Tiger Woods is hosting another tournament, this one for recreational golfers on courses that include Merion and Congressional, and a gem north of Boston that a century ago was reputed to be the toughest U.S. Open course.

The Tiger Woods Foundation, which has seven learning centers and funds the Earl Woods Scholarship Program, has been raising money primarily through five events. There’s the Tiger Jam in Las Vegas (a charity concert and poker night) and the Tiger Woods Invitational (a private tournament for donors at Pebble Beach). The foundation also benefits from the Quicken Loans National and Deutsche Bank Championship on the PGA Tour, and his 18-man World Challenge in December.

The latest venture is called the Tiger Woods Charity Playoffs. It’s an amateur golf series that stretches over five months on eight golf courses, and it rewards the best players and fundraisers with a final event in Orlando, Fla., at the end of the year.

“My foundation provides really awesome experiences, and this event allows all golfers to play cool courses for charity,” Woods said in an email through his foundation.

Two-person teams can select a regional qualifying tournament with a registration fee ($500 per player on most courses), a $1,000 charity pledge and a goal of fundraising. The teams with the low net and gross score from each site, along with any team that raises $10,000 or more, qualify for the Charity Playoff Finals on Dec. 1-2. All money is in U.S funds.

Finalists gets two days of golf, two nights in the Four Seasons Resort at Walt Disney World Resort, a private exhibition with Woods and clubhouse credentials to the World Challenge. The team that raises the most money will get pro-am spots in the three PGA Tour-sanctioned events for 2015.

The first event is May 27 at Cascata in Las Vegas. Other courses are Congressional, Merion, Trump National in New Jersey, Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Calif., Innisbrook in Florida and Myopia Hunt north of Boston.

Most of the courses are private, including Myopia Hunt outside Boston, which hosted the U.S. Open four times between 1898 and 1908 and produced three of the highest winning scores in U.S. Open history.

The series was officially announced three weeks ago, and 31 donors already have signed up for Merion, where the U.S. Open was played last year for the fifth time.

“We wanted to reach out to a new audience, amateur players, who can play these great courses and raise money for charities,” Foundation spokeswoman Emily Taylor said.

Players can sign up here.

Taylor said the foundation did not set a goal for how much money to raise. Proceeds are to benefit the Tiger Woods Learning Centers – the main one in Anaheim, Calif., one in Florida, two in Philadelphia and three in the Washington, D.C., area – and the Earl Woods Scholarship Program. Some of the money will be split among the foundation and charities designated by regional tournaments, particularly if they don’t have a learning center.

NOTE: In order to participate in the Tiger Woods Charity Playoffs you must have a valid Handicap Factor. Learn more about becoming a Golf Canada member and getting a Golf Canada Handicap Factor here.

Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? It may seem like a strange question but it is one that I have asked many members of Team Canada. In my opinion, golf – more than any other sport – reflects life. It has many highs and lows and your reaction to important situations has consequences down the road. Most golfers let their results control their attitudes. Play well and all is great; play poorly and their attitude stinks.

Go into any clubhouse after a round and you will listen to whole conversations about poor shots, three putts and balls never to be seen again. Does anyone benefit from this negativity, either on or off the course?

The 50% Rule

50% of your playing partners don’t care that you shot 80 and the other 50% wish you had shot 81.

While factors like the weather, course conditions and other players’ results are out of your control when playing golf, you are in charge of your reaction to every stroke. The most important part of any shot may be the first few seconds after impact. What you do during this time can either create great memories or initiate a chain of events that will prevent you from playing your best. The moments after each shot provide feedback that you can either celebrate or use for adjustment. If you are a thermometer you react to and display change in your environment. Based on the result of a shot your temperature (attitude) could change drastically. If you are a thermostat you remain in control and can set your optimum temperature, no matter the result.

Skill Drill

It’s all about control

Controlling your attitude is a skill, and like any skill you can master it if you follow the correct steps.

Go to a pitching green with two balls for each target. Pick a definite landing point and trajectory, go through your full routine and execute your first shot.

