AGADIR, Morocco – Alejandro Canizares of Spain extended his lead to six strokes in the third round of the Trophee Hassan II after shooting a 3-under 69 on Saturday.

Leading since the first round, Canizares made four birdies and a bogey. He’s at 17-under 199 heading into the final round.

Seve Benson of England remained in second place despite carding a 74. He holed four birdies to offset three bogeys and a triple bogey.

Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands climbed to third, one stroke behind Benson, by firing a bogey-free 67.

“It was tough today, especially on the front nine. The pins were difficult to get close to and some even difficult to two-putt,” Canizares said. “My idea was to get to 20 under, that was my focus. I was trying to look forward all the time, not behind me.”

Canizares won his only European Tour title at the Russian Open in 2006. He tied for fifth at the Qatar Masters in January.

Benson dropped three shots on the 12th hole by finding a bunker off the tee before sending his recovery shot into the water.

“I struggled just to get the ball pin-high,” Benson said. “I was happy with the way I came back with five or six holes to go, so there are positives going into tomorrow.”

The 2011 winner David Horsey of England (72) shared fourth at 208 with compatriot Paul Waring (67), Shiv Kapur of India (67), Robert Karlsson (70) and Magnus Carlsson (72) of Sweden.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Robert Garrigus can’t recall a better performance going into the weekend. And his golf has been pretty good, too.

Garrigus spent most of the practice days fishing in the lakes of Innisbrook, catching nearly three dozen bass. As for his day job, he bagged 10 birdies over two days and delivered the best score of the tournament, a 5-under 66 on Friday, to build a three-shot lead in the Valspar Championship.

His only other PGA Tour victory was a little more than an hour away at Disney, and Garrigus offered a simple explanation.

“It’s the fishing,” he said.

Garrigus didn’t play a single practice round the year he won Disney. He arrived at Innisbrook on Monday and fished that evening, most of Tuesday and then for about five hours Wednesday without ever looking at the Copperhead course.

“I think that puts me in a good frame of mind because I’m clear and not thinking about anything, just going out and having some fun,” he said.

His golf has been plenty fun.

Garrigus, one of the longest hitters in golf, has made birdie on all of the par 5s both rounds. That has contributed mightily to being at 7-under 135, three shots clear of Kevin Na going into a weekend with a Masters spot potentially up for grabs.

Only five of the top 22 on the leaderboard already are eligible for the Masters.

Na had a 68, while the group four shots behind included Pat Perez (71), Matteo Manassero (70) and Justin Rose (68), who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7. Matt Every shot a 71 in the afternoon and joined them at 3-under 139.

The three-shot lead is the largest through 36 holes in the 14-year history of this tournament.

Garrigus is about the only player who has made it look easy, even though he felt as stressed as anyone on the Copperhead course, regarded by many as perhaps the best tournament course in Florida.

Even though the weather was close to perfect _ only a breeze in warm sunshine _ only 17 players broke 70.

John Daly was not among them. He was struggling with what he called the yips with his putter when he got to the 16th hole. Daly put three shots in the water, shanked a 7-iron, duffed a chip into the bunker and made a 12. With a double bogey on the last hole, he shot a 90, the highest score of his PGA Tour career.

David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., sat in a tie for 12th at 1-under par, while Calgary’s Stephen Ames (70) was in a group at 22nd at even par.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 68 to improve on his first-round score of 75 to jump into a tie for 35th at 1 over. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., did not make the cut.

For all his birdies, Garrigus was especially satisfied with one par.

He pulled his tee shot well left on the 16th hole, the most dangerous tee shot at Innisbrook. The ball went deep into the pines, and Garrigus decided to take on a tiny gap in the trees with a 5-iron.

“I probably hit one of the top-five shots of my life there on 16 out of the trees,” he said. “Hit a low, cut 5-iron, then rose it up over the pine tree and cut it 40 yards and hit to 10 feet. That’s just one of those shots that when you’re playing good and everything is rolling, you kind of expect it. It was a lot of fun to try it, and to pull it off was even better. I’ve spent half my life in the trees. I’ve had a lot of practice.”

He missed the putt, but was more than happy with par.

As for the rest of the golf course, he picked up another birdie on the par-3 15th with a long putt, and one on the par-4 ninth with a 20-foot birdie down the hill.

