HOUSTON — Jason Day, eyeing his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years, was a stroke out of the lead in the Houston Open on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 67 two weeks after withdrawing during the final round at the CJ Cup because of neck discomfort.

Sam Burns shot a 68 to hold onto the lead at 9-under 201 at difficult Memorial Park.

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz was tied with Day after a 67.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson was another two shots back after a bogey-free 66. This was his first start since the U. S. Open following a six-week break brought on by a positive test for the novel coronavirus.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was eight shots off the lead, posting a 73 for the round. Mackenzie Hughes (70) was another stroke back after a 68 left him at even-par 210. Canadian players Graham DeLaet and David Hearn missed the +3 cut.

Johnson nearly put himself out of the tournament after opening with a 72 on the public Memorial Park course near downtown that’s hosting a Tour event for the first time since 1963.

PHOENIX — Paul Goydos and Brandt Jobe each shot 7-under 64 in calm, overcast conditions Friday to share the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The tournament is the final official event of the year, but not the season as in the past. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent loss of tournaments, the 2020 and 2021 seasons have been combined with the Schwab Cup winner to be determined in a year.

The 56-year-old Goydos birdied the par-5 18th in a bogey-free round at Phoenix Country Club. He won the event in 2016 at Desert Mountain for one of his five senior titles.

“The greens are embarrassingly good,” Goydos said. “If you miss a putt, you either misread or mis-hit it, there’s no way it’s not going to roll on the line that you hit it on.

“It might be the best Bermuda greens I’ve ever seen in my life. Today there was an absolute absence of conditions, there was no wind, no sun. I can’t imagine you could have a better day for scoring than you had today.”

The 55-year-old Jobe also birdied the 18th in a bogey-free round on the tree-lined course near downtown. He has two victories on the 50-and-over tour.

“Started off a little shaky and I was kind of scrambling a little bit and then kind of about the middle I started hitting greens and having opportunities and started rolling a few putts in,” Jobe said. “Kind of got the green speed. Greens are perfect, course is in great shape, so it was just kind of getting everything in order to get going.”

The two Canadians on the course in Phoenix came in strong — Stephen Ames of Calgary, Alb., and Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., played rounds of 67 and are among the group tied for seventh at 4-under.

K.J. Choi was a stroke back with Mark Brooks and Kevin Sutherland.

Fred Couples opened with a 67. He’s set to play in the Masters next week.

Charles Schwab Cup leader Bernhard Langer and defending event champion Jeff Maggert shot 70.

HOUSTON — Jason Day was back in contention on the eve of the Masters after two eventful days alongside Phil Mickelson.

Winless in 2 1/2 years and fighting lingering back and neck problems, Day shot a 2-under 68 on Friday in the Houston Open to pull within two strokes of second-round leader Sam Burns at difficult Memorial Park.

The Australian watched the 50-year-old Michelson hit into the water twice en route to an 8 on the par-3 ninth, then hole out from 193 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th. Lefty missed the cut, following an opening 76 with a 73.

“He kind of left himself in some pretty tough positions and you’re just struggling the whole day,” Day said. “It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can.”

Day had three birdies and a bogey.

“It’s one of those courses where you can walk off kind of shaking your head even though you play some good golf,” Day said. “I was chatting to Phil about that on the second hole today because he went out there and hit a nice 9-iron, pulled up short, rolled away off the green and you’ve got a 60-footer putting back up that hill. It’s one of those golf courses where it can be a little bit frustrating at times, so just got to kind of be smart about it.”

Day was in contention three weeks ago in Las Vegas in the CJ Cup when the neck problem forced him to withdraw early in the final round. The 12-time PGA Tour winner returned the next week at Sherwood to tie for 60th, and took last week off.

“It’s been very inconsistent, obviously, because I’m trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out,” Day said. “I guess I’m stuck in between patterns right now, what I want to feel, my body just won’t handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That’s why it happened to my neck at CJ.”

Burns birdied all three par-5 holes in a bogey-free 65 to reach 7 under.“

It takes a lot of discipline around here,” Burns said. “You get out of position, you just try to get it back to where you can get it up-and-down or get it in a section of the green where you can lag putt it. Fortunately, early we got some good looks and I was able to convert, so solid.”