Pay attention to the result. Did you make the desired contact? Did the ball land in the correct area? Did it behave on the surface as expected? Where did it finish?

Using these criteria you can make adjustments for the second shot. The idea is to gain feedback from the result rather than react to it emotionally.

With your second ball try to implement the changes required to achieve your intended result. This could mean changing the club you used, moving the landing point or using a technical cue to improve contact. Remember the goal is to gain feedback and implement change.

After the second ball, go through the same process again. Analyze the result post-shot, but this time simulate any changes necessary without hitting another ball. Contemplate the change required and move on, just as you would on the golf course.

If you executed the shot as planned you should celebrate; a positive result needs reinforcement in order to be remembered. Create a small personal celebration for successful shots and do this every single time the shot matches your intention.

In life and golf you will always make mistakes; in both cases you should strive to learn from them and move on. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

This article first appeared in the April 2014 edition of Golf Canada magazine.

ST ANDREWS, Scotland – Peter Dawson will retire next year as chief executive of The R&A after 16 years with the governing body in charge of the Rules of Golf and organizing the British Open.

The R&A says Tuesday that Dawson will step down in September 2015. He will also be also leaving his role as secretary of Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the 2,400-member club whose headquarters overlook the Old Course at St. Andrews.

In a statement, the R&A hailed the “continuing commercial success” of the British Open under Dawson since he joined the organization in 1999. He was also a key figure in securing golf’s return to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The R&A says Dawson’s successor is expected to be made “in sufficient time to allow for an appropriate handover period in 2015.”

The recruitment of a successor will be handled by international executive search firm Spencer Stuart and the position will begin being advertised this weekend.

COLOMBUS, Ohio – Team Canada’s Jennifer Ha captured medalist honours at the Buckeye Invitational on Sunday with a one-stroke victory over Kelly Grassel of Michigan State.

Ha, a junior at Kent State, grabbed a share of the lead with Kent State teammate and fellow Canadian Josée Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Qué., following Friday’s opening round.

Ha maintained her advantage by shooting a 3-over 75 Saturday. On Sunday, the Calgary native slammed the door on the competition by firing a final round 71, her best score for the tournament. She finished with a 2-over par 218.

Doyon faltered down the stretch, falling to a tie for 10^th place after going 79-77 to close out the tournament.

Collectively, the Kent State Golden Flashes lost their second round lead to the Ohio State Buckeyes, who closed with final round of 291, the lowest score for any team through three days of competition. The Golden Flashes finished in a tie for second with Michigan State, eight strokes back of the host Buckeyes.

Kent State will look to build off this performance as they head into the Mid-American Conference Championship this upcoming Friday.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

DULUTH, Ga. – Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event.

Jimenez held off Bernhard Langer to win the Greater Gwinnett Championship on Sunday, becoming only the third player to lead from start to finish in his debut on the 50-and-over tour.

Jimenez, coming off a fourth-place finish in the Masters, closed with a 67 to finish two strokes ahead of Langer. Jimenez finished the tournament with 32 consecutive holes without a bogey at TPC Sugarloaf.

The Spaniard said he can’t make a commitment to the Champions Tour this year because his goal is making the European Ryder Cup team.

“To me it’s not about money,” Jimenez said. “It’s about some different goals to make me feel proud of myself. To me I would feel nice to play on the Ryder Cup once more.”

Langer, the defending champion, shot his third-straight 68. Jimenez and Langer were tied at 10 under before a two-shot swing on No. 8. Jimenez needed only a short putt for a birdie, and Langer fell two strokes behind with his bogey.

After that, Jimenez avoided mistakes down the stretch, leaving no opening for Langer or Jay Haas, who shot 67 and was third, four shots off the lead.

Jimenez insisted the win wasn’t easy.

“When you hit the ball straight and you put the ball close to the hole it looks easy, but nothing is easy,” he said. “You need to keep calm yourself. … I like to feel the pressure and … the people that are coming behind bite me.”

Langer said his inability to make birdie putts kept him from putting pressure on Jimenez.

