LA’UPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii — Darren Clarke won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship by two strokes Saturday for his second straight PGA Tour Champions victory, playing the back nine in 6 under in a closing 8-under 64.

The 52-year-old former British Open winner from Northern Ireland started the back-nine run with birdies on Nos. 10-11, added two more on 13 and 14, made a 10-foot par save on 15 and birdied 16 and 17. He parred the 18th to cap the bogey-free round in the first event of the year.

“Just to win, to get in the winners and to win again is certainly very gratifying,” Clarke said. “I love the Champions Tour. The guys have been so good to me out here since I’ve been out here, so welcoming. And the standard is so high, just it’s incredible. The guys really flat out can play. I’ve been fortunate these past couple tournaments.”

Clarke finished at 21-under 195 at Hualalai Golf Course. He won the TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Florida, in early November in his final tour start last year.

“I sort of broke through in Boca as you know and I sort of liked the feeling of that, Clarke said. ”But down in Abaco straight after, I couldn’t play Phoenix, had to go down to Abaco. Went down there with my group of mates down there, GFY Group. We play all the time. I give them lots of shots and all that sort of stuff and just keeping me competitive. I worked and practiced nearly every day from the break.”

Retief Goosen, tied for the second-round lead with Jerry Kelly, closed with a 64 to finish second. The two-time U.S. Open champion took the first-round lead with a 62, then bogeyed the final two Friday in a 71.

“It was a good week,” Goosen said. “I’ve not played since, when was it, November we last played. So got off to a great start and yesterday killed me. That’s the thing about the Champions Tour, you’ve got to put three rounds together, otherwise you’re not going to make it. Today I gave it a good run, but Clarkie behind me played awesome.”

Kelly had a 68 to finish third at 17 under.

Fred Couples shot a 67 to tie for fourth at 15 with Scott Parel (66), and Kevin Sutherland (67). The 61-year-old Couples shot a 63 on Friday.

Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 66 and finished 12 under in a tie for seventh with Gene Sauers (69)

The tournament was the first of the year, but the season is a continuation from last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the tour for four months.

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Max Homa has been tearing up the Stadium Course at The American Express for two days. If he can do it one more time Sunday, the Southern California native could be raising his second career PGA Tour trophy.

Homa made nine birdies and shrugged off a double bogey on the way to a 7-under 65 in the third round Saturday, joining Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim atop the leaderboard at 15-under 201.

Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead on the Stadium Course at PGA West near Palm Springs.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is in a seven-way tie for 13th place after a 3-under 69 Saturday, four strokes behind Homa, Finau and Kim.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. shot a 2-over 74, to fall into a tie for 31st place. Taylor finished his second round in second place, one stroke behind then-leader Sungjae Im.

Fellow Abbotsford native Adam Hadwin also shot a 2-over 74 and is now in a tie for 55th place. Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn is in a tie for 63rd at 2-under par.

Burlington, Ont., native Michael Gilgic failed to make the cut to play Saturday.

Scotland’s Russell Knox shot the day’s low round with a 64 — one stroke off the course record — to join Brian Harman and Emiliano Grillo at 13 under.

Finau and Kim both shot 67. Kim was bogey-free, while the streakier Finau bounced back from a double bogey on the 13th with three consecutive birdies.

The field played through sparse desert rain in the afternoon. Precipitation finally fell in earnest when the final group reached the 18th hole, with Finau and Kim forced to pull out their umbrellas.

Second-round leader Sungjae Im struggled to a 73, leaving him five shots off the lead after four bogeys — including a triple bogey on the ninth after putting two straight shots in the water. First-round leader Brandon Hagy shot a 72 and was even with Im at 10 under.

Homa is in prime position for his second career win in his first tournament of the new year. He began the day just three shots off Im’s pace at 8 under, and he swiftly closed the gap with four birdies in his first five holes.

Homa has 17 birdies in the last two rounds on the Stadium Course.