Rose feels as if his shoulder injury is in the past, except for answering questions about it. He loves the Florida swing because the courses demand so many different shots, and Innisbrook might require the most.

The U.S. Open champion was struggling in the first round until he finished birdie-birdie to salvage a 71. He carried that momentum into the second round, and despite a bogey on No. 6 from being out of position off the tee, and a soft bogey on the par-3 eighth, he felt much better ending with a birdie.

“I got some momentum going today,” Rose said. “I worked my way into the tournament early. To finish strong with my round yesterday I think helped give me some momentum into day. … It’s exactly how I needed to flow into the tournament.”

Perez was the first player to reach 5 under for the tournament until he missed two drives well to the left. One was in the trees at No. 6, the other went out of bounds on No. 7. Both led to double bogeys, though Perez didn’t get down on himself.

“Just move on and keep going,” he said.

AGADIR, Morocco – Alejandro Canizares of Spain retained a one-stroke lead over Seve Benson of England by shooting a 4-under 68 in the second round of the Trophee Hassan II on Friday.

Overnight leader Canizares made seven birdies and three bogeys for a total of 14-under 130.

“I felt really confident so I was not thinking too much, I needed to let the golf happen,” Canizares said. “In some cases my putter was a little cold today but I kept it going on the back nine.”

Canizares won the Russian Open in 2006 and shared fifth place at the Qatar Masters in January.

Benson birdied the fifth hole to climb atop the leaderboard but surrendered the lead by dropping a shot on the eighth. He also carded a 68.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain (67) climbed to third place, five strokes off the pace.

David Horsey of England got back in contention by firing a bogey-free 64, the lowest score of the day. The 2011 winner was tied for fourth with Magnus Carlsson of Sweden (71) and Connor Arendell of the United States (71) at 136.

Arendell went through qualifying school in November to earn his card for this season. The American made the cut for the first time in five attempts.

Paul McGinley, Chris Wood, Johan Carlsson, Romain Wattel, Pablo Larrazabal and Morten Orum Madsen missed the cut set at 145.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Bernhard Langer birdied three of the last four holes for an 8-under 63 and a two-stroke lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s Toshiba Classic.

Langer, the 2008 winner, had eight birdies in his bogey-free round at Newport Beach Country Club. The 56-year-old German won the season-opening event in Hawaii in January for his 19th victory on the 50-and-over tour.

“I played really solid through the whole bag,” Langer said. “I hit most of the greens in regulation and I was happy with just about every club in my bag.”

Fred Couples, Jeff Hart and Taiwan’s Chien Soon Lu shot 65, and Kenny Perry, Michael Allen, Kirk Triplett, Duffy Waldorf and Scott Simpson were another stroke back.

Couples won the 2010 tournament, shooting 66-64-65. Last month in Florida, Allen beat Waldorf in a playoff in Boca Raton, and Triplett won in Naples.

Defending champion David Frost opened with a 72.

Langer tied for seventh in Boca Raton and tied for second in Naples. He has broken par in all 10 of his rounds this season and 19 of his last 20.

“What happened with that one round,” Langer joked.

Langer topped the first-round leaderboard for the 18th time in his career. In the first 17, he has gone on to win six times. He also tied for second in the 2012 tournament.

“I think it always helps when you play a course well,” Langer said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt. I think I know how to play well here.”

Langer is carrying four wedges this week and used them all to set up birdies. He took out his 3-wood and replaced it with a gap wedge, to accompany lob, sand and pitching wedges.

“It depends on the course, but I have done this before,” Langer said. “Sometimes I’ll take the 3-wood out or the 3-iron out and replace it with a gap wedge.”

Newport Beach County Club is 6,584 yards, one of the shorter courses on the tour. Of Langer’s eight birdies, six were set up with wedge shots.

Couples bogeyed the par-4 16th to drop out of a share of the lead, and matched Langer with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th.

(Flagstick.com) – In the past two months Brittany Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. has been agonizingly close.  In four events on the Florida-based SunCoast Ladies Tour she has not been out of the top 12 and hit as high as 4th place.

On Thursday though, it was her time to shine as she picked up her first win as a professional, taking top honours at the Black Bear Golf Club in Eustis, Florida.

Continue reading…

Renfrew Wins on Gateway Tour

(The Province) Another day another couple thousand dollars for Canadians pursuing their professional aspirations south of the border. Close on the heels of Hadwin’s Web.Com win this weekend, Victoria native Cory Renfrew claimed a title of his own on the All-American Gateway Tour Wednesday.

