Westman, Man. – Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee stirred up excitement today in the second round of the 2014 CN Future Links Prairie Championship.  Maintaining yesterday’s first place finish, the Team Canada Development Squad Member fired five birdies en route to a course record 5-under 67. Lee now holds a ten stroke lead and set a new women’s course record at Shilo Golf and Country Club in Westman, Manitoba . The 17-year-old played a combination of middle tee to set the new record and sits at the top of the leader board with a total score of 6-under-par 138.

Alexandra Demko of Thunder Bay, Ont. continues to follow Lee in second place after a second round score of 3-over-par 75, for a total of 4-over-par 148. Veronica Vetesnick of Winnipeg, Man. sits behind Demko in third with a total of 5-over-par 149.

In the Junior Boys division, Calgary’s Andrew Brown leads after a second round 3-under-par 69, surpassing both Keaton Gudz of Victoria, B.C. and Zach Sackett of Winnipeg who shared first place on Friday. Today, Gudz shot 1-over-par 73 for a total of 1-under-par 143. Sackett follows in third by one stroke, with a total score of even-par 144.

The top six competitors in the Junior Boys division of each of six regional CN Future Links Championship being held in 2014 will earn exemptions into the 2014 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, which will be contested July 28 – August 1 at the Legends on the Niagara (Battlefield Course) in Niagara Falls, Ont. The Junior Girls champion from each 2014 CN Future Links Championship will earn an exemption into the 2014 Canadian Junior Girls Championship which runs July 28 – August 1 at Thornhill Golf and Country Club in Thornhill, Ont.

The third and final round of the 2014 CN Future Links Prairie Championship begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. CDT. For complete scoring and information, click here.

MALMO, Sweden – Second-ranked Henrik Stenson shot an 8-under 64 to share the third-round lead with England’s Eddie Pepperell at the Nordea Masters on Saturday.

Stenson had seven birdies along with an eagle on the seventh hole and a lone bogey, leaving the Swede at 13-under 203 on PGA Sweden National’s Lakes Course.

Pepperell shot a 65 that included eight birdies and one bogey.

Stenson is winless this year after sweeping the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup last season.

“It would be huge to win at home in Sweden. I haven’t done that before so it’s something I really want to do. I’ve got a good chance, but there’s a long way to go,” Stenson said.

The highlight of the day was his 155-yard eight iron on the seventh hole.

“It was an awesome shot. I hit a lot of good iron shots last year, but none that went in so it was about time,” Stenson said.

Pepperell said he was excited to be sharing the lead with Stenson coming into the final day.

“Henrik is one of the best players in the world, he’s in fine form and it is his home country,” the Englishman said. “I couldn’t ask for much more really from a final round.”

Scotsman Stephen Gallagher (65) and Alvaro Quiros of Spain (66) were one stroke behind heading into the last day, while fifth-place France’s Victor Dubuisson shot a 67 for an 11-under total.

(Vancouver, BC) – North Vancouver’s Eugene Wong carded five birdies and an eagle and survived two late bogeys to take sole possession of the 36-hole lead at the PC Financial Open, the season’s kickoff event for PGA TOUR Canada conducted at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Wong’s opening rounds of 66-67 gave him a 1-stroke advantage over PGA TOUR Canada rookies John Catlin of Sacramento, Calif., and Kelvin Day of England at 11-under-par 133. Catlin birdied his final two holes for his second consecutive round of 67 while Day posted the low round of the day with a 66.

In a five-way tie for fourth three shots back are Chilliwack, British Columbia’s Brad Clapp and West Vancouver’s Seann Harlingten, along with Chris Parra of Texas, Joel Dahmen of Washington and Mario Clemens of Mexico. Dahmen and Clemens shared the first-round lead with Wong.

Wong grew up playing junior tournaments at Point Grey and through two rounds, his biggest problem has been securing enough tickets for friends and family. The two-time PGA TOUR Canada winner stuck to his game plan of playing aggressive on Friday.

