AVONDALE, La. – As Seung-Yul Noh exhaled and tilted his head back in a skyward gaze on the 18th green, follow South Korean players Y.E. Yang and Charlie Wi charged toward him, spraying him with bottled beer.

Noh smiled, removed his hat, held both arms out and soaked it all in.

The 22-year-old overcame windy conditions and the pressure that goes with attempting to secure a maiden PGA Tour triumph, shooting a 1-under 71 on Sunday to win the Zurich Classic by two shots.

He also knew he achieved another goal of providing some joy to a nation that has been reeling since a passenger ship capsized April 16, leaving 300 missing or dead.

“Hopefully, they’ll be happy,” said Noh, who wore black and yellow ribbons on his white golf hat to honor victims of the ferry accident.

While Noh, the leader through three rounds, never fell out of first, he did make his first three bogeys of the tournament and briefly fell into a tie with Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner who had the gallery behind him.

But Bradley did himself in with a bogey on the fifth hole and a triple bogey on the sixth.

“I actually played pretty well,” Bradley said. “Just made one bad swing on 6 and had a bunch of lip-outs.”

Noh remained steady enough- even with wind gusting up to 30 mph – to hold off the remaining challengers.

“Very challenging today out there, especially playing with Keegan, a major champion, and heavy wind,” Noh said.

Noh needed a few clutch shots on the back nine, including a chip out of a grassy downhill lie on the edge of a bunker on 13, which hit the flag on a bounce, setting up a routine birdie putt. On 16, with wind in his face, Noh landed his approach 3 feet from the hole to set up his last birdie, then made a 14-foot par putt on 17 to assure a two-shot cushion on the final hole, uncharacteristically pumping his first afterward.

“Yeah, that was a clutch putt,” Noh said, explaining that it left him “very comfortable” on 18.

Noh had made 77 previous PGA Tour starts, never finishing better than tied for fourth at the 2012 AT&T National.

He took the third-round lead in New Orleans while becoming the first to play 54 holes at TPC Louisiana without a bogey. The seventh first-time PGA Tour winner in the last 10 years in the New Orleans event, Noh finished at 19-under 269 and earned $1,224,000. He was playing for the first time with caddie Scott Sajtinac, who seemed awe struck by Noh’s combination of talent, wisdom and sense of calm for a player so young.

“He’s going to be good,” Sajtinac said. “He was unflappable. You need to be unflappable to win on the PGA Tour.”

Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb tied for second. Svoboda had a 69. Streb shot 70, including an eagle on the second hole, and was one shot off the lead after a birdie on 8, but his tee shot was pushed into water by a crosswind on the par-3 ninth hole, and he made double-bogey.

Jeff Overton, who briefly pulled within a stroke of Noh on the back nine, had a 70 to finish fourth at 16 under.

Bradley wound up with a 75 to tie for eighth at 13 under.

On Saturday, Bradley worked his way into the final group, two strokes behind Noh, with a 65.

Bradley was within a stroke after the first hole Sunday, which saw Noh hit his drive into mulch right of the fairway en route to his first bogey. Bradley then birdied the par-5 second hole to tie Noh.

But just a few holes later, Bradley missed a par putt from less than 2 feet, and followed that up by hitting his drive into the water on No. 6. Then, he three-putted to complete a pivotal two-hole stretch in which he dropped four strokes.

While Bradley never recovered from his front-nine falter, Noh still had to ward off a challenge from Overton, who was one stroke back after his 20-foot birdie putt on 10.

Overton, however, bogeyed 11 when he hit his drive into a bunker left of the fairway and his second shot over the fairway and right of the cart path.

Noh, meanwhile, has the victory he needed to get into The Players Championship next month, and his first Masters next spring.

“Dreams come true,” Noh said. “When I started at 7 playing golf, I dreamed of always playing (on the) PGA Tour … or playing any major, especially the Masters.”

In Canadian action, Graham DeLaet secured a top-30 finish thanks for a 7-under 281 finish. David Hearn was a shot back at 6-under 282 and tied for 34th.

MIDLAND, Texas – Andrew Putnam won the WNB Golf Classic for his first Web.com Tour title Sunday when high wind wiped out the final round at Midland Country Club.

The 25-year-old Putnam completed seven holes and had an eight-stroke lead when play was stopped shortly after noon with sustained wind of 28 mph and gusts to 43 mph. The gusts reached 50 mph about an hour later.