“There’s obviously a handful of very daunting holes, but I’ve been fortunate enough to play here a ton, so I have a pretty good feel for the place,” Homa said. “I’ve been able to put myself in a position to have good looks for birdie, and I’ve been putting great. It’s just something about these greens. It feels like home.”

The Burbank-born son of a well-known acting coach put his tee shot in the water and two-putted for that double bogey on the seventh, but Homa made up for it with birdies on five of his next eight holes, including three in a row down the back stretch.

Finau put his tee shot in the water on the 13th and then missed a 10-inch putt for double bogey, but the Utah native rebounded with three of his eight birdies on a series of impressive approach shots.

Werenski charged into fourth with a round that included six birdies and was highlighted by an eagle on the fifth after an exceptional 224-yard approach shot left him a 4-foot putt.

The 29-year-old Massachusetts native is seeking his second PGA Tour win. After going bogey-free through his first 48 holes at The American Express, he finally missed a 10-foot par putt on the 13th before rallying with two more birdies down the stretch

“I’ve been giving myself plenty of looks and just haven’t been converting them, and today I finally made some (putts),” Werenski said. “So I think we’re kind of turning the corner.. … I’ve always liked this place. I’ve never finished really, really high here, but I’ve always known that I could play really good. It just fits my eye.”

Australia’s Cameron Davis had the shot of the day on the 15th, holing out for eagle from 157 yards away from a section of rough below the fairway. Davis finished the third round at 12-under 204 along with Rory Sabbatini, Chase Seiffert, Francesco Molinari and Doug Ghim.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Danielle Kang played great, tying her career low with an 8-under 63 and protecting her lead Saturday in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Jessica Korda owned the day.

A sizzling 28 on the back nine — 9-under par — at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando lifted Korda to an 11-under 60, just one shot off the LPGA Tour scoring mark.

Kang was at 21-under 192 through three bogey-free rounds. Her total tied an LPGA mark for raw score through 54 holes (shared by three others) and shattered the tournament’s 54-hole record (200). She will take a two-shot lead over Korda into Sunday in what sets up as a terrific shootout for the LPGA’s season opener:

Kang leads Jessica Korda by two and Nelly Korda (67) by six. South Korea’s In Gee Chun (67) sits fourth, eight shots back.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., carded a third-round 65 and enters the final round eight shots off the pace in 5th place.

Jessica Korda, 27, is the older of the LPGA’s uber-talented sisters — younger sister Nelly, 22, is No. 4 in the women’s world ranking, just ahead of Kang. She followed a ho-hum start with birdies on six of her first seven holes on the second nine. She then finished with a huge kick, making an eagle on the 537-yard 17th hole, which she reached in two with a 4-iron, pouring in an 18-foot, right-to-left putt.

Korda added a ninth birdie at the challenging, water-guarded par-3 18th, where she struck a soft 6-iron to 9 feet.

The slick downhill putt tumbled in on its last turn, giving Korda the tour’s first 60 since Paula Creamer in the 2008 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Korda became the fifth LPGA player to ever shoot that number.

The back-nine birdies and eagles were arriving at such a pace that neither Korda nor those playing alongside could keep up with the dizzying math. The two celebrities in her group — NFL receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Fox television anchor Brett Baier — knew something special was happening and just tried to stay out of her way.

Korda’s round was just one shot off the record of 59 by Annika Sorenstam nearly 20 years ago in Phoenix. Sorenstam is at Diamond Resorts this week competing in the 53-player celebrity division.

“I didn’t process what exactly was happening until I made that putt on 17,” Korda said. “I was like, `Oh, OK. That’s nice.’ ? Days like today don’t come often, so you really cherish them when they do. Everything has to come together to have a day like today.”

Fitzgerald, who said he watches the LPGA more than he does the PGA Tour, said of Korda, “It was mastery at its finest. She had complete command of her ball today.”

On a day conducive to low scoring —- overcast, light wind, and late morning rain that softened greens —- Kang, a five-time LPGA champion, made eight birdies against no bogeys and tied her career low. Her streak without a bogey was stretched to 70 holes, dating to the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship in December.

