During the mid-November early signing period, five Team Canada Development Squad athletes signed National Letters of Intent to commit to NCAA golf programs for the 2017-18 season.

On the women’s side, three athletes made their official announcements to join NCAA Div I programs next year. Surrey, B.C., native Hannah Lee will join the Oklahoma Sooners, a three-time Big 12 Conference Championship winner. Lee will fall under the guidance of the Sooners’ Head Coach, Veronique Drouin-Luttrell, a Quebec native and two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year recipient.

Mississauga, Ont., product Chloe Currie will head to South Carolina to attend the College of Charleston, a Division I program in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference. The Cougars are three-time conference champions.

Delta, B.C., native Mary Parsons signed in favour of joining the Indiana Hoosiers program. Dating back to 1986, the Hoosiers have recorded seven Big 10 Championship titles.

@maryyparsons @lee_hannahh @chloe_currie27 @TheGolfCanada exciting future for these players #proud pic.twitter.com/j6xwdMf3pw

— ann carroll (@AnnAnncarroll) November 11, 2016

On the men’s side, former Team Alberta teammates Max Sekulic (Rycroft, Alta.) and Chandler McDowell (Springbrook, Alta.) both signed on the dotted line to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz. The pair graduated to the development squad this season together, and will continue their journey next year as members of the Grand Canyon Antelopes.

The early signing period comes to a close on Nov. 16; uncommitted athletes will be eligible to sign agreements once again during the regular signing period from Apr. 12 – Aug. 1, 2017.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Chris Kirk shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.

Kirk had four birdies on each nine in his bogey-free round on Mayakoba’s Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course.

“I don’t think anybody’s comfort’s really that high,” Kirk said. “I definitely drove the ball well today. Just trying to stick to my sort of go to shot and hit draws out there for the most part. It’s definitely intimidating off the tee a little bit, but thankfully I hit a lot of good ones today.”

The former University of Georgia player has two top-10 finishes in three starts in the new PGA Tour season, opening with a tie for eighth at Silverado and tying for second in Mississippi. He tied for 61st last week in Las Vegas, closing with rounds of 75 and 74.

“I just played pretty terrible over the weekend in Vegas, but I think I was just a little bit tired,” Kirk said. “So thankfully, I came and took Monday and Tuesday completely off and didn’t touch a club and just tried to relax, and now I feel kind of re-energized and ready to play again. No, I definitely wasn’t expecting to shoot 63 today, but happy I did.”

He won the last of his four PGA Tour titles in 2015.

Ben Crane, Camilo Villegas and Gary Woodland were tied for second at 64.

“This is a very tight golf course,” Crane said. “After maybe 10 to 15 yards of rough on each side, it’s just jungle, right? When you get some crosswinds, you’ve got to hit solid tee shots and you’ve got to really control your ball. You really want to be able to flight your ball because you really don’t want to be curving it down on that crosswind downwind, right, because it’s going to curve so much.”

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer bogeyed the final hole for a 65.

“It’s huge. It’s awesome playing in Mexico in front of my people,” said Ancer, a former University of Oklahoma player. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself and I obviously want to play well, but it would be awesome to finish up there at the end of the tournament.”

NCAA champion Aaron Wise also was 65 along with Webb Simpson, Scott Piercy, Kevin Streelman and Nicholas Lindheim.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 67 while Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., both shot 68. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was 71.

Jim Furyk had a double bogey in a 74 in his first round of the season.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell opened with a 75.

MEXICO CITY – Carlota Ciganda birdied three of the last six holes Thursday for a 5-under 67 and a share of the lead with playing partner Sarah Jane Smith in the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Ciganda had a bogey-free opening round at Club de Golf Mexico.

“I really like this course,” Ciganda said. “I really like it because is really similar to my home course in Spain.”

The former Arizona State player won last month in South Korea for her first LPGA Tour title.

“I was home last week and I played four tournaments in Asia, so it was really nice to be home with my family,” Ciganda said. “I didn’t practice at all. It was just resting and having fun, going out for dinner with friends. And I feel very mentally refreshed, because in Asia I was a little bit tired at the end. It is important how to manage all the tournaments and all the weeks you want to play.”

Smith played the back nine in 5-under 31 after bogeying Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn at even par. The Australian is winless on the LPGA Tour.