Putnam, a former Pepperdine player from Tacoma, Wash., shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to reach 20 under and open a seven-stroke advantage.

“Seven shots was a big margin and I was playing well, but you never really know how it’s going to work out,” Putnam said. “I had some nervous feelings not knowing if I was going to go out and play. It’s a bummer that we couldn’t play it all the way out. I’m sure it would have been a different feeling walking up 18 with a big lead. I can’t remember the last time I won.”

Putnam earned $108,000 to jump from sixth to second on the money list with $248,273, more than enough to earn a spot on the 2014-15 PGA Tour. His older brother, Michael, is on the PGA Tour this season and after winning the Web.com Tour money title last year.

“It was always my goal to win early this year,” Andrew Putnam said. “I saw my brother do it last year when he won twice. He was able to keep that confidence going. When you get off to a hot start it takes pressure off of you.”

Sweden’s Richard S. Johnson and Australia’s Rod Pamlping tied for second.

Albin Choi of Toronto finished at 7-under 209 and tied for 22nd. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. tied for 51st at at 4-under 212, while Roger Sloan of Merrit, B.C. tied for 60th after finishing at 3-under 213.

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, a two-time winner this year, leads the money list with $318,588. The former North Texas player tied for ninth at 10 under.

FISHERS, Ind. – Team Canada’s Jennifer Ha continued her red hot play of late, winning medalist honours at the Mid-American Conference Championship on Sunday.

Ha kept her foot on the gas heading into Sunday’s final round, shooting a round-low 74 to sneak from behind to capture the win. The 20-year-old finished one stroke ahead of runner-up and Kent State teammate, Natalie Goodson.

Ha put herself in a great position to win after Saturday’s 3-under 69, highlighted by eight birdies. The Kent State junior is also fresh off of winning the Women’s Golfer of the Week for the Mid-American Conference just one week earlier. This was in large part due to her win at the Lady Buckeye Invitational that same week.

Other Canadians in the field included, Jenna Hague of Burlington, Ont. who finished in solo fifth at 11-over, while Kent State’s Josee Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. finished T6 after rounds of  73-79-77.

Collectively, the Kent State Golden Flashes dominated the competition with a 19-stroke victory. Ha, Goodson and Wad Phaewchimplee finished 1,2,3 respectively, with Doyon finishing tied for sixth and Erin Hawe finishing 18^th.

The Golden Flashes will look to ride their momentum into the NCAA Regionals from May 8-10.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

SHENZHEN, China – Alexander Levy was so relaxed on the course at the China Open on Sunday, not even a double bogey that erased his comfortable lead could wipe the grin from his face.

Rather than get down over what could have been a costly mistake, the 23-year-old Frenchman recovered with back-to-back birdies on his final two holes to capture his maiden European Tour title by four strokes over Tommy Fleetwood.

The smile, he said, was the key to victory.

“You need to take the pleasure on the golf course and keep the smile because if you are upset about a missed shot or not lucky because you make a lip out or something like that, it’s not good to have this feeling on the golf course,” he said. “You need to enjoy and have the smile.”

Levy, playing in just his second year on the tour, vaulted into the lead with a career-best 10-under 62 in the second round and looked to be headed for a runaway victory after making a birdie on the 13th Sunday to extend his lead to five shots.

But then he ran into trouble on the par-4 15th. After hitting his approach shot well past the green, he putted from the fringe and sent the ball off the other side of the green. He chipped back to the green and two-putted for a double bogey, allowing Fleetwood back within two strokes.

Fleetwood, playing in the group ahead of Levy, then tightened the pressure further with a birdie on the par-5 17th to pull another shot back.

Levy responded, however, with a flawless 3-iron approach shot over a lake on the same hole to set up a three-foot birdie putt.

“I just closed my eyes and got one of the best shots of the week to the green,” he said.

After Fleetwood bogeyed the 18th, Levy sealed the win by dropping another perfectly placed approach shot three feet from the pin for another birdie. He shot a final-round 69 for a 19-under 269 overall.

“We aim for wins, but today I didn’t really have a chance. I had to play outstanding golf, but Alex has led from Friday, and that’s one of the hardest things you can do,” Fleetwood said. “What a performance from him.”

