WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson was able to beat the rain at the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship, entering the clubhouse with a 6-under 65 before the heavy rainfall began at the Resort River’s Course on Friday. Play has been postponed indefinitely, forcing the tournament to be reduced to 54 holes.

Sixty players failed to finish the second round. They will do that beginning at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. After that, the field will be cut and tee off on the first and 10th holes at 10:30 a.m.

In Gee Chun leads among players who have finished two rounds. She is at 11 under, with Austin Ernst and Nasa Hataoka one shot back.

In Gee Chun shot a 5-under 66 on Friday to take the lead in the suspended second round of the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship.

Three-quarters of an inch of rain fell overnight on Kingsmill Resort’s River Course, delaying the start of play an hour. Storms developed again in the afternoon and play was suspended for more than hour, then finally called for day at 7:25 p.m.

Chun played in the morning. The South Korean star had six birdies and a bogey to get to 11-under 131.

“I felt good,” Chun said. “I could see the putting lines very well today.”

Chun’s two victories came in major championships in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open and 2016 The Evian Championship.

“I really like this course,” Chun said. “I always happy to play here and see all the good people from here. Everything was very comfy. Everything is very comfy.”

Austin Ernst (65) and Nasa Hataoka (66) were a stroke back after bogey-free rounds.

“Just really solid,” Ernst said. “Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, and then my speed was really good, so I never really had to work too hard all day.”

Ariya Jutanugarn (67) and Angel Yin (66) were 9 under, and Megan Khang (67) was in at 8 under. Jessica Korda also was 8 under with four holes to play.

“Every year here is just like all weather pretty bad,” Jutanugarn said. “Just keep changing.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson had a 65 to get to 7 under.

“It was a great day,” Henderson said. “I’m happy to move up the leaderboard as much as I did today.”

Defending champion Lexi Thompson (69) and three-time winner Cristie Kerr (68) were 3 under.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., is T20 at 5 under par. Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., sits tied for 30th at 3 under par.

MESA, ARIZ – Grace St-Germain, member of the Canada’s National Development Squad, finished at 8 under on Thursday at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women’s Golf Championship in Mesa, Ariz.

The Ottawa Ont., native tied her teammate, Jiwon Jeon, recording scores of 71-70-72-67 while Jeon turned in a 74-69-69-68 performance.

The Camelot Golf & Country Club member was one stroke back of Jeon as they went into the final day at Longbow Golf Club. St-Germain capped memorable final round with four birdies and an eagle on the par-4 17th.

St-Germain and Jeon went into a three-hole playoff, both making a birdie on the first and second holes. Jeon continued with a birdie om the third hole and St-Germain could not match, finishing in second place, one place higher than last year’s championship.

This fall, St-Germain will be heading to the University of Arkansas which is one of the top NCAA Division 1 teams in the U.S. (currently ranked at No. 2)

The success of both Grace and Jeon helped the Daytona State Falcons to a repeat of the National Championship, beating out 2nd place Seminole State.

 Click here for full scores.

DALLAS – Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., are the top Canadians at 2 under after the first round at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas, TX. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., (70) is right behind the duo while David Hearn Brantford, Ont., (71) is even.

Marc Leishman enjoyed the old home of the AT&T Byron Nelson as much as anyone, considering he made the last nine trips there and had one of the best scoring averages in tournament history.

The Australian might take a liking to the new place as well.

Leishman shot a 10-under 61 on the links-style Trinity Forest course to take the first-round lead Thursday and was eight shots clear of hometown star Jordan Spieth in the event that returned to Dallas after 35 years at the TPC Four Seasons in suburban Irving.

Considering the criticisms of Trinity Forest from others – mentioned vaguely by players who did show up – Leishman wouldn’t have needed much to join that chorus after a history of high finishes in Irving despite a couple of recent missed cuts.

Instead, Leishman opened with an eagle, started the back nine with three straight birdies and reached 9 under with another eagle at the 14th.

The 34-year-old, a three-time PGA Tour winner, had chances to go lower but settled for a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th for the lowest round of his PGA Tour career. He was a stroke shy of the Nelson record.

“Probably would have been the harshest critic, I think,” Leishman said with a smile. “I played very well over there. When I got here and saw instantly, you know, was happy that we’re here and it’s just a cool spot.”

J.J. Spaun and Texan Jimmy Walker were three shots back at 64. Spaun had six birdies in a span of seven holes for a 30 on his second nine – the front nine on the undulating layout with no trees or water hazards a few miles south of downtown Dallas.