“It makes a difference when you see it,” Smith said about playing alongside Ciganda. “I love playing with her, she is so nice and we always have fun, so it absolutely makes a difference.”

Mexican amateur Maria Fassi, a freshman at the University of Arkansas playing on a sponsor invite, was two strokes back at 69 along with South Korea’s Chella Choi and France’s Karine Icher.

“I was feeling really good,” Fassi said. “I worked really hard on preparing for this tournament and on the first tee when they said my name I was nervous, I am not going to lie, but after I hit the fairway on the first tee, I was like, ‘OK you got it, just enjoy your round.’ And that’s what I did. … I was really solid off the tee. I gave myself a lot of opportunities to be a little bit more aggressive on my second shots.”

Michelle Wie opened with a 70. The 2009 winner in Guadalajara, she’s also playing on a sponsor invite after failing to qualify for the 30-player event.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the world, had a double bogey in a 74. No. 14 Anna Nordqvist also struggled, making a double bogey in a 75.

Oakville, Ont. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s 10-man team for the inaugural Aruba Cup was announced Thursday, led by four-time 2016 winner and Player of the Year Dan McCarthy.

The team, consisting of the top 10 available players on the 2016 Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit with a minimum of five Canadians, will compete against a team of 10 players to be announced from PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in a Presidents Cup-style event at Tierra del Sol Resort and Golf in Aruba, December 12-18, 2016. The three competition days will Four-ball, Foursome and Singles matches on December 15, 16 and 17, respectively.

“I’ve been looking forward to this event ever since it was announced in September, and from talking to the other guys on the team, I know they are too,” said McCarthy, who won four times in 2016 on the way to setting the all-time Mackenzie Tour earnings record with $157,843. “We’ve got a really solid team of great players and better guys, and it will be a thrill to play against the guys from PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.”

Joining McCarthy (Syracuse, N.Y.) on the team are Brock Mackenzie (Yakima, Wash.), Taylor Moore (Edmond, Okla.), Adam Cornelson (Langley, B.C.), Paul Barjon (Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia), Austin Connelly (Church Point, N.S.), Max Rottluff (Dusseldorf, Germany), Michael Gligic (Burlington, Ont.), Ryan Williams (Vancouver, B.C.) and Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.).

“We’ve got a tremendous team of guys who have proven themselves to be among the best up-and-coming players in the world, and I expect them to play some great golf in Aruba,” said Team Captain Stephen Ames. “We know the team from PGA TOUR Latinoamérica will be very competitive as well, and I’m looking forward to some great matches in December.”

Mackenzie, 35, captured his third career Mackenzie Tour win in a dramatic seven-hole playoff at the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops, adding five other top-10 finishes and finishing outside the top-25 just twice in 12 starts.
Moore, a 23-year old who graduated from the University of Arkansas in the Spring, excelled in his first season as a professional, finishing solo second in his pro debut at the Bayview Place DC Payments Open and capturing the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

Cornelson, 28, rebounded from losing his card in 2015 by breaking through for a triumphant win in Victoria and recording a playoff runner-up in Ottawa to finish fifth on the Order of Merit and take home the Dan Halldorson Trophy as Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year.

Barjon, a 24-year old who completed his collegiate career at the Texas Christian University in May, captured his first pro victory and set the new Mackenzie Tour 72-hole scoring record at the Freedom 55 Financial Championship, one of three top-10s on the season.

Connelly, 20, a former member of Golf Canada’s National Amateur Team, produced a solid campaign in his first full year as a pro, notching four top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the ATB Financial Classic.
Rottluff, a 23-year old former NCAA First-Team All-American at Arizona State University, entered the winner’s circle in his first pro season thanks to a triumph at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open.

Gligic, 27, produced three top-five finishes, including a tie for second at the Players Cup, to earn an exemption into the Final Stage of Web.com Tour Q-School for the first time.

Williams, 35, finished in the top-20 on the Order of Merit for the third straight season, recording three top-10 finishes.

Conners, 24, who plays on both the Mackenzie Tour and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, excelled in limited action in Canada, making the cut in all seven starts and finishing second at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

“We’re so excited to have this outstanding group of up-and-coming players competing at Tierra del Sol and look forward to welcoming them to our Island next month. We hope that one day we’ll be watching these guys compete on the biggest stages of the game and remembering the time they spent here competing in the Aruba Cup,” said Oliver Riding, Director of Operations, Tierra del Sol Resort and Golf.

