JACKSON, Miss. – Norman Xiong’s ability to make the hard shots on another damp, chilly day made the rest of his second round much easier Friday at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Now the 19-year-old is not only playing on the weekend for the first time on the PGA Tour, he’s in contention.

Xiong shot a 5-under 67 for a share of the lead at the Country Club of Jackson in just his seventh career start. He’s even with Cameron Champ, who settled for a 70 after finishing with back-to-back bogeys.

For Xiong – who is in the field because of a sponsor’s exemption – two straight solid days on the course have helped him build confidence. He and Champ were 9 under for the tournament.

“I guess it finally proves that I belong out here, or hopefully one day eventually can be out here permanently,” Xiong said.

Shawn Stefani and Jonathan Byrd were one shot back, each shooting their second straight 68. Hudson Swafford (68), Seth Reeves (70), Scott Stallings (67), D.J. Trahan (70) and Chad Ramey (70) were two shots back.

Corey Conners (68) of Listowel, Ont., was the low Canadian, sitting in a tie for 15th at 5 under. Nick Taylor (71) of Abbotsford, B.C., and Ben Silverman (65) of Thornhill, Ont., were tied for 31st at 4 under. Adam Svensson (71) of Surrey, B.C., was tied for 50th at 2 under.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., both missed the cut.

Xiong started his second round on the back nine and made eagle on No. 11 after hitting a 55-foot putt from the fringe. He followed that encouraging start with two chip-ins for birdie on No. 16 and then No. 6.

“They really kind of take off the pressure on a day like this when it’s windy and the pins are not as accessible,” Xiong said. “You can play safe off those good breaks.”

If Xiong were able to win on Sunday, he’d be the second-youngest winner on tour since 1932. He’d be one day older than Jordan Spieth when he won at the John Deere Classic in 2013.

Xiong was born in Guam and moved to southern California when he was a boy. He played in college at Oregon for two years before turning professional over the summer.

The 23-year-old Champ wasn’t quite as sharp as he was on Thursday, when he shot a 65. He looked as if he was still going to keep his lead and was two shots ahead of Xiong before the disappointing ending.

He started his round on the back nine and managed to stay out of serious trouble until the final two holes. He missed a 7-foot par putt on No. 8 and then couldn’t get up and down on No. 9 and settled for another bogey.

“Today was a struggle ball-striking wise off the tee,” Champ said. “I couldn’t find the fairways. Something was a little off. But I just kept plugging away at it.

“Obviously, my finish wasn’t as good, but I’ll take a 2-under today with the way I was hitting it.”

SHANGHAI – Tony Finau has enjoyed such a good year that he wasn’t about to let one bad break get him down Friday in the HSBC Champions.

Finau had just built a three-shot lead as Patrick Reed began to stumble when Finau hit an approach from the rough on the 11th hole toward the green at Sheshan International. The ball landed on a sprinkler , shot high in the air and rolled over the back and into the hazard. It led to a double bogey and cut his lead to one shot.

Finau didn’t flinch, however.

He had a pair of birdies on the par 5s, laid up on the reachable par-4 16th and made birdie, and wound up with a 5-under 67. That put him at 11-under 133, three shots clear of Reed (72), Tommy Fleetwood (68) and defending champion Justin Rose (67).

“That was about as bad a break as I’ve ever had, to kick all the way over the green into the hazard,” Finau said. “One thing I’ve learned in this game, you take the good with the bad and keep moving forward. I knew I was playing well still and still at the top of the leaderboard. Just keep plugging along and try to get that back and I was able to do that.”

Canadian Adam Hadwin made noise in the second round, climbing 28 spots on the strength of a 4-under 68. The Abbotsford, B.C., product shares 21st place through 36 holes.

Reed opened with a pair of quick birdies in a swirling wind that came out of the opposite direction of the first round. He made his first bogey of the tournament on the fifth hole of the second round by missing a 4-foot putt after a smart chip shot from deep rough. Then, he hit into the water on No. 6 and had to scramble to make bogey. He also hit into the water on the par-5 eighth, but his short game allowed him to save par.

