left of the fifth green. This time, he saved par.

That was the lone highlight, however. Mickelson shot a 75 and headed home. It was unclear if he would play the Deutsche Bank Championship next week, which might end his season if he doesn’t stay among the top 70 eligible for the BMW Championship.

Just about everyone else at Ridgewood is still in the running, or so it seems.

“It’s going to be interesting tomorrow,” Day said, who is trying to make the most out of what seems like a lost year because of a thumb injury.

Day injured his thumb while winning the Match Play Championship in February, costing him tournaments and momentum. But a big run now that he’s healthy could help him salvage his season.

The focus figures to be on Furyk, who has gone nearly four years without a victory. Since winning the Tour Championship at the end of 2010, Furyk has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead seven times and has failed to convert.

His last chance was a month ago in the Canadian Open, where Tim Clark beat him by a shot. He also missed out on two majors, the PGA Championship last year at Oak Hill and the U.S. Open in 2012 at Olympic Club.

Furyk said only a few guys had a realistic chance in Canada. This is different.

“Going to be a little bit of a shootout tomorrow,” he said. “Excited about one more opportunity.”

Mahan has gone more than two years without winning. Not only is he trying to extend his streak of reaching the Tour Championship every year, Mahan still is auditioning for Tom Watson as a potential captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup. He took the outright lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th hole, but he lost a good birdie chance with a poor wedge into the 17th, and then flared his approach to the right on the 18th.

Even so, he’s right there with a chance to win and make a big statement.

And so is everyone else. Even as Scott went sliding backward, Cameron Tringale held his own. It was the first time Tringale had a share of the lead going into the weekend, and he bounced back from an early bogey to stay in the hunt.

Morgan Hoffman, at No. 124 the second-to-last man into the playoffs, had the best round Saturday with a bogey-free 66 and was in the group at 7-under 206. Kevin Chappell had a two-shot lead with he drove the green at No. 5 and converted a long two-putt for birdie. He didn’t make another birdie and dropped three shots for a 71 and was among those two shots behind.

The players at 5-under 208 – four shots back – included Rickie Fowler (67), Ryo Ishikawa (68) and Paul Casey, who had a 71 as he tries to extend his season.

Canada’s David Hearn is tied for 30th after carding 69 in the third round.

VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic  — Bradley Dredge shot a flawless 6-under 66 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Czech Masters.

The Welshman, seeking his third European Tour victory, produced six birdies for an overall 12-under 204 at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague.

“It wasn’t my best ball-striking round but it was a good scoring round, that’s for sure,” said Dredge, who finished second last week at the Made In Denmark event. “I’ve had no bogeys since the first day and it’s nice when you do that. All the birdies count then and I’ve been delighted with the last two rounds so if I can do that again tomorrow I would be over the moon.”

His countryman and second-round leader Jamie Donaldson shot a 71 to sit tied for second with Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark (68), still on course to secure a spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

Donaldson opened with an eagle on the par-5 first hole, but had a double bogey on the eighth and three more bogeys in his worst round of the tournament. He needs a top-seven finish guarantee a spot in next month’s match against the United States.

Stephen Gallacher, another Ryder Cup hopeful, also carded a 71 to sit four shots back.

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Mike Goodes shot an 8-under 64 on Friday for a one-stroke lead in the Boeing Classic.

Goodes, 57, got off to a fast start with an eagle on the first hole, knocking it in from a bunker. He then had six birdies in the first round of the Champions Tour stop at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.

Goodes, who maintained his amateur status until joining the Champions Tour in 2007, is looking for his second career win to go with the 2009 Allianz Championship. The last time he led any round in any tournament was the 2013 Insperity Open in Houston.

“I’m dying to win,” Goodes said. “That doesn’t necessary mean you will but I’d love to win again. It would mean a lot.”

In the previous nine Boeing tournaments, no first-round leader has gone on to win the title.

Mark Brooks was all alone in second after a 65. The 1996 PGA champion shot a 6-under 30 on the back nine, one short of the course and tournament record of 29 set by Scott Simpson in 2006.

“When you do it as long as I have … you deserve occasionally to have a nine like that,” said Brooks, who won seven times on the PGA Tour but not since his PGA title.

Mark O’Meara, Gene Sauers, Scott Hoch, Mark McNulty and Jeff Sluman are at 6 under.

Five players shot a 67, including Mark Calcavecchia. He shot a 5-under 31 on the front nine, matching the course record done 20 times, including by Calcavecchia in the opening round last year.

Goodes did not want to play on the PGA Tour. He ran a successful business and preferred to remain an amateur. He was convinced by his business partner and his wife to try the 50-over circuit in 2007. For his first two seasons, 2007 and 2008, he got into tournaments through the arduous Monday qualifying.

“I came really close to not doing it because I wasn’t sure it made sense for me to lose my amateur status to go chase Monday qualifiers,” he said. “But it’s been great.”

He has won more than $3.5 million on the Champions Tour with 20 top-10 finishes in 165 career starts.

“The money’s great but I love competing, like most people, and to be able to compete against Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk and Mark O’Meara, sometimes you beat on them and most of the time you lose to them, but to compete with them is living the dream,” Goodes said.

Langer, who has won three of the past five tournaments and is well ahead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 22nd. It ended his streak of rounds in the 60s at 10 straight. His bogey on No. 2 also ended his bogey-free streak at 66 consecutive holes.

Couples, a local favorite, finished at 1-under 71. Defending champion John Riegger shot a 73.

One of the more interesting pairings featured three players who have shot a 59 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Kevin Sutherland, the first Champions Tour player to shoot a 59 last week in the second round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, joined Paul Goydos and Chip Beck. Those two are among the six to do it in a PGA event.

Beck had the best round of the threesome with a 70.