Walker had a chance to get to 8 under when his shot from the edge of a fairway bunker on 18 rolled within a foot of the cup before settling 14 feet away. He missed the birdie putt.

Sam Saunders, Aaron Wise and Keith Mitchell shot matching 65s playing in the first group off the first tee. They were part of an eight-way tie four shots behind Leishman. Defending champion Billy Horschel shot 68.

Spieth, one of just two world top-10 players in the Nelson field at No. 3, didn’t have many chances and missed on some of the few that he did, starting with a short birdie putt for a disappointing par 5 on the opening hole.

It was another frustrating round for the 24-year-old Spieth, a Trinity Forest member who was hoping the venue change would help him top his best Nelson finish. That was a tie for 16th when he was a 16-year-old amateur playing for a private high school in Dallas.

Spieth had just three birdies when the course was at its easiest because of calm winds. His bogey on the short par-4 fifth came after he drove the green and then sent an 82-foot putt off it.

“Looking back the last year and a half I’ve had maybe four, five opportunities where I’ve actually been in a tournament after the first round which is really frustrating,” Spieth said. “Thursdays for whatever reason just haven’t been good days for me.”

Saunders, Wise and Mitchell each opened with a birdie as the first to tee off on the par-5 first. Saunders had the most birdies of the trio with eight, Wise had seven and Mitchell had a bogey-free round.

The grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, Saunders played Trinity Forest before the Nelson last year and made up his mind then he would return for the debut.

“I think it’s a very fair test of golf,” said Saunders, who missed the cut at the last two Nelsons in Irving. “There was a lot of thought put into all the slopes out there. You’ve got to think your way through it a little bit more than some of the courses we play.”

Horschel said he didn’t do enough thinking after losing the momentum of an eagle at the par-5 14th on his front nine with bogeys at 16 and 18, both par 4s. And yes, he said they still count as mental mistakes even though he and most of the field don’t know the course very well.

“It’s stupid idiot errors,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s knowing what I shouldn’t do and it’s just me trying to get greedy. I know better than that on certain shots.”

With a forecast of stronger winds and temperatures in the mid-90s on Friday, Trinity Forest figures to play a little tougher after 103 players broke par in its debut. Spieth will be surprised by a repeat of Leishman’s number.

“Looking at the forecast, I don’t think that will happen again,” Spieth said. “I’m excited there’s wind. I wish it was windy every day. I really struggled when there’s been no wind compared to the field this year and today was no different.”

And all too familiar for Spieth in front of the home folks.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City, QC., Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, QC., and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville Ont., all sit T29 at 2 under par on a crowded leaderboard after Thursday’s first round of the Kingsmill Championship.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson sits T48 after shooting a 1-under 70 while Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont. (73) is 2 over.

Annie Park turned a blistering stretch on the back nine into a mistake-free 6-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with Jessica Korda, Azahara Munoz, In Gee Chun and Jaye Marie Green. Park, Korda and Munoz played morning rounds in mild conditions, while Chun and Green played in rain that is expected to also be a factor Friday and Saturday on the resort’s already-soggy River Course.

Park, playing in just her third tour event of the season and seeking her first career victory, was 2 under when she hit the flag and birdied the par 4 14th hole. She then nearly holed her second shot on the par-5 15th after hitting “an OK 3-wood” that left her with a short eagle putt, and also birdied the par-4 16th.

“Overall, I had a great day,” she said. “I hit some good shots. Lucky enough, I had some short birdie putts, short eagle putt, and that helps.”

Munoz had seven birdies and one bogey, and Korda and Chun were bogey-free. Green had seven birdies and bogeyed No. 18.

Munoz earned her only tour win in 2012, and settled in after starting with a bogey.

“I hit so many good shots,” she said. “Gave myself a lot of opportunities. Made some really nice putts.”

She also chipped in for her final birdie after missing the green to the left on the par-4 eighth hole.

“I made a really nice chip. It was a bit too firm, but it was really nice,” she said.

Korda, the winner of the Honda LPGA Thailand in February in her return from reconstructive jaw surgery, is making just her seventh start of the season and has finished in the top 10 in four of them. She had three birdies on each nine, including the par-4 18th.

Korda is one of 11 winners on tour this season, and no one has won more than once. The past few weeks, she’s been fine-tuning her game to be ready for the Women’s U.S. Open at the end of the month in Alabama.

