Amateur Team Canada

Christopher Vandette climbs into 6th place at TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup

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Christopher Vandette (Chuck Russell/ Golf Canada)

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Christopher Vandette of Beaconsfield, Que., carded an 8-under 63 on Wednesday at the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup, moving himself into sixth place in the individual boys competition heading into the final round.

Vandette’s 63 is tied for the lowest round of the tournament thus far. He was bogey-free in round three, with an eagle on the par-5 6th highlighting a scorching moving day at Chukyo Golf Club. He sits five shots back of leader Samuel Simpson of South Africa.

Sihota also shot in the 60s in round three, shooting a 3-under 68. The Victoria, B.C., product is in a tie for 37th after 54 holes.

Desmarchais carded even-par 71, holding steady in 33rd at 1 over on the tournament, while Duquette shot 8 over and is in 58th.

The Canadian quartet features Vandette, Laurent Desmarchais, Jeevan Sihota and William Duquette. The players are competing individually, with each nation’s three lowest scores counting towards the team competition.

Canada ranks ninth of 15 teams in the team competition at 6 under par, having gained three spots in the third round. South Africa are the leaders at 38 under, nine shots clear of Japan in second.

In the girls division, Japan holds a three-stroke lead over the United States and Mexico. Cassie Porter of Australia and Siwoo Chung of South Korea are leading the individual competition at 8 under par.

Full scoring can be found here.

Rules and Rants

Rules of Golf: Dropped ball must come to rest

When dropping in taking free relief or penalty relief, your ball must be dropped in and come to rest in the defined relief area.

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PGA TOUR announces Korn Ferry as umbrella sponsor of newly named Korn Ferry Tour

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) announced today a 10-year agreement making the Los Angeles-based, global organizational consulting firm the Umbrella Sponsor of the newly named Korn Ferry Tour.

In replacing Web.com, Korn Ferry’s sponsorship takes effect June 19 and extends through the 2028 season. The Korn Ferry Tour will continue to award PGA TOUR membership to the Tour’s 50 leading players, including the top 25 from the Regular Season points list and the top 25 from the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list.

The announcement was made jointly by PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan, Korn Ferry Chief Executive Officer Gary Burnison, and Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin on Wednesday morning in New York City.

“We welcome Korn Ferry to the PGA TOUR family with today’s announcement,” said Monahan. “Our thanks to Gary Burnison and his team for a partnership that will promote Korn Ferry’s mission of helping people and organizations exceed their potential, collaborating with a Tour that has proven to identify the next generation of PGA TOUR talent over the last 30 years.”

Korn Ferry also becomes a PGA TOUR Official Marketing Partner as the “Official Leadership Development Firm” of the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and Korn Ferry Tour. Additionally, Korn Ferry will assume sponsorship of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance in Evansville, Indiana – the third and final event in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

“We’re excited to partner with the PGA TOUR. Our organizations are both all about talent – getting players and people to that next level and advancing their careers. People will never discover their full potential until they are provided an abundance of opportunity. Korn Ferry and the Korn Ferry Tour provide that opportunity,” said Burnison. “This sponsorship will further elevate our brand as a global organizational consultancy and extend awareness of our firm to new audiences around the world.”

Korn Ferry develops and coaches 1.2 million people a year, puts someone in a new job every three minutes and has worked with companies to evaluate and assess nearly 70 million professionals. The firm has offices in more than 50 countries and 8,500 employees.

Korn Ferry works with clients to design their organizational structures, roles and responsibilities. The firm helps them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward, develop and motivate their workforce. Korn Ferry also helps professionals at all levels navigate and advance their careers.

“This is a tremendous day for our organization, and we are eager to work with Gary and his team as we continue to build the Korn Ferry Tour from the strong foundation already in place,” said Baldwin, the first female to be named president of one of the PGA TOUR’s six global Tours earlier this year. “Korn Ferry has an impassioned desire to enhance the careers and brands of our players through this incredibly competitive Tour. This partnership will allow us to further those goals while elevating the Tour and our tournaments for our partners and fans.”