“The par-5s are all reachable if you hit a good drive, so yes, the plan was to attack,” Wong said. “And the same on the par-4s, when I have wedge in, I attack as well. It will be the same (this weekend), I’ll stick to my game plan unless someone catches me then I might change something here or there.”

Wong’s 20-foot eagle putt on No. 1 was courtesy of a 3-wood from 265 yards.

“That was a full 3-wood, a good 3-wood,” Wong said with a smile, “From there, I made some long putts, and missed some shorter ones, but it’s a game of give and take. I could have shot lower but I’ll take my 5-under today.”

Wong didn’t make his first bogey of the tournament until his 24th hole, No. 6 on Friday, and has just two miscues through the first 36 holes.

“I hit a bad drive on the sixth hole, but you know what, it’s not bad for what I’ve done so far,” Wong said. “I won’t think about that.”

Catlin, 23, an honorable mention All-American while at the University of New Mexico, said enjoying the game again has been a key to his success in his PGA TOUR Canada debut.

“This whole week, I’ve been just trying to have fun, trying to play like a kid again,” he said. “It’s easy when you start playing this game for a living, to get so into it, because we want to play well. But I’ve always played my best when I’m just out there having fun. I’m trying to see every shot before I hit it, feel what it takes to produce that shot, and then do it.”

When making comparisons to playing professionally and collegiately at the University of New Mexico, Catlin was quick to point out one obvious difference.

“The scores are a lot lower,” Catlin said. “That’s the first thing I noticed. You have to take advantage of the easy holes. You have to give yourself a lot of looks inside 15 feet. When I first turned professional, I wasn’t doing that. But I worked really hard on my wedge game and it’s much better than it used to be.”

Playing in the afternoon, Day recorded four birdies in his first eight holes en route to a 66 and a share of second. He came to Point Grey on a roll, having finished fifth at PGA TOUR Canada’s Florida Qualifying School in mid-April, followed up by a win on the Adams Pro Tour.

“I got my first win about three weeks ago, so I’m feeding off of that a little bit and just trying to let things happen as opposed to forcing things,” said Day. “It’s my fourth year as a pro now, so I’m trying to draw from past experiences.”

Making his maiden start on PGA TOUR Canada this week, Day is excited about the season-long pursuit of status on the Web.com Tour.

“I actually have a chance to play for something now,” he said. “I don’t know if that makes you play harder, but, but I definitely feel like I’m growing a bit out here.”

HARLINGTEN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SPONSOR EXEMPTION 

West Vancouver’s Seann Harlingten, 31, has taken the road less traveled, and that path has resulted this week in a top-10 performance heading into the weekend. After missing out on conditional status by one stroke at PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying School’s British Columbia site, Harlingten was granted a sponsor’s exemption this week. He has responded with rounds of 68-68 to trail leader Eugene Wong by three heading into the weekend.

Hartlingten, who at the age of 16 became the youngest player to make the cut at a Web.com Tour event when he finished T33 at the 2003 Mark Christopher Charity Classic, turned professional after graduating from high school. He was a member of PGA TOUR Canada in 2006 but suffered a Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tear in his right wrist and was limited in his starts over the next several years before stopping all together for a time.

“I basically quit golf for five years but now back at it,” said Harlingten. “I can’t hit balls, my wrist kills if I pound balls, so I grind away on my short game.”

That short game has paid off, as Harlingten has 10 birdies and just two bogeys through the first two rounds.

“It’s point and shoot out here pretty much,” he said. “The greens are soft, and I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”

For full scores click here.

The 2014 CN Future Links Prairie Championship started with a bang this week at Shilo Country Club in Westman, Manitoba. Defending champion and Team Canada Development Squad Member, Jaclyn Lee, took the opening round lead in the Junior Girls division with a score of 1-under-par 71. Alexandra Demko, 15, of Thunder Bay, Ont. follows in second with 1-over-par 73, and Veronica Vetesnik, 17, of Winnipeg takes third with a first round score of 74.

