HARRIS, MICH. – Canadian golfer Maude-Aimee Leblanc posted her third second-place finish of the season at the Symetra Tour’s Island Resort Championship on Sunday in Harris, Mich.

Leblanc, from Sherbrooke, Que., led by three entering the third and final round before finishing one stroke behind Morgane Metraux of Switzerland.

Metraux fired a 5-under 67 in the the final round to improve to 17 under overall, while Leblanc settled for a 71.

Leblanc is now fourth in the tour standings.

The top 10 at season’s end earn LPGA Tour cards for next season.

Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont., tied for 40th, Valerie Tanguay of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., tied for 49th and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., was 67th.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Jerry Kelly successfully defended his title in his hometown American Insurance Championship, closing with a 6-under 66 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

The 54-year-old Kelly finished at 14-under 202 at University Ridge for his eighth PGA Tour Champions victory.

Couples bogeyed the par-5 18th for a 68. The 61-year-old Couples won the 2017 tournament for the last of his 13 senior titles.

“Hit a good shot. 18, I’ve been there before, I don’t mind driving it over there,” Couples said. “Then I chose to be long coming back this way. I knew I wasn’t going to get it close and it just came out hot and rolled through the green. I thought I was putting and then chipped it strong and pushed the putt and that was it.”

Jimenez, the leader after each of the first two rounds, shot a 69.

Jim Furyk (68) and Retief Goosen (68) tied for fourth at 12 under.

Tournament host Steve Stricker tied for seventh at 9 under after a 65. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain, like Kelly, grew up and lives in Madison.

Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz was 79th among the 80 finishers, shooting a 74 to get to 16 over.

Canadian Mike Weir shot a 7-under 65 to finish in a tie for seventh. Fellow Canadian Stephen Ames finished tied for 55th.

GREER, S.C. – Canadian golfer Stuart Macdonald tied for fifth on Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am.

It marked the third top-10 finish in a row for the Vancouver native, who tied for third and tied for 10th at his past two events.

Macdonald finished at 19 under for the 72-hole tournament on Sunday, eight strokes behind winner Mito Pereira of Chile.

The result bumps Macdonald to 61st from 70th in the tour standings.

The top 25 at the end of the regular season earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

The top 75 get another chance for 25 more PGA Tour cards as they will play in the Korn Ferry Tour finals.

Fellow Canadian Ben Silverman finished in 72nd place.

GREER, S.C. – Justin Lower continued his strong play at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation to maintain his 36-hole lead through the third round at 23-under. Lower leads Mito Pereira by three strokes entering the final round at the Thornblade Club.

Lower will seek to hold off Pereira – a two-time winner this season – on Sunday as the latter chases his third victory and an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR. Meanwhile Lower is seeking his first career Korn Ferry Tour victory and a leap inside the top-20 in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings.

“It feels like I’m coming into my own,” said Lower. “I know I’ve played over 100 events out here. I’ve been out here a while. I really don’t know how to explain it. My game has felt good all year. I thought this year could be a good year. It didn’t start off the way I wanted it to start. But I’ve been working hard the last month or so and results are starting to show.”

Entering the day with 18 birdies through 36 holes, Lower added to his tournament-leading total with a streak of five consecutive down the stretch on Saturday (Nos. 12-16). He bogeyed the third hole but rebounded with an eagle at the fifth and a birdie at the ninth before going on his back-nine run.

At 24 birdies through 54 holes, Lower is two birdies shy of the top 2020-2021 mark (26 by Chad Ramey at the REX Hospital Open) and seven shy of the all-time Korn Ferry Tour record through 72 holes (31).

With his Saturday 64, Lower has now collected seven straight rounds in the 60s, including rounds of 64- 63-64 this week. The 32-year-old entered the week 37th in the standings and is looking to finish the regular season inside the top-25 and earn his first PGA TOUR card. Lower claimed the only 54-hole solo- lead of his career at the 2019 Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS but went on to fall in a playoff to Vince Covello. 

In 2018, Lower experienced heartbreak at the final event of the season, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. He was hovering around The Finals 25 bubble coming down the stretch before facing an eight-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole. A birdie would have earned him his first PGA TOUR card but Lower missed on the low side and finished 26th, missing out on TOUR membership by one slot. 

Pereira will look to become the second player in a row to earn back-to-back wins after Cameron Young accomplished the feat two weeks ago. Prior to Young, a player had not gone back-to-back on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2013 (Michael Putnam). 

Canadian Stuart Macdonald is tied for fourth at 17-under and fellow Canadian Ben Silverman is tied for 70th.

