GLENVIEW, Ill. – Canadian Adam Svensson finished second Sunday in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Evans Scholars Invitational golf tournament, taking a big step toward securing a PGA Tour card for next year.

Svensson, of Surrey, B.C., carded a final-round 4-under 67 to finish with a 13-under, 271 total. American Cameron Young also shot a 67 on Sunday to post a 266 total and a five-stroke win.

Young earned US$108,000 for the victory while Svensson took home $54,000.

Svensson is trying to return to the PGA Tour after losing his card following the 2019 season. He jumped to 11th from 18th in the tour standings with the result.

The top 25 at season’s end earn PGA Tour cards.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished 10 shots off the pace while Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald posted a 277 total, three shots ahead of Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Alex Cejka won the Senior PGA Championship on Sunday for his second straight major championship, thriving on accurate and powerful ball-striking and deft touch around the demanding greens at Southern Hills.

Cejka shot a 3-under 67 for a four-stroke victory over Tim Petrovic, three weeks after he beat Steve Stricker in a playoff in the Regions Tradition in Alabama.

“It’s incredible,” Cejka said. “Seeing and knowing all those names who are up there on the trophy and being on the trophy myself, it’s a dream come true. … Monday when I played for the first time here I walked those fairways and remember seeing this on TV in all those years and I can’t even describe how it feels to be here and touching the trophy. I’m just super blessed. I’m super happy. It’s an incredible feeling right now.”

Cejka fled the Czech Republic with his father at age nine, settling eventually in West Germany, where he took up golf and turned professional at age 18.

Stricker had a one-shot lead going into the final round and many expected another duel to the finish. That duel vanished early, with Stricker’s usually reliable putting failing him greatly. He missed seven putts inside of 8 feet, and his ball-striking also was off, leading to a 77 that dropped into a tie for 11th.

After a birdie at the first, Cejka had a nervous bogey-bogey stretch on Nos. 2 and 3. But with Mike Weir and Stricker making a mess of things around him, he steadily pulled away with birdies on Nos. 5, 7, 11 and 12. From there he held on, getting up-and-down from greenside bunkers and overcoming a water ball on the par-5 13th that led to his only bogey on the back nine. He also drove into a creek on the par-4 10th, but after taking a drop, hit his third shot to 6 feet and saved par.

He finished at 8-under 272.

Cejka said seeing what was happening to Stricker and Mike Weir early was a shock to his system. Weir started the day three shots back and shot 72.

Weir finished tied for fifth, while fellow Canadians Stephen Ames and David Morland IV finished tied for 34th and 72nd, respectfully.

Cejka won three times on the European Tour in 1995 and a fourth event in 2002 before moving to the U.S. He played the PGA Tour from 2002 to 2011 before losing his status, but regained it in 2015, a year he won the Puerto Rico Open for his lone PGA Tour victory.

He joined the PGA Tour Champions without enough career money winnings for full status, and was an alternate into the Tradition. He also finished second in the Chubb Championship in April. He now not only has earned full status, he will be back at Southern Hills in 2022 for the PGA Championship, for which he will be slightly younger than the defending champion Phil Mickelson.

Petrovic also closed with a 67.

Bernhard Langer, Jerry Kelly, Paul McGinley and others waited on the first tee to congratulate Cejka on the torrid start to his senior career and the impressive performance at Southern Hills.

“After he won Regions Tradition, you know, he was really meaningful in saying, `I finally feel like one of you guys,”’ Kelly said. “Now he’s been a great player for a long time and he’s put in so much time. He’s playing the Outlaw Tours in Arizona. He’s played everything he can. He never gave up and this is the reward that’s happening right now. I mean I think it’s an awesome story. He’s a great guy. He works his butt off. He keeps his head down and goes and gets it. I think it’s awesome.”

Retief Goosen, the winner of the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills, had a 66 to tie for third with K.J. Choi at 3 under. Choi briefly tied Cejka for the lead after four birdies in his first seven holes before settling for a 68.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Turns out Cameron Young is mortal after all. And the rest of the field still couldn’t catch him.