Winless on the PGA Tour, the 24-year-old Burns also took a two-shot lead into the weekend in the season-opening Safeway Championship in September. He ended up tying for seventh that week at Silverado.

“I think slowing down a little bit, really talking through the shot with Travis (caddie Perkins) and making sure we have a clear picture of what we’re trying to do,” Burns said. “I think that was really helpful to learn that.”

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 68 to match Day at 5 under.

First-round leader Brandt Snedeker followed his opening 65 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 4 under with Dawie van der Walt (66), Aaron Wise (66) and Patton Kizzire (67).

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. (67) also ended the round tied for fourth. Conners had four birdies and a bogey, improving his score and jumping twelve spots from Thursday.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., made it to the weekend, following an opening-round 70 with a 2-over 72.

David Hearn, from Brantford, Ont., (77) missed the plus-3 cutline, while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., pulled out before the second round after a 6-over 76 on day one.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson followed an opening 72 with a 66 to get to 2 under in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship.

“It was very solid today,” Johnson said. “ I felt like I played pretty well yesterday, just a little rusty. … I swung it pretty well, just hit a couple bad iron shots. But I think that was more just from not trusting what I was doing, just from not being out there. But today did a lot better, hit a lot of really nice iron shots and felt like I managed my game very well, drove it well, hit a lot of quality shots.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is the first domestic PGA Tour event to have fans since March. Tickets are capped at 2,000 a day.

Brooks Koepka was 2 over after a 70 on the course where he served as a consultant on architect Tom Doak’s renovation. Koepka s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries.

Jordan Spieth, playing alongside Koepka, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 71.

HOUSTON (AP) — Brandt Snedeker found a lot of fairways and greens at difficult Memorial Park, top-ranked Dustin Johnson returned from the coronavirus, and fans were back, too, Thursday at the Houston Open.

Snedeker shot a 5-under 65 in the afternoon to take a two-stroke lead in the last event before the Masters. He’s one of 37 players in the field this week set to play at Augusta National.

“Drove it great,” Snedeker said. “Around this golf course you have to be in the fairway, otherwise it’s going to be a long day for you. Did a great job of that. Made some putts. And the par 5s, birdied every par 5 out there. This course is a long, tough golf course, so to play well you need to take advantage of the scoring holes, which I did a great job of today.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is limiting ticket sales to 2,000 a day. It’s the first domestic PGA Tour event to have fans since The Players Championship on March 12.

“I think that’s a big reason why I played well today,” Snedeker said. “I love having fans out here. I kind of feed off their energy. It’s great to hear some claps and people excited for good shots and some birdies.”

Johnson had a 72 — bogeying five of the last seven holes on his front nine — in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek and the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

The 39-year-old Snedeker won the last of his nine PGA Tour titles in 2018. He followed a birdie on the par-4 13th with a bogey on the par-4 14th after driving into the right rough, then birdied the par-3 15th and par-5 16th.

“I’ve been driving it well, so it just kind of depended how I hit my irons and kind of hung in there,” Snedeker said. “Did a great job of kind of thinking my way around the golf course.”

Jason Day was tied for second with Scottie Scheffler, Harold Varner III, Carlos Ortiz, Michael Thompson and Cameron Davis.

“The golf course kind of forces you into being patient just because you can’t really miss too many greens,” Scheffler said. “Around the greens out here is very, very difficult to get up-and-down and you can get into some spots where you start playing ping pong across these greens.”

Corey Conners posted a score of 69 at the end of his first round, placing him in a tie for 16th and making him the highest scoring Canadian of the day. Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, On., trailed one point behind. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 3-over 73, while Graham DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., came in with a 6-over 76.

Brooks Koepka also had a 72. He’s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries. Player partner Lanto Griffin, the winner last year at Golf Club of Houston, also shot 72. Jordan Spieth rounded out the morning threesome with a 72.

“It certainly felt more normal as we were playing today and especially as we were finishing up,” Spieth said about the fans. “Just the look of it is way more normal than when it was just so bare.”

Koepka served as a consultant on course architect Tom Doak’s renovation.

“I think every time Jordan hit it in the water, he told me that was my fault,” Koepka said.

Phil Mickelson shot 76. He had two double bogeys and two bogeys.