With 50 available PGA TOUR cards for the following season (since 2013), the Korn Ferry Tour is the path to the PGA TOUR. Twenty-five TOUR cards are reserved for the leading points earners at the end of the 24-event Regular Season. Another 25 are up for grabs at the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals that follow the Regular Season in August and September.

During the PGA TOUR’s 2017-18 season, eight players from the Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2017 won titles, including Aaron Wise, whose victory at the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson was the 500th by a former Korn Ferry Tour player – a list which includes 23 major championships and eight PLAYERS Championships.

Four players from the Class of 2018 have won on the PGA TOUR this season – Cameron Champ (Sanderson Farms Championship), Adam Long (The Desert Classic), Martin Trainer (Puerto Rico Open) and Max Homa (Wells Fargo Championship).

Other notable PGA TOUR players who got their start on the Korn Ferry Tour include major champions Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson.

For more information on the Korn Ferry Tour, please visit PGATOUR.com.

Amateur Team Canada

Canada sits 12th at TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup

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Chuck Russell/ Golf Canada

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Christopher Vandette of Beaconsfield, Que. shot even-par 71, but Canada fell to 12th place in the team competition during the second round at the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup.

The Canadian quartet features Vandette, Laurent Desmarchais, Jeevan Sihota and William Duquette. The players are competing individually, with each nation’s three lowest scores counting towards the team competition.

Coming off an opening-round 69, Vandette was sitting at 4 under for the tournament heading into the final four holes of round two. The 17-year-old struggled after posting two bogeys on the par-5 16th and the par-4 18th, bringing him back to even par on the day. The bogey on No. 16 was uncharacteristic for Vandette, who had made birdie on each par 5 in the tournament to that point.

Vandette is T16 after 36 holes, eight shots back of leaders Abel Gallegos Caputo of Argentina and Gustav Andersson of Sweden.

Desmarchais shot 1-over 72 and is T28, while Sihota is 6 over in a tie for 43rd .

William Duquette is 57th at 14 over.

Canada ranks 12th of 15 teams in the team competition at 5 over par. South Africa are the current leaders at 19 under.

In the girls division, the United States hold a one-stroke lead over Japan. Rose Zhang of the United States and Siwoo Chung of South Korea are leading the individual competition at 5 under par.

Full scoring can be found here.

Amateur Team Canada

Canada in sixth after first round of TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup

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Christopher Vandette (Golf Canada)

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – The Team Canada boys are sixth of 15 teams following the opening round of the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup. Christopher Vandette of Beaconsfield, Que., is the top-ranking Canadian in a tie for 8th at 2 under par.

The Canadian quartet features Vandette, Laurent Desmarchais, Jeevan Sihota and William Duquette. The players are competing individually, with each nation’s three lowest scores counting towards the team competition.

Vandette made birdie on all three par 5s in the opening round, en route to carding a 2-under-par 69. The 17-year-old sits three strokes back of leaders Abel Gallegos Caputo of Argentina, Gustav Andersson of Sweden and Albert Boneta of Spain.

Desmarchais shot even-par 71 in his first round. The Longueuil, Que., product made a seven on the par-5 ninth, but recovered by carding a bogey-free back nine to finish T16.

Sihota sits T24 after the first 18 holes. His 1-over par 72 is six shots behind the leaders.

Duquette shot 6-over par and is T55.

Canada ranks sixth in the team competition at 1 under par. Spain are the current leaders at 9 under.

In the girls division, Mexico holds a 3-stroke lead over Sweden and the United States. Spain’s Carla Tejedo is leading the individual competition at 3 under par.

Full scoring can be found here.

Brooke Henderson LPGA Tour

Post and Weir happy to see Henderson take sole possession of golfing record

Brooke Henderson
Brooke Henderson (Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Brooke Henderson is now the undisputed monarch of Canadian golf. Her predecessors can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

The 21-year old from Smiths Falls, Ont., won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday to break the Canadian record for professional golf titles. The victory elevated her over Sandra Post, Mike Weir and George Knudson, who have eight wins apiece on their respective tours.