Renfrew posted rounds of 64-65-68 at this week’s event hosted by the Lonetree Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, tying Brady Schnell of Pheonix atop the leaderboard at 16-under par.

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A look inside Kevin Streelman’s man cave

Kevin Streelman provides a tour of his basement filled with memories of his career on the PGA Tour in this feature from “Inside the PGA TOUR.” How cool is this man cave?

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Matt Every made the best of the worst conditions Thursday at Innisbrook. Danny Lee, finally, seems to be playing good golf in any weather.

They were among a four-way tie for the lead after the opening round of the Valspar Championship, a day so challenging that 3-under 68 was the highest score to lead after the first round in the 14-year history of this event.

Pat Perez and Greg Chalmers also had 68s to share the lead.

Every was the only one among the leaders to play in the morning, when the temperatures were in the mid-50s and felt even colder because of a strong wind. He had three birdies on his last four holes, all of them about 15 feet or longer, and was five shots better than he would have hoped when he teed off.

“I would have been satisfied with 2 over today,” Every said. “It was tough. This morning you couldn’t feel your hands. The wind was brutal.”

The temperature warmed under full sunshine in the afternoon, though that only helped a little. Only three players broke 70 in the morning, with the average score nearly 3 1/2 shots over par. Eight players broke 70 in the afternoon, and the average for the day turned out to be 72.6.

Lee was in the last group, and how he got to Tampa Bay explains why he was one of the leaders.

The former U.S. Amateur champion had missed every cut this year, and six straight dating to the OHL Classic in Mexico last November. That changed last week in the Puerto Rico Open, when he posted all four rounds in the 60s to finish second to Chesson Hadley.

That got him into the field at Innisbrook, and Lee kept right on rolling.

He ran off three birdies in five holes to start his round and was the only player all day to reach 4 under with a birdie on the par-5 first. He dropped his only shot on No. 6 when he failed to get up-and-down from the bunker.

“I gained a lot of confidence after last week playing with the finish in Puerto Rico,” Lee said. “It really helped me a lot with that confidence stuff, and I’m hitting it really well right now. My ball striking is the best it’s ever been, especially with the putting. I got the new claw grip – still working great, which is fantastic.”

Only 25 players managed to break par.

Matteo Manassero, who didn’t break 74 in four rounds at Doral last week, was in the large group at 69 that included Nicolas Colsaerts and Bill Haas. Russell Knox, who lost in a four-man playoff two weeks ago at the Honda Classic, was in the group at 70. John Merrick made bogey on his last two holes for a 70, while Peter Uihlein made birdie on two of his last three holes, including a 35-foot putt on his last hole, for a 70.

This is a big week for Uihlein, a European Tour member, who is No. 73 in the world. He has only two more tournaments to try to get into the top 50 in the world and become eligible for the Masters.

Justin Rose, at No. 7 the highest-ranked player in the world at Innisbrook, Luke Donald and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth were among those at 70.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. shot even par 71.

Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont. opened with a 1-over 72, as did Stephen Ames of Calgary.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. was 4-over-par on the day, he shot 75.

More cold was expected Friday morning before the warming trend returns the rest of the week.

AGADIR, Morocco – Alejandro Canizares of Spain had 11 birdies in a 10-under round of 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Seve Benson of England after the first round of the Trophee Hassan II on Thursday.

Canizares mastered the windy conditions at the Golf du Palais Royal course in Agadir for the lowest round of his European Tour career, and it would have been even better if not for a bogey on the third hole.

“It was one of those days for me, my swing felt great, I started putting well and the putts went in. It was a lot of fun, when golf is like this it’s easy,” Canizares said. “I missed a couple of drives and from the fairway I missed one shot that cost me a bogey, but that was about it.”

Benson, who was named after the late Seve Ballesteros, had nine birdies to stay two shots clear of American golfer Connor Ardenell and Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson, who were tied at 7 under.

“It was so windy out there on the back nine, but I just managed to play the tough holes well and sink some putts,” Benson said. “Capitalizing on my chances is the big thing for me. I have been working really hard with my putting coach and it paid off today.”

Arendell finished eighth at Qualifying School in November to earn his card for this season, but missed the cut in his first four events.