On the Junior Boys side, Winnipeg’s Zach Sackett fired 6 birdies for an opening score of 2-under-par 70. He currently shares first place with Keaton Gudz, 15, of Victoria. Andrew Brown, 17, of Calgary follows by one stroke in third with 1-under-par 71, and Corey Bailey, 17, of Shaunavon, Sask. sits in fourth with an even-par score.

The top six competitors in the Junior Boys division of each of six regional CN Future Links Championship being held in 2014 will earn exemptions into the 2014 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, which will be contested July 28 – August 1 at the Legends on the Niagara (Battlefield Course) in Niagara Falls, Ont. The Junior Girls champion from each 2014 CN Future Links Championship will earn an exemption into the 2014 Canadian Junior Girls Championship which runs July 28 – August 1 at Thornhill Golf and Country Club in Thornhill, Ont.

The second round of the 2014 CN Future Links Prairie Championship begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. CDT. For complete scoring and information, click here.

Shilo Country Club opened the Championship’s practice round with a bang on Thursday, May 29, 2014 with a special visit from members of the Shilo Military Base.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Mark Calcavecchia appeared to be off to yet another slow start after only two strokes.

He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year.

Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. shot 6-under 66 on Friday at Wakonda Club to share the lead in the Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic. Bobby Clampett, Peter Senior and Shane Lowery were a stroke back.

Calcavecchia, who lived in nearby Laurel, Nebraska until he was 13, said the rolling hills of the Wakonda Club reminded him of the course he learned to play on. He finished third in Iowa last season, and four straight birdies on the back nine helped put him atop the leaderboard.

“I’m comfortable on the course,” Calcavecchia said. “It’s still tough, and you still have to execute under pressure and handle your nerves and stuff. But the course does suit me.”

It didn’t look that way on the first hole.

Calcavecchia sent his approach flying over the green. But he put his next shot within 10 feet and made the par putt for his first and perhaps best save of the day.

Calcavecchia entered Friday ranked 63rd in opening-round scoring average, but fifth for final rounds.

“It was looking like I was going to bogey the first hole right off the hop,” Calcavecchia said.

Short followed an eagle on the 15th hole with a bogey. But Short, who has been up and down since opening the season with 10th- and 11th-place finishes, made a birdie putt on No. 18 to tie Calcavecchia.

Short’s 66 snapped a stretch of six straight rounds of 70 or higher.

“It’s been a long road for me. I was hurt for a number of years,” said Short, who has long battled back issues. “I put a lot of work into it and it’s starting to pay off.”

Clampett, whose best finish was a tie for 29th in March, got stuck in the bunker on the par-4 12th and mishit his approach en route to a bogey. But when faced with a similar shot on the next hole, Clampett holed out from 40 feet for eagle.

It was an encouraging start for Clampett, who shot his low round of the year.

Jay Haas began his attempt to become just the third player to win the same tournament four times with a 69. But history isn’t on Haas’s side, as no one has rallied from more than two strokes down to win in the 14-year history of the Iowa tournament.

Defending champion Russ Cochran had the day’s worst round, shooting a 6-over 78.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Paul Casey expected to be chasing someone Friday in the Memorial, figuring it would be Rory McIlroy.

After two holes, Casey had the lead to himself at Muirfield Village, and that was only the start of another big day. He took advantage of the par 5s for another 6-under 66, giving him a three-shot lead over Masters champion Bubba Watson going into the weekend.

McIlroy, whose 63 was the lowest first round in the 39-year history of the tournament, was barely in the picture. He was 15 shots worse with a 78, courtesy of three straight double bogeys and his fourth straight PGA Tour event with a nine-hole score of 40 or higher. McIlroy went from a three-shot lead to nine shots behind.

“To be honest, I thought I was going to be playing a round to try and maybe catch a couple of guys,” Casey said. “I woke up checking the scores to see what Rory was going to be. That’s really what I was going to be doing — see how many under I was going to have to try to shoot to chase. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

Casey, taking another step on a long road back from injuries that nearly derailed his career, was at 12-under 132.