“My transition hasn’t been great. A lot of people have asked me why I was hitting it so short in (San Francisco), and I was just trying to hit it into the fairway because I just wasn’t feeling great over the ball,” she said. “So just trying to tighten up some things before the U.S. Open comes around. Hopefully just keeps going the way that it is.”

Chun is making just her seventh start of the season, and Green has missed four of eight cuts.

Nasa Hataoka and 2016 winner Ariya Jutanugarn were one back. Hataoka’s bogey-free round included an ace at the par-3 17th. It was her first as a professional. There were nine more at 67, including 2015 champion Minjee Lee.

Cristie Kerr, whose three victories make her the only multiple winner at Kingsmill, opened with a 71, and defending champion Lexi Thompson, who set a tournament record last year at 20-under 264, was in a tie for 49th with Michelle Wie and numerous others after a 70.

ACTON, Ont. – There was nothing but beautiful blue skies at Blue Springs Golf Club as 144 players competed in hopes of earning a direct exemption into the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. from July 23-29.

Nyasha Mauchaza, a Zimbabwe native, posted a 6-under 66to claim medallist honours at the second of three Regional Qualifying events and punch his ticket to his first RBC Canadian Open.

“In my preparation, I just tried my best to get the shots I needed,” said Mauchaza, greenside at the 18th  hole. “Reflecting on the positives and the negatives, I’m just really delighted with the way I played.”

Mauchaza, who began the day on the 10th hole, opened with a 4-under 32 on the back-nine. The 30-year-old finished the round with three birdies in a row across his final six holes to secure his victory atop the leaderboard.

Defending champion and Team Canada alumnus Matt Hill of Sarnia, Ont., finished two strokes behind the lead at 4 under par. He is joined by fellow Team Canada graduate Chris Hemmerich of Guelph, Ont., who closed the 18-hole stroke play event at 2 under par.

Hill, Hemmerich and 24 other competitors, excluding the low medallist,advanced to the RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier taking place on July 23rd at Heron Point Golf Links in Ancaster, Ont.

The first RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, B.C., saw Matt Matheson shoot a 5-under-par 65 to earn medallist honours and advance to the final qualifying event.

A third regional qualifier will take place on June 18th at Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Qué.

Full results can be found here.

The second of three RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifiers tees off Thursday, May 17^th at Blue Springs Golf Club, in Acton, Ont. Players will be competing for a spot in the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., from July 23-29.

If 100 golfers register for a regional qualifier – as is the case for Thursday’s event – the low-qualifier receives a direct exemption into the RBC Canadian Open. The top 15% of finishers, beyond the low-qualifier, will advance to the Final Qualifier, taking place July 23 at Heron Point Golf Links, in Alberton, Ont..

Matt Matheson earned co-medallist honours at the first regional qualifier on May 8^th, at Bear Mountain Resort, in Victoria, B.C.  Along with Matheson, six players from the event secured their spot in the final qualifier at Heron Point.

A third regional qualifier will take place on June 18^th at Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Qué.

The qualifying competitions are open to members in good standing with the PGA of Canada or other PGA affiliates, amateur golfers with a current Handicap Factor not exceeding 2.0 who are members of Golf Canada or in good standing with their respective associations, as well as other golf professionals.

Last year’s Ontario qualifier was also played at Blue Springs Golf Club, where Matt Hill of Sarnia, Ont., defeated Jesse Smith of Oshweken, Ont., in a playoff to win medallist honours and an exemption into the 2017 RBC Canadian Open.

NOTABLES
Matt Hill, Sarnia, Ontario
The 29-year-old former Team Canada member won the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit in 2012. Hill has spent time on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and the Web.com Tour in recent years. In 2009, Hill had one of the greatest seasons in collegiate golf history, when he won the NCAA Championship, seven other individual tournament titles and the Jack Nicklaus Award as the  top NCAA  golfer.

Branson Ferrier, Barrie, Ontario
The 24-year-old was the 2016 medallist at this event. Ferrier played college golf at Alabama State University (NCAA Div I), where he was a three-time first-team All-SWAC selection.

Chris Hemmerich, Kitchener, Ontario
The 25-year-old  earned conditional Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada status in 2017. The former member of  Team Canada and Guelph Gryphon Men’s Golf Team finished T3 at this event in 2016.

QUICK FACTS
Every year since the two-stage regional qualification process was reinstated in 2011, there has been a regional qualifier held in Ontario.

