Oakville, Ont. (Golf Canada) – The final four spots into the 2016 RBC Canadian Open field will be determined Monday as the Final Qualifier is set for DiamondBack Golf Club in Richmond Hill, Ont.

A total of 72 competitors will challenge for one of four spots into the field for Canada’s National Open Championship.

The Final Qualifier features 18 holes of stroke play with the low four competitors receiving an exemption directly into the 2016 RBC Canadian Open field.  If necessary, a hole-by-hole playoff will be conducted immediately following the conclusion of play.

Click here for pairings, start times and results for RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifying on Monday, July 18. Results will be available as players complete their rounds.

The Final Qualifier on Monday, July 18—which was originally scheduled to be contested at Heron Point Golf Links in Alberton, Ont.—was moved to DiamondBack Golf Club by Golf Canada because of irrigation issues at Heron Point.

“Heron Point’s water control system was damaged late in the Spring which caused them to lose the majority of their water supply,” said Adam Helmer, Golf Canada’s Director, Rules, Competitions and Amateur Status. “Compounded by the drought that we have had in Ontario this season it has left the tees and fairways very burnt. They have worked hard to regain their turf conditions and were hopeful to get the course in shape for the qualifier, however, the conditions have become worse in the last few weeks which resulted in our decisions to change courses.”

The Final Qualifier at DiamondBack Golf Club will begin at 7:30am ET off the first tee.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Lydia Ko outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee to win the Marathon Classic on Sunday for her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the season.

The top-ranked Ko made a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole after Jutanugarn and Lee ran into trouble.

Also the 2014 winner, Ko closed with a 2-under 69 at Highland Meadows to match Jutanugarn and Lee at 14-under 270.

The 19-year-old New Zealander has 14 LPGA Tour titles, also winning consecutive events in South California – the second the major ANA Inspiration – and later in Arkansas. She’s 4-1 in playoffs, with the loss coming to Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., this year in the KPMG Women’s PGA.

Ko missed a 5-footer birdie putt on the third extra hole, sending the trio back to the 18th tee for the final time. Jutanugarn had chances to win on the first two playoff holes, missing birdie putts of 14 and 8 feet.

Ko opened with rounds of 68, 66 and 67 to enter the day three strokes behind Hyo Joo Kim. Ko birdied three of the first six holes, while Kim had three bogeys on the stretch. Ko birdied the par-4 ninth, bogeyed the par-3 14th and 16th and finished with two pars.

Lee shot a 65, bogeying the 18th after making birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 16 and 17.

Jutanugarn had a 68, reaching 14 under with an eagle on 17. The long-hitting Thai player won three straight events in May.

Kim followed her third-round 64 with a 73 to finish a stroke back.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp were the top Canadians at 7 under, good for 11th place. Henderson finished even while Quebec City’s Anne Catherine Tanguay was 2 over.

Stacy Lewis was fifth at 11 under after a 71. Born in the area, the Texan is winless in 56 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th tour victory. She has 11 runner-up finishes during the drought and 24 overall.

Alison Lee, tied for second with Ko entering the round, had a 73 to fall into a tie for sixth with Beatriz Recari (68) at 10 under.

Brittany Lang, coming off a playoff victory over Anna Nordqvist in the U.S. Women’s Open, had a 74 to tie for 24th at 3 under. Nordqvist also was 3 under after a 70.

Mary Parsons cooly rolled in her 6th birdie putt of the day on the par 5 18th and final hole of the tournament at Big Sky Golf Club on Friday to put the finishing touches on her 6-shot victory in the 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship. Parsons finished at even par (288) for the 4 rounds.

Finishing tied for 2nd were Tiffany Kong and Hannah Lee, with halfway mark leader Sumie Francois coming in 4th and 13-year old Akari Hayashi rounding out the top 5.

The win wasn’t without it’s up downs along the way, but Parsons’ perseverance proved to be the difference in the end.

Asked how it feels to be the 2016 BC Jr. Girls Champion, Delta’s Parsons said, “It feels great, having such a strong start to the season. All these girls here are strong players and we all fought our way through this course, so it feels really great.”

Each time she faced any adversity Parsons was able to refocus quickly and invariably make another birdie to get herself back on track. In round one she stemmed the damage from making bogey, double-bogey on the 7th and 8th holes with a birdie on the 9th to rescue her opening nine and proceeded to finish 2-under on the back nine.

