After shooting the round of his life to preserve his PGA Tour status, Canadian golfer Nick Taylor chose to mark the achievement with a modest celebration.

He and his wife, Andie – who just turned 30 – went to Wendy’s for ice cream.

“It was a roller coaster week, let alone day,” Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C., said in a phone interview. “We were just so exhausted.”

A winner on the PGA Tour in 2014, Taylor was outside the top-125 on the FedEx Cup standings going into last week at the Wyndham Championship. His 7-under-par 63 Sunday (his low round of the year) helped move him to 119th. That allows him to pick and choose his schedule on the PGA Tour next year.

“I knew just making the cut and getting to the weekend wasn’t what I needed,” said Taylor. “I needed a top-25 finish at minimum. I feel like that helped me. If I just tried to make the cut I might have been a little tighter and a little more defensive.”

Taylor said his season was an interesting one. He had three straight top-25 finishes in the first three events, but through March and into May he missed six straight cuts. He began working with new swing coach Mark McCann in May after The Players Championship and things have turned around favourably since.

“There was a different eye and different opinion and that helped,” said Taylor. “It kind of saved the season.”

Taylor will now play The Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, the first FedEx Cup playoff event. Fellow Abbotsford golfer Adam Hadwin, who was 70th in the FedEx Cup standings, is also in the field.

Taylor said he feels like he’s got “nothing to lose” this week.

“I’m playing with house money a little bit,” he said. “I’m still trying to win and move on, but definitely not as much pressure as last week.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished outside the top 125 and will play the four-tournament Web.com Tour finals to try to improve on their PGA Tour status for next year.

Conners (130th), Silverman (136th), and Hearn (138th) will play out of the category for golfers 126-150 on the FedEx Cup standings and have partial status.

Hearn was in that category this season and still played 21 tournaments.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., finished 185th on the FedEx Cup standings but will start next year on a major medical exemption after having back surgery on August 3.

DeLaet’s agent, Danny Fritz, said in an email to The Canadian Press “all went well” and he is “resting and on the road to recovery.”

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., is fully exempt next year after his win at The RSM Classic in 2016.

REGINA – Canadian golfer Alena Sharp will be supporting the Humboldt Broncos this week.

The LPGA Tour veteran has a special golf bag and towel this week for the CP Women’s Open, featuring the Broncos’ logo.

Sixteen people were killed after the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team’s bus collided with a transport truck in April.

The Hamilton golfer said she’ll donate the bag to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatchewan after the event.

Excited to show my support for @HumboldtBroncos and @theSJHL with my new bag for the week @cpwomensopen ! This tragedy really hit home as it did for so many. I will be donating my bag to @PattisonKids after this week. Thanks @rbc for teaming up on this and Ken Hill @jukasaradio pic.twitter.com/LuwCQArcq4

— Alena Sharp (@AlenaSharp) August 21, 2018

REGINA, Sask. (Golf Canada) – Saskatoon native Bobbi Brandon was one of four golfers to claim the final exemptions into the 2018 CP Women’s Open via Monday’s qualifying event at Royal Regina Golf Club.

Brandon, a PGA of Canada Professional who works out of Moon Lake Golf & Country Club, carded a 2-over-par 74 to sit T2 among the 11-player field. This will be Brandon’s second appearance at the CP Women’s Open. She competed in Canada’s National Women’s Open in 1998 at Essex Golf and Country Club in Windsor, Ont., where she missed the cut.

Sweden’s Louise Stahle fired a 2-under par 70 to earn medalist honours.

American Jennifer Hahn (74) and Japanese amateur Kasumi Kuniyoshi (76) earned the final two spots.

Brandon will be the 16^th Canadian in the field at the CP Women’s Open. All are trying to become the first Canadian to win an LPGA Tour event on Canadian soil since Canadian Golf Hall of Fame honoured member Jocelyne Bourassa won La Canadienne in 1973.

Click here for full scores from 2018 CP Women’s Open Final Qualifying at Royal Regina Golf Club.

NORTH PLAINS, Oregon – The first 25 of 50 available PGA TOUR membership cards for the 2018-19 season were secured on Sunday at the Web.com Tour’s final Regular Season event, the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz, contested on the Witch Hollow Course at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.