Below is the 10-man roster for the Mackenzie Tour team (bold denotes Canadian):

Dan McCarthy – Syracuse, N.Y.
Brock Mackenzie – Yakima, Wash.
Taylor Moore – Edmond, Okla.
Adam Cornelson – Langley, B.C.
Paul Barjon – Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia
Austin Connelly – Church Point. N.S.
Max Rottluff – Dusseldorf, Germany
Michael Gligic – Burlington, Ont.
Ryan Williams – Vancouver, B.C.
Corey Conners – Listowel, Ont.

At a conference for the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) in early November in Amelia Island, Fla., Barb Trammell was named the new president of the IAGA. She will serve a one-year term.

An industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in the golf business, Trammell has served as CEO of the Oregon Golf Association since November 2007, a position she will continue to serve.

The IAGA is made up of golf administrators from state, regional, provincial and national golf associations, and serves as a means of exchanging information, techniques and communication among the world’s golf organizations, to which Golf Canada is a proud member.

Golf Canada CEO, Scott Simmons, acted as a panelist at the event, where he spoke about the state of the game in Canada and the Natioanl Sport Federation’s Strategic Plan.

Trammell was Senior VP of Tournament Operations for the LPGA Tour, having served in that role for 19 years, beginning her tenure as a Rules official in 1987. Widely regarded as an internationally respected Rules expert and golf administrator, she was one of the first women to be invited to officiate The Masters, The Open Championship, the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. She served on the USGA Rules of Golf Committee for 15 years, contributing to the changing and updating of the Rules of the game during that time.

Barb is a Class A member of the PGA of America and has also held roles as PGA club professional and Division I college golf coach.

Other regional golf administrators who have served as IAGA president are John Bodenhamer (2001), the former PNGA/WSGA executive director; and Kris Jonasson (2007), who still serves as the executive director of British Columbia Golf.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico – Canadian Graham DeLaet has withdrawn from this week’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba, giving first alternate Jonathan Randolph a chance to take on El Camaleón Golf Club.

DeLaet was set to make his first appearance at the OHL Classic since a missed cut in his 2010 debut, but back issues will keep him away.

Told Graham DeLaet has WD’d from Mexico due to tweaking his back in Vegas Saturday. Went to MEX, thought he could play, needs more time.

— Adam Stanley (@adam_stanley) November 9, 2016

In his place, Jonathan Randolph will be making his second appearance at this event. He missed the cut in his 2015 debut.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Web.com Tour is starting next year in the Bahamas with two tournaments that will end in the middle of the week.

The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic will be played Jan. 8-11 at Sandals Emerald Bay. The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic will be played Jan. 22-25 at The Abaco Golf Club. Both events will start on Sunday and end on Wednesday.

The schedule change is to give the PGA Tour’s chief developmental circuit more attention and to provide Golf Channel with live programming in the middle of the week. Golf Channel will have live golf every day those weeks.

The Bahamas now has four tournaments: the Hero World Challenge in December hosted by Tiger Woods, the two Web.com Tour events and the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) has announced the 2016 Players of the Year. Those honoured include Men’s Player of the Year, Jared du Toit of Kimberley, B.C.; Women’s, Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C.; Men’s Mid-Amateur, Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho; Women’s Mid-Amateur, Amanda Jacobs of Portland, Ore.; Senior Men’s, Pat O’Donnell, Happy Valley, Ore.; Senior Women’s, Anita Wicks of Roseburg, Ore.; Junior Boys’, Spencer Tibbits of Vancouver, Wash.; and Junior Girls’, Ellie Slama of Salem, Ore.