She offset 3 bogies with 4 birdies in round two and probably did her best work of the event in Thursday’s third round where her front nine was fraught with potential disaster as every bad break possible seemed to challenge her.

After posting a 4-over 40 on the outward nine, which included a double-bogey 6 on the par 4 6th, followed of course by a birdie on the 7th, she then took on the howling wind and rain that showed up during the back nine. Her 2-under 34 coming home in that 3rd round staked her to the 2-shot lead she would take into the final round and eventually stretch to the 6-shot win.

Of course she couldn’t go through that final round without some sort of bumps in the road to navigate. First, it came in the form of the par 5 4th hole where, having made a birdie on the preceding par 3 and with her lead now up to 3 shots, she was looking to put even more distance between herself and her closest pursuer, Tiffany Kong.

It didn’t exactly work out that way, as she explains, “My alignment was a little bit off starting the round, so when I was going to hit my approach to the second landing patch in front of the green, (on the 4th) I was looking at my feet and I looked up and thought,’hmmm…that tree looks a little bit close…,” she began in recounting her 4th hole adventure.

“But I decided to hit it, ended up hitting the tree. Then I thought, ‘hey, let’s just get through this hole’. Hit it into the bunker… duffed it out of the bunker…so I thought ‘let’s just take it and go.’ ” What she took was an 8 on the hole and suddenly found herself in a tie for the lead with Kong.

But wouldn’t you know it…she made a birdie on the very next hole at the par 3 5th, giving her back a one-shot lead. Over the next four holes Parsons would add two more birdies while Kong played them in 2-over par. Suddenly from having lost her 3-shot lead on one hole she completely turned it around to take a five-shot advantage into the final 9 holes.

With neither Kong nor third place contender Hannah Lee seemingly able to mount anything of a charge on the back nine, Parsons appeared poised to cruise to the win. Not so fast…just to try and make things interesting she hit the ball out-of-bounds on the par 5 13th leading to a bogey. Lo and behold, she birdied the very next hole once more to regain her comfortable lead.

Parsons, who plays out of Mayfair Lakes in Richmond, recorded a total of 17 birdies over the 4 rounds.

This win is the second significant victory of her 2016 season following the one she picked up in the CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Kamloops earlier this summer. She had commented after that win, against a field that included many of the top juniors in the country, that she felt it was going to be a confidence-booster for the rest of the summer.

It certainly seems to have been so far, with this triumph coming just one week after she took runner-up honours in the BC Women’s Amateur at Beach Grove. The win should be a big boost toward Parsons achieving one of her big goals this year, making one of Golf Canada’s national teams.

Parsons has already committed to Indiana University, where in the fall of 2017 she will join West Vancouver’s Alix Kong as a Hoosier.

Joining Parsons on the BC Junior Girls Team going to the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia will be Vancouver’s Tiffany Kong and Surrey’s Hannah Lee.

The 2016 venue for the BC Junior Girls Championship is TBD.

Pace of play was an non-issue Saturday at Glen Abbey Golf Club as the inaugural RBC Canadian Open 5K kicked off tournament week of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

The five kilometre run/walk—organized by Landmark Sport Group Inc.—welcomed more than 500 enthusiasts of all ages who raced along a 5km route across the grounds of the renowned Oakville layout. Participants received the full race experience with running bibs and timed results for every competitor.

“What a great kick-off event to help celebrate the 107^th playing of Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship,” said Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin who joined the race as a participant Saturday. “I think it was a great showcase to bring running and fitness enthusiasts out to the golf course in advance of next week’s championship and we couldn’t be happier with the success of this year’s inaugural event.”

The RBC Canadian Open 5K routing began near the first tee of the championship course and trailed across the front nine with a final race leg that included the 17^th hole and grand finish alongside the iconic 18^th green at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

An awards ceremony took place immediately following the conclusion of the race in the Molson Canadian 67 Beer Garden located within the ZTE Spectator Village at Glen Abbey as participants enjoyed live third-round coverage of the British Open Championship.

Every registered participant also received a free ANYDAY ticket to come back and enjoy the 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

Click here to see a photo gallery from the inaugural RBC Canadian Open 5K.

Click here for results.

Qualicum Beach, BC – Fifteen-year-old Nolan Thoroughgood did not choke under the pressure, even though he himself thought he would. Instead the young man hung on for a 2-shot victory over Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart, just 17-years old himself, in the 114th BC Men’s Amateur played at Pheasant Glen Golf Club.