Elsewhere in the tournament, the team of professional Evan Harmeling and former MLB All-Star pitcher David Wells (-26) won the low-handicap celebrity division (termed the X6 division) in walk-off fashion as Wells aced his final hole of the tournament (the par-3 ninth). The pairing of world champion boxer Canelo Alvarez and professional Matt Picanso (-29) won the high-handicap celebrity division (X7 Division) in a scorecard playoff. 

The final round will run from 8:35 a.m. through 2:45 p.m. off of the first tee at the Thornblade Club. 

GREER, S.C. – Justin Lower followed up a first-round 64 at The Cliffs Valley course with a second-round 63 at the Thornblade Club to take a one-stroke lead at 16-under at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation as play was suspended due to inclement weather. The second round will resume at 7:15 a.m. on both courses with the third round to follow after the conclusion of the second round. 

“I think this is my fifth year here, so it’s about time I figured it out,” laughed Lower of his past history at the tournament. “I’ve been playing well all year and just haven’t gotten the putter going. I started to get it going over the last month or so a little more and it’s starting to really show now.” 

Lower, a 32-year-old from Canal Fulton, Ohio, has birdied half of his 36 holes thus far, three more than any other player in the field. On Friday, he tallied six birdies on his back nine on his way to a closing 5- under 36 and 8-under 63 total.

While his scoring holes have been notable, Lower credited a par at the par-5 second hole early in his round as the catalyst. 

Lower entered the week 37th in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings with eight tournaments remaining. In 2018, Lower experienced heartbreak at the final event of the season, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. He was hovering around The Finals 25 bubble coming down the stretch before facing an eight-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole. A birdie would have earned him his first PGA TOUR card but Lower missed on the low side and finished 26th, missing out on TOUR membership by one slot. 

“I want that PGA TOUR card,” said Lower, a Malone University alum. “Hopefully it’s not just that, it’s more than that, but my game feels good. Every year I’ve made a steady improvement so hopefully I keep trending in the right direction and it will happen eventually.” 

Last week’s champion Mito Pereira sits one stroke back at 14-under in his bid to go back-to-back and earn his third victory of the season and an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR. Michael Miller, the runner-up at the last BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation, sits even with Pereira at 14-under. 

Elsewhere in the tournament, the teams of professional Andy Pope and former MLB All-Star A.J. Pierzynski are tied with professional Evan Harmeling and former MLB All-Star David Wells in the low- handicap celebrity division (termed the X6 Division) while professional Matt Picanso and world champion boxer Canelo Alvarez lead the high-handicap celebrity division (X7 Division). 

Canadian Stuart Macdonald is tied for seventh at 11-under with two holes still left to play. Fellow Canadians Ben Silverman and Albin Choi are tied for 25th and 85, respectively.

Seventy-five years ago this month, Bruce Williamson and E. Roy Jarman cobbled together the first Bag Boy pull cart from aluminum tubing, a few springs and a couple of lawnmower wheels. Three-quarters of a century later, not only is the company still around but it has spawned an ever-growing segment of the golf business now typified by high-tech and innovation.

Part of the reason for the surge in the popularity of what now are called “push carts” (“trolleys” on the other side of the Atlantic) is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More people took up the game or returned to it and enjoyed the socially distanced physical exercise associated with a round of golf. Other factors included the cost of renting an electric or gas power cart or even the availability of carts at some courses.

Another reason just makes sense. The average stand bag with 14 clubs and a few balls weighs about 10 kilograms. No water bottle, no rain suit, etc.  Slugging that around during an eight-kilometre hike just doesn’t make sense.

The experts agree, starting with Golfdom Magazine’s opinion published just one year after Williamson and Jarman started making Bag Boys:  “… a player will timidly try one and may feel a little self-conscious … but then he finds himself fresher and feeling better. His shoulder does not ache and his scorecard shows better results.”

That opinion resonated with golfers in most of the world with the notable exception of the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Canada. One global survey showed that use of either a power trolley (more on those later) or a push cart averaged almost 90 per cent in the United Kingdom compared with about 60 per cent in Canada and 22 per cent south of the border. (Some of that discrepancy can be attributed to course designs that make walking near impossible and heat and humidity in the southern U.S.)

Nevertheless, you can’t dispute the science. In 2016, writing on the website www.mytpi.com, Dr. Josh Nelson reported that a study by Dr. Neil Wolkodoff, medical director of the Colorado Center for Health and Sports Science, found that golfers who walked and carried their bag for nine holes burned just three more calories than those who used a push cart. The study also determined that golfers who carry their bag increase their risk of back, shoulder and ankle injuries.