The eight birdies were nice, but Kang took particular pride in a hard-fought par at the 17th that kept her card clean. She chunked her 5-wood second shot into a pond fronting the green, took a penalty drop, hit wedge to 11 feet and made the par-saving putt. When it fell, she gave a belt-high, intense fist pump. She then birdied the last hole from 4 feet to push her lead to two shots.

“Overall, I think my game is pretty solid,” Kang said. “I think my mental game is pretty strong this week. Just kind of chugging along. That’s what I’m doing, is just focusing on what I need to hit, and what I need to execute. That’s pretty much it.”

LPGA players in the winners-only field have been grouped with celebrity players in each of the first three rounds, but on Sunday, Kang will be joined with the Korda sisters in the final threesome.

Jessica and Nelly are best friends, and they downplay that any rivalry exists, but both are highly competitive. Kang is the player to beat, sure, but finally, the Kordas will play with something big on the line.

With a wry smile, Jessica Korda said, “You guys finally get your wish.”

Among celebrities, who are using a Modified Stableford format, former tennis player Mardy Fish (117 points) leads by six over former NFL kicker Josh Scobee.

LA’UPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii — Jerry Kelly and Darren Clarke shared the second-round lead Friday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship after first-round leader Retief Goosen stumbled late at Hualalai.

Kelly birdied the 18th for a 5-under 67 to match Clarke at 13-under 131 with a round left in the first PGA Tour Champions event of the year.

“You strive to be in the last group,” Kelly said. “That’s what we’re out here for.”

Clarke had a 68, rebounding from a bogey on the 11th with four straight birdies.

“I just didn’t really have it today, to be honest with you,” said Clarke, the former British Open winner from Northern Ireland. “Goose played really, really nicely and he just struggled on the greens a bit. He just had a tough day on the greens. He was playing nicely. So I was just trying to hang on a little bit, and then hit a few better shots on the back nine obviously. Holed a couple putts as well.”

Goosen followed his opening 63 with a 71. He bogeyed the final two holes.

“Just couldn’t make a thing,” said Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open champion from South Africa. “Lost sort of my speed on the greens quite badly today, and if you have the wrong speed you can’t make anything.”

Fred Couples had a 63, the best round of the day, to join Kevin Sutherland (68) at 10 under. The 61-year-old former Masters champion eagled the par-5 14th and birdied Nos. 16 and 18.“

“Much needed to go fairly low and then it just kept getting better and better,” Couples said. “I hit a wicked 3-wood on 14 and curved it up on the green. It rolled about 30 feet and made it for eagle. It was a really good round.”

Charles Schwab Cup leader Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer was 9 under after a 67. The 63-year-old German star is a three-time winner of the tournament.

Jim Furyk had his second 68 to get to 8 under. Ernie Els was 6 under after a 69.

Stephen Ames of Calgary, Alta., had a 66, climbing the leaderboard to T13. Fellow Canadian Mike Weir (Brights Grove, Ont.,) was one shot behind Ames and tied for 15th.

The tournament is the first of the year, but the season is a continuation from last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the tour for four months. It is being played for the 25th straight season at Hualalai Golf Course, the longest run a venue in PGA Tour Champions history.

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Although Sungjae Im hasn’t been on the PGA Tour for very long, the 22-year-old South Korean already feels awfully comfortable on the generous desert courses at The American Express.

So do plenty of other pros, and that’s why the leaderboard is so crowded heading to the weekend.

Im shot a 7-under 65 on Friday at The American Express to take a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Brandon Hagy and four others including Abbotsford, B.C., native Nick Taylor.

Im, the tour’s rookie of the year in 2019, had seven birdies in a bogey-free round on the Stadium Course at PGA West, highlighted by three in four holes around the turn. After struggling with his putter in recent weeks, he banged in a 22-footer and an 18-footer for consecutive birdies late in his round.