For the first time in two weeks, Young made a costly error and knew the position he put himself in was one of the toughest at The Glen Club’s links-style course. Young blasted his approach at the par-4 second over the green, left his chip shot off a downhill lie short and in the rough, then chipped on and two-putted for six. The double bogey negated an eagle from the par-5 first, but it was not enough to knock Young off the top spot of the leaderboard at the Evans Scholars Invitational presented by First Midwest Bank. 

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is third at 9 under, while Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is tied for eighth at 5 under. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 21st and Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver is tied for 25th.

Young logged five birdies and a bogey the rest of the way, carding a 4-under 67 and extending his lead over Northbrook, Illinois native Nick Hardy to four strokes. It is the seventh consecutive Korn Ferry Tour round Young has at least a share of the lead, as well as sixth time in the last seven rounds he leads outright. 

The Scarsborough, New York native entered Saturday’s third round as the only player with fewer than three bogeys through 36 holes this week. Although Young doubled the second and bogeyed the par-3 11th later in the round, he still has fewer holes played over par than anyone in the field. Young only made five bogeys, tied for the third fewest of the tournament, in last week’s wire-to-wire win (solo leader after every round) at the AdventHealth Championship.

In addition to making fewer mistakes than anyone else, Young’s three eagles (one in each round) are tied with University of Illinois alum Luke Guthrie for the most in this week’s field. Young’s round-opening eagle Saturday was a drive in the fairway, followed by a 6-iron from 223 yards out, and a 25-foot putt. 

A par save off another downhill lie behind No. 3 green gave Young a quick boost, which he turned into birdies at Nos. 4 and 5. The birdie at the par-5 fifth came after Young escaped the trees on his second shot and knocked a wedge to eight feet. Four pars later, Young drove the 333-yard par-4 10th and notched a two-putt birdie. A bogey from the greenside bunker at the 11th cost him a shot, but Young got it back with a tap-in birdie at the par-4 15th. Young capped the round with a two-putt birdie from just left of the green at the par-5 18th. 

“I don’t think I hit it that great. I made a couple putts early,” Young said. “After that, I didn’t make much. I think I have a lot more in me.” 

Four strokes is double what Young’s lead was after 54 holes in Kansas City, Missouri a week ago. Even with the added cushion, Young knows he can ill afford to play cautiously, or try to protect his lead Sunday afternoon. 

Hardy, a two-time All-American and the 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year at the University of Illinois, rallied from a 3-over 39 on the front nine with a bogey-free 4-under 31 on the back nine. 

Even as Hardy provoked roars from the crowd after a long, double-breaking birdie putt went down at the par-3 11th, as well as dazzling approaches at the par-4 13th and 15th, Young stayed in his own zone. 

Scott McKean, Young’s caddie, is a major reason why they’re able to operate within their own little world. The two were close friends at Wake Forest University. McKean was also the best man at Young’s wedding. Young’s connection to McKean feels especially important this week, given the fact this event raises funds to support the Evans Scholars Foundation and its efforts to send caddies to college on full tuition and housing scholarships. 

When Young needed a caddie for last August’s Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron, the third week the four-tournament run which earned him Special Temporary Membership status, McKean picked up the bag. Working for cybersecurity company, McKean took some time off, but also worked remotely while on the road. Young called McKean two weeks later for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. Once again, McKean took off work and joined Young in Newburgh, Indiana. 

Young made an even bigger ask in late September. He needed a caddie for three straight weeks. McKean asked if he could call back with an answer. 

“He called me back an hour and a half later and had quit his job,” Young said. “He’s giving up a lot to be away from home a lot, and not necessarily get to play golf, do other things he likes to do. But we have a great time. We have a lot of fun. It makes the travel and the long days a lot easier.” 

Drawbridge, the cybersecurity company McKean left, is embroidered on Young’s polos. It’s an ever- present reminder of what the stakes are, what sacrifices have been made, and what potentially lay ahead. 

A victory Sunday would move Young from 26th to 12th in the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour points standings. More simply, finishing off a second win in as many weeks would take Young to the verge of his first PGA TOUR card. 

“Very thankful to be where I am. I knew what it felt like to be missing Monday qualifiers and making $50 in mini-tour events,” Young said. “I’m most of the way to where I want to go. I want that last little bit to be soon. That’s where I have my eyes set.” 

Final-round tee times will run from 6:54 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time Sunday off the first tee. 