“I knew it was coming,” said Post on Monday. The Canadian Golf Hall of Famer noted that normally Henderson wins by a wide margin, rather than the one-stroke victory she earned over Lexi Thompson, Nasa Hataoka, Su Oh and Brittany Altomare. “I think I was looking at it as more a tournament rather than the ninth win because in my mind that was a given.

“I hope she goes to double figures with the wins and runs it up as high as she can for the next Canadian.”

Weir also wasn’t concerned about his record. Instead, he was excited to see an elite golfer at the top of her game.

“I don’t really pay that much attention to records and things like that, that’s more for other people’s water-cooler talk,” said Weir, also a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. “I just appreciate watching good golf and I appreciate excellence in all sports. When you see a player really excelling themselves and improving their own game and seeing them round into form, as Brooke has, it’s great to see.”

Although Henderson’s nine career wins is impressive, she is a ways off from reaching the all-time mark on the LPGA Tour.

Kathy Whitworth holds the all-time professional record with 88 wins on the LPGA Tour. Sam Snead has the most among men with 82. That record may fall, however, with Tiger Woods picking up his 81st PGA Tour win at this year’s Masters.

Golfing great Annika Sorenstam, third in LPGA Tour history with 72 wins, tweeted her support of Henderson on Monday afternoon.

“Congratulations to ?BrookeHenderson on winning the #meijerlpga,” said Sorenstam, adding an emoji of a champagne bottle popping and a trophy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also voiced his support on Twitter.

Henderson also won the Lotte Championship in April in Hawaii.

Just six months into the year, she is an early contender to win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian female athlete of the year. Henderson has won the Rosenfeld three of the past four years, including in 2017 and 2018.

Post, who won the Marsh in 1979 and back-to-back Rosenfelds in 1979 and 1980, didn’t want to make any bold predictions just yet though.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in sport this year, do we? It’s not an Olympic year, that’s a good thing,” said Post. “All I’m saying is that she’s got a good shot at it. But I think it’s great that we can have that conversation.”

Weir, who was awarded the Marsh in 2003 after winning the Masters, also likes Henderson’s chances.

“Her odds are great, she’s playing great,” said Weir. “There’s still a lot of the year left in other sports but clearly in the golf world Brooke’s setting herself apart from any other player, man or woman, in this country. She’d be a real deserving recipient.”

Rules and Rants

Local Rule: Alternative to Stroke

Now under the Rules, when your ball is lost or out of bounds, your course or can use a Local Rule that does not require you to play under stroke and distance.

Click here to learn more.

PGA TOUR

Gary Woodland wins US Open at Pebble Beach

Gary Woodland (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Gary Woodfland (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Gary Woodland denied Brooks Koepka’s bold bid at history with two clutch shots and made U.S. Open memories of his own, starting with that silver trophy in his hands at Pebble Beach.

Woodland finished in style Sunday. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt for a 2-under 69, giving him the lowest 72-hole score in six U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach and a three-shot victory over Koepka, who was going for a third straight U.S. Open.

Koepka had to settle for a footnote in history as the first player with all four rounds in the 60s at the U.S Open without winning. But he made Woodland earn every bit of his first major championship.

Clinging to a one-shot lead with more pressure than he has ever felt, Woodland seized control by going for the green on the par-5 14th hole with a 3-wood from 263 yards, narrowly clearing a cavernous bunker and setting up a simple up-and-down for a two-shot lead.

Even more significant was a shot from 90 feet.

Woodland hit the edge of the green on the par-3 17th all the way to the right, with the pin on the hourglass green on the other side.

Ahead on the 18th, Koepka’s 3-iron went just over the back of the green, leaving him a chip for eagle to tie, with a birdie likely to do the trick considering what Woodland faced. Koepka chipped to just inside 10 feet and missed the putt.