“I had a number of opportunities, just couldn’t make any putts today,” Langer said. “And he played very, very solid all day.”

Jimenez stretched his lead to three strokes before he showed that on this day even his mistakes brought no harm. He hit his tee shot on No. 15 into a tree – but it bounced back into the fairway. From there, he hit his next shot into a bunker but still salvaged par.

The win assured, Jimenez tipped his visor to the fans as he walked up the 18th fairway. He then winked and blew a kiss to a TV camera.

He brought his victory cigar to his postgame press conference.

“I showed my game is in very good shape now,” said Jimenez, who added he isn’t complaining about life at 50.

“I’m very happy with my age and the way I’m doing,” he said. “The last 15 years is when my best golf is coming. It’s nice. No complaint with 50.”

Langer said he doesn’t expect to see Jimenez on the Champions Tour again this year.

“He said he wasn’t going to play anymore this year because he wants … to be the oldest European player to ever play on the Ryder Cup,” Langer said. “That’s his goal. But, you know, goals can sometimes change. Who knows, maybe he makes the Ryder Cup team by July and he’ll decide to come out for a couple of weeks.”

Fred Couples, in the final group with Jimenez and Langer, shot 70 and was fourth. Langer tied for eighth and Couples tied for 20th in the Masters. Jimenez said coming out on top of the high-profile group made the win even nicer.

“Of course it’s satisfaction,” Jimenez said. “The better quality the field, the more satisfied you are with the victory. All three were playing very well in the Masters. We all were in contention. That’s nice.”

Steve Pate, Duffy Waldorf and David Frost tied for fifth. Willie Wood shot 66 and was in a group tied for eighth.

Jimenez became the second straight player to win in his debut on the Champions Tour, following Jeff Maggert in last month’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.

Rod Funseth (1983 Hall of Fame Tournament) and Bruce Fleisher (1999 Royal Caribbean Classic) are the only other players to lead from start to finish in their first Champions Tour events.

Canada’s Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge finished as part of a group that tied for 29th at 1-under 215.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Matt Kuchar overcame a four-stroke deficit to finally finish on top, when his stunning chip-in on the 18th hole gave him a 64 and a victory at the RBC Heritage on Sunday.

Kuchar was four shots behind Luke Donald at the start but made that up with seven birdies on his first 10 holes. He had a birdie putt of less than eight feet at the par-3 17th, but three-putted for bogey to fall into a tie for first.

Kuchar was in more trouble in a bunker at Harbour Town Golf Links’ closing lighthouse hole. That’s when he blasted out and watched the ball rattle in for birdie. Kuchar punched the air and raised his arms in celebration of what would be his seventh career PGA Tour win.

Donald had two holes to catch Kuchar after the chip but couldn’t do it. He missed a 28-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, then saw his own try at a chip-in birdie slide past the cup.

Kuchar finished at 11-under 273 to win $1.044 million and his first trophy since the Memorial last June.

Kuchar has spent a month of Sundays in the thick of things, only to come up short. He was two strokes behind winner Steven Bowditch at the Texas Open on March 30, lost a playoff to Matt Jones’ 42-yard chip-in on the first extra hole in Houston the next week, then was tied for the lead at Augusta National last Sunday before four-putting the fourth hole and finishing tied for fifth.

Donald shot 69 to finish at 10 under and earn his fifth top-three finish in his past six appearances at the RBC Heritage.

Ben Martin, who turned pro in 2010, shot 67 to finish tied for third at 9 under with John Huh, who shot 68.

At sixth in the world, Kuchar was the highest-ranked player competing the week after the season’s first major, when most of golf’s biggest names were taking a needed break.

But Kuchar, smiling all the way, hoped to ride the momentum of his near misses.

Sunday finally brought the sunshine the tournament had lacked all week. Players got the bonus of easy, softened greens from three days of moisture.

The birdies were flying from the start, and Kuchar took full advantage.