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Steve Stricker took advantage of Mike Weir’s back-nine collapse Saturday to take the lead into the final round of the Senior PGA Championship.

Stricker shot a 3-under 67 in a stiff north breeze at Southern Hills for a one-stroke lead over Alex Cejka, the senior newcomer who beat Stricker in a playoff this month in the major Regions Tradition in Alabama.

Stricker was at 6-under 204. Cejka shot 68.

Weir was 8 under through 11 holes, then made a double bogey on 12, starting a stretch of giving back five shots in five holes. The Canadian left-hander finished with a 74, leaving him three strokes behind Stricker, but still in the final group Sunday.

Fellow Canadians Stephen Ames and David Morland IV are tied for 24th and 37th, respectfully.

Cejka, a four-time winner on the European Tour, won his only PGA Tour event in 2015 when he captured the Puerto Rico Open. He played his way onto the PGA Tour Champions as a Monday qualifier and was an alternate in Alabama before getting in the field and eventually winning the Tradition. He was second at the Chubb Classic in April.

“He’s been playing great,” Stricker said. “Yeah, I’m going to have my hands full tomorrow. I mean he’s been playing great and I’m going to have to take care of my own self, my own game and hopefully put up a good score. I know the confidence level that he has must be high if he’s right up there again this week. He started as a Monday qualifier and wins a major and he’s in contention again here this week, so it’s a great story. “

Cejka, a native of Czechoslovakia whose family fled the country for West Germany when he was 10, bogeyed his first two holes then made four birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way. He said he has watched numerous players in the past start with a bang on the senior tour after turning 50.

“I’m riding the wave,” he said. “Let’s hope I’ll ride it for a little bit. I’m playing well and I just want to play as long and as good as possible because eventually it’s going to fade off. I mean, that’s normal, you know? But we’ll see what I can do the next whatever, weeks, months, couple years, who knows.”

Stricker, the 2021 Ryder Cup captain who was 2-0 when playing with a 54-hole lead on the senior circuit before losing to Cejka, played a solid round, making five birdies against two bogeys. He hit his approach shot on the 10th hole to tap-in range, then holed out from a bunker on the 485-yard, par-4 16th that played straight back into the wind.

Weir pushed his tee shot to the left on the par-4 12th behind a tree, punched out, then missed the green right with a short iron and failed to get up and down for the double bogey. He left his third shot short in a bunker on the par-5 13th leading to another bogey, the pushed his tee shot on 15 and wound up missing a par save from 5 feet. His tee shot on 16 found a massive fairway bunker, leading to a layup and another missed par save.

“I was just a little off with my game and this is a tough golf course,” said Weir, the winner in Houston this month. “It’s a demanding course and it will bite you. And I got bit a little bit today on the back side. I’ll go try to iron a couple things out here and try to get a good attitude, some good rest and get ready for tomorrow.”

Beyond those in the final group, Tim Petrovic and K.J. Choi were five back at 1 under. Petrovic shot 68 and Choi 71. Jerry Kelly (69) and Stephen Leaney (71) were even par.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jordan Spieth knows how to finish right out of the rough, and still had the lead after three rounds at Colonial.

After hitting his final drive Saturday into the thick grass on an incline right of the No. 18 fairway, Spieth recovered with an approach to 8 feet before rolling in the birdie putt that gave him the solo lead again over playing partner Jason Kokrak in the final group at the the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Local favorite Spieth had his second consecutive round of 4-under 66 to get to 15 under at Colonial, where he was the 2016 champion and has been a runner-up two times. He led by one stroke over Kokrak, who had matched him for the lead with four birdies in a six-hole stretch before his closing par in his round of 66.

The resurgent Spieth has the 54-hole lead for a PGA Tour best-matching fourth time this season, all in a span of 11 tournaments. That stretch includes his win at the Valero Texas Open, the first time he had won since the 2017 British Open.

Sergio Garcia, who was 21 when he got the first of his 11 PGA Tour victories at Colonial 20 years ago, was alone in third at 10 under after a 68 with one bogey.

Ian Poulter had the best round of the day with a 64 after getting started with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, moving up 26 spots into a tie for fourth at 8 under with Sebastian Munoz (70). Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton was tied for sixth at 7 under with Brendon Todd and Patton Kizzire.