Canadian Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., finished the regular season at No. 14 thanks to four top-10 finishes and one victory at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who has led the money list each week this year after winning the season-opening Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, posted rounds of 65-66-68-67—266 (18-under) to win by four shots over John Chin. The $144,000 first-place check pushed Im to $534,325 in earnings and allowed him to join Martin Trainer as the only players on Tour to win twice in 2018.

The 20-year-old Im, along with the other 24 card earners, will carry over earnings to the Web.com Tour Finals, where positions on the priority ranking list, used to set PGA TOUR fields each week, will be finalized.

An additional 25 cards will be awarded following the conclusion of the four-event Finals, which begin next week in Columbus, Ohio, with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The final three events consist of the DAP Championship (August 30-2), Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco (Sept. 13-16) and Web.com Tour Championship (Sept. 20-23). The second set of 25 cards will be based on money earned solely in the Finals.

The battle for the 25^th and final card came down to rookies Hank Lebioda and Kevin Dougherty, with Lebioda securing the last spot by $1,923.

Lebioda finished up a final-round 71 nearly two hours before Dougherty finished, and was forced to wait and watch the projected money list to see what his fate would be.

Dougherty birdied the par-4 17^th and had to birdie the par-5 18^th to earn his PGA TOUR card, but fell to his knees in disbelief as his birdie chip from just short of the green narrowly missed going in. The closing par left the former Oklahoma State golfer at No. 26 on the money list, and in turn vaulted Lebioda to the TOUR this fall.

The top 25 who secured their 2018-19 PGA TOUR membership are:

*=PGA TOUR rookie in 2018-19

The top 25 will be joined at the Finals by those PGA TOUR players who finished 126-200 in the FedExCup standings (less those with exemptions), plus non-members who earned enough equivalent FedExCup points to finish within the 126-200 range.

The 50 graduates will join the PGA TOUR for the 2018-19 season, which opens the week of October 1-7 with the Safeway Open in Napa, California.

Seventeen of Sunday’s 25 card earners will be rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2018-19.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ill. — Canadian Brooke Henderson put in a spectacular performance during Sunday’s final round at the Indy Women in Tech Championship, finishing T7 ahead of next week’s CP Women’s Open in her home country.

The Smiths Falls, Ont., product fired a scorching, bogey-free 63 (her best round of 2018) after recording nine birdies to finish at 18 under.

Sung Hyun Park blew one chance to jump back on top of the world Sunday.

The South Korean star made sure it didn’t happen again.

After missing a short birdie putt on the final hole of regulation and leaving the door open for Lizette Salas, Park made a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff to win the Indy Women in Tech Championship and reclaim the No. 1 spot.

“I’m very honoured to be ranked No. 1 and I hope to maintain that ranking for a long time,” she said through an interpreter after shooting a 3-under 69 for a four-round total of 23-under 265. “I will try my best.”

The 25-year-old South Korean held top spot for one week last November.

If she continues playing like she did this weekend, Park could retain it for quite a while.

She became the second three-time winner on tour this season and now won five LPGA Tour titles over the past two years _ including two majors.

And aside from a rare mishit, which led to a double bogey Saturday, Park played the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course almost flawlessly.

She opened with a 68 on Thursday, followed with a 63 on Friday and started in the next-to-last paring after settling for 66 on Saturday.

After finishing, Park was whisked away to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s finish line, where she celebrated by kissing the bricks and taking the traditional sip of milk _ though she declined to take the milk bath as the event’s inaugural winner, Lexi Thompson, did last year.

“I didn’t expect that tradition, but I was pleased to do it,” Park said.

But she needed some help to reach the winner’s circle.

Salas had a two-shot lead after a birdie on the par-4, 13th and seemed perfectly positioned to end her personal victory drought of more than four years _ even after Park cut the lead to one with a birdie at No. 14.

Then the tournament that had been full of low scores and light on drama suddenly switched.

Salas, who had missed only three fairways all week, hit drives into the rough on the last two holes of regulation.

She dropped into a tie after making bogey at the par-4, 17th and got a reprieve when Park’s birdie putt for the lead on No. 18 slid just to the right of the hole. Salas then hit her approach shot from the deep rough on No. 18 within five feet, giving her a chance to win. But after backing away from the putt, she also missed.

“I could have freaked out, I could have done a lot of other things, but I stayed patient and I hit the shot I wanted,” she said of the chip. “All I could ask for was an opportunity.”

Salas, hitting first, drove down the middle of the fairway within 90 yards of the hole. Park answered with a drive about 30 yards longer.