The Masters champion looked certain to drop another shot on the par-5 18th when his tee shot bounded off the side of a hill and into the water. Reed took his penalty drop, and then tried to hit a slice over two portions of the water. He blasted his hybrid on to about 12 feet for a two-putt birdie and a 72.

“I figured I just hit the shot I needed – a big, huge slice,” Reed said. “Why not start in toward the grandstands to the left?”

Rose won last year by rallying from eight shots behind on the final day, so a three-shot deficit shouldn’t look all that daunting. He plodded his way around the course and kept bogeys off his card. He missed a 15-foot eagle attempt on the last hole.

Finau hasn’t won since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, an opposite-field event that was held the same week as the Match Play. But it’s been a big year for him. He has 10 finishes the top 10, and his consistency led to him making his first Ryder Cup.

Finau got a good break at Le Golf National. In his opening fourballs match with Brooks Koepka, the U.S. team looked to be in big trouble until Finau’s tee shot on the 16th hole hit off the railroad ties framing the green and settled 3 feet away, crucial to winning the match.

Fleetwood birdied the 18th hole to join Reed and Rose at 8-under 136. Xander Schauffele was another shot behind after a 71, while Patrick Cantlay wasted a good birdie chance on the final hole and had to settle for 68. He was five behind.

Rose has a chance to return to No. 1 with a victory, and it doesn’t look as though Brooks Koepka can put up much of a fight. Koepka, in his debut at No. 1, was frequently stretching his back and at times walking with an uncomfortable gait. He also missed several short putts and shot 74, leaving him 13 shots back.

Dustin Johnson faded after a quick start and shot 73. He was 14 shots behind. Rory McIlroy was even worse. It took him 15 shots to play the two par 5s on the front nine, taking a triple bogey on No. 2 and a double bogey on the par-5 eighth hole.

Finau kept motoring along, as he has been doing the last few months. This was Finau’s 19th round in the 60s over his last 21 starts in PGA Tour events. He had 11 top 10s last season.

“Outside of that tough break, I played really nicely,” Finau said. “I was happy just to make a few birdies coming down the stretch. It’s hard to swallow when you feel like you hit a good shot and you have a bad break like that. So I was able to just hang in there and make a few birdies at the end, which is nice.”

Finau has gone 63 starts on the PGA Tour without winning, though he is making progress toward adding to his victory total.

“Tony is great, and he’s due a win, to be fair,” Fleetwood said. “He’s done everything else this year, so I wouldn’t put it past him or hold it against him if he did get the win. But there’s a long ways to go.”

TAOYUAN, Taiwan – Wei-Ling Hsu was feeling the love from her home crowd at the LPGA Taiwan Championship on Friday and it inspired her to a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead after two rounds.

Hsu had a total of 9-under 135 on the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club, one ahead of first-round leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff (71).

“That was probably the most people I had around me, I felt a lot of support,” Hsu said. “It also helped that I didn’t look around much or check the scoreboards.”

If she had, she would have seen that former No. 1 Lydia Ko was the big mover Friday with a round-of-the day 66 to move into third place and within two strokes of her lead.

The South Korean-born New Zealander had five birdies on her front nine but then stalled somewhat on the back nine. She birdied the 10th and had a bogey on the 11th, then had all pars until her approach to one foot on the par-4 17th gave her a late tap-in birdie.

“Probably one of the best shots of my career,” Ko said.

Mirim Lee (67) and Nelly Korda (71) were tied for fourth, three shots off the lead.

Danielle Kang, who won last week’s LPGA tournament at Shanghai, withdrew before the start of the second round because of an undisclosed illness, the LPGA said on Twitter.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., slipped with a 2-over 74 after a shaky start. The 21-year-old will look for a rebound performance in the third round—she tees off at 8:37 a.m. local time.

The tournament is the third of five being played on the LPGA’s annual Asian swing. Next week, it’s the Toto Japan Classic, followed by the Blue Bay LPGA on Hainan Island, China.