That Donald was in the chase again here was no surprise. The steady Englishman, once No. 1 in the world, says Harbour Town’s tight fairways and small greens are a perfect layout for a player like him who isn’t the longest hitter on tour.

Donald drove his ball way left out of bounds on the sixth hole for a double bogey and, after climbing back into the hunt with birdies on the seventh and ninth, hooked his drive into the water left on No. 10 for a bogey.

Donald kept charging, though, and drew within a stroke of Kuchar’s lead with consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes. He could get no closer, finishing his round with six pars.

Martin, who had missed seven cuts in his past eight tournaments, reached 10 under with back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes.

Martin’s run ended when he couldn’t squeeze through some pine trees after driving into the rough at the par-5 15th. His ball struck a tree and scooted into more trouble across the fairway. He took bogey to drop two shots off the lead.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Lee Westwood ended a two-year winless drought with a seven-shot victory at the Malaysian Open on Sunday.

After a four-hour delay due to the threat of lightning in the middle of the final round, Westwood went on to shoot a 4-under par 68 to complete an 18-under 270 at the Kuala Lumpur Country Club course for his 36th career victory.

Westwood led from start to finish in the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event that he also won in 1997.

“It’s a golf course that suits my game; it’s very tight in certain areas. I played well, I putted well, and the short game is good,” Westwood said.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen (68), the 2012 champion, along with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (70) and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger (67) shared a distant second place on 11 under.

The win will not only improve Westwood’s ranking but also help him improve on his current 20th place in the European Ryder Cup standings.

“I feel like I’ve got a short game back and I’m starting to roll a few putts in,” he added. “It makes a helluva difference if you can get up-and-down if you miss a few greens as it keeps the momentum going.”

Westwood, who turns 41 next week, went into the final round leading by one having let slip a four-shot second round lead.

But the 36th-ranked Englishman, and highest ranked player in the field, again found himself four clear after only two holes where nearest rival and playing partner Andy Sullivan triple-bogeyed the second hole after finding water with his tee shot.

Westwood’s drive to victory was then halted mid-afternoon when the threat of lightning stopped play and his lead at four through 11 holes.

He returned to the course after a delay of four hours and 13 minutes to birdie the 13th for a six-shot lead.

Westwood then underlined his class with a birdie on the last.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii -Michelle Wie rallied from four strokes back entering the day to shoot a 5-under 67 on Saturday and win the LPGA LOTTE Championship.

The 24-year-old American finished at 14-under 274 after coming into the final round trailing third-round leader Angela Stanford by four shots after Friday’s play. It was Wie’s third career victory on the LPGA Tour, and first since taking the CN Canadian Women’s Open in 2010.

And, Wie did it at home.

“I’m just having fun out there,” said Wie, who grew up in Honolulu. “I was out there and nervous. Every time I felt nervous out there, I was looking around, I felt there was no place I’d rather be.”

Stanford had her worst round of the tournament, shooting a 1-over 73 that put her at 12-under 276 and two shots behind Wie. Top-ranked Inbee Park finished third with an 11-under 277.

“Today, just didn’t make the putts that I’ve been making,” Stanford said. “I wasn’t hitting it great today. Just mis-clubbed a couple of times. Just didn’t make good decisions.”

Wie came to LOTTE and her home state of Hawaii coming off a runner-up finish two weeks ago in the Kraft Nabisco Championship when she closed with a 71 for her best position of the season.

“The highlight of this week was to come back home,” Wie said. “There wasn’t just one moment. From the first tee shot that I made to the last putt, the aloha that I felt from everyone was unbelievable.”

Stanford, the leader after the second and third rounds at breezy Ko Olina, came out strong with a birdie on the par-4 third hole to set herself up at 14-under early in the day. A bogey for Stanford and a birdie for Wie on the par-4 sixth closed the gap to within a stroke.

The par-3 eighth brought Stanford, Wie and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim to tie at 12 under.

A birdie for Wie on the par-3 12th gave her the outright lead, and she gave a small triumphant fist pump to the crowd. Another birdie on the par-5 13th put Wie two strokes ahead of two-day leader Stanford and three strokes ahead of Kim.