This is the second year in a row  Blue Springs will host this regional qualifier.

The regional qualification process allows amateurs and professionals from across Canada and the world a chance to qualify for the RBC Canadian Open.

There are nine golfers in the field who advanced to the final qualifier from this event last year.

Pairing and more information can be found here.

ABOUT THE COURSE
6,820 yards, par 72, slope 137.

Home of the PGA of Canada headquarters.

Signature features include well protected, heavily contoured greens, and several elevated tee boxes.

After fifteen years, Canadian Hall of Famer, Mike Weir, will be making his second-career Web.com Tour start in the BMW Charity Pro-Am this week at the Thornblade Club in Greer, S.C.

The native of Brights Grove, Ont., will be playing in a reserved category for current or former PGA TOUR members ages 48-49, which he has just recently qualified for after he turned 48 on May 12. Weir will play the rest of the year on the Web.com tour with hopes to upgrade to the PGA TOUR.

The eight-time PGA TOUR winner has struggled with his form after he hit a tree root during the Heritage tournament in 2011. Several surgeries and injuries have left Weir with inconsistencies in his game, more particularly with his driver.

Weir has spent the past years working on his game. He has been working on his swing at Taylor Made Canada headquarters’ high-tech performance centre in Vaughan, Ont., showing signs of improvement with strong play overseas.

The Web.com Tour circuit will mark the first time in three years that Weir will be able to play regularly without any long breaks with consistency in his schedule. The BMW Charity Pro-Am will mark the beginning of Weir’s race for a spot in The 25, as he hopes for a PGA TOUR return.

Click here for scoring.

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Brittany Marchand carded a 5-under-par 67 to finish T7 at The Links at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic on Sunday at Stoney Point.

Marchand, an Orangeville, Ont. native, played an impressive bogey-free round to jump four spots up the leaderboard in Greenwood. The Team Canada Young Pro Squad member currently sits at No. 10 on the Volvik Race to the Card money list.

VICTORIA, B.C. – Team Canada Development Squad member Monet Chun held on to her second-round lead, while Cole Wilson made a hard-fought comeback to earn medallist honours in their respective divisions at the Future Links, driven by Acura Pacific championship at Bear Mountain Golf Resort.

Seventeen-year-old Chun, who led going into the final round, carded a 3-under on the front nine. The Richmond Hill, Ont., product ended the day scoring a 2-over-par 74 to secure her place in the 2018 Junior Girls Championship being held from July 31-Aug. 3 at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, B.C.

“It’s my first tournament winning in B.C.,” said Chun of her third Future Links Championship win. “I think just being able to win a tournament in Quebec, Ontario and the Pacific just shows I have been improving a lot over the last few years, so I am happy.”

Two of Chun’s fellow Team Canada Development Squad members – Ellie Szeryk and Céleste Dao – are also headed to the 2018 Junior Girls Championship after placing second and T5, respectively.

Sixteen-year-old Szeryk posted the low-score of the day, a 3-under-par 69, ending the tournament only two strokes behind the champion. The London, Ont. native was the only player in the girls division to score in the red after firing an impressive seven birdies.

Rounding out the players qualifying for the 2018 Junior Girls Championship are Chaewon Baek, Phoebe Yue, Lauren Kim and YanJun(Victoria) Liu.

Victoria, BC – 13 May 2018 – Cole Wilson winner of the Boys Division of the Future Links, driven by Acura Pacific Championship, at Bear Mountain Golf Resort, Victoria, BC. (Photo: Chuck Russell/Golf Canada)

In the boys division, Wilson, who entered  the final round two shots-behind the lead, battled it out to earn back his position at the top of the leaderboard.

“It’s been an amazing, life-changing experience for my golf career,” said the 17-year-old when asked what this tournament meant to him. “It’s really special to me to be able to get a Future Links win as my last Future Links before I graduate.”

Wilson, a native of Kelowna, B.C., posted a 1-under-par 70 to secure an exemption to the 2018 Junior Boys Championship from July 30-Aug. 2 at Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club in Medicine Hat, Alta.

Vandette, a member of the Team Canada Development Squad, led going into today’s round. The Beaconsfield, QC, native posted a 3-over-par 74 to end the tournament in second, just one-shot behind the champion.

Rounding out the players qualifying for the 2018 Junior Boys Championship are last year’s champion Jeevan Sihota and three other Team Canada Development Squad members – Nolan Thoroughgood, Johnny Travale and Peyton Callens .

