People who play golf live longer, a major study has found, as it shows the game helps prevent 40 major chronic diseases such as diabetes, breast and colon cancer.

Researchers reviewed 5,000 studies into golf and wellbeing and found the sport has physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages and can even increase life expectancy by five years.

The findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

For more, read this article in the Daily Telegraph.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Sakura Yokomine bogeyed the final hole for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Brooke Henderson, Paula Creamer and Amy Yang on Thursday in the LPGA Taiwan Championship.

Yokomine eagled the par-5 12th – hitting a 5-wood to 15 feet – and had three back-nine birdies at windy Miramar before dropping the stroke on the par-5 18th. The 30-year-old Japanese player is winless in two seasons on the LPGA Tour after winning 23 times on the Japan LPGA Tour.

“My shots were good,” Yokomine said. “It was strong, a strong wind today. Each shot I had to concentrate.”

Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied three of the final four holes, playing in the last group of the day. The 19-year-old Canadian has two victories this year, winning the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June.

“It’s very windy out here so you really got to pay attention,” said Henderson, who chipped on the par-4 15th , with the ball racing downhill and hitting the flagstick.

“I kind of had a tough lie in the rough there on the left side of 15, and so I just kind of tried to hit it out to the right,” Henderson said. “I was thinking in my head, ‘Try and get up-and-down and save par and then try and make some birdies on the last three holes.’ I was able to chip that one in, birdie 16, had a good chance on 17, birdied 18. It was really the ideal ending.”

The fourth-ranked Henderson has two victories this year, winning the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June and successfully defending her Cambia Portland Classic title in July.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton shot a 6-over 78 and was tied for 68th.

Yokomine and Henderson are making their 26th starts of the year, tied with Kim Kaufman for the tour lead. Henderson plans to play all six weeks on the Asian Swing, a journey that started last week in China with a fourth-place tie, and will take her to South Korea, back to China, and then to Malaysia and Japan.

Creamer had a bogey-free round, working with caddie Colin Cann in the windy conditions.

“I’ve always played really well when it’s windy and just kind of tough,” Creamer said. “You have to think a lot out there. Colin and I worked really well as a team today. It’s pretty windy in certain spots out on this golf course, and he did a good job of figuring that out for us.”

She won the last of her 10 LPGA Tour titles in February 2014 in Singapore.

Yang was 6 under through 13 holes, then bogeyed the next two.

Ai Miyazato, Ha Na Jang, Lee-Anne Pace, Beatriz Recari and Hee Young Park shot 69.

“I’m playing this tournament since five years ago and I know how to play in the wind, especially on this golf course, so that experience helped for sure,” Miyazato said. “I grew up in Okinawa and Okinawa is really windy place, too. So, I kind of grew up playing in the wind.”

Defending champion Lydia Ko had a double bogey on the par-4 fifth in a 70. The top-ranked New Zealander won by nine strokes last year at Miramar. She has four LPGA Tour victories this season.

Home favourite Yani Tseng closed with a quadruple-bogey 9 on 18 for a 79. Playing on a sponsor exemption, she also had a double bogey on the 12th. Tseng won the inaugural event in 2011 at Sunrise, and took the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in March 2012.

LONGWOOD, FLA – The Symetra Tour announced Thursday morning that the IOA Golf Classic has been cancelled due to the projected path of Hurricane Matthew and the increasing risk the Orlando area faces.

“We consulted with our weather experts on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning and it became clear that the best decision for the IOA Golf Classic and the safety of our players, staff members and volunteers is to cancel the tournament,” said Chief Business Officer Mike Nichols. “It’s unfortunate because IOA has been such a great partner and this is crunch time in the season, but safety is our number one priority over all else.”

The IOA Golf Classic will not be rescheduled this year.

There is now just one event remaining on the Symetra Tour schedule. The Symetra Tour Championship is scheduled to begin Thursday, October 13 and conclude Sunday, October 16 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach. The top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list following the final-round will earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2017 season.

August James of Bath, Ont., is in prime position to move into the top 10. The former Team Canada Young Pro and National Team alum is currently 13th, just $4,600 out of the top 10. Jessica Wallace of Langley, B.C., is the next closest Canadian in 19th place.

lan Fox and Kaeden Trainor didn’t play golf a year ago. Last month, the two 11-year-old hockey fanatics from Ontario carded back-to-back aces on the 128-yard fifth hole at Amherstview Golf Club in Loyalist, Ont., while playing in the same group.