Zach Anderson from Nanaimo finished in 3rd spot at 4-under, 1 shot back of Ewart. The Three will now make up BC’s Willingdon cup Team for 2016.

History was made at the 114th playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship. Twice. The tournament began with the legendary Doug Roxburgh teeing it up in his 50th straight B.C. Amateur. It ended Friday with the championship trophy being raised by the event’s youngest ever winner.

Nolan Thoroughgood, a 15-year-old Victoria resident who was competing in just the second four-round tournament of his young life, played with the poise of a seasoned veteran at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort. He closed with an even-par round of 72 for a 72-hole total of seven-under par to win by two shots over another promising junior, 17-year-old A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam.

Thoroughgood shot a five-under 67 in Tuesday’s first round at Pheasant Glen, but no one — not even Thoroughgood and his father Garth, who caddied for him — expected he would go on to win. “I didn’t expect to shoot five-under the first round,” Thoroughgood said. “I kind of expected myself to choke the second round. Didn’t. Kind of expected myself to choke in the third round. Didn’t. Today I didn’t expect to win, but I did. It still doesn’t really feel real.”

When he hoisted the championship trophy, the sun reflected off more than the shiny silver chalice. It also bounced off the braces worn by the smiling champion. Thoroughgood broke Adam Svensson’s record as youngest winner of the event.

Svensson, a Surrey resident who is now competing on the Web.com Tour, was 16 when he won the 2010 B.C. Amateur at Castlegar Golf Club. “That’s pretty cool,” said Thoroughgood, who turns 16 next month. “I still have to play the B.C. Juveniles.”

He will now play a lot more than that. His win gives him a spot on B.C.’s three-man Willingdon Cup team at next month’s Canadian Amateur Championships in Ottawa with Ewart and third-place finisher Zach Anderson of Nanaimo. He will also get a spot in the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championship, which goes Aug. 1-4 in St. John’s, Nfld.

Thoroughgood held his young nerves together for most of the round. He finally showed some butterflies on the 18th green when he raced his birdie putt eight feet past the hole. He missed his par putt and had to settle for bogey.

He also got a break with his tee shot on the par 5 10th hole, when he hooked his ball into the trees. “I was nervous on 10 because I knew I was two strokes up on Zach and I hooked one into the woods and I was like ‘oh, God, this is where I derail.’ But it kicked out and I was able to make birdie off a scenario that could be been a lot worse.”

His dad Garth was living and dying on every swing his son took. The two embraced for several seconds after Nolan sunk his final putt. “I am a little awestruck,” Garth Thoroughgood said of his son. “He kept his head all day today. I don’t think I helped him at all. I checked in with him, bumped knuckles, but as far as his nerves went, I think the first time I saw nerves was when he hit his putt long on 18 and missed the next one. I am just amazed he managed to pull that one together.

“His goal coming here was to make the cut and I thought, ‘okay, we’ll be here for four days in Parksville and it’s not such a bad place for a little holiday.’ It turned out to be a lot more than that.”

Thoroughgood has only been playing golf for four years. He entered the junior program at Royal Colwood Golf Club as an 11-year-old and quickly became passionate about the game. His Colwood friends say no one works harder at the game. He is also a straight A student who is about to enter Grade 11.

Some of his Colwood buddies made the trek north to watch the final round and dumped a bucket of ice water on him after he sealed the win on the 18th green. “I am just surprised and happy I kept my nerves together,” he said. “I was playing with a guy who goes to Washington State (Anderson) and another guy (Chris Crisologo) who is going to Simon Fraser. Both are big names and I don’t think anyone has heard of me until now. They have a lot more experience than I do and I was surprised I was able to pull through.”

Ewart recovered from a disastrous start to finish second at five-under par. He shot the day’s best round — a five-under 67 — despite triple-bogeying the first hole. Ewart has now finished second this year at the B.C. High School Championships, the B.C. Junior and the B.C. Amateur. “I got off a bad start, but I just got to the second tee and forgot about it,” Ewart said. “I was like, just play your game, get it back to under par and I’ll be happy. And I did that.”

Anderson, a 20-year-old who is about to enter his third year at Washington State, managed to close to within a shot of Thoroughgood early in the round. He said he was done in by his short game. Anderson finished solo third at four-under par after shooting a two-over 74 on Friday. “I would miss a green, have a real easy chip and not get it up and down,” Anderson said.