He made his first birdie with his best drive of the day on the par-5 11th, setting up a 4-iron onto the green for a two-putt birdie. He made eagle on the par-5 15th hole for the second straight day, and he stuffed it close around the turn for birdies to start pulling away from the field.

Watson gave him a good run in an active round that featured six birdies, five bogeys and an eagle. He only was angry at a few shots where he failed to concentrate. Even so, a bogey-bogey finish wasn’t enough to entirely ruin his day. Watson has never finished better than 23rd in eight previous appearances.

“I can’t look at the bogeys,” Watson said. “I’ve got to look at where I’m at. If you told me it’s my best two days around this golf course, I’d take it.”

Chris Kirk (70) was four shots behind. Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Martin Flores (68) were five back.

Adam Scott, who won Colonial in his debut at No. 1 in the world, shot 70 and was at 5-under 139, still in the mix depending on how Casey fares on the weekend. Phil Mickelson was happy to get in two more rounds. He shot a 70, though he was 10 shots back.

Casey, once a Ryder Cup regular who reached as high as No. 3 in the world, is slowly getting his game and his life back in the right place. He endured injuries to his shoulder and his toe that kept him winless for more than two years. He went through a divorce. He wondered if he would ever return to the brand of golf he was capable of playing.

Weeks like this offer promise.

Casey won the Irish Open a year ago with what he called “spectacular” golf. The game is still there.

“It’s slowly crawling along and making progress, climbing back up the ladder, however you want to phrase it,” Casey said. “It’s very difficult when you’ve played to a certain level and then … I genuinely had no clue how to play to that level.

“Luckily, I didn’t think about that too long.”

His life is back in order. Casey is married to British television presenter Pollyanna Woodward. They are expecting their first child (a boy) in September. He talks about having perspective, knowing where golf fits on his list of what’s important.

His golf has looked familiar over the last two days.

McIlroy could say the same. Except for last week at the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he won with birdies on the last two holes, McIlroy’s good golf has been stalled by bad patches, and Friday was no exception.

In fact, it nearly has become the rule.

He shot a 43 on the back nine – he started the round at No. 10 – making this the fourth consecutive PGA Tour event where he shot at least 40 over nine holes. All of them have been in the second round.

McIlroy twice hit the trees on the 13th hole and made double bogey. He hit into the water on the 14th for double bogey. And then he double-hit a wedge on the 15th to make it three straight double bogeys.

“These little runs I’m getting on where it gets away from me, I was able to avoid that last week,” McIlroy said. “Not so much this week. Even though I had such a bad day, I’m still in with a chance depending on what the guys do this afternoon. So going into the weekend, not exactly where I want to be. But it could be worse.”

Casey simple made it a lot harder.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Jennifer Johnson matched the course record with a 9-under 62 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

The 22-year-old Johnson, the winner last year in Mobile, Alabama, had 10 birdies – five straight on Nos. 9-13 – and a bogey on the Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club.

“I’ve been playing well the past few weeks, so I felt pretty good about my game,” Johnson said. “If you just let it happen and just let a good round come together, normally it does.”

Haru Nomura had a bogey-free 63, and Christina Kim opened with a 64.

Top-ranked Inbee Park and Na Yeon Choi shot 66 in the morning session.

But they’re all chasing Johnson, who matched the record set by Laura Davies and Jimin Kang in 2005.

Johnson had a shot a 63 on the course two years ago.

“On 17, that’s when I was 8 under and I was trying to beat my 63,” Johnson said. “So then I started getting a little nervous because my goal was to get to 10 under, but I only got to 9. But when you shoot something that you’ve never shot before, nerves are going to happen.”

Nomura had eight birdies in her career-low round.

“All in all, my putting was on, my shot was really good and the conditions were great,” Nomura said. “So everything was perfect today.”

Kim finished with seven birdies, including a 35-foot putt on 11 that she called “one of the longest putts I’ve made since the 90s.”