Midway through the round, Spieth had another recovery out of the right rough, almost as impressive as his final hole even though that was only a par.

Coming off his second bogey of the day, Spieth pulled out a driver and missed the fairway, leaving no shot to the No. 9 green fronted by water. He punched a shot safely into the fairway, pitched over the water to 12 feet and rolled in the par putt.

Kokrak, who is 35th in the world ranking and only seven spots behind Spieth, birdied the first two holes of the day to match the lead at 12 under.

Spieth made a 13-foot birdie putt at the long, difficult par-3 No. 4 hole, but at the No. 5 hole that runs parallel to the Trinity River hit his first two shots both into the left rough and had first bogey in 41 holes at Hogan’s Alley this week. He got that stroke right back, and stretched the lead to three strokes with his 21-foot birdie at No. 6, where Kokrak had his second consecutive bogey.

Both players had birdies at No. 15, Kokrak getting even at 13 under only for seconds before Spieth’s birdie there. Korkrak caught up again at 14 under with a 13-foot birdie at No. 17, and was in the middle of the fairway at No. 18 when his playing partner went way right.

They will play again in the final group Sunday.

The 36-year-old Kokrak got his first career victory in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October. That was after he tied for third at Colonial last June, when the Charles Schwab Challenge that marked the PGA Tour’s resumption of competition after a 12-week pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for ninth at 6 under, while Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for 17th and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford is tied for 34th.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jordan Spieth has started playing well again just about everywhere he goes. He has always felt comfortable close to home at Colonial, where he is in the lead.

PGA champion Phil Mickelson was headed home to California after he bogeyed two of his last three holes, missing the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge by one stroke.

Spieth was bogey-free again Friday, with a 4-under 66 to take the lead after the second round at 11-under 129 at Hogan’s Alley. The Dallas native was one shot ahead of Jason Kokrak, who had his second consecutive round of 65.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for sixth, four shots back at 7 under. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford are 3 under., while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., missed the cut.

Mickelson, who turns 51 on June 16, became the oldest winner of a golf major at the PGA Championship last weekend. But Lefty finished 2 over at Colonial after his second-round 69, which included three birdies in a four-hole stretch to end his front nine.

But Mickelson’s 7-foot par chance at the par-3 16th rolled over the left edge and did a half-circle around the cup without going in. With the sun shining through the clouds, his have-to-make 10-footer on No. 18 slid just left of the hole.

Mickelson left the course almost immediately after that, telling a PGA Tour official on his way out that he enjoyed his time at the tournament. The two-time Colonial champion said he hated that he wouldn’t be around for the weekend.

Sergio Garcia (69), the first-round co-leader with Spieth whose first PGA Tour win came at Colonial 20 years ago, was tied for third at 8 under with Sebastian Munoz and Patton Kizzire, who both shot 65 Friday. Munoz had six birdies on the back nine, including the final three holes after a double bogey at No. 15.

Kokrak, Garcia and Munoz were in the morning wave of players who all finished before a weather delay of 2 hours and 26 minutes during the afternoon.

A steady drizzle started about the same time Spieth, Mickelson and defending champion Daniel Berger teed off at No. 1 to start their second round together. Mickelson had a bogey on the opening par-5.

The rain had pretty much stopped before play was suspended because of lightning nearby from a weather system producing heavy storms south of the course. At that point, Mickelson was in a greenside bunker at No. 3, with Spieth 23 feet from the cup on the same hole.

Mickelson’s first shot when play resumed nearly 2 1/2 hours later was a blast to set up a par-saving 7-foot putt. Spieth rolled in his second consecutive birdie.

Spieth is playing in his 11th tournament since missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January. His seven top-10 finishes since then match his total in 40 events the previous two seasons combined. He won the Valero Texas Open, his first victory since the 2017 British Open. He won in 2016 at Colonial, where he has two runner-up finishes and three others in the top 10.

Kokrak still hits the ball a long way, and now has a long putter when on the greens. The 35th-ranked player in the world, who is 6-foot-4 and has made the FedEx Cup playoff the past eight seasons, switched to a putter with a 36-inch shaft this season..