How unlikely is that? The odds of two average golfers acing the same hole in the same foursome is 20 million to 1.

GolfDigest has more in this article.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – PGA TOUR officials announced today that the Web.com Tour Championship, scheduled for October 6-9, has been cancelled due to the pending threat of Hurricane Matthew. An evacuation of Atlantic Beach was issued late Wednesday morning by the city of Jacksonville.

“It is unfortunate that we’ve had to cancel our season-ending event; however, our first priority is the safety of our players, fans, volunteers and staff,” said Web.com Tour President Bill Calfee. “With Hurricane Matthew on the horizon, it is critical that we make sure everyone involved with the Web.com Tour Championship has ample time to evacuate the Northeast Florida area and return home.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide emergency on Monday and announced the activation of 200 Florida National Guardsmen on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an additional 300 more Guardsmen were activated, with another 6,000 members placed on standby as a precaution in advance of the evacuation.

Preparations for the hurricane were underway at host Atlantic Beach Country Club on Wednesday, with Golf Channel removing towers and staff from the property, and all hospitality tents on the course broken down in advance of the anticipated strong wind gusts.

The Web.com Tour annually awards 50 PGA TOUR cards, with 25 coming at the conclusion of the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft Heinz in August, and an additional 25 set for the completion of the Web.com Tour Finals.

The Web.com Tour Championship was slated as the fourth and final event in the Finals, whereby the second set of 25 TOUR cards for the 2016-17 season was to be awarded following the conclusion of play.

With the tournament cancelled, all earnings through three events of the Web.com Tour Finals are deemed final. Per Web.com Tour policy, a minimum of 36 holes is required for an event to award official money.

The event cancellation marks the first for the Web.com Tour since the 2005 Miccosukee Championship, which was cancelled due to Hurricane Wilma.

Information regarding the 25 PGA TOUR cards, as well as priority ranking for the 2016-17 season, will be released shortly.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Tiger Woods will be at Presidents Cup next year with or without his golf clubs.

U.S. captain Steve Stricker said Wednesday he has chosen Woods, Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and three-time Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples to be his assistants for the matches next year at Liberty National.

International team captain Nick Price said his three assistants would be Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Tony Johnstone.

Woods was an assistant to Love at Hazeltine when the U.S. won the Ryder Cup over Europe last week.

Woods is to return to competition next week after being out more than a year recovering from back surgery. Stricker says he hopes Woods is at Liberty National as a player. If not, he’ll have him as an assistant captain.

Some would call it sponsorship. I prefer to call it an investment in the future of the game.

Specifically, I am talking about Golf Canada’s Future Links programming.

Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer, says: “Future Links is a suite of national junior programs that serve as the foundation of a systematic development system for the sport of golf in Canada.  All programs have been developed utilizing Canada’s Long Term Player Development program as the basis, with each program with the Future Links family serving a slightly different purpose to assist in developing and supporting learn and excel through the sport.

“Thanks to our previous sponsors, we have been able to provide all of these resources to facilities and golf professionals at no cost.”

The phrase “previous sponsors” brings me to today’s theme.

Since 1996, more than three million Canadian youngsters have participated in CN Future Links programming, thanks to the railway company’s generous sponsorship of the multi-faceted “grow-the-game” initiatives.

But after more than a decade of underwriting the various programs, CN’s sponsorship is coming to an end after this season and Golf Canada is seeking support from corporate Canada to continue this admirable initiative.

“CN was a wonderful partner who shared the vision of introducing the game of golf to children across Canada,” says Gavin Roth, Golf Canada’s Chief Commercial Officer. “We certainly were blessed for the past 10 years to have them and we appreciate deeply their commitment to the entire spectrum of Future Links programs.”

Future Links programs help young golfers develop the technical skills, appropriate attitude and self-confidence to succeed on the course while teaching them positive life lessons to succeed off the course. Through these programs, young girls and boys learn integrity, honesty, sportsmanship and responsibility. The gender split of participants is almost equal, with 55 per cent of them being boys and 45 per cent girls.