Jared du Toit, Men’s Player of the Year

Jared du Toit, a member of Team Canada’s Amateur Squad, started his college golf career as a member of the University of Idaho men’s golf team before transferring to Arizona State University where he is now a senior, kicked off his impressive 2016 campaign in May with a T25 at the NCAA Regional qualifier in Albuquerque, N.M. Once school was out for the summer, du Toit put on a show that captured the attention of golf fans across the Pacific Northwest. Jared finished T3 at the Monroe Invitational and followed that up with a win at the Glencoe Invitational in mid-June. In between a T8 finish at the Trans-Miss Championship and a T4 at the illustrious Porter Cup, the 21-year-old du Toit made history by finishing T9 at the RBC Canadian Open, against a field of PGA Tour professionals that included Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Jim Furyk, just to name a few. He was the first Canadian to record a top-10 finish at the national championship since Doug Bajus in 1954. Du Toit capped his impressive season with a T15 at the Canadian Men’s Amateur. Jared enters his second year as a member of the Canadian National Team, and is ranked No. 1 on Golf Canada’s 2016 Men’s National Order of Merit.

Naomi Ko, Women’s Player of the Year

Naomi Ko, an emerging young star in the Canadian women’s golf scene, finished her freshman season last spring as a member of the North Carolina State women’s golf team with a T5 at the Women’s ACC Conference Championship and followed that up in early May by earning medalist honours at the U.S. Women’s Open Qualifier at the PNGA-owned Home Course in DuPont, Wash. Ko secured a spot in July’s LPGA Cambia Portland Classic Open by winning the Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open in early June before heading across country to compete in the Porter Cup, one week later, where she finished T7. At the 115th PNGA Women’s Amateur in late July, Ko took home medallist honours and finished as runner-up to Princess Superal. Ko capped her impressive year on the Canadian amateur circuit finishing T7 at the Canadian Women’s Amateur and then winning the Canadian Junior Girls’ Championship before heading to Mexico to compete for Team Canada in the World Amateur Team Championship where she finished T6. Ko is also a member of the Canadian National Team. In 2014, she was named the PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.

Click here for the full list and past Player of the Year recipients.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tim Finchem officially retires at the end of the year as PGA Tour commissioner, ending more than two decades during which he expanded the tour’s footprint around the world and saw prize money grow to nearly $300 million.

The PGA Tour’s board of directors accepted Finchem’s resignation Monday and unanimously approved Jay Monahan as his replacement.

Monahan, who has served as Finchem’s deputy commissioner since April 2014, becomes the fourth commissioner on Jan. 1.

“I have the highest regard for Jay and have total confidence in his ability to lead the PGA Tour well into the future,” Finchem said. “He has been a key member of the executive team since joining the tour and has worked closely with me on all business matters since becoming deputy commissioner. Jay is well respected throughout the PGA Tour family and the golf industry. I know he will do a tremendous job for the players and all constituents of the PGA Tour.”

Neither development was a surprise. Monday was the final quarterly meeting of the board this year, and Finchem had indicated he would not seek another extension.

Monahan, 46, was executive vice-president at Fenway Sports Group when he joined the PGA Tour in 2008, first as executive director of The Players Championship, and quickly moving his way through other business functions, including the key role of chief marketing officer. He was appointed chief operating officer earlier this year.

“I’ve worked with him closely now for a good period of time, and he’s absolutely the right guy,” Finchem said at the Tour Championship in September. “He doesn’t have a negative moment in his day. He is a total glass-is-half-full individual, and I think you’ll see that as we go forward.”

Finchem also was a deputy commissioner under Deane Beman when he was appointed in 1994, and he leaves behind a legacy of growth and new programs.

Total prize money in 1994 was $52.4 million for 40 official tournaments. As the 69-year-old Finchem retires, he leaves a fully sponsored schedule of 43 tournaments with prize money this season at just under $300 million. That doesn’t include the four majors.

Finchem used the arrival of Tiger Woods to negotiate massive television deals that drove prize money, and his finest work might have been the last one.

He steered the tour through a severe economic downturn in 2009, keeping it fully sponsored with prize money slightly increasing. And with Woods on the sidelines coping with injuries and a scandal in his personal life, the tour negotiated a nine-year television contract through 2021.

“Under Tim’s leadership, the PGA Tour has made remarkable progress, even in the most difficult economic times,” Monahan said. “We are now entering a very important time in our organization’s history, and I know our executive team and I will draw upon and be inspired by the invaluable experience of working with Tim as we take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities, as well as face the challenges, that are ahead for the tour.”

The first big challenge is likely to be the next television contract. Finchem and Monahan already have been meeting this summer with media executive to prepare for the next negotiations and figure out where advancements in media fit into the future.