Levy has faltered under pressure before. Last year, he was tied with Ernie Els entering the final round of the BMW International Open in Munich but let the title slip away with four bogeys on the back nine. He ended up in third, his previous best result on the tour.

Since then, however, he said he’s been inspired by the success of his good friend and compatriot, Victor Dubuisson, who beat Tiger Woods to win his first European Tour title at the Turkish Airlines Open in November and then was runner-up to Jason Day at the Match Play Championship in February.

The other French players have given him plenty of encouragement as he chased his first tour victory this week, too.

Dubuisson has sent him text messages throughout the week, and the French contingent in Shenzhen doused him with celebratory champagne after he sank his final putt on the 18th.

“We have some great players in France, both young and old, and we all have a great relationship,” Levy said. “There are some very good players and have been some great wins for Victor, Julien Quesne, Greg Bourdy, Raphael Jacquelin over the past couple of years which is great for French golf and great with the Ryder Cup coming to France in 2018.”

Fleetwood was second at 15 under and Alvaro Quiros of Spain was third, another two strokes back.

No. 3-ranked Henrik Stenson, who was bedridden with the flu earlier this week, finally put together his first solid round of the tournament, with seven birdies and no bogeys for a 65. The Swede improved to joint fifth place but still fell short of the win he needed to overtake Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings.

“It’s really tight and I just need to play better if I want to get to that spot. And I should have to play better than I have done earlier on this year if I want to get to world No. 1, that’s for sure,” he said.

PGA champion Jason Dufner opened with a birdie-eagle on his first two holes before slipping back to joint 54th with two double bogeys and a triple bogey on the 17th.

DALY CITY, Calif. – Stacy Lewis matched 17-year-old playing partner Lydia Ko with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and added another on the 17th to take a one-stroke lead Saturday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

The third-ranked Lewis and fourth-ranked Ko each shot 4-under 68 at Lake Merced. Winless since the Women’s British Open in August, Lewis had a 10-under 206 total.

Ko won the Canadian Women’s Open as an amateur the last two years and took the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in December in Thailand in her second start as a professional. She has five victories in pro events.

Jenny Shin was four strokes back at 6 under. She also shot 68.

Michelle Wie, the winner last week in Hawaii, was tied for 13th at 1 under after a 71.

Canada’s Alena Sharp was 6-over thru three rounds and tied for 48th.

AVONDALE, La. – Seung-Yul Noh became the first player to complete 54 holes at the TPC Louisiana without a bogey and strung together three birdies late in his round Saturday to surge two strokes ahead of Keegan Bradley atop the Zurich Classic leaderboard.

Noh shot a 7-under 65 to reach 18-under 198.

Bradley, who began the day tied for seventh at 9 under, pulled into a tie with Noh for first on No. 15 with his seventh birdie of the day. Then, Noh, who was tied for third at 11 under after two rounds, made birdie putts of 13 feet on 14 and 10 feet on 15 before hitting a 112-yard approach shot to a foot for another birdie, bringing him to 18 under.

Bradley also shot 65.

Robert Streb was third, three shots back after a 68.

Ben Martin, who had a three-shot lead after two rounds, shot a 73 to drop into a tie for fourth with Jeff Overton and Andrew Svoboda at 14 under. Overton shot 67, and Svoboda 70.

Noh, from South Korea, has been playing with yellow and blue ribbons affixed to his cap to honor victims of the fatal ferry accident in the waters off of his home country.

He said he hoped he could play well Sunday to provide Koreans with a dose of good news.

This marks the first time that Noh has led a PGA Tour event through three rounds. This is his third year on the tour, but he finished outside the top 125 on the money list last season, forcing him to play in Web.com Tour Finals events to retain his tour card.

He had never before been higher on the leaderboard than tied for second through three rounds. That happened once at the 2012 AT&T National, but he shot a 2-over 73 in his final round to finish tied fo fourth, his best finish in 77 previous career PGA Tour starts.

Martin had raced to the lead with a course-record 10-under 62 in his first round, and his 36-hole score of 129 also was a course record. Teeing off with the final group, his trouble began on the par-5 second hole. He pushed his second shot to the right toward the crowd. His ball hit a spectator and kicked right into a cluster of long pompass grass, out of which it was virtually impossible to hit.

Martin took a drop and wound up with a bogey.

Two Canadians qualified for weekend action in Louisiana.