“No matter how good your [golf bag] carrying system, you still have to use core muscles to hold the bag,” Wolkodoff told Golf Digest.  “When you’re pushing a cart, you don’t have the stress on your core musculature and shoulders.”

As it has since 1946, Bag Boy continues as an industry leader in innovation, with their Nitron cart which opens by simply hitting a button that activates a nitrogen-filled strut (like those on an SUV’s tailgate) and Top-Lok, a patented bag-to-cart attachment system that prevents twisting and turning while in use.

Don Heazel co-founded Golf Trends Inc., the Canadian distributor for Bag Boy, in 1987. He says demand is unprecedented.

Clicgear is a relative newcomer to the game but arrived with a bang. Jim Annesley is president of Goliath Golf, Clicgear’s Canadian distributor. Like Heazel, Annesley has been in the golf business for decades and sees much wider acceptance of push carts than in the past.

“There are more women buying them and they are increasingly popular with younger golfers.” Part of the attraction may be the eWheels option that transforms the manual Clicgear push cart into an electric one.

“There are lots of new golfers buying them and that’s great news for the longevity of the game,” says Annesley. 

As mentioned, the electric push cart is making inroads into the game and at a record pace, according to Joseph McLuckie, founder and president of JPSM Golf. His company is the Canadian distributor for industry leader Motocaddy as well as Stewart Golf, PowerBug and Cart-Tek. His product line covers everything from manual push carts to remote-controlled units and even models that, thanks to Bluetooth technology, follow you around the course at a respectful but convenient distance.

“So far this year, we are up 383 per cent over this time last year,” he says. “We will sell close to 3,500 units this year, I would estimate.”

There are multiple reasons for the buying frenzy, not just for push carts but for all things golf, McLuckie surmises.

“I see many new golfers who want exercise, who because of COVID are working from home, have more free time and disposable income, and want to start off playing the game the right way, with the right equipment. And then there are the golfers who drifted away from the game but are coming back and want to enjoy the walk without slugging their clubs around the course.”

You don’t see many mothers toting a 10-kilogram toddler on their shoulders, do you? Nope. For centuries, moms have been pushing their hefty offspring in strollers. 

Now just where do you think Williamson and Jarman got their initial concept? Moms are smart.

GREER, S.C. – Michael Miller had to wait two years to return to the site of his career-best finish. After a runner-up in 2019 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation and a tournament cancellation in 2020, Miller carded an opening-round 9-under 62 at the Thornblade Club to claim a one- stroke lead over Justin Lower, Vince India and Lee Hodges. 

“I just enjoy it here,” laughed Miller about his success at the tournament. “This was one of my first couple of events that I ever got into when I first had some status in 2014. And I played well and I’ve always kind of rode the momentum from there. I like the driving and the atmosphere and the people around.” 

Though still looking for another breakthrough performance, Miller entered this week’s tournament in better shape on the points list (99th) than in 2019. In 2019, Miller missed his first eight cuts of the season and 10 of 12 overall to enter the BMW Charity Pro-Am at 188th in the points standings. 

After a birdie at the par-4 10th to start, Miller tacked on three more birdies, a bogey and a hole-out eagle at the par-4 14th to reach 5-under 31 at the turn. On the front side, Miller added three more birdies, a bogey and another eagle at the fifth. With the 62, Miller sets a new career-low round on the Korn Ferry Tour, replacing a 63 at The Cliffs Valley course at the 2019 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX. 

With more than 80 percent of the Korn Ferry Tour’s combined 2020-21 regular season in the books, Miller noted the urgency that has started to set in. 

“I’m playing for my job,” said Miller. “That’s the way I look at it. It’s either you’re going to make it or break it. I’ve got eight events to hopefully prove that I belong at the next level and hopefully today’s a good start to build some momentum going forward.” 

Different goals are looking to be achieved by the trio one shot back of Miller. Lower and India are each looking to make the jump from top-50 in the points standings to top-25 and earning their PGA TOUR cards. Entering the week 10th in the points standings, Hodges is on the cusp of earning his first PGA TOUR card. 

Elsewhere in the tournament, the team of professional Evan Harmeling and former MLB All-Star pitcher David Wells lead the low-handicap celebrity division (termed the X6 Division) while professional Chandler Phillips and Olympic gold medalist curler Matt Hamilton lead the high-handicap celebrity division (X7 Division). 

