The RBC Canadian Open means something different to everyone. To some, it’s an opportunity to introduce their children to the game, to others, it offers motivation to perfect their swing. Tony Harris, however, looks at the national championship a little differently.

As the official artist of the RBC Canadian Open, Harris recreates some of Canada’s most renowned courses on canvas. A golfer himself, he insists on producing imagery that appeals to both the artistically inclined and the golf enthusiast.

“If I’m commissioned to do a painting of a golf course I want to find the hole that shows the character of the entire course,” Harris said of his passion for painting courses. “If it’s going to be one hole, I’m hoping to really display the character of the entire 18 hole experience. Even as a non-artist looking at a golf painting, you’d be able to see if you’ve played St. George’s 18th hole [because] you’d know you’re about 200 yards out and you’re going to have to hit a soft fade to that back right pin if you want to get it close. That’s what I try to do for the golfer, not necessarily as an artist, but I always want that picture to make sense to the golf purist who understands and knows golf.”

Producing these pieces is not a simple task, and usually takes longer than most golf tournaments themselves. Harris noted that most pieces take him between 50 – 80 hours to complete, and this is after the initial photography of the golf course.

“I work from photograph. I take pictures and I’ll often do some sketchwork from the course.I’m usually there for the entire day so the light can fall at different times,” he continued. “Unless I’m absolutely sure of what hole to paint, I’ll generally spend time between two different holes to give myself some options. I’ll travel between the holes, do sketches, and take lots of pictures early in the morning.”

And Harris’ favourite course to paint? Augusta National, naturally.

“I could paint Augusta National forever,” he said. “I’ve done four different paintings of No. 12 from so many different spots; it’s just one of those things that will just never get old.Even though it’s the same every year, every year there’s always a different time of day that makes the hole look different.”

Harris has not only mastered the art of golf landscapes, but maintains an extensive collection of sports portraits as well. Having painted some of the NHL’s biggest names including Henrik Sedin and Mike Fischer, as the world evolves into one based on instant digital photography, it is refreshing to watch Harris continue to capture the action and emotion of professional sports on canvas.

The 17th hole at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The second round of the PGA Championship was off to a soggy start and a sudden stop Friday.

A steady rain forced officials to suspend the round after just 20 minutes because of too much water on the putting surfaces and fairways. Work crews already were using squeegees on the greens when another burst of showers hit Valhalla.

Play was halted about 45 minutes before Rory McIlroy was to tee off, and as Ryan Palmer was playing the first hole.

Palmer, Lee Westwood and Kevin Chappell shared the first-round lead at 6-under 65. Palmer was the only one of the leaders to play Friday morning. McIlroy was among those one shot behind.

It already was shaping up as a long day.

Play resumed after 45 minutes, but with more rain in the forecast, it is unlikely the second round would be completed Friday. Tiger Woods, in 109th place and in danger of missing the cut at the PGA for the second time in four years, plays in the afternoon.

Adding to the difficulty of a soggy course, players had to contend with mud.

Championship director Kerry Haigh said the ball was to be played as it lies – the players will not be allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls through the green as often happens in regular tour events.

He said no consideration was given to restarting the second round using preferred lies. Once a round begins under one set of conditions, it cannot change. Haigh didn’t see the need.

“We are playing the ball down,” Haigh said. “Once we start the round, we will not change. Really, there was no consideration to that. The fairways are good. And the Rules of Golf allow for relief if the ball is in casual water.”

Rain was in the forecast for most of Friday. While it would soften the greens, it would make the course longer.

Palmer came up short of the green from out of the rough on the 504-yard second hole, though he pitched to 2 feet to save par. He opened with three straight pars to stay in a share of the lead.

McIlroy typically enjoys soft conditions. That was the case at Firestone last week, and he said he was “licking his lips” when he saw the course. McIlroy rallied from a three-shot deficit to win the World Golf Championship, his first tournament since a wire-to-wire victory at Royal Liverpool in the British Open.

McIlroy won his first major at rain-softened Congressional in the 2011 U.S. Open with a record score of 16-under 268.

BELMONT, Mich. – Sandra Gal made six straight birdies on her back nine Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic, while Michelle Wie withdrew because of a wrist injury.

Gal, the 29-year-old German who won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2011, birdied Nos. 3-8 and finished with a par on No. 9 for a 6-under 65 at Blythefield Country Club.

“I was in a zone, I was really relaxed,” Gal said. “I was talking a lot to my caddie and to my playing partners, just kind of letting it happen instead of forcing it.”