Stanford and Kim were unable to close that gap.

“She’s been playing great,” Stanford said. “She’s having a great year, so it was bound to happen. I just happened to be the one that caught the buzz saw.”

Trade winds continued to challenge golfers all day, gusting upward of 20 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

“Well, my caddy isn’t one for pep talks, but he gave a good one today,” Wie said. “He said, `It’s windy out there today, but play your game,’ and that’s really what I did. I didn’t try to force anything. I had a number in my head that I thought I needed to shoot, and I got it.

Kim came in fourth with 1-under 71 for 10-under 278 overall.

Jennifer Kirby dropped 13 spots Saturday after a 1-over par 73. The Paris, Ont. native finished tied for 13 at 2-over par 290 to pick up her second top 40 during her rookie season on tour.

REUNION, Fla. – Vermillion Bay, Ont.’s Jordan Krantz carded a final round 66 at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Reunion Resort on Saturday to claim medalist honours and lead all 43 players who earned status at PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament.

Six Canadians were among those who earned cards for PGA Tour Canada’s 2014 season, which will kick off May 26-June 1 at the PC Financial Open in Vancouver.

Krantz, a two-time Manitoba Amateur champion who last played on PGA Tour Canada in 2010 at The Players Cup, was the only player finish under par for the week, earning the top spot by two over Ryan Brehm of Grand Rapids, MI.

“It was great to put it away today. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance,” said Krantz, who was thrilled to have played his best golf of the week at the end of a demanding week like a qualifying tournament. “It’s such a test. You really have to bear down and just believe in yourself, but if you’re resilient and believe in what you’re doing you can really build on that. Hopefully I can use this as a jumping stone.”

Krantz, who started the day in a tie for sixth, began the final round inauspiciously, carding a double bogey on his second hole. But seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 18^th, which capped a back nine score of 30, gave Krantz a final round 66, the best round of the week at the Nicklaus Course. The 33-year old credited a conversation on Friday evening with coach Derek Ingram for his strong finish on Saturday, and said he was excited about his prospects for the upcoming season.

“We simplified my goals for the day, so that was more important to me than the number,” said Krantz. “I’m just excited about the steps I took and how it will hopefully help me over the months to come.”

Krantz’s 66 was one better than Scotland’s Paul Cormack, who went bogey-free over his final 29 holes of the week and fired a 5-under 67 for the second-best round of the week.

“A lot of hard work went in to this just to get to this point, so this feel really good,” said Cormack, who like Krantz credited his coach, Claude Harmon, for his success this week. “I’ve seen the progress almost instantly and hope it keeps going. I’m looking forward to playing this summer.”

With 18 exempt cards available, it took a playoff to determine who would earn exempt status on PGA Tour Canada for 2014. Five players – Creighton Honeck, Andrew Noto, Paul Ferrier, Clark Klaasen and Christian Westhorpe – finished the 72 holes tied for 15^th headed back out to the 372-yard 1^st hole with exempt status available for four players.

Honeck, a PGA Tour Canada member in 2013, and Klaasen knocked their approaches within five feet to make birdie, while Noto and Ferrier safey found the green and two-putted. Westhorpe, a Toronto native who moved to the Orlando area before high school, hit his approach into a greenside bunker and was unable to convert an 8-foot par putt, leaving Honeck, Klaasen, Ferrier and Noto home free for exempt cards.

Joining Krantz and Westhorpe in earning status this week were Dundas, Ont.’s Chris Ross (T-20), Essex, Ont.’s David Byrne (T-27), Thornhill, Ont.’s Mark Hoffman (T-30) and Baddeck, Nova Scotia’s Peter Campbell (T-35).

Those six join Hamilton, Ontario’s Justin Kim, who earned conditional status last week at PGA Tour Canada’s California Qualifying Tournament, as Canadians to earn status in qualifying for 2014.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Luke Donald believes he’s got the right game on the right course – and is ready to make up for so many near-misses at the RBC Heritage.