PINEHURST, N.C. – A pair of Canadians made their mark on Thursday in the second round of the first instalment at the inaugural LPGA Q-series event.

Team Canada National Amateur athlete and 18-hole leader Jaclyn Lee continued her cinderella story, carding an even-par 70 to sit in solo second at 6 under par behind Klara Spilkova of Czech Republic. Lee, a 21-year-old Calgary product, is one of 11 amateurs in the field.

“I like this golf course, it’s a bit of a placement golf course off the tee sometimes,” said the Ohio State senior. “I just think that it warrants good shots, kind of like No. 2, I just like those kinds of golf courses.”

Not far behind was Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City, who quietly crept inside the top 10 thanks to a 73-70, which puts her at 1 under for the tournament.

“I think it helped me to test my game and see where it’s at,” said Tanguay. “That’s pretty much why I played those events, to see what I had to work on. It was good because I had about four weeks to work on my game afterwards. It was really good to be home and I feel pretty good, pretty ready and feel good about my game too. The biggest thing is to stay patient.”

Fellow Quebec native Maude-Aimée LeBlanc struggled with a 4-over 76 — she sits at 10 over par.

The field will be 102 players and there will be approximately 45 spots up for grabs for the 2019 season.

Click here for scoring.

JACKSON, Miss. – Cameron Champ’s booming drives have made him quite the curiosity during his short time on the PGA Tour.

The rest of his improved game has turned him into a contender this week at the Country Club of Jackson.

Champ shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead Thursday in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Cameron Tringale was a stroke back, and Rory Sabbatini, D.J. Trahan, Andres Romero, Chad Ramey and Robert Streb followed at 67. There were still 12 players on the course when play was suspended because of darkness. Seth Reeves was at 5 under through 16 holes.

Champ’s drives sliced through the wet, windy and unseasonably cool conditions without much of a problem. On the par-4 18th, he blasted a 347-yard drive and hit his approach to 4 feet to set up his fifth back-nine birdie. The 23-year-old earned his PGA Tour card on the Web.com Tour last season.

Even more impressive about that 347-yard drive? He wasn’t really going for distance because of the weather conditions.

“Today I was just trying to hit the fairways,” Champ said. “The rough out here is pretty thick.”

Champ played in college at Texas A&M and said the windy conditions in that area of the country have given him plenty of practice for dealing with what he experienced on Thursday. He kept most of his drives in the fairway, which allowed him to have a solid day with his short game and putting.

“It’s great that you can hit it far, but if other parts of your game aren’t good you’re not going to be able to play the game,” Champ said. “That’s just kind of the way I look at it now.”

The slender 6-foot, 175-pound Champ doesn’t look like he’d be one of the tour’s biggest hitters, but he’s consistently among the leaders in that category. He averaged 328 yards per drive on his way to a tie for 25th at the Safeway Open this month, which is the only other event the rookie has played this season.

Former champion Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., carded a 3-under-par 69 to share 18th place.

The 31-year-old Tringale made the cut at the Safeway Open three weeks ago and had another good performance during Thursday’s first round. It’s an encouraging start to the season for someone who made just seven of 26 cuts last year.

Tringale said better drives have allowed him to be more competitive.

“It’s definitely nice to have a good opening round like this in this tournament and just something to build off,” Tringale said. “I’ll take all the positives I can and replay the good shots in my head tonight.

“Hopefully I can have a few more days like it.”

The soggy conditions in Jackson are expected to give way to much better weather during the final three rounds.

TAOYUAN, Taiwan — Jodi Ewart Shadoff shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Taiwan Championship.

Shadoff, seeking her first career victory, made seven birdies in a bogey-free round at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club to finish ahead Haeji Kang and Nelly Korda (both 67).

“I think changing my irons a month ago has definitely helped with my confidence,” Shadoff said. “I’ve just been lacking feel in my long game the whole year, really, and it’s just affected my confidence somewhat. So it’s nice just to, like, be able to trust what I’m doing and my swing.”