“Visually from the tee box, it’s a course that I really like and enjoy to play, so I felt really comfortable throughout the round,” Im said. “The two courses that we’re playing this week, I like those courses, and that’s what led me to a good score.”

Hagy was in position to join Im at 11 under, but he bogeyed his final hole with a tee shot into the fairway bunker to finish his 70.

Taylor (66), South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (68), Tony Finau (66) and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (65) also were 10 under. Emiliano Grillo (66), Francesco Molinari (66) and Doug Ghim (68) were two shots off the lead, and eight more were at 8 under.

Taylor appears to be rounding into impressive form as he prepares to defend his Pebble Beach title in three weeks.

“My game feels really good right now, so hopefully it keeps peaking,”

he said. “It was a lot of intimidating tee shots, iron shots into greens. I feel like I missed in the right places. I drove it really nice on the par-5s and gave myself pretty easy looks on a few of them.”

Tournament host Phil Mickelson missed the cut, but made 18 pars Friday for the first time in his 2,201 rounds of PGA Tour play.

With his drives looking sharp and his mid-range putts dropping regularly, Im is off to another strong start at a tournament in which he has already finished 10th and 12th in his short Tour career.

“I’m pretty satisfied with how I played all of my shots,” Im said. “Speaking of putting, I started drawing a line on the ball as I visualize my putts, and that seemed to work pretty well today.”

Im also feels he might have an edge because didn’t travel home to South Korea during the holiday break due to the mandatory coronavirus quarantine required. Instead, he stayed in the house he recently purchased in Atlanta and practiced for the new season.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 5-under 67 to get to 8 under. Adam Hadwin matched fellow Abbotsford, B.C., resident Taylor with a 66 to reach 6 under. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., (71) was at 5 under, one stroke clear of the cut line, while Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., (77) missed the cut.

The leaderboard was stacked with low scores as usual at the Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope. Im, Taylor and Ancer were among 12 players who didn’t make a bogey Friday.

After splitting the first two rounds over two courses, the players will all play the once-feared Stadium Course for the final two rounds. Heavy cloud cover never developed into rain Friday, but there’s a possibility of afternoon showers Saturday.

Hagy made 10 birdies in his opening round, but got off to a rough start Friday on the Stadium Course with two early bogeys. He rallied with birdies on his 16th and 17th holes, but his errant drive on his final hole kept him one shot off the pace.

“I feel comfortable here,” Hagy said. “I’m a California kid, been to Palm Springs a ton of times, so I know the courses well. … The first two rounds of this tournament are showing me that the stuff I’m working on, especially this off-season, is definitely getting better.”

Taylor, who also led the Sony Open after two rounds last week, shot a 66 with six birdies on the Stadium Course. He had three straight birdies on the back nine of his bogey-free round, including a 24-foot birdie putt on the 15th and an 18-footer on the island green at the 17th.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is 3 shots back at 8 under, and sits tied for 10th place. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford carded a 66 for 138, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., played a 71. Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., missed the -4 cut line.

Mickelson finished his two rounds at 2 over, but making 18 pars felt encouraging to the 50-year-old veteran as he heads back to his native San Diego area next week.

“It’s surprising, because I really try to hit fairways and centre of the greens and just make easy pars,” Mickelson said. “For that to be the first time, it’s really shocking. … There’s a lot of good things to take from it — the way I’m driving the ball, my iron play. There’s a lot of positives. If you look at the scorecard, it’s pathetic. I’m not denying that. But I think that it’s a little bit closer than it looks.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Danielle Kang continued to sail along at the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions on Friday, shooting a 6-under 65 to stretch her lead to two shots.

A five-time LPGA Tour winner ranked fifth in the world, Kang had a 13-under 129 total at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando. She has yet to make a bogey.

Nelly Korda, at No. 4 the top-ranked player in the 25-woman, winners-only field, was second after a 66.

