FAIRHAVEN, Mass. – Inspired by the putters he has made for major winners and champions on the worldwide professional golf tours, Scotty Cameron has re-imagined one of his most iconic designs to create three new models called Champions Choice. Crafted in a limited run to be released this summer, the new putters bring the sleek, tour-proven shapes of the Special Select family of putters together with an integrated Teryllium insert and Scotty Cameron’s revered “Button Back” setup, as well as unique graphics and accessories celebrating the history of winning with Scotty Cameron putters.

In select Titleist golf shops worldwide beginning Friday, August 6, the new Champions Choice putters will be offered in three models: Newport Button Back, Newport 2 Button Back (also available in left-handed) and Flowback 5.5 Button Back. Each putter features a solid milled 303 stainless steel body with a soft Teryllium inlay fused together with the iconic button head machine screws and modern vibration dampening technology.

Largest contingent of Canadian athletes at an Olympic Games since Los Angeles 1984

TORONTO – On Tuesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced that a Canadian delegation of 370 athletes and 131 coaches will be participating at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. This contingent of athletes will be Canada’s largest team to compete at an Olympic Games since Los Angeles 1984.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will officially open on Friday, July 23 and continue through Sunday, August 8. The competition will feature 339 events across 33 sports and 50 disciplines. This will be the second time that the Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo, which previously welcomed the world in 1964. 

Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners will represent Canada at the Kasumigaseki Country Club. The first round of Men’s Individual Stroke Play will begin on July 29th, 2021, with the final round taking place on August 1st.

Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp will then hit the course starting August 4th, 2021 for the first round of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play. The final round is scheduled August 7th.

The full list of Team Canada athletes and coaches with breakdown by sport and home province can be downloaded here. 

QUOTES

“This is a very special moment for these 371 athletes, who have faced some of the most challenging circumstances over the past 16 months to be named to Team Canada’s Tokyo 2020 delegation. The fact that we have the largest Canadian team at a Summer Olympics in over 35 years speaks volumes to the focus and resilience of Canadian athletes and the sport community. While we are looking forward to watching them shine on the international stage, their glory will go beyond their accomplishments. This is about their journey to get to Tokyo and how they have inspired the nation.”

– Eric Myles, COC Chief Sport Officer

“These unique times have forged a special Canadian Olympic Team. Even before Canada’s incredible athletes get to their first competitions in Tokyo, I am extraordinarily impressed by their results. Despite the pandemic, through their creativity and perseverance, they have become the largest Canadian Olympic Team in three decades. In far less than ideal conditions, they have found a way to be faster and stronger than ever and I have no doubt that they are ready to reveal something special at Tokyo 2020. Their stories are ones that we can all be proud of.”

– Marnie McBean, Three-time Olympic champion and Team Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Chef de Mission

“With the Opening Ceremony just nine days away, it is an honour to be a part of this Team Canada. Every single athlete on this team has faced adversity, uncertainty and disruption, having to adapt and adjust to a new timeline and a new world. That they have come this far is a testament to their determination and perseverance. I am so excited that, after a year’s delay, we will all have the opportunity to show Canada, and the world, what we have been working for.”

– Rosie MacLennan, Two-time defending Olympic champion and Chair,  COC Athletes’ Commission

SANDWICH, England (AP) – Collin Morikawa received the claret jug, thrust it into the air and gave it a kiss, a two-time major champion at age 24.

This time, there were people to cheer him.

The American closed with a bogey-free, 4-under 66 and won the British Open in his debut Sunday, becoming the first player to capture two different majors on the first attempt.

His victory 11 months ago in his first PGA Championship came in the first major with no spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic.

So it was a very different scenario for Morikawa, a mature-beyond-his-years Californian, as he made one of the greatest walks in golf down the 18th fairway at Royal St. George’s, first to applause and then to a standing ovation.

After tapping in for par to win by two shots over Jordan Spieth, he gave a fist pump before applauding the spectators in the huge grandstand around the 18th green, part of a crowd of 32,000 people who enjoyed immaculate weather around the links off Sandwich Bay.

They got to witness a player making a historic start to his major championship career.

Morikawa is halfway to the career Grand Slam after eight starts and the first player since Bobby Jones in 1926 to win two majors in so few appearances. He follows Gene Sarazen, Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Spieth in winning multiple majors before turning 25.

His total of 15-under 265 was a 72-hole record in 15 British Opens at Royal St. George’s.