On November 4^th, 2020, members of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC), took part in an online discussion on the topic of Municipal Golf in Canada. This inaugural GJAC Virtual Summit is part of an ongoing series intended to help golf journalists across Canada stay connected, as well as to generate discussion and opportunities around important issues in the game.

Format of these events consist of a moderated question and answer period, followed by a brief opportunity for questions from attendees.

Panelists for the first summit included:

• Jeff Moore, CPGA Head Professional, Golf Operations, City of Brantford
• Ryan Logan, Director, Membership, Golf Canada
• Malcolm Bromley, Former GM, Vancouver Parks and Recreation Facilities

SCOREGolf columnist Rick Young acted as moderator.

The one-hour event was recorded and is available to watch below.

The Canadian golf industry generated $18.2B in economic benefits across our nation in 2019, according to a recent economic analysis conducted by Group ATN Consulting Inc. on behalf of the National Allied Golf Associations (We Are Golf).

According to The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019), the Canadian golf industry employs the equivalent of nearly 249,000 people through direct and spin-off effects and contributed to $10.6B in household income. The industry also contributed $4.5B in government tax revenue ($1.8B federal and $2.1B provincial) used to support a variety of programs for all Canadians.

Based on nationwide surveys completed by golfers and golf course operators in 10 provinces and three territories along with multiple industry data sources, The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) is a follow up to previous comprehensive and independent assessment studies (2014, 2009) of the economic impact of the golf industry in Canada. The $18.2B economic impact of golf represents a 14% increase in contribution to Canada’s GDP between 2013 and 2019.

“The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) further reinforces the enormous financial, employment, charitable, tourism and positive environmental impact that the sport and the business of golf are affecting across Canada,” said Laurence Applebaum, Chair of We Are Golf and CEO of Golf Canada. “This third iteration of the study provides the golf industry with a powerful snapshot of the scale and magnitude that our sport has on the Canadian economy and within the communities where we live, work and play.”

The study presents economic insights for each of the 10 provinces and three territories from coast to coast. Also captured in the report are comparisons to international economic insights from select countries and regions including the United States, European Union, and Australia.

The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) was conducted on behalf of We Are Golf by Group ATN Consulting Inc., a world leader in economic development and analysis for communities, regions, and industries. Group ATN previously conducted the 2014 and 2009 Canadian Golf Economic Impact Studies (based on 2013 and 2008 data respectively) which have allowed the Canadian golf industry to benchmark the game’s economic impact over five-year periods.

“Every industry has its own unique circumstances to allow for, and the ability to repeat the same application of our model for Canadian golf is a significant advantage,” said Tom McGuire, Principal with Group ATN Consulting. “Beyond consistency, we have also been able to further improve certain aspects based upon learnings from the prior studies we did for the National Allied Golf Associations (We Are Golf).”

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF IN CANADA (2019)

The game of golf accounts for an estimated $18.2B of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is up 14% from the $15.9B reported in 2014*. Included within the 2019 economic impact:

• The golf industry directly employed nearly 150,000 full-time, full-year equivalent positions, representing many more individuals who are employed in the sector. This number grows to approximately 249,000 when accounting for direct, indirect, and induced employment.

• The golf industry directly contributed $4.8B in household income, rising to $10.6B when considering the combined direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

• The golf industry generated $4.5B in government tax revenue; including $1.8B in federal tax revenue and $2.1B in provincial tax revenue.

• Conservatively, course operators invested $727M industry-wide on capital expenditures.

*Note that 2014 figures are adjusted by the consumer price index and reported as current dollars.

Additional Insights from The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019)

• Employment – The golf industry is a significant job provider for youth with 48% of its workforce identified as students.

• Travel – Canadians along with international visitors contributed to $8.6B in golf-related travel nationwide. Canadians made approximately 4.8M trips involving golf, including 3.0M in their home province and 1.8M outside their home province and abroad.

• Golfer Spending – golfers in Canada spent approximately $19.3B on items such as green fees, memberships, lessons, equipment, travel, hospitality, events, and other golf-related expenditures.

• Canadian Course Operators – a total of 2,283 facilities were estimated to be operating in 2019, accounting for 2,043 courses (18-hole equivalent); course operators collectively spent approximately $3.8B in course expenditures.

• Land management – Golf course operations manage between 155,000 and 175,000 hectares, including 30,000 to 35,000 hectares of wildlife and wetland area.