Both chipped onto the green with makeable birdie putts, but Salas’ curved just left of the hole.

Park’s putt, meanwhile, dropped cleanly in the middle of the cup.

“I was not nervous at all,” Park said. “When the other person missed the putt, I felt relieved that I would make it.”

Salas’ fifth career runner-up finish might have been the most frustrating.

After finishing tied for fifth in last year’s 54-hole tournament here with three sub-par rounds, she opened this year’s event with a course record-tying 62 on Thursday. She then had rounds of 69 and 64 and 69 and stayed atop the leader board through every hole Sunday _ until Park’s final putt.

“I stuck with my game plan and a couple of putts could have dropped,” she said. “But you’ve just got to roll with it.”

Amy Kang, of South Korea, wound up third after shooting 69 to finish at 22-under 266.

Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn needed to finish higher than sixth to retain her hold on the No. 1 spot. Jutanugarn tied for seventh after shooting 66 for an 18-under 270.

Thompson birdied the final hole to finish 1 under for the day and 17 under in her first tournament following a monthlong break to recover from physical and mental exhaustion.

But it was Park who delivered an eighth straight win for non-Americans.

“My goal was to win three times this year,” Park said. “I’m trying hard, so maybe I will win again.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson had a great last day, scoring 63. This result in the final round saw her climb a few ladder, finishing in a tie for seventh.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A rain delay and fog delay might have an effect on some players as they prepare or continue through their round, but in the end, the strongest will come out on top. 

Marta Sanz Barrio sure didn’t let those delays get in her way of winning it all.

With a finish that came down to the wire, Sanz Barrio walked away with a one-shot victory at the FireKeepers Casino Championship, finishing at 13-under-par.

While Sanz Barrio was having a day to remember, competition was a hole behind her the whole day in Augusta James who finished at 12-un­der-par. Sanz Barrio headed to the 18th with a two-shot lead and gave herself a little challenge she overhit her second shot behind the green.

After taking several different looks at her upcoming chip, Sanz Barrio flopped the perfect shot onto the green, but her ball stopped short of going in by a matter of inches. With a par inked on her final hole of the day, Sanz Barrio’s lead was locked in at 13-under, but James was right behind her with one hole left to go standing at 12-under.

 James hit her second shot on 18 on the front of the green, with the pen nestled roughly 25 feet away in the back left corner. James needed to sink the long putt to force a playoff with Sanz Barrio, as it was down to just the two of them on the leaderboard at the end of the day.

With volunteers, fans, and players alike all waiting on James’ decisive putt, complete silence fell over the crowd. James’ putt was rolling with the perfect speed to the cup, and for a matter of seconds, it seemed like a playoff push was inevitable, but James’ putt inched just past the cup.

Having secured her second-place finish, James walked over to Sanz Barrio, and hugged the champion, and the two of them walked off the green, both of them champions in the hearts of the fans.

“I didn’t know the exact score or know how well Marta was playing in front of me,” said James. “I wanted my putt to get there, it was a long putt and I left myself with a bit of a tester for second place but I’m happy i got it there at least.” 

A second-place finish at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship left James feeling pretty pleased with her performance this week.

“I didn’t have the results I wanted at the beginning of the year but I’m really happy with the way I’ve been playing over the last two weeks and especially today,” said James.

Fans also saw a familiar face out there caddying for Sanz Barrio throughout the day as it was her sis­ter, Patricia Sanz Barrio, who was looping for the eventual champion.

“She played amazing, especially on the back nine it just felt like she made everything,” said Patricia. “It felt like every hole she had the chance to birdie from everywhere.”

For Patricia Sanz Barrio, she got to experience a different point of view while being on the golf course.

“It was really cool and she was really calm, we had so much fun out there it was a great experience to share with her,” said Patricia Sanz Barrio. “I always keep her cool.”

For Marta, she believed today would be a day her and her sister would never forget.

“I actually wished that she was playing, but to have her have her read my putts and calm me down, this is something we will remember for the rest of our lives,” said Marta Sanz Barrio.

With Marta Sanz Barrio crowned the champion on the day, Maia Schechter earned championship honors of her own with her victory as the Potawatomi Cup Champion. The Potawatomi Cup takes place during four events on the tour, taking place in South Bend, Harris, Battle Creek, and Milwaukee. Each player who plays in those four events is automatically registered to compete in the Potawatomi Cup. It’s a point-based system, and whoever finishes with the most points at the end of the fourth round will be the victor.