Graham DeLaet is at 8-under 208 and is tied for 28th, while David Hearn is tied for 50th at 5-under 211.

SHENZHEN, China – Alexander Levy of France overcame driving rain and gusting winds to shoot a 2-under 70 at the China Open on Saturday and maintain a three-stroke lead over Alvaro Quiros of Spain heading into the final round.

Levy, aiming for his first European Tour title, birdied three straight holes on the back nine, but opened the door for Quiros with bogeys on No. 14 and 16. The Spaniard couldn’t close the gap, however, making two bogeys of his own down the stretch.

Levy has a 16-under total of 200.

Finland’s Mikko Ilonen was four strokes back in third place after a 67, while England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui (71) were another stroke behind in a tie for fourth.

A day after 15-year-old Chinese amateur Guan Tianlang failed to make the cut, another young homegrown talent, 18-year-old Li Haotong, shot a 67 to match the low score of the day and jump into joint eighth at 7 under.

Third-ranked Henrik Stenson, however, didn’t make up any ground on the leaders, falling 12 shots behind after shooting a 71. The Swede needed a win here to take over the top ranking from Tiger Woods – a goal that now appears well out of reach.

Levy wasn’t nearly as accurate as he was on Friday, when he holed a 20-foot putt for eagle and sunk eight birdies en route to setting a new course record at Genzon Golf Club. But he handled the nasty weather at the start of his round and maintained his focus after his late bogeys, managing to avoid a third with a 15-foot putt for par on the 18th.

The Frenchman knows he will face a lot more pressure on Sunday, even with a three-stroke cushion. Last year, he was tied with Ernie Els for the lead heading into the final round of the BMW International Open, but committed four bogeys in his last nine holes to slip to third.

“I will be nervous, but because you’re nervous doesn’t mean you can’t play well,” he said. “I’ll sleep nicely because I’m tired. It was a long day with the weather and difficult golf course.”

Quiros has six European Tour titles to his credit but hasn’t gotten a win – or even a top-three finish – since his title at the Dubai World Championship in November 2011.

“If Alex plays really well then we might not be able to catch him,” he said. “It has been two and a half years since I won so I have not had those feeling for a long time.”

With the leaders so far ahead, Li is playing for another goal – a big payday. The golf club has pledged to double the purse for any Chinese player finishing in the top five.

While Guan has received most of the attention in China after his breakthrough performance at last year’s Masters, where he became the youngest player to make the cut, Li is perhaps better poised to make an immediate impact on the game.

Last year, he signed an endorsement deal with Nike and played remarkably well against elite fields at the HSBC Champions and BMW Masters in his hometown of Shanghai, finishing tied for 39th and 42nd, respectively. And after practicing on the Genzon Golf Club course for the last two months, he’s close to his first top-five finish.

“I’m very happy. I want to keep that name on the leaderboard,” he said.

England’s Ian Poulter also shot a 67 Saturday to move up to equal 11th place. But Poulter said he was still smarting from a two-stroke penalty he incurred on the 13th hole Friday when he improperly measured his drop after hitting into the rough. He took a triple-bogey 8 on the hole, following a double bogey on the 12th.

“I shouldn’t be happy with the position I’m in. I dropped five shots yesterday in two holes. It’s unacceptable. It’s disgraceful,” he said. “I should be a lot closer to the lead, but that’s golf. You can’t have it perfect all the time.”

SHENZHEN, China – Alexander Levy of France shot a career-best 10-under 62 to open a four-shot lead after the second round of the China Open on Friday.

Henrik Stenson tried to keep alive his chances of taking over the No. 1 world ranking with a 70 to sit at 3 under overall, 11 shots behind Levy. The Swede can nudge Tiger Woods out of the top spot with a win here.

Levy, whose best finish on the European Tour was third place at last year’s BMW International Open, sunk a 20-foot eagle putt on the ninth hole to cap a front-nine 30.

He then birdied four more times on the back nine to finish at 14-under 130, four shots clear of Spaniard Adrian Otaegui in second.

“I played unbelievably,” Levy said. “I shot 63 at Kingsbarns during the Dunhill Links in Scotland last year, but this course is a lot tougher and I am only starting to realize how good that score is.”