“I was 190th in putting but I was a top five ball-striker, so I concentrated more on the putter as of late, and you know, it’s been hot,” he said. “But you know, I still want to concentrate on the ball-striking. I’ve been struggling with the driver, so I think finding a driver this week that I’m comfortable with, it’s gone a long way.”

His best back-to-back rounds this year, with six birdies and a bogey in each round, are on the Colonial course where he had his best finish last season. He tied for third last June in the Charles Schwab Challenge that marked the PGA Tour’s resumption of competition after a 12-week pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, the 36-year-old Kokrak got his first career victory in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October.

The low round of the day was a season-best 62 by Charlie Hoffman, who overcame an early bogey at No. 3, when his approach missed the green after a drive into the rough. He had four consecutive birdies, at Nos. 14-17, before a par-saver with a chip to 2 feet at No. 18.

Hoffman, who had an opening 71, was tied for sixth at 7-under 133.

TULSA, Okla., (AP) – Canada’s Mike Weir opened a four-stroke lead Friday in the Senior PGA Championship with a 5-under 65 on a tough Southern Hills layout that baffled most of the players.

That moved Weir to 7 under through 36 holes, with Steve Stricker (68), Rocco Mediate (69) and John Riegger at 3 under. Riegger had three holes left when play was called because of darkness at 8:31 p.m.

Weir, from Brights Grove, Ont., completed his round just minutes earlier.

The 2003 Masters champion beat John Daly in a playoff early this month in the Insperity Invitational in Houston for his first PGA Tour Champions victory.

The left-hander made six birdies against one bogey.

His longest birdie putt was only 10 feet and he made difficult par saves on holes Nos. 7, 8 and 9 – his closing holes – to remain separated from the field.

“It was a really fun round of golf,” Weir said. “It’s a very demanding golf course, so when you have your opportunities and take advantage of them you feel good because you know you’re going to be fighting for some pars on some holes, which I was coming in and made a couple nice par putts to finish off the round nicely.

Stephen Ames of Calgary is tied for 24th at 3 over through two rounds, while David Morland IV of Aurora, Ont., is 8 over with four holes to play in the second round.

Weir’s tee shot on the par-4 seventh stopped a yard from bouncing into a creek, and he made a 9-foot putt to save par. He hit a long bunker shot on the par-3 eighth hole to a few inches. He polished it off with a 5-foot par putt on his final hole.

Stricker began and ended a long day with consecutive bogeys, but still managed to walk off the course with what was then a share of the lead at 3 under. He had 11 holes to complete from his first round and quickly went back out for the second round in windier but drier conditions.

Apparently the disappointing start and finish made it hard to remember all that transpired in between. Asked what club and distance he had on 10 when he holed out from the fairway for an eagle that took him to 5 under, he had a blank look and had to be reminded by the moderator that he made an eagle there.

“Oh. Forgot I did that,” Stricker said. “I had like 107 yards, I think to the hole and right in between clubs, so I just took a wedge and just tried to skip it up the hill there a little bit. And that’s just a bonus, you don’t expect to do anything like that. But it was a nice shot and got me going.”

Mediate also made an eagle from the fairway, hitting a 9-iron from 138 yards into the cup on his third shot on the par-5 fifth hole to move from 2 over back to even par. He then added birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to play his last five in 4 under.

“I made a few bogeys, but holed a 9-iron on 5 that kind of turned the whole world around,” Mediate said. “It was just one of those things that happens. And then I finished pretty good after that. I was playing OK, a couple over, but it’s easy to do that around this place, this place is total championship golf. It’s really good.”

Stricker’s group included South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who won the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills. It drew a large share of the estimated crowd of 8,000 attending on a sunny day with temperatures in the low 70s and a light northerly breeze.

Els made eagle on the drivable par-4 17th and shot even-par 70 to remain at 3 over. Goosen shot 72 and was 1 over. Defending champion from 2019 Ken Tanigawa missed the cut at 8 over (73-75).

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Two Canadian golfers sit in the top 10 at the halfway mark of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Evans Scholars Invitational.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is two shots off the lead in third at 8 under, while Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is seven shots back and tied for eighth at 3 under.

American Cameron Young leads at 10 under through 36 holes.

Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver is tied for 12th at 2 under, while Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 22nd at 1 under.