“It’s a really fun mini-series within the schedule itself,” said Schechter. “I won in South Bend, played well in Harris and Milwaukee, and today simply settled the score.”

WINNIPEG, Man. — For the second time this season, Burlington, Ont., talent Michael Gligic was crowned Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week after shooting a 4-under 68 Sunday to finish in fourth place at 17 under overall. Gligic was also the low Canadian at 2016 The Players Cup when it was held at Niakwa Country Club.

“I three-putted one so it was kind of a sour start. I was in the middle of the fairway downwind, easy shot,” said Gligic. To lead with bogey is pretty disappointing, but made birdie on the second hole, pretty tough par-3 and that got me going again. It was just pretty steady out there.”

Fellow Canadian James Love finished one shot behind him at 16 under overall, good for a tie for fifth. Love is now inside the top 60 on the Order of Merit, rising to No. 46 from No. 83.

Michael Gellerman felt he did everything necessary to win at The Players Cup this week. He carded just one bogey and one double-bogey over 72 holes and finished at 20 under overall. The only problem was Tyler McCumber was also in the field.

“This must have been how those guys felt in 2000 when Tiger was playing or something,” Gellerman said. “ … It’s hard to complain much more, but the guy is obviously playing well and he’s a super good guy. I’m happy for him. But I want to beat him. I’m sick of losing to him.”

McCumber won for the third time in four starts, as the 27-year-old shot a 5-under 67 to finish at 22 under overall, two shots clear of the runner-up Gellerman. The University of Florida product is 90 under par over his last 16 rounds, which has included consecutive wins at the Osprey Valley Open and Syncrude Oil Country Championship, as well as a third-place finish at the ATB Financial Classic. He needs one more win over the final two Mackenzie Tour events to match Dan McCarthy’s record of four victories in a season, set in 2016.

“I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it that way,” McCumber said. “That’s really funny he said that. No, maybe in a very, very small way. I do feel confident, I do feel good in my game. I feel good in the process of getting ready for tournaments. And so I don’t know how that’s portrayed or how it’s seen, but it does feel good.”

McCumber began the day one shot ahead of Drew Weaver, but quickly distanced himself from the field with birdies on four of his first six holes. His lead grew to as many as five shots at one point, and he officially put the tournament out of reach with one final birdie on the par-5 No. 16. He did not record a bogey over his final 55 holes.

“I was fortunate to come out of the gates early and get some momentum going my way,” he said. “I had a couple birdies there and then kind of just kept it going.”

McCumber’s win keeps him atop the Order of Merit for a third consecutive week, as he now leads all players with $135,700. He is almost $60,000 ahead of Zach Wright, who sits in second place with $75,880.

But he’s not ready to anoint himself just yet, no matter what his friend Gellerman says.

“It feels like something, I guess the best way to put it, is I feel more professional in my process of what I’m doing,” McCumber said. “And I think that carries into more confidence on the course and off the course. But I wouldn’t say it’s a Tiger run.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. — When the sun set on the Wyndham Championship, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., were tied for eighth to become the top Canadians at the tournament.

With four consecutive birdies on the front-nine, an eagle on the 15th hole and a round closing birdie, Taylor fired a scorching 63 to finish the PGA regular season 119th in the FedEx Cup standings, qualifying for the FedEx Cup playoffs and earning full PGA status for next year.

Hearn also ended the tournament in a tie for eighth at 15 under after carding a 70 in the final round. He finishes short of the top-125 at No. 138.

Brandt Snedeker won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his ninth PGA Tour title, four days after opening with an 11-under 59.

Snedeker closed with a 65 for a three-stroke victory in the regular-season finale, breaking a tie with C.T. Pan on the final hole with a birdie and Pan’s double bogey in the group ahead.

Snedeker finished at 21-under 259 for his first win since 2016 and his second at the tournament, but first at Sedgefield Country Club.

Pan shot a 66 to tie for second with Webb Simpson.

Simpson matched his career-best with a 62.

Snedeker opened the tournament with the 59 that made him the first tour player this year and just the 10th ever to break 60, then on the final day played 29 holes at 5 under to seal it.