And he did it with style, flushing iron shots for birdies or stress-free pars and getting up-and-down on the rare occasions he found trouble.

Starting the final round one shot behind Louis Oosthuizen, Morikawa was tied for the lead after four holes and then made three straight birdies on Nos. 7-9 to overtake the South African, who hadn’t trailed since the 12th hole of his second round.

Morikawa made key par saves at Nos. 10 and 15, between which he rolled a birdie putt up and over a ridge and into the cup on the 14th to build a two-stroke lead he never lost. Spieth parred his final four holes and also shot 66.

By making par at the last after another perfect drive, Morikawa played his final 31 holes without a bogey on a course that has confounded many great players because of its quirky bounces and undulating fairways.

All the more remarkable was that this was his first major test on a seaside links. Morikawa knew little about this style of golf before playing the Scottish Open last week at The Renaissance Club, which is not a traditional links but featured the kind of tight lies and rolling terrain that prepared him for it.

He even had three new irons in his bag this week.

For Oosthuizen, who was seeking a wire-to-wire win and a second claret jug he had a runaway victory at St. Andrews in 2010 it was another near miss in a career full of them. He was runner-up this year at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, two of his six second-place finishes at majors.

This time Oosthuizen tied for third with U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm (66) after closing with a 71 his first round not in the 60s this week. He never recovered from losing his lead with an ugly bogey on the par-5 seventh hole. He caught way too much ball with his third shot from a greenside bunker, which bounced onto the putting surface and landed in a bunker on the other side.

Morikawa made a routine birdie on the hole to move two ahead of Oosthuizen. Spieth had made eagle at No. 7 a few minutes earlier.

Spieth, the British Open champion in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, had his closest call in a major since then. Ultimately, his bogey-bogey finish on Saturday left him too far behind the flawless Morikawa.

MacKenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 1-under 69 and finished tied for sixth spot with American Brooks Koepka.

After starting the day in fourth, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., fell to 15th with a 3-over 73.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – James Hahn missed a chance to shoot the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history Saturday. He settled for a 12-under 60 and a chance to win Barbasol Championship.

Eight strokes back entering the day, Hahn had two eagles in the career-best round to move within two strokes of leader J.T. Poston at Keene Trace.

“To come up one short stings a little bit,” Hahn said.

Hahn’s 132-yard approach on the par-4 18th spun back, leaving a 35-foot putt that he missed to the right a few minutes before second-round leader Poston teed off.

Jim Furyk set the tour record with a 58 in the 2016 Travelers Championship and also is one of 11 players to shoot 59.

Hahn chipped in for eagle on the par-5 15th to get to 11 under and made a 6 1/2 birdie putt on the par-3 17th.

“When I looked at the leaderboard, it said that I was 11 under and I could swear I was 10,” Hahn said. “I had no idea what I was shooting at that point, I had to double-check the scorecard and that was kind of the “Oh, boy” moment. Yeah, then you start thinking crazy things coming down the stretch, but I pulled it together.”

Poston had a bogey-free 66 to get to 19-under 197. He won the 2019 Wyndham Championship for his lone tour title.

“It was another good one, bogey-free, which is always nice around here,” Poston said. “Never want to give any back when everybody’s making some birdies.”

Luke List was a stroke back after a 65. He’s winless on the tour.

Because of wet conditions the players were allowed to use preferred lies.

The 39-year-old Hahn made a 5-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fifth, and has four eagles in the first three rounds. His two PGA Tour victories came on demanding courses in the 2015 Northern Trust at Riviera and 2016 Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow.

He turned to a local caddie at Keene Trace after parting ways with his usual lopper.

“A couple weeks ago my caddie actually left me, so I was searching around for a caddie,” Hahn said. “This week I was fortunate enough to have a local guy that knows the golf course. His name is Joe Muschong and he’s helped me out a lot this week and kept me cool throughout the round.”

Hahn also changed his putting routine.

“Earlier in the week I was kind of messing around with different practice routines with my putting stroke,” Hahn said. “Yesterday, actually, I changed my routine, decided not to take any more practice strokes at the ball. That freed me up a little bit, but had no idea I was going to shoot like that today.”

Joseph Bramlett had a 67 to join Hahn at 17 under.

David Lingmerth (65) and Seamus Power (67) were 16 under. Jason Dufner (65) was another stroke back with Derek Ernst (66), David Hearn (67), Bo Hoag (67) and Ryan Armour (69).