Donald had an eagle and six birdies to shoot 66 on Saturday and take a two-stroke lead over John Huh after three rounds at Harbour Town Golf Links. The Englishman has done just about everything on Harbour Town the past five times he’s played – except win.

He fell in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker here in 2011, part of a run of four top-3 finishes since at the tricky, Pete Dye design. Now, he’ll carry the lead into the final day and is ready to make it stand up on Sunday.

“If I can go out as relaxed and confident as I was today tomorrow,” he said. “If I can control the trajectory (of shots) as well as I did today, then hopefully I’ll be sitting here as the winner.”

It has been a long time since Donald has been able to say that.

Once the world’s top-ranked golfer, Donald has changed coaches and the transition back to the top has not come as quickly as planned. The last of his five PGA Tour wins came in 2012, his best showing this year was a tie for fourth at the Valspar Championship last month and he was quickly bounced at the Masters after shooting 79-70.

Donald acknowledged he has grown anxious waiting to win again.

“I was the former world No. 1 and was there for a long time and obviously slipped down,” said Donald, currently 29th. “But I haven’t felt my game had gotten that much worse.”

Certainly not at Harbour Town.

Donald’s round got started with a 25-footer for eagle on the par-5 second hold. He added four more on the next six holes. Donald then tied leader Nicholas Thompson with a birdie on the 14th before stretching his lead with a final one by rolling in a 15-foot putt on the par-3 17th.

Donald nearly closed with a flourish when his approach on the closing, lighthouse hole nearly landed in the cup on the fly before bouncing to the edge and settling for par.

Donald’s not the longest hitter on tour and said some layouts are dragons he can’t slay.

“But this one I feel like I can plot my way around with low wedges,” he said. “If you miss greens, you need to be pretty good at the short game. Certainly a course that favors my style of play.”

Huh shot a 68 and was at 6 under.

Major champions Charl Schwartzel (68) and Jim Furyk (71), Nicholas Thompson (68) and Ben Martin (71) were tied for third at 5 under.

Matt Kuchar, ranked sixth in the world, shot 70 as part of a group of five golfers another shot back at 4 under.

Donald’s performance capped a long day at soggy Harbour Town, where 65 golfers had to finish the second round before the third could begin with K.J. Choi, Furyk and Ben Martin tied for the lead.

But by midafternoon, the moisture had softened things and competitors were treated to slick greens easily accepting approach shots.

At times, it looked more like a local club shootout than a PGA Tour stop.

Thompson, whose sister Lexi won her first LPGA Tour major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this month, got things going with five birdies on the front nine to lead at 7 under. But bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes dropped him back into the group at 208.

Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, was among those with an early start and jumped into the chase with a third-round 68 to move to 5 under. He said the course held up well despite more than 2 1/2 inches of rain that fell here Friday.

Schwartzel has not won on the PGA Tour since his surprising run to the green jacket, when he birdied the final four holes.

“I think if I can continue the ball striking and giving myself chances, I can make a few (birdies) tomorrow and give it a shot,” he said.

Furyk, the 2010 winner at Harbour Town, made birdie on his second hole to take the lead at 6 under. He failed to build on that hot start, but held on to stay in the hunt.

The craziest day might have belonged to Kuchar, the highest-ranked player competing at Harbour Town after the season’s first major. He followed his fifth-place showing at the Masters last week with a strong bogey-free 66 on Thursday to take the lead.

Things went the other way quickly Friday, with Kuchar posting a pair of double bogeys before the rains came and suspended play. Kuchar struggled some more with a bogey on the eighth hole once he restarted Saturday. Then he made four birdies on his back nine to climb back in it.

Kuchar has finished fifth or better in his past three events and has a chance to do it again at Harbour Town.

“To be playing some good golf and be in contention is fun,” he said. “I’m excited to have my fourth shot at trying to take a title.”

Canadians Mike Weir (73-74–147) , David Hearn (75-72–147) and Stephen Ames (73-84–157) all missed the cut.