Canadian Stuart Macdonald is tied for fifth after shooting a 7-under 65. Fellow Canadians Ben Silverman and Albin Choi shot 68 and 69, respectively.

Second-round tee times will run from 7 a.m. to 1:49 p.m. on Friday off of the first and 10th tees at both Thornblade Club and The Cliffs Valley. 

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) – Dustin Johnson got off to a fast start Thursday at Congaree in his home-state Palmetto Championship, shooting a 6-under 65 that left him a shot behind leader Wes Roach.

Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player and a South Carolina native, hadn’t played since missing the cut the last time he teed it up in the Palmetto State at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island last month.

Johnson appeared he might hold a share of the lead before Roach, a 32-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour victory, rolled in a 19-footer for a go-ahead birdie on the 16th hole.

Still, Johnson had a smooth, bogey-free round in the field’s first try at the Congaree Golf Club as the replacement tournament for the canceled RBC Canadian Open, called off a second straight season due to COVID-19 concerns.

Roach, splitting time on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours this season, shot his lowest PGA Tour round since November 2019. He was a stroke in front of Johnson, Doc Redman, Chesson Hadley and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen.

Canadians Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan both shot 4-under 67’s and are tied for seventh. Fellow Canadians David Hearn and Michael Gligic both shot 73.

Roach eagled the par-5 fourth, holing out from 105 yards on the 633-yard hole.

Johnson was headed in the wrong direction at the Ocean Course three weeks ago, missing a major cut for the second time in as many months. But if anyone doubted his readiness for next week’s U.S. Open, Johnson easily brushed that aside with his stellar play over the firm fairways and curvy greens at the 4-year-old Tom Fazio course.

At Congaree, he had four birdies in a seven-hole stretch, all on putts 10 feet or less including a two-putt birdie on the drivable, 370-yard third. Johnson chipped in from 82 feet away for his final birdie on No. 9 to tie Redman for the lead among the morning starters.

Johnson was only thinking of a par save when he hit the shot and was overjoyed – well, about as overjoyed as the cool, calm Johnson can get – when it disappeared in the cup for his lowest round since shooting 65 in the second round of the Tournament of Champions last January.

Redman was the first to reach 6 under with a run of four birdies over five holes on his back nine.

Hadley’s approach on his next-to-last hole, the eighth, was 2 feet from the cup for his tying birdie.

Van Rooyen was at 7 under through 14 holes. He made bogey on the sixth hole to fall back.

Van Rooyen followed up his successful U.S. Open qualifying in Ohio earlier this week with a strong showing at Congaree. He had missed his last four cuts including the PGA Championship. He spent the past three weeks thinking about his performance and working his game. van Rooyen like what he saw Thursday.

“I think I’m just sort of going forward,” he said.

Brooks Koepka, playing for the first time since finishing second to Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, opened with a 72 and was seven shots behind the leaders. Koepka is the only other top-10 player in this field, the last before the season’s third major.

Koepka’s start wasn’t a good sign: the last four times he began a tournament over-par, he went on to miss the cut.

A short time after Johnson finished, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. Henry McMaster on the club grounds.

Johnson said he was boosted by the strong crowd following him, not just here but at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head and the PGA Championship this season.

“I get a lot of support here in South Carolina, being a South Carolina native,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s been great” to play so much there.

“Hopefully, I can keep it rolling for the rest of the week,” he said.

TORONTO—The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada will return to action in 2021 with a set of eight tournaments available for players based in Canada. The PGA TOUR made the announcement June 10. 

A year after the global pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 season, and with restrictions still in place at the Canada-U.S. border, the Mackenzie Tour is giving competitive opportunities to players already in Canada through this eight-event schedule that begins in July and runs to October. 

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to make this announcement. We always knew we would have PGA TOUR-affiliated golf in Canada in 2021, so it’s nice to finally make it official with the announcement of these eight tournaments,” said Scott Pritchard, Mackenzie Tour Executive Director. “We are appreciative to all of our partners, the golf courses where we’re playing, the communities that will host us for the week and Mackenzie Investments, which has been such a significant partner for so many years.” 

The season begins in late-July, with the Mackenzie Investments Open at Club de Golf Le Blainvillier in the city of Blainville just outside of Montreal on July 26-August 1. Following a two- week break, the Tour begins a seven-tournament-in-seven-week stretch, beginning August 16- 22 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley for the Osprey Valley Open. Next is a two-week stay in Prince Edward Island for a pair of tournaments at two of the island’s finest golf courses. First up is the Prince Edward Island Open (August 23-29) at Dundarave Golf Club followed by the Brudenell River Classic (August 30-September 5) at Brudenell River Golf Course. 