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont. finishes the third round tied for the twelfth spot. Pendrith completed the round 3 under, putting his total round under 14.

Defending champion Jim Herman was 14 under after a 65. He won in 2019, and the event was cancelled last year.

SANDWICH, England (AP) – Even with his swing getting loose over the final hour Saturday, Louis Oosthuizen walked off the 18th green with a one-stroke lead at the British Open and another shot at ending his 11-year wait for a second major title.

A third round as undulating as the fairways at Royal St. George’s ended how it started, with Oosthuizen holding off Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth, and three shots separating them.

Oosthuizen, a runner-up in the last two majors, overcame his first real wobble of the tournament on the back nine with a key par save on the 15th and an 8-foot birdie on the par-3 16th that led to a 1-under 69.

That put him at 12-under 198 as the South African stayed on course to be the first wire-to-wire winner at golf’s oldest championship since Rory McIlroy in 2014.

Morikawa slid a 15-foot birdie putt just past the hole on the 18th green, settling for a 68 as he bids for a second major to go with his win at last year’s PGA Championship. The American was four shots behind after 10 holes and made a strong push at about the time Oosthuizen showed signs of fading. He trimmed Oosthuizen’s lead to one shot.

Spieth was tied for the lead until he bogeyed his last two holes he missed a par putt from 2 feet at the 18th to complete a disappointing back nine of lost chances. The three-time major champion had a 69 and was three shots back, just as he started the day.

It had all looked so different with an hour left in the day, with the three players tied for the lead at 11 under with four holes to play on a day the pin positions not the weather proved to be the greatest defense at Royal St. George’s.

The wind didn’t get above 10 mph and a cloudless sky with bright sunshine looked sure to bring another day of low scoring.

However, pins were tucked away, sometimes near slopes, while the firmer fairways brought the deep rough and pot bunkers into play.

It ensured some big names were unable to launch a challenge.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson started four shots off the lead but plunged out of contention by making five bogeys in his opening 11 holes. Two late birdies could give him only a 73, leaving him eight shots behind.

Brooks Koepka, a four-time major champion, was a shot further back after managing only a round of 72.

McIlroy started much further back but reached the turn at 4 under for the championship after making five birdies. The back nine was another story and McIlroy threw an iron to the ground he called it a “little toss” during a run of three bogeys in five holes on his way to shooting 69, his first round in the 60s at Royal St. George’s.

It left him only on 1 under and with no chance of a second claret jug.

Instead, Corey Conners (66) and Scottie Scheffler (69) moved into contention at 8 under while Jon Rahm looking to add the British Open to his U.S. Open from last month shot 68 and was 7 under alongside MacKenzie Hughes and Dylan Frittelli.

Marcel Siem, who qualified from the second-tier Challenge Tour in Europe only last week, rebounded from an 8 after going out-of-bounds at the par-5 14th with two birdies in his final three holes. He was in a three-way tie for ninth place, six off the lead.

All of them are chasing Oosthuizen, who won at St. Andrews in 2010 and has rung up a career Grand Slam of runner-up finishes since then. That includes the U.S. Open last month, where he was leading with two holes to play until Rahm’s birdie-birdie finish. He also was runner-up in the PGA Championship to Phil Mickelson.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (AP) – J.T. Poston shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.

Poston had a 13-under 131 total at rain-soaked Keene Trace in the tournament that was delayed twice Thursday because of rain and lightning. Because of the wet conditions, players were allowed to use preferred lies in the fairways.

“It’s been really good,” Poston said. “Just ball-striking’s been a lot better than I’d say it has been the last few months. Just nice to give myself a lot of looks. They’re bent greens, it’s soft. Hit the ball close to the hole and you can make a few putts, too.”

Poston had late birdies on the par-4 seventh and par-5 eighth in the round that began on No. 10. The 28-year-old former Western Carolina player won the 2019 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro for his lone PGA Tour title.

He’s comfortable on Keene Trace’s greens.

“They’re a lot like what I grew up on in Hickory, North Carolina,” Poston said. “They’re bent and they’re about the same speed as what I’m probably used to when I was a kid. Just kind of brings back some good memories of putting on that putting green growing up. It just feels normal to me.”

Ryan Armour and Joseph Bramlett were a stroke back, each shooting 67.

“It was softer today,” Armour said. “Definitely that rain yesterday afternoon, the two rain delays we had, I was not getting any bounce on the driver, it was kind of hit and plug, which I would love it if it would bounce a little more, the length I hit it, but I’m still able to get to three of the par 5s, which is good for me.”