In Gee Chun and defending champion Gaby Lopez were four strokes back at 9 under. Chun, a two-time major champion, matched Kang for the best score of the day with a 65. The South Korean player had a triple-bogey 7 on the sixth hole Thursday in an opening 68.

Lopez shot 68. The Mexican player won last year in a seven-hole playoff.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a bogey-free 68 Friday to remain in a tie for seventh place at 6 under.

The 28-year-old Kang won twice last season. She’s a serious, focused player who prepares well and figures out a lot of things on her own. When she doesn’t, she has some pretty sage mentors. Her boyfriend is Maverick McNealy, who competes on the PGA Tour.

And in the last year, Kang has struck up a texting relationship with Annika Sorenstam, the World Golf Hall of Famer and 72-time LPGA Tour winner who happens to be on the grounds this week competing in the tournament’s 53-player celebrity division. For Kang, it’s a nice little edge.

“I did reach out to her specifically about stuff, but she’s always been just very a welcoming, classy person that has been approachable, always giving me a door to approach her,” Kang said. “So I took it.”

Kang was remiss to share much detail about “best” advice, but Sorenstam said the two started first texting about Kang’s wedge game, than progressed into discussions about better starts, and how to score better.

“She felt like she was a slow starter and always played better in the end,” Sorenstam said. “So we had little few chats how to get off to a better start. She’s obviously doing well this week. She’s very committed to her game and working hard. I think it helps to have Maverick, her boyfriend, in the same industry. I am sure they push each other quite well.”

Kang missed only three greens in regulation Friday, and her short game and putting continue to be sharp. Her round was very tidy, and she stretched her lead with three birdies on the back nine, converting on two par 5s (13 and 17) and the short par-4 16th.

Korda’s ball-striking has been very good through two days, leading her to 13 birdies and an eagle. Starting her round one shot behind Kang, Korda hit 12 of 13 fairways and 17 greens. She also got an added bonus: she played her round alongside Sorenstam.

“It was very cool, honestly,” Korda said. “She still has it.”

Korda returned to coach David Whalen in December, worked on quieting her hips in her swing, and has been happy with what she has seen in her game. Outside of one three-putt bogey on Friday, her round was pretty solid. Older sister Jessica Korda (69) is in the mix, too, five shots out of the lead, and Nelly was eager to see what the weekend will bring.

“Danielle is playing well. My sister is playing well. So there is going to be some low scores this weekend,” Nelly Korda said. “We’ll try to stay aggressive and capitalize on that.”

Tennis player Mardy Fish, a two-time champion of the tournament’s celebrity division, leads the celebrity side through two rounds. Using a Modified Stableford format, he has 78 points through 36 holes, five points better than New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks and NFL kicker Josh Scobee.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. — Brandon Hagy didn’t find out he was in the field at The American Express until three days before it started. The Californian then left no doubt he belonged.

Hagy took the first-round lead Thursday with an 8-under 64 on the Nicklaus course, staying one shot ahead of South Korea’s Byeong Hun An in the opening tournament of the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing.

Hagy racked up 10 birdies, including three streaks of three in a row. He capped the round with a calm birdie putt on the 18th.

“I felt like I saw the greens really well, and the last couple of days, I felt like I was putting really well,” Hagy said. “Once I started to read them well, I knew if I could just keep doing what I was doing, I’d have a good shot to do something.”

Hagy grew up in Westlake Village before his All-America collegiate career in Berkeley.

He was added to the AmEx field Monday when second-ranked Jon Rahm abruptly dropped out without giving a reason to tour officials. Rahm later said he incurred a minor injury in the gym, but the Spaniard plans to play at Torrey Pines next week.

Hagy might have made it into the field anyway after additional dropouts, but he was still grateful to Rahm, his friend and a collegiate opponent when Rahm played at Arizona State: “I’ll have to send him a gift or something.”

An made seven birdies without a bogey in his 65. Max Homa, Martin Laird and Si Woo Kim shot 66.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., are the top Canadians after opening with 4-under 68s.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., fired a 69, Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. opened with a 71 and Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin came in with a 72.