Pendrith, who is fifth in the tour standings, already has secured a PGA Tour card for next season as he is guaranteed to finish in the top 25.

Svensson also currently holds down a PGA Tour spot at No. 18.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Nick Hardy, one of roughly a dozen players in the Evans Scholars Invitational presented by First Midwest Bank field with local ties, had no issues navigating the kind of chilly, windy morning one would experience at a Chicago Bears tailgate. New Yorker Cameron Young actually enjoyed his first four holes in the same conditions, because once he reached the fifth fairway, scattered rain showers blew in and turned Thursday afternoon into one of the most miserable golf rounds he ever endured. 

Hardy and Young emerged from the wicked Chicago area weather with matching 7-under 64s, finishing the opening round with a one-stroke edge over Canadian Adam Svensson. 

Stuart Macdonald shot a 68, while both Taylor Pendrith and Ben Silverman shot 69 to put all four Canadians inside the top 20 after the first round.

A native of Northbrook, Illinois, Hardy has a share of the 18-hole lead for the third time in 42 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. Young sits atop the leaderboard for a fifth consecutive Korn Ferry Tour round, as he turned in a wire-to-wire victory (solo leader after every round) amid rainy conditions at last week’s AdventHealth Championship. 

Hardy eagled his opening hole, the par-5 first, countered his only bogey of the day (a three-putt five on No. 3) with one of his six birdies the following hole, and snuck a 6-foot par putt in the side door at the par-5 18th to tie his lowest first-round score on the Korn Ferry Tour. 

“It was a tough day. Everything is tough with that much wind,” Hardy said. “The greens are fast, so you’ve got to control your pace really well, and predict the wind well on putts. I was unhappy I blew it by about six feet and (had) a sidehill putt (on No. 18). I was definitely antsy to make that. I just took the absolute high line because I didn’t want to four-putt… tried to drip it in, and I hit a great putt. Luckily, it caught the right side of the hole and went in. 

Hardy also caught a break at the par-3 17th. As his tee ball sailed 25 yards left of his target and dangerously close to the water, Hardy just hoped for a kind bounce. The ball landed softly enough it hung up in the rough within the penalty area. Hardy took advantage of his good fortune, saving par there and narrowly avoiding a three-putt bogey at the 18th. 

“I thought it was going to be okay when it was in the air, but I was sweating the bounce. If it got a bad bounce, it easily could’ve gone in the water,” Hardy said. “Saving that shot was huge. You have to finish that stuff off in the early rounds of the week if you want to put yourself in position Saturday and Sunday.” 

A strong contingent of fans followed Hardy around The Glen Club. It was hardly a surprise given the fact Hardy played countless rounds at nearby Anetsberger Golf Course, a nine-hole par-3 course less than three miles from The Glen Club, throughout his childhood. Hardy is also very familiar with this week’s venue, having grown up five minutes from it; he played the course in multiple Illinois Open Championships as well. 

Hardy starred at the University of Illinois, where he was a two-time All-American, the 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year, and a three-time All-Big Ten First Team selection. Hardy played alongside fellow Illinois alum Brian Campbell Thursday, and their gallery included Dylan Meyer, a former Fighting Illini teammate with status on the Forme Tour. 

Young’s bogey-free 64 marked his fifth consecutive round in the 60s, and second consecutive tournament-opening 64. Prior to last week, Young had 16 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and never led after any of the 48 rounds he played. 

“That’s how I’ve been as a player through my career. When it starts feeling good, I feel like it just keeps going,” said Young, who played collegiately at Wake Forest. “I’m very comfortable. I’ve made a few little changes with the putter… being more comfortable and happier on the greens has changed how I’m looking at each day, and it’s bleeding all the way through the bag.” 

Once the showers rolled in, Young began his scoring run. After birdies at Nos. 5, 7, and 8, Young escaped wild drives at the ninth and 10th with a par and birdie, respectively. An 83-yard hole-out eagle at the par-4 13th took Young to 6-under, and an easy up and down for birdie at the par-5 18th, where he hit a 5-wood pin high and just left of the green from 258 yards out, capped the 7-under round. 