Ian Poulter, meanwhile, saw a promising round fall apart on a disastrous par-5 13th hole where he was assessed a two-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong spot after hitting into dense foliage and incorrectly measuring his own drop. He took a triple-bogey and ended up with a 74, still good enough to make the cut.

The cut was at par, which U.S. PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner barely made after shooting a 71.

The 15-year-old Chinese amateur Guan Tianlang, however, was sent home after a 76. He’s only made one cut on the U.S. PGA and European Tours after his sensational debut at the Masters last year, when he became the youngest player to complete 72 holes.

Levy began his climb up the leaderboard in the Thursday twilight when most golfers were already in the clubhouse or long gone. Playing in one of the last groups, the Frenchman was tied for the lead but bogeyed the eighth hole in the faltering light before play was finally suspended.

“It was tough because it was dark and I made some bogey and I wasn’t happy in my bed last night,” he said. “I just focused on finishing the first round well this morning and continuing this afternoon.”

Levy was a newcomer to the tour – he gained his playing card only last year – but he’s been in these types of high-pressure situations before. He had a share of the lead with Ernie Els heading into the final round of the BMW International Open, but faltered with four bogeys in Sunday’s opening nine holes.

He said he’s been inspired by the recent performance of his good friend and fellow Frenchman, Victor Dubuisson, who held off Tiger Woods, Stenson and Poulter to win his first European Tour title at the Turkish Airlines Open in November.

“What he has done over the past few months has been amazing and it has really had an effect on all the French players, so hopefully I can try to emulate that,” Levy said.

If he stumbles, Stenson is close enough to make a move.

The No. 3-ranked Swede is on the mend after coming down with the flu this week, which prevented him from practicing before Thursday’s opening round. He said he felt better that night but then woke up on Friday weak and tired again.

Still, he believes he’s playing well enough to challenge the leaders this weekend.

“I made six birdies out there today and missed a few good opportunities to make more,” he said. “But then I threw a silly double in there and a few bogeys as well so I need to cut that out.”

Poulter was upset with himself, as well, after his mistake on the 13th. He measured two club-lengths for his first drop from the foliage, but that landed on a cart path, requiring a second drop. He measured two club-lengths again but should have just taken one.

“We make mistakes, I guess, and that was a fun one,” he said. “Guess I need to get the rulesbook back out and start chewing it.”

Dufner is happy just to be sticking around for the weekend after curling in a 15-footer for birdie on No. 6 and scrambling to make par on No. 9, his final hole.

“It’s been a struggle all year for me, so far, with scoring,” he said. “Luckily I play a lot of the tougher events so you don’t have to shoot a lot of low scores, but guys are shooting pretty good scores out here.”

DALY CITY, Calif. – Karine Icher and her caddie husband, Fred, evaluated the conditions and course at challenging Lake Merced and decided on a Day 1 strategy: stay short of the pin and putt uphill.

The move worked beautifully and Icher delivered the most consistent performance on a day there weren’t many in the debut of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

“I think it’s the key on this course,” Icher said. “It’s a tough golf course, especially with the wind and temperature. It gets so cold. You try to stay warm and try to catch the right wind and go with it and make some putts.”

The Frenchwoman birdied four of her first seven holes and finished with a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take the lead, two strokes ahead of Lydia Ko and several others. Afterward, Icher was off to pick up nearly 2-year-old daughter, Lola, from the tour’s children’s care.

The start was delayed two hours because of fog and play was suspended because of darkness with 24 players still on the course.

Icher had a bogey-free round and hit all but one green in regulation. Many struggled off the tee or with their putters on speedy, tricky greens on a cool day with plenty of wind and hovering fog not far off the Pacific Ocean.

The gallery sang “Happy Birthday” to Ko on her 17th birthday as she started from the first tee, and Ko came through with a 68 on a day she was also named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people. Ko’s group barely beat the horn for darkness.

“I wanted to finish today,” she said, acknowledging the birthday song was “kind of embarrassing” but much-appreciated.

Morgan Pressel birdied four of her first eight holes and was among the players sitting three strokes back at 69.

Mo Martin also shot a 69 after warming up four times before finally hitting her first tee shot following the fog delay.

Pressel, whose round began on the back nine, went to 4 under at the turn.

Top-ranked Inbee Park opened with a 73 in the $1.8 million event, while second-ranked Suzann Pettersen had a 70 in her first tournament since missing three events with a back injury. On the par-4 11th, a frustrated Pettersen made an 8-foot putt for triple-bogey to fall from 3 under to even par before bouncing back.