“It’s huge, coming over here getting that experience, the traveling; week to week the courses vary quite a bit compared to the U.S.,” Arendell said. “It’s tough, but over time it will make it that much easier when I’m in the U.S.”

MANOA, Hawaii – Team Canada National Team member and N.C. State junior Augusta James finished in a tie for third Wednesday at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational.

The Bath, Ont., native carded a 2-over 218 (73-72-73) to finish two strokes back of medalist Ines Lescudier of Kennesaw State.

Brittany Marchand, a National Team and N.C. State teammate just missed the top 10. The 21-year-old Orangeville, Ont., native finished with an 8-over 224 to sit tied for 11th.

As a team, the N.C. State Wolfpack placed second on the leaderboard behind Mississippi State, who ran away with a 21-stroke victory. The Wolfpack will tee-it-up again at the Bryan National Collegiate from March 28-30.

For full results, click here.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Being back at Innisbrook is enough to make Jordan Spieth wonder if his entire season boiled down to three holes.

One was a two-putt par. The other was a tough flop shot from 50 feet that he knocked in for birdie on the 17th hole. The last one – perhaps the most important – was a bunker shot to 7 feet and a par putt on the final hole for a 1-under 70 to tie for seventh.

That was worth $148,893.

That was enough money to give him special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, key for earning a full tour card. Before holing out that chip, Spieth was projected to be $195 short of temporary membership, and who knows what would have happened if he didn’t nail it down that day at Innisbrook.

“The last three holes on Sunday here were three of the biggest holes I played all last year,” the 20-year-old Spieth said Wednesday. “I mean, none of the rest of it possibly would have happened if wasn’t able to hole a flop shot on 17 and got up-and-down out of the front bunker on 18.”

The “rest of it” turned out to be far more memorable than his tie for seventh in what is now called the Valspar Championship.

A playoff win at the John Deere Classic (after holing a bunker shot on the 72nd hole). A 62 in the final round at TPC Boston while playing with Phil Mickelson to secure a spot in the Tour Championship. A captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup, making him the youngest American ever in the matches. Seventh place in the FedEx Cup.

Spieth was reminded of the significance when he was flipping through channels Tuesday night and saw highlights of his finish from Innisbrook.

“I gave more fist pumps than I did at the Deere,” he said about his par putt on the 18th hole. “It was pretty cool to watch, and it was one of the biggest stretches that I’ve ever played.”

Spieth has different issues this year. He received plenty of sponsor exemptions before becoming an instant PGA Tour member with his win at the John Deere Classic in July, and he is eager to return the favor to tournaments who helped him out. That could lead to a busy year now that he’s in all four majors – he’ll make his debut in the Masters next month – and already has played three World Golf Championships this season.

He’s among those drawn to the Valspar Championship because of the quality of the Copperhead course, regarded by some as the best tournament course in Florida. It doesn’t feel like Florida with its subtle changes in elevation and tree-lined fairways.

“Very old school,” Harris English said.

The tournament has some new life to it after going without a sponsor last year. Minneapolis-based Valspar took over as the title sponsor through 2017 and is trying to inject some life into a tournament that has to work harder than other events on the Florida swing.

The Honda Classic is helped by so many top players having moved to West Palm Beach, such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. Doral is now a World Golf Championship. Next week is Bay Hill, run by Arnold Palmer.

Innisbrook is missing some of the top-ranked players – Justin Rose at No. 7 is tops from the world ranking – it has plenty of quality through the ranks in English, Spieth, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Louis Oosthuizen.

“It’s been one of my favorite venues on tour for a while,” Rose said.

Most of the players already have one eye on the Masters, which is a month away. This is the time of the year when players start sneaking up to Augusta National to see the course, knowing it won’t play anything like it will on April 10 the first day of the tournament.

Furyk feels like Innisbrook is good preparation – not because of the conditions, but because of the thinking involved.

“Thinking your way around the golf course is still good preparation,” he said. “I’d say the one thing here, you do get a lot of greens that have quite a bit of pitch and slope to them, especially back-to-front, and so you have to hit some putts here that feed to the hole. … That helps a little bit in getting ready for Augusta.”

Spieth already has been to Augusta twice – once last fall on a trip that can best be described as the ultimate doubleheader (Pine Valley one day, Augusta National the next) and then a few weeks ago. He also recalls going to a Monday practice round at the Masters after a college event while he was at Texas.