“I had a couple of three-putts. On 17, I had a pretty easy chip, but it just landed on the collar and took off. Nothing dropped for me again today. If I had putted the way I did the first two rounds I am sure I would have been a lot better.”

But Anderson said Thoroughgood deserves full credit for the way he played on Friday. “He held it together really well,” Anderson said. “Solid kid. It will be interesting to see how he will do in the future.”

Thoroughgood drew laughter in his remarks at the closing ceremony when he thanked his father. “I want to thank my Dad for driving me,” he said, “because I couldn’t.”

Thoroughgood got more than the championship trophy after his win. Donna Dutton, who owns the course with her husband Bill, made a trip into Qualicum Beach to buy some ice cream so she could make Thoroughgood a celebratory chocolate milk shake.

I wasn’t there in 1976 when Jack Nicklaus proudly presided over the opening of his first solo design, Glen Abbey Golf Club, in Oakville, Ont. It was a purpose-built course, providing a test for the world’s best players but, innovatively for that era, putting the needs of the spectators right up there with those of the competitors.

“I sort of came up with the idea of putting the clubhouse in the centre of the property and then having like spokes of a wheel going out, playing holes out and having the gallery go out on those spokes,” Nicklaus has said.

Three years later, I covered my first RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey and have only missed a couple played there since.

During my tenure in the early 1990s as Golf Canada’s Director of Communications and Member Services, my office in Golf House overlooked the course. I delved into its genesis and design philosophy when I included it in the first volume of my Great Golf Courses of Canada books.

Over the years, I have played it dozens of times. The more I played it, as the course and I matured in a golfing sense, I increasingly appreciated it. Safe to say, I know Glen Abbey.

So it irks me somewhat when I hear the often uninformed criticism of Glen Abbey and the fact that since 1976, it has been the semi-permanent home of our Open championship. Next week, it will play host to our Open for the 28^th time.

Focusing on the five holes in the valley is like focusing just on Amen Corner at Augusta National. There is no denying they are something special: The tee shot from on-high at 11, the tough par-3 12^th, the do-or-die par-5 13^th, the risk-reward 14^th (often ranked as one of the toughest holes on the PGA TOUR) and the short but confounding par-3 15^th.

But the holes “up top” on the tablelands, present their own challenges and to write them off is facile.

Subjectively, I love playing The Abbey, typically cruising (with any luck) through the first five holes before confronting two tough par-4s on 6 and 8, with the maddening par-3 7^th tucked between them. Although the ninth presents water in front of the green, a short- to mid-iron gets you home. Hole 10 is a breather before heading down into the valley. Then up the hill and on to 16, a par-4 for the Open, and then 17 with its multiple fairway bunkers and its controversial amoeba-shaped green. On my second (more likely third) shot on 18, I always pause to look at the fairway bunker on the right from where Tiger Woods hit that astounding 6-iron to win in 2000. “The shot of the year,” according to Golf Channel.

I am no fan of course rankings. I prefer instead to evaluate each course’s overall experience.

In my estimation, Glen Abbey ranks right up there from a number of perspectives. When the rough is up, the greens are fast and the fairways are narrowed, it provides all the elements for a PGA TOUR venue. It welcomes spectators with a fan-friendly design. The site is logistically ideal for a TOUR event. Gate receipts and corporate sponsorships provide revenue for Golf Canada to underwrite its many “grow the game” initiatives.

I will not argue that Glen Abbey is the best, most difficult or most beautiful course in the country. But it is iconic nonetheless.

Like Nicklaus and Rod McIsaac and Dick Grimm and Bruce Forbes, whose vision gave birth to Glen Abbey, it deserves to be in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, as the old saying goes.

Glen Abbey Golf Club will play host to the 2016 and 2017 RBC Canadian Opens. For more info, visit www.rbccanadianopen.com.

CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – After every LPGA tournament this season Alena Sharp checked the world Rolex rankings with one thing on her mind: the Rio Olympics.

The Hamilton golfer finally qualified to represent Canada on Sunday after finishing the U.S. Women’s Open in a tie for 21st, putting her at 91st in the world and clinching her trip to Brazil for the Games.

“I’ve been watching (thee rankings) every week and knew that maybe a couple of weeks ago that it was probably mathematically impossible to not be on the team,” said Sharp, who will join world No. 2 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., as Canada’s women’s pairing. “Last night the rankings came out early and it was obviously done that I was the second Canadian.