Michelle Wie, coming off her first win in nearly four years last week in her home state of Hawaii, finished at even-par 72.

Those who were still on the course will resume their rounds Friday morning, so many will have a quick turnaround after a short break.

Angela Stanford and Se Ri Pak withdrew Thursday, and neither have yet to provide a reason to tournament officials.

Canadians were not immune to the challenging opening-round conditions.

Alena Sharp opened with a 2-over 74.

Langley, B.C.’s Sue Kim had yet to compete her round, but was 2-over thru 15 holes of her first round.

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. was 7-over thru her first 11 holes, but rallied with two birdies to get to 5-over.

Mississauga, Ont.’s Brogan McKinnon, playing in her first LPGA Tour event after Monday qualifying, was 6-over after a 78.

AVONDALE, La. – Ben Martin treated a tiny gallery to a course-record round, shooting a 10-under 62 on Thursday in the first round of the Zurich Classic.

Martin’s 10th birdie was his most spectacular shot in a round full of them as he chipped in from 55 feet on the par-3 17th hole. That came a hole after the 26-year-old former Clemson player he hit the flag on a chip from behind the green, setting up a tap-in par.

The previous record at TPC Louisiana was a 64, accomplished many times, including once earlier Thursday, when Andrew Svoboda did it to take a lead that held up until Martin surged past late in the day.

Peter Hanson and Sueng-Yul Noh were tied for third at 65.

Martin matched his career best Sunday with a third-place tie in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C. He also finished third last month in the Puerto Rico Open.

Martin opened with a 10-foot birdie putt, the first of six birdies on the front nine, most set up by approach shots within 10 feet. One exception was his 26-foot birdie putt on No. 5. He opened the back nine with a 14-foot birdie putt, made a 10-footer on 11 and a 20-footer on 13.

Svoboda birdied six of his last nine holes.

Like Martin, the 34-year-old Svoboda has never won on the PGA Tour and appreciates how much can change in the next three rounds. At the same time, New Orleans has seen its share of maiden tour triumphs. It has happened in six of the past nine years, and 10 of the past 16.

“I’ll take that stat,” Svoboda said.

Svoboda’s best career finish on the PGA Tour is a tie for 15th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas last October.

Hanson’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the par 4 sixth hole. After a 277-yard drive to the middle of the fairway, Hanson knocked in his second shot with a 6-iron from 183 yards.

Hanson noted that he used the same club for a hole-in-one during a practice round at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., last weekend.

“So it’s holed out twice in the last five days,” Hanson said.

Hanson, who missed the cut at the Masters, said the key to his strong start in New Orleans was probably putting away his clubs for four days after returning from Augusta and trying to relax more.

“We want to do this so exact and be so precise,” Hanson said. “I over-read putts and overanalyze the shots, trying to figure this game out. I think sometimes you have to let the score come to you instead of you going after it.”

Erik Compton, Chad Collins and Michael Thompson were tied for fifth at 66, and Jeff Overton, Stuart Appleby and Robert Streb followed at 67.

Compton, a two-time heart transplant recipient, spent the early part of the week talking to children with heart conditions at a New Orleans-area hospital and also participated in a junior golf clinic. Although that limited his practice time, he thought it put him in a good frame of mind.

“It seems to really relax me and really puts things in perspective,” Compton said. “I seem to play better during the weeks where I have hospital visits.”

On the par-5 seventh, his 297-yard drive sailed right of the fairway, crossing a cart path. He then belted a 227-yard shot out of the rough to the foot of the green and two-putted for birdie. On eight, he cringed disgustedly as he left a 1-foot birdie putt on the lip of the hole, but responded by closing his round with a 22-foot birdie putt on nine to briefly put him atop the leaderboard.

“This is a course that I feel very comfortable on,” said Compton, also winless on the PGA Tour. “You have to hit a lot of long iron shots and drive it well here, and those are some of the strengths of my game.”

Graham DeLaet is leading the Canadian charge. The Weyburn, Sask. native is tied for 20th at 3-under par.

David Hearn opened with a 1-under 71 and sits tied for 54th.

Mike Weir, Stephen Ames and Brad Fritsch were 2-over on the day after all firing 74s to sit among a group tied for 114th.