Brian Stuard, tied for the first-round lead after a 64, shot a 69 to drop into a tie for fourth at 11 under with Taylor Pendrith (68), Luke List (68) and Seamus Power (68).

Pendrith finished his late afternoon round in the rain.

Defending champion Jim Herman was 7 under after a 70. He won in 2019, and the event was canceled last year.

Will Grimmer, tied with Stuard for the lead after wrapping up an opening 64 in the morning, shot a 74 in the second round to drop to 6 under.

Wilco Nienaber, the big-hitting South African who received a foreign exemption to play, had a 71 to get to 5 under.

John Daly missed the cut with rounds of 76 and 70.

SANDWICH, England (AP) – Louis Oosthuizen set a 36-hole record at the British Open and is halfway to ending that run of near misses at the majors.

He’ll have to hold off a cast of major champions on the weekend at Royal St. George’s.

On a day of pleasant summer weather that took the fear out of the links off Sandwich Bay, Oosthuizen broke away from a three-way tie with a birdie-birdie-eagle run from the 12th hole. He shrugged off his first bogey of the week for a 5-under 65 and a two-stroke lead on Friday.

Former PGA champion Collin Morikawa had a 64 and was two shots behind.

Another shot back was Jordan Spieth (67), going after his fourth major.

Lurking was two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, who shot 65.

Oosthuizen was at 11-under 129, breaking the 36-hole Open record first set by Nick Faldo in 1992 at Muirfield and matched by Brandt Snedeker in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

This will be the fifth time in the last nine rounds at a major that Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion at St. Andrews, has had at least a share of the lead. He was runner-up at the last two majors, to Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship in May and to Jon Rahm at the U.S. Open last month.

He’ll also be aware of the quality of player behind him, though.

Morikawa, making quite a debut in links golf, made seven birdies in his first 14 holes as part of a clinic in iron play. He missed a 5-foot par putt on No. 15 and had a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole catch the lip.

Spieth, four shots behind when he teed off, was tied for the lead after 12 holes and then played the last six holes in 1 over.

Then there was Dustin Johnson, a runner-up at Royal St. George’s in 2011, who stuck his approach at the last to 3 feet for a birdie and a round of 65, which left him tied for fourth place at 7 under with Dylan Frittelli of South Africa (67) and Scottie Scheffler (66).

One shot behind an eclectic mix of players at 6 under including two more South Africans in Justin Harding and Daniel Van Tonder were Rahm (64), Brooks Koepka, and MacKenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. (69). Listowel, Ont.’s Corey Conners had his second straight 68 to sit at 4 under.

After Friday’s round, both Canadians are sitting in the top 20, Hughes is tied for the 12th spot with Conners close behind tied for 17th.

Koepka made four birdies in his last five holes for a 66, then continued his petty feud with Bryson DeChambeau with perhaps the best shot of his round.

During a television interview, Koepka said he was driving it great, adding: “I love my driver” a clear nod at DeChambeau, who complained on Thursday that his driver “sucks.”

DeChambeau just made it to the weekend at Royal St. George’s by shooting a 70, which saw him make the cut on the number at 1 over.

Rory McIlroy did, too, needing a birdie on the final hole for another 70. He was 11 shots behind.

Other big names weren’t so lucky: No. 7 Patrick Cantlay, No. 9 Patrick Reed, former Open champions Francesco Molinari and Henrik Stenson, and Darren Clarke, the 2011 champion at Royal St. George’s, were all headed home.

Kent Gilchrist covered just about everything in a sportswriting career that spanned more than 40 years, but he had a particular affinity for golf. Not just the game, but the people who played it. 

Gilchrist, known as Cookie to his countless friends, died at his New Westminster home Wednesday night after a lengthy illness. He was 72. Cookie was larger than life. He could light up a room and fill it with laughter. He seemed to know everyone.

Doug Roxburgh, the 13-time B.C. Amateur winner, was shocked to learn of Gilchrist’s death after his round Thursday at the B.C. Amateur Championship at Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River. 

“I have so many great memories of Cookie,” Roxburgh said. “I can remember talking to him so many times like this after a round at the B.C. Amateur. Cookie always had a smile on his face. He just really enjoyed talking to the players and was a golfer himself. He kind of lived a little of his golf through the people he covered.” 