“I figured it out on my own, but I kind of knew.”

The U.S. Women’s Open was the final tournament to determine who would qualify for next month’s Olympics. The top 15 players in the world rankings – including Henderson -are all eligible with a limit of four for any country. South Korea – which has five – is the only country with more than two players currently in the top 15. The rest of the 60-player field was determined by the world rankings with a limit of two players per country.

The 35-year-old Sharp, as the second highest ranked Canadian, guaranteed her trip to Rio with a career-best showing at a major event. She shot a 72 on Sunday to finish tied for 21st at 1-over.

“I think (the Olympics) is the top of my career thus far,” said Sharp, who flew from San Martin, Calif., to Toronto on a red-eye flight late Sunday night. “Being able to represent Canada in Rio is something that two years ago was kind of in the back of mind. I knew I had to play well to get ahead, and I did that last year.

“To be standing here on July 11, and the day’s finally here, to be on the team is an amazing thing.”

Sharp was in Cambridge as part of a media day for the LPGA’s Manulife Classic which she, Henderson, world No. 1 Lydia Ko and a full field of other pro golfers will compete in Aug. 31-Sept. 4. Sharp also participated in a charity challenge, taking shots across the Grand River, with each ball she hit on target earning the St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation $10,000. Along with three amateurs, Sharp earned the charity $103,000.

“It was a little pressure having people watch me, but I did well on the par-3s this week at the U.S. Open, so I’m like ‘oh, it’s just like a par 3’,” said Sharp, who used a nine iron to make the 135-yard shot from one side of the gorge to another.

Henderson and Sharp will have even more pressure on them in Rio.

Women’s golf was not an event in 1904, but George Lyon of Richmond Hill, Ont., won golf in the men’s individual at the St. Louis Olympics, with Americans winning the other individual medals and all three team medals.

“I know (Brooke’s) only thinking about one thing – the gold medal,” said Sharp. “I think it’s going to be good to play practice rounds together so we can get the course mapped out to win the tournament.

“She has a lot of positive energy. She’s 18, she’s fearless. Seeing that, you kind of feed off of it.”

BADDECK, N.S. – The operations manager for Cape Breton’s Bell Bay golf course says the renowned facility could reopen as soon as this week despite a fire that destroyed the clubhouse.

Eric Tobin says there was no damage to the scenic course in Baddeck, N.S., which he says is in the best condition it has been over the last two or three years.

Tobin says no one was hurt in Sunday’s fire and firefighters were able to save the cart storage barn next to the clubhouse, which is still in use.

The course, considered one of the most attractive in Nova Scotia, is scheduled to hold a PGA Canada event in September, although there’s no word on the tournament’s status following the fire.

Tobin says a temporary building will be used as a clubhouse for the immediate future.

He says a permanent structure will be built, however its too early to say when that will happen.

The two-year qualification process for golf’s return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 112 years has been completed with today’s publication of the final Olympic golf rankings.

Forty countries are included in the final rankings across the men’s and women’s competitions, which will be played at Reserva de Marapendi Golf Course between August 11 and 20.

The Olympic golf competitions, beginning with the men from August 11-14, followed by the women from August 17-20. A potential global audience of around 3.6 billion could watch golf’s return to the Games, representing the ultimate shop-window for the sport and having the capacity to reach a brand new audience, especially among the younger generation across all continents.

“After eight years of intense planning and preparation for golf’s historic return to the Olympic Games, the IGF is extremely excited finally to have reached this important milestone of identifying those players who are eligible to compete in Rio de Janeiro,” said Peter Dawson, president of the IGF. “We are particularly gratified to see how many countries are represented among the men and women and anticipate compelling competitions for both on the outstanding golf course that Gil Hanse and Amy Alcott have created. It has taken a tremendous amount of work by a number of people to get to this stage, and we at the IGF are extremely grateful for the role each and every one of them has played in making this possible.”

Qualification began July 14, 2014 and concluded Sunday, July 10. The full list of qualifiers confirms the names of the 120 players – 60 male and 60 female – who are now eligible to be entered by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in accordance with the qualification criteria.

For Canada, those golfers are David Hearn and Graham Delaet on the men’s side and Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp on the women’s side.