Wie was 5 over after nine holes when she pulled out. She fought injuries to both wrists in 2007.

“It just started hurting last week and kept getting worse,” Wie said in the parking lot outside the medical trailer. “It got to the point where I really couldn’t hold a club today. I’m going to try and get an MRI right now and see what my next steps are. So we’ll see.”

The U.S. Women’s Open winner in June for her second victory of the year, Wie said she hoped to be able to play next week in the LPGA Championship _ the fourth major championship of the season.

South Korea’s Inbee Park was a stroke behind Gal.

Australia’s Katherine Kirk opened with a 67, and Azahara Munoz was another stroke back along with IIhee Lee, Katy Harris, Gerina Piller, Amy Young and Line Vedel.

Second-ranked Lydia Ko, the 17-year-old star coming off a victory in the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, matched Paula Creamer with a 69, and top-ranked Stacy Lewis shot 70.

Gal played in the morning wave in the LPGA Tour’s first regular tournament in Michigan since the Oldsmobile Classic ended its nine-year run in East Lansing in 2000.

Gal said her birdie run, which tied the best string on the tour this season, was a combination of hitting her iron shots inside 10 feet on each of the holes and then making solid putting strokes.

“You have to be on the right side of the hole to have chances at birdies and I was on the front nine,” she said. “I like this old-style type course and the greens are perfect. There were no long putts, just solid ones after good iron shots and I hit a couple real close, like 3 or 4 feet. It was a little bit of everything.”

Park has one victory this year after winning six times last season.

“Everything was working really well today, especially the iron shots,” she said. “The greens are rolling really well, too. They’re rolling really true. I hit a lot of good putts so that’s giving me confidence going into the next three days.”

Lewis, who has three wins and 13 top-10 finishes this year, said she played better than she scored.

“I’ve been working on a few things with my golf swing and was pretty happy actually with the way I hit it _ just had a bunch of putts right over the edge,” Lewis said. “Overall, pretty happy with it even though the score is not quite what I was looking for.”

Ko had the same issue with putts just missing.

“The golf course is in great shape so the birdies are there to be made,” she said. “I just didn’t make as many as I would have liked. I really like the way I’m playing, though.”

Canada’s Alena Sharp, Lorie Kane and Rebecca Lee-Bentham are all in a group tied for 21st.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Maybe Tiger Woods should have stayed at home.

Looking much like a guy playing just his 11th competitive round since back surgery, Woods was spraying shots all over Valhalla and playing himself out of contention at the PGA Championship before heavy favorite Rory McIlroy even teed off Thursday.

“Oh, for … sake, Tiger!” he yelled at himself on No. 2, muttering an obscenity after yanking his tee shot near a creek, leading to a one-stroke penalty.

Woods underwent surgery March 31 and missed the first two majors of the year. He returned in time for the British Open, but struggled to his worst 72-hole finish in a major. Then he withdrew from the World Golf Championship at Firestone just four days ago after taking an awkward swing, hurting his back again.

He finally arrived at the PGA on Wednesday – with live television showing Woods parking his car and tying his golf shoes – and proclaimed himself fit.

It sure didn’t look that way.

Starting on the back side, Woods bogeyed both of the par-3s after missing the green, though he did salvage an unlikely birdie at the 16th by holing out a wedge from more than 100 feet away.

But he missed a chance to make up more ground at the easy 18th, knocking his drive into a fairway bunker at the par-5 hole, and things really took a turn for the worse after Woods made the turn.

He just couldn’t find any accuracy off the tee.

Woods drove one into a native area at the first, leading to a bogey. Then came another poor drive at the second, forcing him to take a drop and settle for his fourth bogey in 11 holes.

He was 3 over for the round and eight shots behind early leader Kevin Chappell. Edoardo Molinari of Italy was 4 under, while Ryder Cup hopeful Brendon Todd and perennial major contender Rickie Fowler led a group of players at 3 under.

This was a big week for Todd, who was 12th in the Ryder Cup standings and looking to push his way into an automatic spot at the final qualifying event. The top nine after Sunday will make the team, before captain Tom Watson fills out his roster with three wild-card picks.

Fowler has finished in the top five at the first three majors this year, but is still seeking his first championship. He was runner-up at both the U.S. Open and British Open.