Gilchrist was born in Souris, Man., and worked at the Brandon Sun, Regina Leader-Post and Winnipeg Free Press before moving west in 1973. He worked briefly for the Vancouver Sun before moving down the hall to The Province, where he spent 37 years before retiring in 2010. 

Gilchrist served a stint as sports editor, covered the B.C. Lions and many other sports, including curling and horse-racing, and eventually became a general sports columnist at the newspaper.

For many years he returned to his boyhood home to play in the annual Grey Owl golf tournament in Clear Lake, Man. Kris Jonasson, chief executive officer of British Columbia Golf, accompanied Gilchrist on one of those Grey Owl trips. “Cookie was a storyteller,” Jonasson said. “All great reporters should be storytellers. But in addition to being a storyteller, Cookie created stories and there are a lot of great stories about things that he did during his career. I am really happy that I got to know him, I am happy I got to travel with him and he is somebody that will be missed.” 

Like many of us, Gilchrist was a frustrated golfer. He loved the game, but it didn’t always love him back. “He couldn’t get out on the football field and play with the guys, but he could get out on the golf course,” Jonasson said. “Cookie knew his limitations. He was never going to be star player, but he enjoyed himself on the golf course.” 

Gilchrist covered golf whenever he had the opportunity. He was a fixture at Northview Golf Club in Surrey during the seven-year run of the Greater Vancouver Open/Air Canada Championship, worked both of the Canadian Opens held at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in 2006 and 2011 and LPGA Tour events at Vancouver Golf Club and Point Grey. He was a big supporter of amateur golf in British Columbia.

Gilchrist was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2005, the B.C. Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and was awarded the Northwest Golf Media Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2015. His many friends in the media industry paid tribute to him after news of his death was announced by longtime friend and former BCTV/Global sportscaster Bernie Pascall.

“It is devastating,” Pascall said. “He was a fun guy to be around and we’ll all miss him. With Cookie, the emphasis was always on fun, but he was always a very dedicated journalist and well respected. I travelled some early football trips with him. He liked to enjoy a good meal and a good time, but the job was of utmost importance to him and he was very focused on what he did. I don’t think he had an enemy in the world. He had friends everywhere.”

On a personal note, I like to count myself as one of those friends. I got to know Cookie when I inherited the golf beat at the Vancouver Sun from the retired Arv Olson in the mid-1990s. Cookie went out of his way to help me get comfortable on the golf beat. I marvelled at how many people he knew and he went out of his way to introduce all of them to me.

We covered many tournaments together and played lots of golf. He always put a smile on my face. We had lots of laughs. He had struggled with his health in recent years. After a battle with throat cancer, Gilchrist battled respiratory issues and had recently spent time in hospital following a heart attack.

Gilchrist is survived by his wife, Lesley, son Riley, daughter Rebecca and four grandchildren. The entire family had spent considerable time with him in recent weeks. No immediate service is planned.

LEDUC, Alta. – The 66th Canadian Junior Girls Championship will return this year from July 20-23 at Leduc Golf Club in Leduc, Alta., a year after the pandemic forced a cancellation of Golf Canada’s 2020 competitive season.

The 72-hole event kicks off the return of Golf Canada’s National Amateur Championships. The last tournament was conducted in September of 2019.

This year’s 106-player field includes three Team Canada National Junior Squad members; Jennifer Gu (West Vancouver, B.C.), Katie Cranston (Oakville, Ont.), and Nicole Gal (Oakville, Ont.). Due to travel restrictions, only Canadian residents are allowed entry to the event.

This year 11 of Canada’s top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) will travel to Leduc Golf Club for the championship, including Luna Lu (Burnaby, B.C.), who finished ninth in the 2019 event.

The winner receives an exemption into the 2021 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship held from July 27-30 at Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club in Spruce Grove, Alta.

The Canadian Junior Girls Championship is a 72-hole stroke play event, that features a 36-hole cut for the low 70 players and ties. In the event of a tie at the end of four rounds, there will be a hole-by-hole playoff immediately following completion of 72-holes.

The Juvenile division will run concurrently with the Junior division through the 72-hole competition. The Juvenile division is for girls 16 and under.

A practice round will be conducted on July 19, the day before competition begins.

Leduc Golf Course was founded in 1961 as a nine-hole course. Now, it’s an 18-hole course with over 6,000 yards of fairways—some tree-lined and some with water hazards and sloped greens.

Previous winners of the Canadian Junior Girls Championship include Brooke Henderson (2012), Alena Sharp (1999), and Sandra Post (1964-66).