The scope and depth of Future Links are impressive, starting with the very young beginner and extending through high-level amateur competitions.

More than 500 facilities in 10 provinces deliver Future Links programming. More than 63,000 children were introduced to the game via more than 2,000 mobile clinic sessions across the country. This past year alone, there were 7,300 Learn to Play participants at almost 200 sites.

Another facet of the Future Links umbrella of programs is the Golf in Schools program, a national program that, since its inception, has been implemented in more than 3,100 elementary, intermediate and high schools.  Through a partnership with PHE Canada, the Golf in Schools program introduces more than 348,000 children to the game of golf each year.

Six Future Links Championships are conducted every year. These three-day tournaments expose more accomplished young golfers to top-level competition. Some of Canada’s best young golfers—Brooke Henderson, Maude-Aimée LeBlanc, Sue Kim, Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor, and more—played in the Future Links Championships as part of their development.

“While we would love to have a single title sponsor for all Future Links programs, we welcome interest from sponsors who might want to undertake supporting a portion of the programming,” says Roth.

“The impact of Future Links has been incredible and we want to keep that momentum going to ensure the future of the game in Canada remains bright.”

Solid investments with guaranteed returns are hard to find. Future Links is the exception.

Time for corporate Canada to step up to the tee, once again.

LATROBE, Pa. – With a large tear forming in his left eye, Jack Nicklaus asked everyone from the elite to the everyman to remember the time Arnold Palmer touched their lives during an emotional farewell to the King on Tuesday.

“I hurt like you hurt,” Nicklaus said. “You don’t lose a friend of 60 years and don’t feel an enormous loss.”

The service at Saint Vincent College in Palmer’s hometown was filled with just as much laughter and warmth from stories of the most significant player in the modern game. The basilica at the college was packed with golf’s biggest names from around the world.

Charlie Mechem, the former LPGA commissioner who became one of Palmer’s most trusted advisers, referred to them as the “elite battalion” of Arnie’s Army.

Palmer died Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh as he was preparing for heart surgery. He was 87. His private funeral for family members was Thursday.

“We were looking down at the air strip and the fog just suddenly lifted,” Ernie Els said Tuesday after landing in one of several private jets that descended on Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. “This is a beautiful day. We’ve all met different people in life. He was a man who didn’t change. It didn’t matter if you cut the grass or you were a president. He was the same with everybody.”

Palmer’s co-pilot, Pete Luster, flew his plane around Saint Vincent College for nearly an hour before the service, tipping the left wing as he zoomed by.

Mechem set a happy tone by pointing to a large photograph of Palmer with a grin that made everyone feel so important. He asked the crowd to remember the Palmer who hitched up his pants and gave a thumbs-up.

“There’s an old saying that there are no irreplaceable people,” Mechem said, his voice cracking toward the end of the ceremony. “Whoever made that line didn’t know Arnold Palmer. There will never be another.”

Palmer won 62 times on the PGA Tour, including seven major championships.

The service was another reminder that Palmer was not the greatest golfer who ever lived, or even the best from his generation. He just had the greatest influence through television, through marketing and mostly through eye contact.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem tried to explain Palmer’s popularity by mentioning his attacking style of golf, his appeal on television and the way he carried himself.

“He had this other thing,” Finchem said. “It was the incredible ability to make you feel good – not just about him, but about yourself. I was amazed by how people reacted to him. He took energy from that and turned right around and gave it back.”

CHASKA, Minn. – This wasn’t about being maybe the best team ever assembled. The Americans were simply a team, and they finally won back the Ryder Cup.

Phil Mickelson led the Americans behind the scenes. Patrick Reed powered them with his passion on the golf course. And it was Ryan Moore, the final captain’s pick who wasn’t even on the team until a week ago Sunday, who delivered the cup-clinching point at Hazeltine.

Moore finished eagle-birdie-par for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, and the celebration was on.

“When put in the right environment, the U.S. team brought out some amazing golf,” Mickelson said. “And we’re bringing back the Ryder Cup because of it.”

There was no meltdown like Medinah four years ago, when the Americans blew a 10-6 lead under captain Davis Love III.

Europe never really had a chance.

Reed outdueled and outshouted Rory McIlroy for a 1-up victory, and by then the back end of the scoreboard was filled with American red.