• Charitable Impact – The golf industry generated an estimated $330M in charitable impact through more than 51,000 tournaments and events.

• Golf Participation – Canadian golfers played an estimated 57.0M rounds in 2019.

Although released in 2020, The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) does not factor in the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian golf industry.

“Establishing a baseline for the economic impact of our sport measured against pre-2020 Covid-19 spending is an important benchmark consideration for the integrity and continuity of the study,” added Applebaum. “Based on what we learned through the 2020 season, the safety of golf through this pandemic and the potential for a lift in participation and spending on the game, we are optimistic in looking ahead.”

An executive summary along with a complete report outlining the results of The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) is available by clicking here or by visiting any of the We Are Golf partner websites.

PAPHOS, Cyprus — Callum Shinkwin beat Kalle Samooja in a playoff to win his first European Tour title after a dramatic final day at the Cyprus Open on Sunday.

Shinkwin birdied the first extra hole to secure victory after the pair had finished tied on 20 under par.

“Winning on the European Tour is something I’ve always wanted to do and now I have,” said the 27-year-old Englishman, who lost his Tour card at the end of 2018. “It’s been a bit of a shock, but it feels great.”

Shinkwin, who lost a playoff for the Scottish Open in 2017, had earlier produced a spectacular finish to set the clubhouse target following a closing 63.

Shinkwin was two shots behind with two holes to play but birdied the 17th and then holed from 50 feet for an eagle on the 18th to complete a back nine of 29.

“I could see the scoreboard and Kalle was on 19 (under) and I was on 18,” Shinkwin said. “There was no chance really to hole that putt normally, it was one in a million you’re going to hole it from that distance and my aim was to try and two putt.”

Samooja needed to match Shinkwin’s eagle to win in regulation and saw his long-range attempt run five feet past the hole. He held his nerve to hole the birdie putt to finish with a 64 and force extra holes.

The 32-year-old Finn then left himself with an almost identical birdie putt to extend the playoff, but pushed it agonizingly wide of the hole.

Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson, who needed on-course treatment for a back problem, carded a closing 67 to finish in a tie for third on 18 under with Robert MacIntyre (65) and Garrick Higgo (65).

Canadian Aaron Cockerill finished the tournament in a tie for 14th. The player from Teulon, Man., scored a 66 in the final round and climbed 13 spots from his Saturday position.

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — In the 20-plus years and more than 600 times Brian Gay has played on the PGA Tour, he realizes the game is still full of surprises.

Sunday was a big one.

Gay rallied from a three-shot deficit on the back nine, hit gap wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 18th hole for a 7-under 64 and then beat Wyndham Clark on the first extra hole with a 12-foot birdie putt in the Bermuda Championship.

Since golf returned from the coronavirus-caused shutdown in June, the 48-year-old Gay was missing enthusiasm and putts, not a good combination for one of the shorter hitters in golf. He missed the cut in nine of his last 11 tournaments.

“Crazy game,” Gay said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

He piled up nine birdies over his last 14 holes, including one extra hole in a sudden-death playoff, for his fifth career PGA Tour title and his first in nearly eight years. Just over a year away from being able to join the PGA Tour Champions, Gay is now exempt through August 2023 because of his playoff victory over Clark.

He’ll be at Kapalua to start the new year. He’ll be back at Augusta National in April.

“I’ve always known I have the game to compete,” Gay said. “It easy to doubt yourself. The players are so good and so young. A lot of them are my daughter’s age.”

Gay was happy to see at least a limited number of fans at the Bermuda Championship as the PGA Tour slowly gets back to having some spectators. What he could have used was a video board to show him where he stood.

Only after he gunned a birdie putt some 5 feet by the hole for a three-putt bogey on the par-5 17th did he realize that cost him a share of the lead. On the closing hole at Port Royal, from a side hill lie with the ball slightly above his feet and the wind at his back, he hammered a gap wedge that was so good Gay could be heard saying, “Go in the hole.”

It settled 3 feet away for birdie to finish at 15-under 269.

In the final group behind him, Clark had a birdie putt that stopped a turn shot on the 17th. His approach to 18th was 10 feet behind the hole, and the birdie putt for the win just skirted the right edge. He made par for a 65 and a playoff.

Back to the 18th, Gay holed his birdie putt and Clark missed from about 7 feet, which would have extended the playoff.