Full scoring can be found here

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Starting with the largest Sunday lead ever at The Players Championship was harder than Webb Simpson imagined. Hearing one big roar after another from Tiger Woods playing four groups ahead of him didn’t help. Through it all, Simpson managed his game and his nerves.

Only when he had the crystal trophy did he start to crack.

He looked out at his wife, Dowd, a big supporter during the past few years of frustration as Simpson coped with the ban on the anchored putting stroke he used to make two Ryder Cup teams and win the U.S. Open.

And he thought about his mother at home in North Carolina, her first Mother’s Day since Simpson’s father died in November.

“It’s been a tough few months for my mom, my brothers and sisters,” Simpson said as his voice began to crack. “This is a little beacon of light for my mom, to get this done on Mother’s Day.”

There was never any doubt.

Simpson navigated his way through a few mistakes, but not too much stress in his four-shot victory Sunday at the TPC Sawgrass. Staked to a seven-shot lead, no one got closer than four shots, even after Simpson made double bogey on the 18th hole when his only remaining task was to finish the hole. He closed with a 1-over 73 to end more than four years without winning.

Woods made another big run that revved up the crowd and revived hopes that he was close to winning. So did Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker and Danny Lee. None could do enough to catch Simpson during a week of low scoring at the final Players Championship in May. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished tied for 57th.

“It was harder than I thought,” Simpson said. “There’s so much noise in front of us with Tiger, and you wonder what everybody is doing.”

The key moment for Simpson was hitting just short of the green on the par-5 11th to set up a two-putt birdie, and then finding the island green on the 17th when he had a six-shot lead.

“Once I got to 17 and the ball was on the green,” he said, “internally I was celebrating.”

Justin Thomas left the TPC Sawgrass as the No. 1 player in the world. He closed with a 66 to tie for 11th, more than enough to end Dustin Johnson’s 15-month reign at the top of the ranking. Thomas is the 21st player to reach No. 1 since the ranking began in 1986, and the seventh American.

“I’m very proud to have gotten there, but it means more to me how long I can hold it,” Thomas said in a text message.

Jimmy Walker closed with a bogey-free 67 and tied for second with Charl Schwartzel and Xander Schauffele, who also shot 67s. Walker, who struggled all of last year with Lyme disease, had his best finish since he won the 2016 PGA Championship.

Woods made the cut on the number – helped by Thomas and Jordan Spieth making bogey on the 18th hole Friday – got back to the first page of the leaderboard with a 65 on Saturday and ran off six birdies through 12 holes in the final round. He was tied for second at one point, still four shots behind, but that was as close he got. Woods made a soft bogey on the 14th hole when he missed the green with a sand wedge, and was well short of the island green in making double bogey on No. 17.

He shot 69 and tied for 11th.

“I hit the ball better today than I did yesterday, and I obviously didn’t end up with the score I needed to,” Woods said.

The final edition of May was one for the record books. Simpson tied the course record with a 63 in the second round when he seized control – even with a double bogey from the water on the 17th – and he tied Greg Norman’s 54-hole record from 1994 at 19-under 197. Simpson set a record for the largest margin through three rounds. Brooks Koepka became the eighth player with a 63 on Sunday, making an albatross 2 on the par-5 16th.

And there 1,754 birdies for the week, breaking by 136 the record from 1996.

But this ultimately was all about Simpson, who had missed the cut in four of his previous eight appearances at the TPC Sawgrass and had gone 107 starts on the PGA Tour since his most recent victory in Las Vegas toward the end of 2013.

He had struggled with the ban on the anchored stroke he used for his belly putter. He finally settled on a longer handle that ran up the left side of his arm, and then Tim Clark gave him the missing link. It was at The Players a year ago when Clark suggested he also use a claw grip, and Simpson had been working his way back to golf he expects to play.

“It’s pretty special that a year later, I got this victory,” he said.

Simpson won for the fifth time and moves to No. 20 in the world. He won $1.98 million, the second-largest tournament payoff behind only the U.S. Open.

The rest of the tournament would have been plenty exciting had Simpson decided to call in sick for work this week. At one point, Dufner made a birdie to break out of a 10-way tie for third place.

“I feel like all of us were just trying to make as many birdies as possible while he was trying to run away from everyone else,” Schauffele said. “So it was an interesting week.”

Canadians Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes both finished T57 with 4-under.