Canadian Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., posted a 2-under-par 70 holds a 10-way tie for 13th place.

In Taiwan ?? for #SwingingSkirts ! Looking forward to a great week. ??

— Brooke Henderson (@BrookeHenderson) October 24, 2018

Korda has four top-10 finishes in Asia and tied for second at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in March for her best finish.

“I just love Asia in general,” Korda said. “I love the Asian Swing. It just seems, like, so easy for the players. Everyone is around each other. It’s kind of like we’re a big family. I feel comfortable.”

Kang also was bogey-free, while Korda eagled the par-5 third hole and added four birdies against a lone bogey.

Ally McDonald (68) offset a double bogey with six birdies and was a further stroke back with Moriya Jutanugarn, local favourite Wei Ling Hsu, Jeong Eun Lee and So Yeon Ryu.

The tournament is the third of five being played in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan in the LPGA’s annual Asian swing.

SHANGHAI – Patrick Reed had a Ryder Cup he’d like to forget and spent three weeks at home in Texas preparing to finish the year strong.

He was at his best Thursday in the HSBC Champions.

Even in blustery conditions, Reed putted for birdie on every hole at Sheshan International and closed out his bogey-free round with a 25-foot birdie putt for an 8-under 64, giving him a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.

“It felt really good, because if you can go out and shoot rounds like that in these kind of conditions, you know you’re going to have confidence when the wind dies down and there are perfect conditions out there,” Reed said.

Schauffele also managed a bogey-free round in wind strong enough to be a two-club difference at times. He saved par on the final hole at No. 9 from the right rough with an approach that narrowly cleared the water into a patch of fairway short of the green, a pitch-and-run to 10 feet and another solid putt.

Matt Fitzpatrick had five straight birdies to overcome a rough start and post a 67.

Brooks Koepka, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, didn’t deliver much excitement. He had 16 pars, one bogey and one birdie for a 72. He was stunned when his second shot in the par-5 18th spun off the front of the green and into the water, forcing him to scramble for par at the turn instead of an easy birdie or better.

“I felt like I played good enough to shoot 4- or 5-under par,” Koepka said. “It was those momentum-building shots.”

Reed was last seen winning a meaningless singles match at Le Golf National after Europe was well on its way to victory. The last he was heard from was a telephone interview with The New York Times an hour after Europe won, blaming Jordan Spieth for them not playing together in the Ryder Cup and U.S. captain Jim Furyk for leaving Reed on the bench twice during the week.

Reed, the Masters champion, headed home to Houston and after a few days of rest went right back to work.

“From that point, my coach and I have been out there fine-tuning everything,” Reed said. “Just trying to set goals to finish the year off right.”

Reed led a strong American presence atop the leaderboard, nothing new at the World Golf Championships this year. The U.S. is trying to become the first country to have four players win all four World Golf Championships in one year after Phil Mickelson won the Mexico Championship, Bubba Watson won the Match Play and Justin Thomas won the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.

Dustin Johnson wouldn’t figure to contribute to that opportunity. Johnson lost a six-shot lead in the final round a year ago at the HSBC Champions, and he was wild as ever in opening with a 74 on Thursday.

He twice had more than 150 yards for his third shot into par 4s, and made double bogey on the 15th hole. He was happy to find his tee shot on the par-5 18th and had to make a 10-foot putt just to salvage bogey. Johnson scratched his way back to 1 over for the round until back-to-back bogeys.

Defending champion Justin Rose, who last year rallied from eight shots behind to win after Johnson closed with a 77, hit a few wild drives of his own but atoned for those with plenty of birdies in his round of 69.

The feature group was anything but that – Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari combined to shoot 6-over par. Molinari, the British Open champion and Ryder Cup star as the first European to go 5-0 for the week, made three straight bogeys around the turn and had no birdies on his back nine.

Canadian Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., carded a 2-over-par 74 to sit in a tie for 49th.