“I’m pretty bummed,” Clark said. “I knew I had a one-shot lead. I thought I made that putt on 17 and same on 18. I had chances, I just didn’t capitalize.”

It was a lost opportunity for Clark, who birdied seven of his opening 11 holes to take a three-shot lead.

Gay, the 48-year-old who finished his final year of college at Florida six months after Clark was born, hit his best drive on the 14th hole — a tee shot that gave him fits in the opening round — that set up a 9-iron he converted for birdie. Then, he hit a gap wedge that took a big hop off the right side of the green to 4 feet for birdie to get within one.

Clark had not missed a green the entire final round until hitting into a bunker on the par-3 16th. He took a short back swing and barely got the ball out of the sand, and Clark did well to get up-and-down for bogey to tie for the lead.

Ollie Schniederjans, playing on a sponsor exemption, closed with a 66 and finished third, two shots out of the playoff. Denny McCarthy (63) and Stewart Cink (64) tied for fourth, along with Matt Jones and Doc Redman, who each shot 67.

Canadians David Hearn (Brantford, ON.) , Michael Gligic (Burlington, ON), and Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.) held on to their positions and finished the weekend in the top 20. Hearn and Gligic saved the best for last — they both posted a 66 on Sunday, climbing up three and four positions respectively. Hearn’s T8 finish makes him the top Canadian at the Bermuda Championship, with Gligic not far behind in a tie for 11th. Sloan shot a 68 in round 4, ending the weekend tied for 16th.

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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Doc Redman found the wind far more manageable Saturday, and he took advantage with a 4-under 67 for a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Bermuda Championship.

The wind came out of the opposite direction as the previous day and it wasn’t quite as strong. It showed in the scores and in the number of opportunities for players who never won or have gone without winning in years.

Redman was at 10-under 203, one shot ahead of Ryan Armour (70), Wyndham Clark (70) and Kramer Hickok (69), who took three putts from a tough spot on the fringe on the 18th at Port Royal.

Another shot behind were Matt Jones (66), Brian Gay (67) and Ollie Schniederjans (69). Jones was bogey-free in the third round, which to him was as impressive as any of his five birdies.

Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion, is among 10 players separated by four shots who have never won on the PGA Tour. A victory Sunday comes with an invitation to the Masters next April.

“I feel like with the wind switching, it was a little easier,” Redman said. “And it was still really windy. But yesterday was incredible. We couldn’t have been far away from stopping play yesterday. That made it a little easier. And the greens roll great, so if you have looks at it you can make birdies.”

Redman still was mindful of the wind, particularly on the par-5 17th when he made decisions to play short off the tee because of the strong left-to-right wind off the Atlantic Ocean and potential problems it could have created.

The wind also made it tough on Armour, the 44-year-old from Ohio who picked the wrong day to not be swinging his best. What saved him was a short game that enabled him to break par for the third straight da and to stay very much in the mix to win on Sunday.

“I’m going to have to go figure out what was going on,” Armour said. “Toward the end there, I started hitting the centre of the face a little more. As you know, when the winds are this high, you’ve got to hit in the centre or else it’s going to get blown all over.”

He took a little off a pitching wedge for a beautiful third shot just below the pin for birdie on the par-5 17th, and he narrowly missed a 15-footer on the 18th that would have given him a share of the lead.

Jones is used to windy conditions from his roots in Australia, and he handled it well. He will be going for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2014 Houston Open, although Jones won the Australian Open at the end of last year, and that tournament had a stronger field than what he’s facing in Bermuda.

Gay, 48, whose putting stroke atones for his lack of power, has not won since 2013. He was long enough on the 507-yard 17th to make eagle to cap off his 67 and put him in prime position.

Three Canadian players occupy spots in the top 20 going into the final day in Bermuda, with David Hearn (67) of Brantford, Ont. reaching the highest rank — he is currently tied for 11th at 6 under. Michael Gligic (69) of Burlington, Ont., and Roger Sloan (71) of Merritt, B.C., were tied for 15th at 5 under. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., missed the cut on Friday.

The only player from the top 50 in the world was defending champion Brendon Todd, who missed the cut.

The oldest player in the field, 64-year-old Fred Funk, didn’t fare so well. He shot 75 and was 13 shots behind.