“Frankly, one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in my life. Crowned with a hole-out on the back nine, where I was just trying to hang on,” Young said. “I like days like this. I’ve had some good battles, especially in the last few months, through some weather. My caddie and I were joking, we kind of thrived on it. We’re just out there doing the best we can not to care it’s raining on us, that we’re miserable, and that it’s cold. We’re just smiling through it, and it helps when things are going well.” 

Friday’s forecast currently calls for more rain and temperatures once again hovering around 50 degrees. Don’t expect that to faze Young, who welcomed the impending weather conditions. 

“At this point, bring it on.” 

Second-round tee times will run from 6:45 a.m. to 2:16 p.m. local time Friday off the first and 10th tees. 

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Phil Mickelson kept hearing congratulatory words as he made his way around Colonial, and there was a huge roar from the crowd when the PGA Championship winner made a long putt to finish his round. Jordan Spieth kept making birdies in the same group.

Spieth shot a 7-under 63 on a breezy Thursday and was tied for the first-round lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge with Sergio Garcia, who had a 15-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole that circled the edge of the cup but didn’t go in. Both former Colonial champions had bogey-free rounds.

The 50-year-old Mickelson, only four days after becoming the oldest winner of a golf major, was 10 strokes back after a 73 that ended with the 22-foot birdie while playing with local favorite Spieth and defending Colonial champion Daniel Berger (68).

Garcia matched the closing 63 he had at Colonial when he got the first of his 11 PGA Tour wins 20 years ago at age 21. He was 5 under on the four-hole stretch right in the middle of the round. He birdied holes No. 8-10 before an eagle at the 620-yard 11th, where he blasted out of a greenside bunker on the course’s longest hole.

“It was quite breezy. It was gusty, so it wasn’t easy to pull some of the clubs,” Garcia said. “There were some tough holes out there, but I was able to hit really good shots on those holes, and a couple up-and-downs when I needed them.”

Right after Mickelson’s final putt at the 387-yard ninth, Spieth had a tap-in for his third birdie in a row, and seventh overall – and right after a 71-foot chip-in from the rough at the par-3 eighth. The 2016 winner and two-time runner-up had his best score in 33 career rounds at Colonial, one of two local events for the Dallas native, after rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt to start the day.

“It’s hard to go any lower,” Spieth said. “That’s what I talked about before the tournament. If I could get a couple to go in early in the first round, and the confidence, and the work I’ve been doing on my stroke the last few days … I thought that would exude just a little bit of confidence into the rest of the round on greens where I’ve been very successful on before.”

Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who got into the field on a sponsor exemption, and Jason Kokrak had 65s. The 41-year-old Compton played bogey-free after birdies on the first two holes of his second PGA Tour start this year. He missed the cut at the Honda Classic.

Mickelson, the 2000 and 2008 Colonial champ, missed nine of 14 fairways – some with irons off the tee – in a scrambling early-starting round that followed an emotionally draining few days.

After winning Sunday at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Mickelson flew home that night to California, then allowed himself a couple of days to relish his historic accomplishment. Lefty said he never considered skipping Hogan’s Alley, a tree-lined course he considers perfectly suited for his game because he doesn’t have to keep hitting drivers.

But the rough is thick after a lot of rain recently, and there is a good chance of more Friday.

Mickelson, playing his last tournament before the hometown U.S. Open at Torrey Pines next month, went into the rough on his first swing of the day. While saving par at the 407-yard 10th, he quickly had the first of his five bogeys at No. 11, where he hit two shots into the rough and another into a greenside bunker. He finally made a birdie at the par-3 16th from inside of 5 feet, then immediately gave that stroke back at No. 17 with the first two shots into the rough before a 44-foot shot into a bunker.

“It was almost like I was trying a little too hard, and I wasn’t just calm and let it happen, and I was a little bit antsy,” Mickelson said, then adding the term unsettled. “Like I just couldn’t quite get calmed down in that same frame of mind.”

Mickelson said the course was very playable, even with the 15-20 mph winds, because of receptive greens. But he couldn’t keep the ball in the fairway.

“You can’t play this course out of the rough because then you have tree trouble, which I had repeatedly, and I didn’t putt well,” he said. “But I won the PGA, so I’ll see if I can get it turned around for tomorrow and get a little better focus, a little better energy.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a four-under 66 and is in a tie for fifth. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot an even-par 70, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford shot a 71, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 72, and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., shot a 77.