Park, winless this season, had five birdies a week after missing the cut in Alabama to end her streak at 22 events.

Focusing on not letting her shoulder dip down too much, which she said caused her putts to veer to the left last week, Park drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole.

For Park, ranked No. 1 for 59 straight weeks, that was all she needed to get back on track.

“I was a little bit worried before I teed off today because of last week’s finish,” Park said. “But after I birdied the first hole, that really gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the 17 holes.”

Choi closed her round with an eagle on the par-5 ninth. She said she felt “good vibes” all day after watching Rory McIlroy shoot a 9-under 63 at the Memorial Tournament on Thursday.

Choi’s swing coach, Robin Symes, and caddie, David Jones, are both friendly with McIlroy, which has turned Choi into a big fan of the PGA Tour star.

“I’ve heard a lot of good stories about him,” Choi said. “I’ve never met him but it feels like we are good friends with each other. And hopefully one day I will see him and meet him.”

Second-ranked Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie shot 67, and 17-year-old Lydia Ko was another stroke back. Wie, who has seven top-10 finishes in 10 events this year, finished with five birdies but was disappointed that only one of them came on a par 5.

“Going into this golf course, I always want to take advantage of the par-5s on the front nine, but I didn’t quite do that today,” Wie said. “I think I did well on the par-4s and par-3s today. And tomorrow I’ve just got to keep doing the same and try to take advantage of the par-5s.”

Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, the winner last year, opened with a 69.

Jennifer Kirby, of the Young Pro Squad development team opened the tournament on a high note carding a 67 to tie for 6th.

MALMO, Sweden – Spain’s Alvaro Quiros shot a 5-under 67 Friday to move to the top of the Nordea Masters leaderboard along with Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Eddie Pepperell of England.

All three are 6 under after two rounds on the PGA Sweden National’s Lakes Course.

Even though Quiros had two eagles, he was disappointed with his putting.

“I’ve been hitting the ball very well from tee to green, but even with the scores I’ve had I have not putted great,” Quiros told europeantour.com.

Second-ranked Henrik Stenson birdied the last hole to move within a shot of the leaders. Fellow Swede and Masters runner-up Jonas Blixt missed the cut after his second consecutive 74.

“Sometimes golf is tough. Nothing went my way, but I can’t say I made a fool of myself. I played pretty well for 30 holes,” said Blixt, who had two double bogeys on the first day.

Several players struggled in the strong winds including Miguel Angel Jimenez who shot a 73 on the day for a 2-under total.

Earlier this season we looked at how outside agencies became involved on the PGA and Web.com Tours, with players seeking assistance from Rule 18-1 – Ball at Rest Moved by an Outside Agency. In those situations, players and Tournament Officials were fortunate to have television evidence at their disposal to help determine the original location of the competitor’s balls.

More recently, a situation occurred at the BMW PGA Championship overseas where Pablo Larrazabal’s ball came to rest on an outside agency – while there was plenty of media coverage via television and social media, the evidence spoke for itself when Larrazabal reached the location of his ball.

Larrazabal’s approach to the 18^th green found it’s way between the pant legs of a spectator and remained there at rest. While the ball came to rest on the spectator, who is deemed to be an outside agency, and contrary to the Rules used in the filming of Happy Gilmore, Larrazabal was not required to ‘play the ball as it lies’.

Under Rule 19-1 – Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped by an Outside Agency, Larrazabal was able to obtain relief, without penalty, in this situation. Rule 19-1, in part states the following:

If a player’s ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, except:

a) If a player’s ball in motion after a stroke other than on the putting green comes to rest in or on any moving or animate outside agency, the ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball came to rest in or on the outside agency, but not nearer the hole…

Due to the fact that the ball was not touching part of the golf course when it came to rest through the green, Larrazabal was required to drop the ball as near as possible to the spot where the ball originally lay. Unfortunately, Shooter McGavin did not have the same relief option available to him in his closely contested game with Happy Gilmore.

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