Gary Woodland

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Gary Woodland of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 16, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Woodland delivered again. Unable to use putter to get it close, he perfectly clipped a pitch over the mound, and it checked about 12 feet short of the hole and trickled down to tap-in range.

That effectively ended the U.S. Open. Woodland played conservatively down the 18th and made one last birdie that only mattered in the record book. He finished at 13-under 271, one shot better than Tiger Woods’ historic rout in 2000.

The difference was Woods won by 15 shots and was the only player under par. With a marine layer blocking the sunshine, and no significant wind at Pebble Beach all week, 31 players finished under par.

Koepka closed with a 68 for his second runner-up in the majors this year, along with his second straight PGA Championship title.

Justin Rose was the only one who caught Woodland, with a birdie on the opening hole. Rose bogeyed from the bunker on No. 2, and fell out of the race with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. He shot 74 and shared third with Xander Schauffele (67), Jon Rahm (68) and Chez Reavie (71).

Brooke Henderson LPGA Tour

Brooke Henderson collects a historic 9th LPGA victory

Brooke Henderson wins the Meijer LPGA Classic (for a second time), collecting her 9th career LPGA title — the most ever by a Canadian.

Amateur NextGen Championships

Josh Nagy and Hyeji Yang earn victories at Future Links, driven by Acura Prairie Championship

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Josh Schaefer/ Golf Canada

YORKTON, Sask. – Josh Nagy came from behind, while Hyeji Yang maintained her second-round lead to win the boys and girls division, respectively, at the Future Links, driven by Acura Prairie Championship at Deer Park Municipal Golf Course.

Yang, from Langley, B.C., moved into the lead during the second-round and topped the field by seven strokes at 11-over par 227. Birdies were at a premium throughout the tournament in the girls division, but Yang’s two back-nine birdies on Sunday helped her secure the victory.

“I think I played not bad overall this week,” said Yang. “Today my game was struggling on the front nine and I couldn’t make some birdies when I had a chance. On the back nine I was pushing myself. On 13 my shots started coming back and on No. 15 I made a 15-foot birdie putt which helped me get more confidence and momentum.”

Sherri Yang finished in second at 18-over. The Richmond, B.C. product held the lead following the first-round, but was unable to withstand the charge from Hyeji Yang. She finished a stroke ahead of Calgary native Brooke Frerichs, who put in three consistent rounds to end up 19-over.

Autumn Neiszner of Regina and Kaitlyn Wingnean of Edmonton round out the top-five earning exemptions to the 2019 Canadian Junior Girls Championship from July 29-August 2 at Lethbridge Country Club in Lethbridge, Alta.

In the boys division, Josh Nagy cemented himself atop the leaderboard with a tremendous final round. The Saskatoon native made a double bogey on the par-4 second hole, but went on to make eight birdies to finish the day at 6-under par 66 and 3-under par 213 for the tournament.

Ranked No. 2 on Golf Saskatchewan’s Order of Merit, Nagy shot only the third under-par round of the tournament. The other rounds belonged to Calgary’s Richard Dou, who carded a 2-under 70 during the opening round, and Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald, who shot a 1-under 71 in the final round.

“It’s an honour,” said Nagy. “I came in playing alright, and it was really nice to be able to turn the week around in the last round. I had a little hiccup on No. 2, and then I was able to bear down on the greens.”

Finishing seven strokes behind Nagy was second-round leader Tae Kyoung (Eric) Yun of Richmond Hill, Ont. Yun shot even-par on Saturday, finishing 4-over for the tournament.

An even-par final round from Neel Soni secured T3 for the Winnipeg product, tied with fellow Winnipegger Jacob Armstrong at 6-over.

Dou rounded out the top-five at 7-over.

Each of the top five finishers received an exemption into the 2019 Canadian Junior Boys Championship from August 11-15 at Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club in Hartland, N.B.

Full results can be found here.