Phil Mickelson, playing in the same group as Woods for one of the rare times at a major, was 1 over. Lefty was just out of the mix for a Ryder Cup spot, though it’s expected he would be a captain’s choice if he doesn’t qualify. Mickelson hasn’t won in nearly 13 months, since his victory at the 2013 British Open.

This is his longest drought since 2003.

Everyone seemed to be chasing McIlroy, who was the overwhelming favorite coming off wins at the British Open and at Firestone. The three-time major champion had an afternoon tee time.

One player who won’t be winning: Matt Kuchar, who withdrew just before teeing off because of back spasms.

John Huh took Kuchar’s place and joined the threesome with Louis Oosthuizen and Justin Rose.

Canada’s David Hearn and Graham DeLaet tee off at 1pm and 1:15pm (EDT).

ASHTON, ON— Tecumseh’s Curtis Hughes entered the final round of the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Bantam (U15) Boys’ Championship, Aug. 7 at the Canadian Golf & Country Club in Ashton, seven shots off the lead. However, thanks to the round of the tournament, Hughes was able to jump up the leaderboard and claim the title.

After his first round, the 14-year-old was seven-over, but he came back during the second round with an amazing four-under (68) to win by a four-shot margin.

“My dad, who is the head pro and director at Rochester Place Golf Course, and I took a few hours after my round yesterday just to think and process what I would needed to do to win today. I wanted to make six birdies to begin the round and to get back to even, but that didn’t happen. Still, I made a few birdies out there and was able to win,” said Hughes

The Beach Grove Golf & Country Club member began the round with birdies on the second and fourth holes. He did bogey six, but that would be the only blemish on his round. He went on to birdie the 10th, 12th and 13th holes for the win.

“I haven’t played in many event’s this year,” added Hughes. “But it was a lot of fun. I really love playing in tournaments. This is definitely the number one result in my golf career so far.”

Finishing second was Richmond Hill’s Eric Byun. Byun entered the day one off the lead at one-over for the tournament. He would finish the round six-over (78) to bring his tournament total to seven-over.

Brampton’s Jacob Presutti finished third with a second round of seven-over (79) to finish the tournament at nine-over. Rounding out the top five were Whitby’s Brendan Dunphy at 10-over, and Brampton’s Max Wang at 11-over.

For the final leaderboard and results of all 57 players see the tournament site here.

ASHTON, ON— Mississauga’s Chloe Currie came into the second round of the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Ontario Bantam (U15) Girls’ Championship, Aug. 7 at the Canadian Golf & Country Club in Ashton, with a comfortable 11-shot advantage. She would see that lead to the end of the second and final round as she captured the 2014 championship.

“I made solid shots and had a plan. I went out and played the course according to my plan, the best I could. It was a challenging course. It wasn’t too long but it was tricky. There are a lot of 90 degree holes, tough bunkers and putting greens that become really fast when you’re putting downhill. You just need to get going and play steady. I think I was able to do well because I just played steady golf,” said Currie after the win.

The 14-year-old from the Mississauga Golf & Country Club had an opening round of two-over (74) and cruised through the second round finishing it at one-over (73) to end the tournament three-over for the win.

“This win would rank as the best career highlight for me so far. It is the best I have ever done in a tournament. I am so glad that I came to play this event. It was my last year to play in it and I wanted to come here, play strong, finish strong and I did.”

Currie had got herself to one-over for the tournament thanks to a birdie on the seventh hole. However, she would shoot two-over on the back nine. Still, it would not matter as Currie was able to hang on to win by an amazing 24-strokes.

“I was consistent on the par threes. My irons were great today and my putting was amazing, I made a lot of important putts that gave me momentum for the next holes,” added Currie.

Finishing second was Olivia Trieu from Richmond Hill, who ended the tournament at 27-over and Brampton’s Amanda Kerr was third at 29-over.

For the full leaderboard see the tournament site here.

GLEN COVE, N.Y. – Two Canadians won their matches Thursday morning at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, advancing to the afternoon Round of 16 at Nassau Country Club.

Sixteen-year-old Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. took down Ember Shuldt of Sterling, Ill. 4 & 3. The No. 2 ranked female amateur in the world will square off against Dylan Kim of Plano, Tex. Kim advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Canada’s Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont. earlier in the day, 2 & 1.

Also advancing for Canada is the recently crowned Canadian Women’s Amateur champion, Augusta James. The Bath, Ont. native bested fellow Canadian, Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont. 2-up. She will face 33^rd seeded Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz. at 1 pm EDT.

For live scoring, click here.