The IGF will send confirmation of the quota places to the National Olympic Committees (NOC) no later than 5 p.m. ET  on Tuesday, July 12. The NOCs will then confirm use of allocated quota places to the IGF who, in turn, will reallocate all unused quota places before the Rio 2016 sport entries deadline of July 18.

The IGF will publish a further list of 60 names for both the men’s and women’s events on Monday, July 18, which will provide ratification of all the competitors who will comprise the respective fields at the Olympic Games.

The final rankings underline the diversity of the fields who will tee off in Olympic competition next month for the first time in over a century, with a total of 40 countries being represented across both the men’s and women’s events.

Additionally, every continent is represented in the rankings, affording golf a unique opportunity to grow the game in unexposed territories and to achieve greater visibility with the potential television audience during the Games in Rio.

Across the two individual competitions, Africa has eight eligible players; Asia 29; Australasia & Oceania eight; Europe 52; North America 11; South America 12.

Full information on the Qualifying System for the 2016 Olympic Games can be found here.

Click here to view the final Olympic men’s ranking
Click here to view the Final Olympic women’s ranking

TROON, Scotland – Jason Day is more motivated by failure than success, which helps explain how he reached No. 1 in the world.

And it all started last year at the British Open.

Day had never felt so calm in the midst of such raging emotion that being in contention at a major can bring. He had an innate sense that it would all work out in his favour, right up until the moment that it didn’t.

He had a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at St. Andrews to get into a playoff. It was right on line. And he left it short.

But it was that moment he realized he was good enough to win majors, and that he would win them if he had more chances. The following week he won the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Two weeks later, he won the PGA Championship with such a dominant display of power that he became the first player to finish at 20-under par in a major.

Six weeks later, he reached No. 1 for the first time.

“It was kind of, I guess, the start of my run where everything kind of changed my world,” Day said.

The 28-year-old Aussie arrived at Royal Troon on the weekend and headed out to a links course he had never seen, playing in a wind he might not see the rest of the week.

The intrigue of Troon is that the shorter nine going out typically is with the wind, while the stronger, longer holes coming back are into the wind. It was the other way around over the weekend, and it began to shift on Monday on the first official day of practice with 25 mph (40 kph) gusts straight off the Irish Sea.

“In the last five days, the forecast has changed dramatically,” defending champion Zach Johnson said. “And my guess is, it could change again.”

The forecast for Day has a little more clarity.

He has finished out of the top 10 only twice in his nine tournaments dating to March. What he brings to the Ayrshire coast of Scotland is more motivation – his last golfing memory was more failure.

Day appeared to be firmly in control at the World Golf Championship in Ohio two weeks ago until he three-putted for bogey on the 15th hole, made a mess of the par-5 16th hole on his way to a double bogey, and wound up three shots behind U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson.

“I learn more when I fail than when I win,” Days. “We’re not going to win every single one. Even though I don’t like losing, it was great to be able to learn something from that and turn this into what I would say a learning experience. … It was really bad. It was a terrible way to lose, and it was frustrating and disappointing. But things like this, you can’t win them all.”

He said the Tiger Woods era spoiled golf fans into believing everyone should win tournaments when given a chance, and no one was better at that than Woods. Seventy times around the world, Woods had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He won 60 of them.

“That’s what I’m shooting for, to be able to finish off like he did back in the day,” he said. “Will I ever get to a point like that? Maybe not. But that’s what I’m shooting for right now.”

As a kid, Day said the two biggest tournaments were the Masters and the British Open. Australians have a long history with the claret jug, dating to Peter Thomson winning five times and Greg Norman winning twice. Day was only a year old when Norman closed with a 64 at Royal Troon, only to hit his drive on the final hole of the playoff so far that it went into a pot bunker and ended his chances.

Norman still has his name on the jug twice. Woods, whom Day seeks out for advice in golf, is on there three times.

“Coming so close last year was definitely a motivational factor in that I would love to one day hold the claret jug and be able to put my name down in history with the best that have ever lived and played the game,” he said.

The jug for the last year belonged to Johnson, who poured wine from it one last time on Sunday night at a house he is sharing with players. Johnson’s first duty Monday morning was to give it back to R&A chief Martin Slumbers outside the clubhouse at Royal Troon.

“It was bittersweet,” Johnson said. “More sweet, but the fact that you’ve got to give it back, you know it’s coming. I guess a portion of that sweetness is you still have an opportunity to get it back.”

Day will defend his RBC Canadian Open title from July 18-24, 2016 at Glen Abbey Golf Club.