McIlroy also was wild at times off the tee, though it really only cost him on the short 16th hole. He punched out the trees by inverting his wedge to play a left-handed shot, but then flubbed his flop shot into a bunker, blasted that over the green and made double bogey. He wound up with a 72.

Reed, playing an hour ahead of the final group, drove onto the front of the 16th green for a two-putt birdie. He started to stretch his lead after making the turn, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 1, two-putting for birdie on the par-5 second and then hitting a wedge to 6 feet for birdie on No. 3.

He had several other good looks at birdie, and as good as his 64 was on Thursday, it was about the worst he could have shot.

“I was hitting the ball really solid,” Reed said. “I was hitting irons where I was looking and I was able to control it, not only directional-wise but also trajectories and what kind of heights I wanted to hit it. I felt like that was key because when it’s windy like that, you have to have full control over it. And I was able to do that.”

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. That was the message on a cool day at Pinehurst Resort for the first of eight rounds at the inaugural LPGA Q-Series presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Canadian amateur Jaclyn Lee was the only player to go bogey-free on Wednesday at Pinehurst No. 6 with an opening-round 68. Lee is alone at the top of the 102-player field, and holds a two-shot lead over Pajaree Anannarukarn, Laetitia Beck, Jeongeun Lee6 and Klara Spilková.

The 21-year-old Calgary native, who made it to Q-Series all the way from Stage I of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament, lit up Pinehurst No. 6 on Wednesday with a bogey-free 68. There was a small group of supporters standing off the green to meet Lee, and she attributes her solid opening-round play to feeling comfortable at Pinehurst.

“I’m comfortable in this environment, I’m back with my host family from the North & South, which I love,” she said. “It’s good to be back and to have made it all the way here.”

Lee has played in the North & South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 the past three years, and has stayed with the same host family, David and Tonya Brown, who she is also staying with this week. Lee also has her North & South Women’s Amateur caddie, Eric Bennett, on the bag this week.

Catching up with #TeamCanada amateur @JaclynLee57 who has the early lead at LPGA #QSeries after an opening-round 68 (-4) ??? pic.twitter.com/16ILABuEdi

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) October 24, 2018

“It feels pretty good,” the Ohio State senior said of her opening-round. “It’s nice to start the tournament with a solid round. I have the same goals for the next seven rounds, just to play some solid golf and try to get myself in a good position.”

New this year for the LPGA Q-Series, an amateur competitor earning LPGA status may defer her acceptance of LPGA membership until July 1 the following year allowing her to finish the college golf season if she wishes.

Canadian amateur @JaclynLee57 jumps to the early lead at #QSeries with a bogey-free 68 ???? pic.twitter.com/8TcMGLY6Sd

— CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) October 24, 2018

A lot is on the line these next two weeks as players will compete in a total of eight rounds over two, four-day tournaments with the top-45 finishers and ties receiving LPGA membership in Category 14 on the LPGA Priority List and remaining competitors earning Symetra Tour status.

Spilková, a winner on the Ladies European Tour, is aiming to finish the next two weeks inside the top 45 and was pleased with the way she fought in an opening-round 70.

“For me that’s the most important thing, to be able to let it go and just enjoy and that’s what I did today on the golf course,” Spilková said. “We had so much love, I just tried to hit fairways and greens and then two-putt. That’s how I want to play for all eight rounds. If I play even par, I’m pretty happy with it. If I make a few putts that’s pretty good. I’m not pushing myself too much.”

Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay is 23rd after a 1-over 73. Meanwhile, Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., opened with a 6-over 78 to sit 84th.

TORONTO — Sporting Life Inc. et Golf Town Limited annoncent leur fusion et la création Sporting Life Group Limited («SLG»).

Sporting Life est un magasin de style de vie sport qui offre une expérience de magasinage unique et une sélection exhaustive d’articles et de marques sport et style, tout en mettant l’accent sur un service à la clientèle exceptionnel. Elle compte présentement 11 magasins au Canada en Ontario, en Alberta et au Québec, suite à l’ouverture de son nouveau magasin de 27 500 pieds carrés au Quartier DIX30 la semaine dernière. En 2019, Sporting Life prévoit ouvrir un autre magasin amiral dans le tout nouveau mail «Amazing Brentwood» à Vancouver en Colombie-Britannique.