“Definitely the only practice round tournament I’ve ever been to watch,” he said.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – One lesson Jack Nicklaus imparted on Tiger Woods a decade ago in South Africa was to always be part of the conversation.

They were talking that day about rivalries.

The problem now for Woods is it’s hard to have any conversation about him without mentioning his health. The biggest rival for Woods at age 38 might be a body that by his own account appears to be breaking down.

Woods was a big part of the conversation in back-to-back weeks on the Florida swing, and it had little to do with this golf.

He withdrew from the Honda Classic after 13 holes in the final round with lower back pain and what he said were spasms. He showed up three days later at Doral to walk a practice round on the new Blue Monster with wedges and a putter. He shot 73 in the wind on Friday (a very good score), and he shot 66 on Saturday (a great score) to get within three shots of the lead. And then his back flared up and he had the worst Sunday score (78) of his professional career.

His year is starting to sound like one big soap opera.

Was he working out too much in the off-season? Was he playing too little? Should he have played Doral? Will he be at Bay Hill next week? Just how bad is his back? Is rest and treatment enough? What kind of shape will he be in when he gets to Augusta National?

And the question that has yet to be asked – should he even play the Masters?

No other player from his generation has spoken more to the media than Woods.

Few have given up so little.

Part of that – most of that – is his desire to keep what he considers private matters just that. And that includes his health.

Consider a sampling of Woods’ injuries in recent years.

• At The Barclays in 2012, he said he felt a twinge in his lower back the morning of the second round and showed great discomfort around Bethpage Black. “Must have slept funny on it. Soft beds at the hotel,” he said.
• The next year at the same tournament, he only played only nine holes of the pro-am at Liberty National, and then chipped and putted on the back nine. “My neck and back are a little stiff … after a soft bed,” he said. “And just one of those things, sleeping in hotels and I didn’t want to push it.”

By the end of the week, he dropped to his knees after one shot on the back nine from what he said were back spasms. Woods said it was unrelated to the tightness he felt in his back two weeks earlier in the final round of the PGA Championship. He showed up at Boston the next week, thankful for the Friday start of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

• He played with a left elbow injury in the U.S. Open last summer at Merion. He said he injured it “playing golf” at The Players Championship during “one of the rounds,” and that he would still play even if were not the U.S. Open. But he wound up missing the AT&T National two weeks later to rest up for the British Open.
• He stopped after his tee shot on the 12th hole of the final round at Doral in 2012 with what he said was tightness in his left Achilles’ tendon. “In the past, I may have tried to continue to play. But this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary,” he said. Woods won his next tournament two weeks later at Bay Hill.

It’s painfully clear (no pun intended) that Woods does not want to divulge details when talking about injuries.

Asked Sunday at Doral if it could be something more than back spasms, Woods replied: “Well, it is back spasms, so we’ve done all the protocols and it’s just a matter of keeping everything aligned so I don’t go into that.” That was followed by a simple question: Have you had an MRI?

“As I’ve said, we’ve done all the protocols,” he replied.

At times, it can be hard to ignore one part of Hank Haney’s book, “The Big Miss,” when talking about Woods’ fascination with injuries. Haney, his coach for six years, said Woods could have worsened the condition of his knee with heavy workouts and Navy SEAL activities.

“But Tiger preferred that people see his injuries related to his sport, so that he could wear them as an athletic badge of honour,” Haney wrote. “To him, injuries were a way of being accepted into the fraternity of superstars who played more physical sports than golf. For example, a couple of times when I knew he’d just gotten off the phone with Derek Jeter, I’d asked what they had talked about. Both times Tiger said the conversation was about injuries they were each dealing with.”

Tiger said plenty last Wednesday when he said of his most recent injury, “A bad back is no joke.”

It’s easy to connect dots with scores and injuries, especially when the bad back on the last two Sundays followed rounds of 65 and 66. But that would be ignoring the 2008 U.S. Open he won in 91 holes on a left leg so badly damaged that it required season-ending surgery two days later.

Even with eight wins over the last two years, his future remains muddled by recurring injuries. How bad are they? Does he need to take more time off? Can he afford to take more time off? How much longer will be stuck on 14 majors? Will he ever break the record 18 majors won by Nicklaus?

Woods is not playing this week. Consider it a commercial break.