The final score was 17-11, the biggest rout for the United States since 1981. That U.S. team is considered the best team ever assembled with 11 major champions. In a radio interview going into the Ryder Cup, Love was trying to explain that the Americans didn’t have to do anything “super human” when he said, “This is the best team maybe ever assembled.”

Ultimately, this wasn’t about measuring against the past as much as it was building to the future.

The Americans lost for the third straight time in 2014 at Gleneagles, and it was team divided over everything from how the captain was selected to how the team should be built. Mickelson put his image on the line by publicly challenging captain Tom Watson at the closing press conference in Scotland, and he was the strongest voice among five players on a task force that was assembled to figure out why the Americans couldn’t seem to win.

Mickelson was under pressure all week and delivered 2 1/2 points, including a halve with Sergio Garcia in which both birdied the final two holes.

“You keep losing, you feel like you have to do something different,” said Love, who avoided becoming the first U.S. captain to lose the Ryder Cup twice. “They had a lot of pressure on them for the last two years. And every time we picked a guy, there was more and more pressure on the team and more and more questions. And I’m just proud the way every one of them played. It was a great team effort.”

The golf was equally great.

Reed faced the tallest order in the leadoff match with Rory McIlroy, and the quality of golf was as high as it gets. Reed squared the match by driving the fifth green to 8 feet for eagle, and he kept the tee until the 18th. Reed matched McIlroy’s birdie on No. 6, McIlroy matched Reed’s birdie on No. 7 and the par-3 eighth hole was as sensational as it gets in a Ryder Cup.

McIlroy holed a 60-foot birdie putt, leapt into the air and cupped his hand to his ear, mocking the American crowd to yell even louder. Reed then holed a birdie putt from 35 feet, charging the crowd before turning to wag his finger at McIlroy. They bumped fists and patted each other on the back, both 5 under through eight holes.

Their standard of gold dipped after that, perhaps because they spent so much energy pumping fists, and Reed finally took his first lead when McIlroy bogeyed the 12th hole. McIlroy’s putter went cold, and Reed closed him out with a 7-foot birdie on the 18th.

Mickelson made 10 birdies, and Garcia made nine birdies against no bogeys in their match.

Among the lone bright spots for Europe was Thomas Pieters, the Belgian rookie who had the best debut of any European rookie by going 4-1. He took down J.B. Holmes in the third match, right after Henrik Stenson dismantled Jordan Spieth. By then, it was ominous.

There would be no comeback like Medinah. There would be no celebrating for Europe, which it had done eight of the last 10 times.

The Americans stood atop a bridge to the left of the 18th green and sprayed champagne on themselves and the crowd, an enormous gathering that sent endless cheers of “U-S-A” and “Red, white, blue” across Hazeltine for three straight days.

Every U.S. player contributed a point.

For Europe, Westwood was among four players who ended the week without a point.

The Ryder Cup Task Force was dismantled after Love was named captain for the second time, though Mickelson and Tiger Woods remain on a committee for the next Ryder Cup in 2018 in France. Europe has not lost consecutive Ryder Cups since 1993.

EL DORADO, Ark. – Madelene Sagstrom won the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout on Sunday for her third Symetra Tour title of the season, officially earning an LPGA Tour that she wrapped up months ago.

The 23-year-old Swede closed with an even-par 72 at Mystic Creek to finish at 7-under 209, two strokes ahead of Becca Huffer (68) and Bath, Ont.’s Augusta James (69).

Quebec’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay tied for 4th after a final-round 70 left her at 4-under 212.

Sagstrom finished off the Symetra Player of the Year, Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year and the season money title. She earned $15,000 to push her record season total to $156,184 with two tournaments left. The 2015 Southeastern Conference player of the year at LSU has 11 top-10 finishes in 14 events.

“This season has meant so much to me and all the awards mean a lot to me,” Sagstrom said. “I knew I was close to closing out the award (Player of the Year) and I feel accomplished, but I also realize that I can’t focus on those things to perform at my best. I’m now really looking forward to the Symetra Tour Championship, which will be my last event.”

Sagstrom earned an in-season promotion to the LPGA Tour with her third victory, but the big tour had no more domestic full-field events left that she could play this season.

The Swede also won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial in April in Florida and the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic in May in South Carolina.

The final top 10 on the money list will earn LPGA Tour cards.