Click here for the full field and tournament information.

NOTABLES

Jennifer Gu
Another 16-year-old from B.C., Jennifer Gu of West Vancouver is also a member of the National Junior Squad and is coming off an incredible 2020 season that saw multiple top 10 finishes at major events. Gu won the PGA of BC Junior Championship, finished third at the Alberta Junior Girls Championship and fourth and the B.C. Junior Girls Championship last year.

Katie Cranston
The 17-year-old from Oakville, Ont. is also a member of the National Junior Squad and like both Arora and Gu, Cranston found a win in 2020, winning the Ontario Junior Girls Championship. In 2019, Cranston finished second at the Future Links Ontario Championship, and third at the Future Links Fall Series (East).

Nicole Gal
Also from Oakville, 16-year-old Nicole Gal rounds out the National Junior Squad members in the field. In 2020, Gal finished runner-up at the Ontario Junior Girls Championship to fellow Oakville golfer, Cranston, and finished in a tie for eighth at the North & South Junior Amateur. In 2019, Gal won the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship in the Girls 14-15 division.

FAST FACTS

Celeste Dao’s win in 2018 broke a streak of three straight years in which a British Columbia golfer won the individual event: Susan Xiao in 2017 (Surrey, B.C.), Naomi Ko in 2016 (Victoria, B.C.) and Michelle Kim in 2015 (Surrey, B.C.).

Ten-time LPGA winner and major champion Brooke Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., won the event in 2012 at River Spirit Golf Club in Calgary, Alta.

Heather Kuzmich won four straight Canadian Junior Girls Championships from 1981-1984.

Four Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members are past champions of the event: Betty Stanhope-Cole (1956), Judy Darling Evans (1957), Gail Harvey (1958-60) and Sandra Post (1964-66).

Current LPGA golfer Alena Sharp was the 1999 Canadian Junior Girls Champion.

In 2019, Euna Han of Coquitlam, B.C., set a new course record at the host course, Lethbridge Country Club during the Canadian Junior Girls Championship by shooting an opening-round 64.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Brian Stuard shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the suspended first round of the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.

Play was suspended twice in the afternoon because of rain and lightning, with 30 players unable to finish before dark.

After dropping a stroke on the par-4 18th to finish his opening nine, Stuard birdied five of the next six holes in the morning round at Keene Trace.

“I felt like my iron play was nice today,” Stuard said. “I didn’t think I drove it well, but there’s not a lot of rough so you can kind of attack from anywhere, so that’s what I was able to do.”

Team Canada’s Taylor Pendrith was at 65 with Luke List, Joseph Bramlett, Ryan Armour, Scott Harrington, J.T. Poston, Vaughn Taylor and David Lingmerth.

Patrick Rodgers, Stephen Stallings Jr. and Will Grimmer also were 7 under when darkness stopped play. Rodgers and Stallings had two holes left, and Grimmer three. Play was delayed for a total of 2 hours, 35 minutes in the afternoon.

Stuard won the rain-shortened Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2016 for his lone PGA Tour title. The 38-year-old Michigan player tied for eighth last week in Illinois in the John Deere Classic.

“It was a good start, but in all honesty, it doesn’t really mean much,” Stuard said. “I need three more good rounds to put myself in contention, I guess. It’s nice to start off well. I need three more, so just got to keep going.”

List birdied the par-4 17th after the second rain delay to join Stuard at 8 under, then drove into the right-side water on the par-4 18th and closed with a bogey.

“Long day,” List said. “There’s birdies to be made on this golf course, so I kind of knew that I had to be aggressive out there and I was fortunate to be able to make some birdies and one eagle. Had a few bogeys, but overall I played well.”

Bramlett eagled the par-5 fifth and eighth holes and also had a double bogey.

“I’ve gotten a little bit more speed this year, which has helped, so the par 5s are a little bit more shorter for me,” Bramlett said. “I had an 8-iron in on one, 7-iron in on the other and I hit some really good iron shots, so gave myself good looks and knocked them in.”

Defending champion Jim Herman opened with a 67. He won in 2019, and the event was canceled last year.

Canada’s David Hearn and Jason Dufner also shot 67.

Wilco Nienaber, the big-hitting South African who received a foreign exemption to play, was 3 under with three holes left.

Canadians Roger Sloan and Michael Gligic were both 3 under when play was suspended, while Nick Taylor fired a 1-under 71.

John Daly had two double bogeys in a 76.