Players will then travel west for a tournament to be announced at a later date and will be played the week of September 6-12, followed by Calgary’s ATB Financial Classic (September 13- 19) at Country Hills Golf Club, both long-time Tour partners. The season concludes with a pair of tournaments in British Columbia, the GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club (September 20-26) followed by the DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist at Uplands Golf Club (September 27-October 3). 

The Mackenzie Tour and tournament organizers continue to monitor issues surrounding the global pandemic, and they have worked with local and provincial health authorities and will continue to do so leading up to the tournaments. Approvals to return to competition still need to happen across the country, but organizers remain encouraged that the tournaments will be able to take place based on the vaccine rollout. 

Even with the compacted schedule and the number of events played in consecutive weeks caused by continued pandemic issues, Pritchard sees this year’s set of tournaments and their place on the schedule as a good thing. 

“We believe there is a good pacing to our schedule, and the players will get in a lot of golf this summer in successive weeks. With the limited amount of competitive golf available over the last year, we know the players are anxious to get started and will embrace these events played at high-quality golf courses in the summer and into the fall,” Pritchard added. 

In 2020, the PGA TOUR conducted a four-tournament grouping of tournaments for players in Canada. What the Tour conducted last summer will serve as a model in 2021. 

“What I’m most excited about is that these players will have opportunities to compete at PGA TOUR-sanctioned events, the competitions taking place at quality golf courses and the Tour offering some compelling season-ending incentive for these players,” Pritchard added. 

The top player at the conclusion of the season will earn full status on the 2022 Mackenzie Tour, while players finishing No. 2 through 5 on the Points List will receive conditional 2022 Mackenzie Tour status, which will gain them entry into the first set of events before the reshuffle. Finishers six through 10 will each earn a sponsor exemption into a 2022 Mackenzie Tour event. 

Tour officials will continue to monitor the travel restrictions in place and adapt accordingly should policies change before or during the season. 

The first full week of June brings warm weather, excitement for summer, and in normal times, the RBC Canadian Open. This year is extra special, as the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame celebrates 50 years of existence.

Despite the RBC Canadian Open’s cancellation due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, it didn’t stop the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame from hosting its 50th anniversary with a virtual gala.

On Tuesday, June 8, co-hosts Bob Weeks and Gail Graham brought Canadian golf fans together with a one-hour ceremony, celebrating the sport’s rich history in this country.

“Although we aren’t allowed to commemorate this achievement in person, it doesn’t diminish the importance of this celebration,” said Golf Canada President Liz Hoffman.

The night began with Gail Graham interviewing Sandra Post, the 1988 Canadian Golf Hall of Fame inductee. The two reflected on Post’s career, where she became the first woman from Canada to compete on the LPGA Tour. Post won eight times on the LPGA Tour including the LPGA Championship in 1968.

 “I was very privileged to represent the LPGA and Canada around the world,” Post said.

VIEW THE CANADIAN GOLF HALL OF FAME’S TOP 10 MOMENTS IN CANADIAN GOLF

One of those memories was Adam Hadwin’s 59 at the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge. The Abbotsford, B.C. native recorded 13 birdies on the card that day, which at the time was the ninth sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.

Brooke Henderson occupied two top-10 moments; winning the CP Women’s Open in 2018 at Wascana Country Club in 2018 (#3) and becoming the winningest Canadian (man or woman) with nine titles following her victory at the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic. Now, with 10 victories, Henderson reminisced on the importance of winning the CP Women’s Open in her career.

 “CP Women’s Open has always been a big part of my life. Finally winning the tournament in 2018 was honestly a dream come true,” Henderson said.

 Winning top honours was Mike Weir’s Masters victory in 2003. Weir converted a par putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, which he won on the 10th hole. As the Sarnia, Ontario native continues to succeed on the Champions Tour, he still marvels at his major achievement 18 years ago.

“It somewhat feels surreal that happened so many years ago,” Weir said during the ceremony.

Weir became the first Canadian man to win a major golf championship. At that time, many of the current Canadian golfers on the PGA Tour were teenagers at the time, including Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. Weir understands how this win inspired so many Canadians to believe they can succeed on the PGA Tour.

“I can’t say enough what he showed Canadians what can be done in golf,” said David Hearn when discussing the impact of Weir’s Masters victory.

“I very much enjoy encouraging these young guys on,” Weir said. “Any bit of advice that may be helpful, I relish that.”

You can watch the entire gala below.