This famed Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope has undergone significant changes this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the idyllic sunshine was familiar to the players who made the trip to the venerable desert event.

The long-standing pro-am format has been dropped for a year, although the likes of Landon Donovan and country singer Jake Owen participated in a charity tournament Wednesday. With fewer golfers on course, the pros are also playing on only two courses instead of the usual three.

But the tournament kept its tradition of providing every opportunity for low scores: the once-feared Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West are among the most generous in the sport, with birdie opportunities abounding.

Hagy started with a bogey on the first hole of the Nicklaus course, but then the birdies came in bunches. He birdied six of the seven holes before the turn, and he added three more on the back nine after his second bogey.

The 29-year-old’s game is coming into focus after a rough few years for a promising talent. After turning pro in 2017 and recording his first top-10 finish in 2017, Hagy missed the entire 2018 season with a persistent wrist injury, and he played only 13 events in 2019 while struggling with a back injury.

After making eight cuts last year, Hagy is back at full health after a solid off-season of preparation.

“I’m happy with what I’ve been doing,” Hagy said. “I’m getting to a point now where I know exactly what I need to work on, and to just keep getting the reps.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Danielle Kang managed to steal some of the spotlight from the Korda sisters on Thursday as the LPGA Tour opened its 71st season with a winners-only field at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Kang opened the year with a bogey-free, 7-under 64 for a one-shot lead over Jessica Korda and Nelly Korda, along with defending champion Gaby Lopez, at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando.

Kang is coming off a two-win season last year that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, winning back-to-back in Ohio when the LPGA resumed after a five-month shutdown.

The highlight for Kang, who birdied three of the four par-3 holes — including a 30-foot chip-in at the ninth — came at the 530-yard 13th. Facing a downhill lie with 241 yards to the front edge for her second shot, and needing to hit a hard draw, Kang took a gamble with a 5-wood and pulled it off, setting up a two-putt birdie from 20 feet.

She joked later that her caddie, Oliver Brett, did not think she could hit the shot.

“It’s one of the top-20 shots I’ve ever seen,” Brett said. “She saw it, I didn’t. That’s why she’s the player.”

Kang, No. 5 in the women’s world ranking, had to quarantine twice in recent weeks after being exposed to COVID-19 and did not arrive into Orlando until late Monday night. She tested negative six times before getting the go-ahead to play.

Playing alongside country music singers Lee Brice and Cole Swindell, she was back to being her high-energy self, her closest brush to making bogey solved with a 7-footer for par at the fourth hole.

“I think my short game was really good today,” Kang said. “I had a lot of feel and touch around the greens.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was part of a group at tied for seventh at 4-under 67. In an interview prior to the first round, Henderson expressed excitement to be playing at in the first LPGA event of the year. “It’s a great golf course, and as I mentioned, just getting to know some of the celebrities and playing with them, they’re really great golfers” she said.

“it’s just a different atmosphere. It’s fun. It’s just a great way to start the season”

Nineteen players in the 25-player field broke par.

A good portion of the day belonged to the Korda sisters. Jessica played her first nine holes in 7 under and was atop the leaderboard for a majority of a calm and sunny day. Nelly, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 4 in the world, caught her with a late run, dropping a long putt for eagle at 17 after reaching the green with a 3-wood.

When Jessica reached her final hole, she glanced over to a digital leaderboard to see her little sister had her by a shot. So much for that. She ran in an 18-footer for birdie to temporarily join Nelly in the lead. The world of women’s golf has waited for these sisters, two of the top young American stars, to battle head-to-head with a tournament on the line.

The sisters’ view? If it happens, it happens.

“We don’t really think about it too much,” said Nelly Korda, who atoned for three early bogeys by playing her last seven holes in 5 under. “We both root on each other, but at the end of the day we want to beat each other, as well. It’s healthy, but a good competitiveness.”