You sure made us proud Canada!

We we’re truly impressed by the entries we received for our “Canada’s Craziest Golfer Contest”. It was almost impossible not to share them all. Here are your 3 winners:

1st place: Mark Balon

” Too much snow! Waiting for warmer weather and remembering a great trip to Pebble Beach and Palm Springs just a month earlier! What better way to reminisce than to practice your putting!”

2nd Place: Ed Bergen

“My greatest day of golf was a long one.  My golfing partner Rob, and myself were up early and were lucky enough to have the first tee time of the day at the beautiful Mt Lorette course at Kannaskis.  With no one in front of us, we walked and were able to complete the round in good time and collect our “I kept the pace” ball marker upon completion.  We also had a tee time booked at The majestic Banff Springs Golf course in Banff.  It’s hard to play quickly when surrounded by such scenery, but the pace of play was good and we still had a good piece of the day ahead of us.  With maybe a lack of sleep or a bit to much sunshine on the brain, we thought, “hey, why not race to Jasper National Park, if there’s no tea times available. we will play in the morning”.  For anyone that hasn’t travelled that stretch of road, its only 287 km, but in the middle of July it is about a four hour drive!  After the lengthy drive through what may be Canada’s most scenic stretch of road we arrived in Jasper and secured the last tee time of the day!  At last light we, we walked off the 18th green, knowing that we had just finished walking 54 holes of great golf, on 3 of Canada’s greatest courses and travelled over 350 km by car and still had time to set up our tent in the dark and get some sleep so we could start over in the morning!”

3rd place: Sebastien Arcand

4 years ago I built a backyard putting green for my kids and myself. The green is made of bentgrass and built to USGA standards. After 4 years, my kids and myself are still practicing almost everyday on it. My kids love golf as much as I do…

Honourable Mentions:

A creative “Urban golfer”.. Jeremy La Salle-Pike

A golf-crazy scuba diver who took his homegrown love of golf all the way to Belize, Todd Keirstead

Desi Harcourt’s son is an impatient and innovative golfer. He’s been known to shovel himself a makeshift driving range and spend days in the cold training for the upcoming competitive season.

Thank you Canada for sharing your photos and passion for the game, keep on golfing!

(Bath, ON) – Los Angeles, California’s Micah Burke shot a 10-under 62 on Friday at Loyalist Golf and Country Club to set the new competitive course record and take a one shot lead midway through the second round at The Great Waterway Classic. Burke led by two over Comox, British Columbia’s Riley Wheeldon as play was suspended due to darkness.

The 28-year old Burke chipped in twice and carded six birdies along with two eagles on the day to reach 12-under par through 36 holes, following up his first round 2-under 70 with his best career round in 38 starts on PGA TOUR Canada.

“I was putting really well yesterday, but I didn’t hit the ball well,” said Burke. “Today, I hit the ball really well, so I gave myself a lot of chances. I got in a good rhythm there, the rhythm that we always try to get into where you’re not really thinking about your score.”

The second round of The Great Waterway Classic was suspended due to darkness at 7:50 PM after delays due to inclement weather held up play for 6 hours and 45 minutes earlier in the day. Round two will resume at 7:30 AM on Saturday, with 107 players left to complete their second round.

Burke, who ranks 111th on the Order of Merit coming into this week, said he benefited from a swing tip after round one from playing partner and Order of Merit leader Joel Dahmen. The tip paid off on Friday, as Burke took advantage of the friendly scoring conditions with a solid ballstriking day.

“It helped a lot,” said Burke of Dahmen’s tip. “I wasn’t able to hit a lot of shots yesterday. Today I was able to move it both ways a little bit and control it a little better, and with soft greens like this, that helps a lot.”

Burke, who was battling flu-like symptoms over the first two days, finished his round nearly 12 hours after his original 7:20 AM tee time thanks to the lengthy weather delay, but said his swing kept him in rhythm despite the changing weather.

“I’m happy with it. The conditions were changing so much and you had to kind of adapt to each one,” Burke said. “It got really hot, and then it was raining, and then a little cold. When you’re in a rhythm like that it’s easier because you’re just hitting good shots and it’s easier to stay in the present.”

Wheeldon was two strokes back of Burke at 10-under, while Oklahoma’s Stephen Carney was one further behind at 9-under following a 4-under 68.

WHEELDON SET FOR STRONG FINISH
After playing between the Web.com Tour and PGA TOUR Canada this season, Riley Wheeldon said Friday he has his eyes on the prize for a strong finish north of the border.

The 23-year old, who has made nine starts on the Web.com Tour and five on PGA TOUR Canada, knows he’ll be playing in Canada the rest of the season after missing out on the Web.com Tour Finals, and said his goal is clear for the remainder of the year.

“It’s nice to know where I’m going to be each week and settles the travel down a little bit, and I can plan ahead,” said Wheeldon, who finished second on the PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit in 2013. “It gives me a little bit more foresight going into these last four events. I have a clear goal and I know what I need to do now, so I need to finish strong.”

The former Big East Player of the Year at the University of Louisville said he’s trending in the right direction through two rounds at The Great Waterway Classic.

“I’m striking it as good as I have all year, which is a bonus,” said Wheeldon. “I’m staying out of trouble off the tee. The putter’s been a little cold, which is actually a good thing going into the weekend because it can improve. I’m happy with the way I’m hitting it and managing my game, and I should be in good position.”

Despite being in a different position than 2013 – he was the Order of Merit leader until the season’s penultimate event last year, and is 44th this year – Wheeldon said the familiarity of success on PGA TOUR Canada has him feeling good with four events to go.

“Any time you can win on any level,” said Wheeldon, “you have the confidence to do it again, so that’s the goal these last four events – to get one, if not two.”