Golf Town est la destination numéro un pour l’équipement et les vêtements de golf au Canada, avec 47 magasins à travers le pays. Golf Town a connu énormément de succès depuis son acquisition en 2016 par Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited («Fairfax») (TSX: FFH et FFH.U) et certains fonds gérés par Signature Global Asset Management, une division de CI Investment Inc.

Fairfax et ses fondateurs David Russel et Patti Russel étaient les propriétaires de Sporting Life et continueront à s’investir auprès de Sporting Life Group.

Suite à cette fusion, les deux marques conserveront leur identité de marque et continueront d’opérer de façon indépendante, bien qu’elles feront des investissements communs en matière de personnel, de technologies et d’approvisionnement. Ces investissements permettront de favoriser la croissance et les synergies.

«Les ventes de Sporting Life sont à leur sommet lors des mois d’hiver alors que les ventes de Golf Town sont à leur sommet pendant l’été», dit David Russel, PDG et co-fondateur de Sporting Life. «Cette nouvelle entité représente une occasion de croissance naturelle qui permettra aux deux compagnies de profiter d’un rendement robuste tout au long de l’année.»

«Les investissements et les synergies nous permettront de mettre en œuvre un plan d’expansion simplifié. Nous prévoyons ajouter des magasins en Colombie-Britannique, en Alberta et au Québec, tout en nous implantant au Manitoba», ajoute David Russell.

Golf Town continue d’investir dans sa marque et son réseau de magasins avec une nouvelle génération de magasins qui sera lancée en mars 2019 à Richmond en Colombie-Britannique.

«Depuis l’acquisition de Golf Town en 2016, nous avons fait des investissements au Canada en matière de personnel, de technologie et dans nos magasins», dit Chad McKinnon, président de Golf Town. «Cette fusion permettra d’optimiser ces investissements tout en offrant plusieurs occasions de développement pour notre marque et notre personnel, tout en préservant le caractère distinct des deux marques et équipes».

L’équipe de direction de la nouvelle compagnie fusionnée sera:

David Russell – Président-directeur général de SLG
Chad McKinnon – Président de SLG
Patti Russell (Co-fondatrice de Sporting Life) – Vice-présidente exécutive et Chef de la gestion de la marque chez SLG
Frederick Lecoq – Chef du marketing de SLG

Les équipes de direction des deux marques resteront en place.

Team Canada Junior Women’s Coach Matt Wilson was one of nine award winners at the 2018 PGA of Ontario awards ceremony on Friday at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort in Alliston, Ont.

The Newmarket, Ont., native took home Coach of the Year honours for the PGA of Canada – Ontario Zone for his outstanding achievements in coaching this season and throughout his career.

In 2017, Wilson was appointed as Director of Next Generation strategy with Golf Canada to further develop and execute a stronger Team Canada program. Since joining the National Sport Federation, Wilson has helped oversee the national team’s centralized program, which sends athletes to train at Bear Mountain from February through to early June in a focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts.

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Thank you to @pgaofontario and my peers for voting me as the Coach of the Year for 2018 and to the athletes who work with focus and purpose, daily, to grow and achieve.

A post shared by Matt Wilson (@wilsmatt) on Oct 24, 2018 at 3:56am PDT

Wilson was honoured alongside eight fellow PGA of Canada members:

• PADRAIG KELLY ~ Retailer of the Year
• CASEY WARD ~ Candidate for Membership of the Year
• RAYMOND MCCORQUODALE ~ Class A Professional of the Year
• JON BLOMME ~ Junior Leader of the Year
• GARETH RAFLEWSKI ~ Teacher of the Year
• MATTHEW WILSON ~ Coach of the Year
• BRIAN HADLEY ~ Player of the Year
• ADAM TOBIN ~ Club Professional of the Year
• IAN WEBB ~ Executive Professional of the Year