Austin James and Augusta James (USGA)

COPETOWN, Ont. – Remi Bouchard captured the Mr. Lube PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada presented by Adams Golf after making birdie on the first playoff hole at Beverly Golf & Country Club.

The recently turned 50-year-old out-duelled Ken Tarling and Jean Laforce enroute to his dramatic playoff victory. With the win, Bouchard adds his name to an impressive list of past champions including Moe Norman, Stan Leonard, Bob Panasik, Al Balding and Jim Rutledge.

“When I drove in earlier this week and I saw the signs with all the past winners I was pretty inspired,” Bouchard admitted.

Bouchard, Laforce and Tarling finished the 36-hole championship at 7-under-par 133, one shot better than David Miller. Marc Girouard finished at 5 under and rounded out the top five.

With the win, the native of Candiac, Que., is a three-time PGA of Canada champion, winning the 1988 and 2008 PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada.

“The lie I had was just good enough that I could get a club on it and I knew if I hit it solid it would cut a little bit,” Bouchard said about his 254-yard 3-wood approach on the first playoff hole-the 518-yard 18th hole. “When it left the club I knew I hit a perfect shot.”

Bouchard’s two-putt birdie was good enough as the clincher with both Laforce and Tarling failing to convert their birdie attempts.

David Wettlaufer, Jean-Claude Leblanc, three-time PGA Seniors’ Championship winner Jim Rutledge, two-time PGA Assistants’ Championship winner Philip Jonas and Champions Tour winner Rod Spittle finished T6 at 3 under. In total, 19 players finished the two-day championship at even-par or better.

Gar Hamilton won the Super Senior Division title after a one-hole playoff victory over Don Graham.

The PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada was first played in 1938 as a division of the PGA Championship of Canada. In 1973, the championship became an independent event and has stayed that way since.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Gar Hamilton (PGA of Canada)

GLEN COVE, N.Y. – Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson advanced to the U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinal by winning her match Thursday afternoon at Nassau Country Club.

Henderson, 16, was all square through seven holes, but eventually pulled ahead, defeating Dylan Kim of Piano, Tex., 3&2. The Smiths Falls, Ont. native will carry her momentum from a very successful summer season into Friday’s match. The world’s no. 2 ranked female amateur is set to take on Alison Lee of Valencia, Calif. at 12:55 EDT.

Fellow Canadian and Team Canada teammate, Augusta James, fell in a nail-biting, 20-hole match to Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz. James, of Bath, Ont., is coming off a win at the Canadian Women’s Amateur last week and will surely be looking forward to some rest after another strong performance at Nassau.

For live scoring, click here.

(Ottawa, ON) – Leicester, England’s Greg Eason shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday at Hylands Golf Club to take the first round lead at the inaugural Forces & Families Open. Eason carded seven birdies, an eagle and one bogey to lead by one over Crookston, Minnesota’s Travis Ross and Longwood, Florida’s Sam Ryder.

The PGA TOUR Canada rookie, who is playing in his first season as a professional following a standout career at the University of Central Florida, was upbeat about his round despite a bogey at the 18^th hole following an errant tee shot.

“I only really missed one shot and that was the tee shot down the last. I played some nice golf. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, to be honest,” said Eason, who was the runner-up at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel three weeks ago in Thunder Bay. Eason missed his first cut of the season last week at the ATB Financial Classic despite shooting 3-under par for the first two rounds, and said he was excited to continue what has been a strong year so far.

“I never really did anything that badly last week, it’s just the scores were very low and mine weren’t,” Eason said. “I played well the week before and I’m just trying to do the same things I’ve been trying to do all year.”

The 22-year old, who now calls the Orlando area home, has three top-25 finishes on the season including his runner-up finish in Thunder Bay. Currently eighth on the Order of Merit, Eason said the experience of being in contention in front of galleries and under pressure has already helped him mature as a player in his first season as a professional.

“I’d not played in front of that many people before,” said Eason, who finished second to Cincinnati, Ohio’s Wes Homan by a shot. “It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the day with Wes, and I think hopefully it will give me a good step for this week. I’m just hoping to continue what I’ve been doing, and hopefully try and sneak in that top five.”

Ryder, who finished a career-best T10 last week at the ATB Financial Classic, and Ross were one shot back of Eason, followed Scotland’s Paul Ferrier and Libertyville, Illinois’ Michael Schachner at 6-under 66.

Seann Harlington is the leading Canadian, scoring 69 in the opening round.