He was never in danger of missing the Fed Ex Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, but the victory gave him a huge jump on the points list. He climbed 50 spots to No. 30 on the list, after arriving at 80th _ which would have been his lowest finish.

For a while, it looked like it might come down to a playoff between Pan and Snedeker, who were even at 20 under entering Pan’s final hole.

But the 26-year-old from Taiwan ran into big trouble: Playing in the threesome immediately ahead of Snedeker, Pan shanked his tee shot out of bounds off a cart path down the right side of the fairway and needed four shots, including the penalty stroke, to reach the green on the par 4.

With the victory seemingly inevitable at that point, Snedeker sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to end it.

Severe weather led organizers to suspend the third round with 30 players still on the course and bring everybody back to Sedgefield on Sunday morning, leaving Snedeker with 29 holes to play on the final day.

He wrapped up that round with a one-stroke lead at 16 under before heading back onto the course. Since the tournament moved here in 2008, every third-round leader who was that far under par has gone on to win.

The other subplot at Sedgefield is the last-minute push for the playoffs, which begin next week at The Northern Trust in New Jersey with the top 125 players qualifying. With every player who was between Nos. 122-127 missing the cut, there figured to be plenty of movement near the bubble.

Sergio Garcia will miss the playoffs for the first time in his career after winding up 131st on the points list. Harris English and Nick Taylor played their way in, with Taylor saying he would “kind of soak it in and realize that we’ve finally done it.

“It’s really satisfying to finish it off,” he said.

REGINA, Sask. (Golf Canada) – The final four spots into the 2018 CP Women’s Open field will be determined in Monday’s final qualifying event at The Royal Regina Golf Club.

A total of 17 competitors will challenge for one of four spots into the field for Canada’s National Women’s Open Golf Championship. The Final Qualifier features 18 holes of stroke play with the low four competitors receiving an exemption into the 2018 CP Women’s Open field. If necessary, a hole-by-hole playoff will be conducted immediately following the conclusion of play.

Click here for pairings, start times and results from Final Qualifying on Monday, August 20. Results will be available as players complete their rounds.

Tournament week for the 2018 CP Women’s Open kicks off Monday, August 20 at The Wascana Country Club as the stars of the LPGA Tour make their first-ever visit to the province of Saskatchewan.

In addition to practice rounds in the morning, the Canada Day All-Star Pro-Am gets underway with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. The All-Star Clinic will feature LPGA Tour winner and recent Canadian Golf Hall of Fame inductee Gail Graham conducting live interviews with LPGA Tour stars including Alena Sharp, Lydia Ko, Morgan Pressel, Pernilla Lindenberg and Paula Creamer along with Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Lorie Kane.

A full field list of players confirmed to compete in the 2018 CP Women’s Open is available by clicking here.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — With a different day brings better weather, and that was very good news on Saturday at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. August James sits 2 strokes behind the lead with a share of sixth. She fired five birdies and one bogey on Saturday to head into Sunday’s round 6-under for the tournament.

The weather wasn’t the most important factor of the day though, but rather who could sink the final putt to take over first place through two rounds of play.

Janie Jackson held the lead at 7-under prior to her 2:25 p.m. second-round tee time on Saturday, but her lead didn’t last for long. There was a 6-way tie for first place heading into the latter portion of the afternoon. Between Jackson, Karolina Vlckova, Linnea Johansson, Casey Danielson, Kendall Dye, and Maia Schechter, nobody could pull away to take over solo possession of the lead.

Schechter was playing lights out, marking five total birdies on the day, compared to a lone bogey on her card. However, it was experience over tenacity that changed the leaderboard late.

Former LPGA Tour player Silvia Cavalleri decided it was her time to shine.

Cavalleri got off to quite the rough start, starting her day with back-to-back bogeys in her first two holes. She quickly bounced back from her issues, and birdied the third hole.On the 15th hole, she tallied her third birdie of the day, which put her in a tie for first at 7-unde-parr. Her fourth birdie of the day came at just the right time on hole No. 17, as it pushed her into the sole possession of first place at 8-under-par.

With the lead in her hands, Cavalleri needed to par the 18th to maintain sole possession of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round. She was lyingtwo on the fringe in front of the green, and needed to two-putt to finish with the lead. With her short game consistently having her back all day long, she decides to putt from nearly 25 feet away, and ended up just about a foot short of the hole.

Cavelleri tapped in to preserve the lead, and will head into the final day of competition one stroke ahead of the field.