The season-opening Diamond Resorts TOC features 25 LPGA champions paired with 53 athletes and celebrities. The $1.2 million LPGA portion (the celebrities compete for a separate $500,000 purse) traditionally is open to LPGA winners of the last two seasons. But the LPGA’s condensed 2020 schedule prompted the tournament to add winners from 2018.

Tennis player Mardy Fish, a past champion of the celebrity division, took the opening round lead in a modified Stableford format with 41 points, two better than New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks.

The self-doubt and frustration snowballed for Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin last season.

“I felt like there was a number of tournaments where all it was was a missed putt in a certain moment to either get some momentum or keep momentum, and I wasn’t able to make the putt or get up and down or get a good iron shot when I needed to,” Hadwin said. “It seemed like every event I was close to playing well, making a run and getting into the top 10. And then I ended up finishing 50th.”

Compartmentalizing his frustration week to week proved difficult. One week started to bleed into the next. One minor mishap and he’d be back at that place of frustration.

“It’s very difficult. I had a very difficult time managing that last year, I just couldn’t find a way to pull myself out of the funk,” he said. “I would start off a week OK, and you know, fresh start and here we go. And then that one bad thing or one missed putt would happen during the first couple of rounds, and it was kind of right back where I started.

“So hopefully that six weeks off has allowed my brain to kind of get out of its own way a little bit.”

Hadwin tees of what he hopes is a better 2021 on Thursday at the American Express Championship in La Quinta, Calif.

He spent the month-and-a-half off visiting family, a break that “went by too fast.” But now he’s keen to hit the reset button.

“I didn’t end the year on a very great note. So, it was nice to take some time and just get away from it a little bit, and recharge the batteries and start the year out in a place that I’m comfortable in,” Hadwin said.

The 33-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., finished fourth at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, but his year petered out from that point. He missed three consecutive cuts to finish 2020, including The Masters in mid-November, and sits 158th in the FedEx Cup standings for 2020-21.

The Players Championship had already started in mid-March when the NBA shut down due to COVID-19. The PGA Tour did the same the next day, and it would be two months before the circuit teed off again. The pandemic forced the cancellation or postponement of 11 tournaments.

Hadwin, who was 54th in the FedEx Cup standings last season, said golf has been relatively lucky.

“What we have done hasn’t changed that much, at least the way that our sport is being conducted, the essence of the competition really hasn’t changed,”

he said. “Some of the smaller things maybe, (such as) not as much locker-room access, or how we eat at tournaments, travel may be a little bit different, but not much has changed once you get inside the ropes.”

The shutdown last spring meant extra time with his young family. His wife Jessica gave birth to their daughter Maddox a year ago.

“So, she was three months when everything shut down. And certainly my wife and I have talked quite a few times about how it’ll be very crazy when she grows up, like these are things that will be written in textbooks, when she’s learning, and that we actually went through it.”

It does feel eerie, he said, being in California, which has gone back into lockdown to battle the pandemic’s second wave. His wife and daughter, however, are able to travel with him, since they drive from one tournament to the next.

The break last spring also allowed Hadwin and his wife to launch the Hadwin Family Foundation in May. The Foundation’s aim is to help couples struggling to become parents.

The Hadwins struggled to get pregnant, and finally did through IVF (in vitro fertilization), which is a costly procedure.

“At the end of it, when we came out with our daughter, for a few months, we were both looking at each other and just feeling very thankful that we were in a position financially to be able to afford what we did,” Hadwin said. “We had tossed around the idea about starting a foundation for a while, and we just weren’t sure maybe what our purpose would be.

“After having Maddox after having wanted something so badly, that became part of our idea was helping people grow their families, and helping support the financial costs of growing a family through non-traditional means . . . for those who can’t have kids naturally.”

Hadwin said it’s still a taboo topic, so he and his wife believed by sharing the story of their struggles, they could “make it more of an open topic, it’s not something to be down about or ashamed about, and a lot of people deal with these sorts of things.”

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor, Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., are the other Canadians in the field this week.