Finchem also used the arrival of Woods to launch The First Tee, an education program geared around golf.

The Presidents Cup began in his first year as commissioner, and he was behind the World Golf Championships that began in 1999 and have been played in America, Spain, Ireland, England, Australia and China. Another one is schedule for Mexico City next March.

Finchem also tried to provide structure to the sprawling golf season with the FedEx Cup, which pays $35 million in bonus money to the players and $10 million to the winner. He also emphasized the Web.com Tour as the pathway to the PGA Tour. That also led the tour to create satellite circuits in China, Canada and Latin America.

Monahan comes from a rich New England golf heritage, playing at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He previously worked at EMC Corp. in branding and global sponsorships, then spent three years at IMG where he ran the Deutsche Bank Championship until leaving for Fenway Sports Management, and then the tour.

“Jay has proven himself to be an outstanding leader who has developed an intimate knowledge and understanding of the PGA Tour and a clear vision for the future of the organization,” board chairman Victor Ganzi said.

LAS VEGAS – The birdie putt was still a foot away from the hole when Rod Pampling raised his right arm and thrust it in the air as the ball tumbled into the cup.

His victory Sunday in Las Vegas was a long time coming.

Pampling left nothing to chance by holing a 30-foot putt on the final hole at the TPC Summerlin to close with a 6-under 65 for a two-shot victory in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, his first PGA Tour title in 10 years.

“Sometimes you amaze yourself at what you can do under the gun, which hadn’t been for a long time,” Pampling said. “And it was great.”

The 47-year-old Australian last won on the PGA Tour at Bay Hill in 2006. He lost his card and spent two full seasons on the Web.com Tour, and then had to return to the Web.com Tour Finals at the end of last season just to get his card back.

He was No. 451 in the world ranking.

And now Pampling is headed to Kapalua for the Tournament of Champions in January, and he’ll be returning to the Masters for the first time in 10 years.

“It’s extremely rewarding,” Pampling said. “Winning Arnold Palmer’s event is still on top. But coming back from what we’ve had the last few years, to get a win under the belt, it’s phenomenal. Amazing.”

Brooks Koepka closed with a 67 to finish second.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was the top Canadian. He shot a 1-over 72 in the final round to place 27th at 11 under. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor both finished 6 under while Hamilton’s Mackenzie Hughes came in at 2 under.

Lucas Glover, going for his first victory in five years, was tied with Pampling with two holes to play until he made a bogey from the bunker on the par-3 17th, and he closed with another bogey when winning was out of reach. He shot a 69 to finish third.

Francesco Molinari of Italy had a career-best 61 and tied for fourth with Geoff Ogilvy (68) and Harris English (67).

For someone who had gone so long since he last won, Pampling kept his poise even when it looked as though the final round was getting away from him. He began the back nine with two bogeys in three holes – a three-putt on No. 10, missing the green with a pitching wedge on No. 12 – and fell one shot behind Glover.

Pampling bounced back with a 12-foot birdie putt, and an 8-iron to 18 feet for birdie on the 14th to catch Glover. Pampling made a 12-foot birdie on the next hole to keep pace, and his biggest shot might have been for par.

Tied for the lead on the par-5 16th, he pushed his drive well right into rough so deep that Pampling asked to identify his ball, and it was a good thing – it wasn’t his ball. His ball was a foot to the right, buried so badly that he could only muscle it some 30 yards behind another tree, and he had to lay up short of the water. From 121 yards, Pampling hit wedge into 6 feet and saved par to stay tied.

“That was the turning point for Rod, and that was awesome,” Glover said. “He played great.”

Glover’s tee shot on the 17th was about a foot away from being good, but it caught the lip of the bunker and left a difficult shot with the green sloping away from him. He missed a 12-foot par putt and never caught up.

Pampling finished at 20-under 264 and will be exempt up until his 50th birthday when he is eligible for the PGA Tour Champions.

“After this week I still think I have a couple of more wins, so I’m looking forward to the next few years and just see what we can do.” Pampling said.

The victory was the third of his PGA Tour career for Pampling, who also won the now-defunct International in 2004. It puts him in the Masters for the first time since 2007, along with the PGA Championship for the first time since 2009.

He became the fifth Australian to win on the PGA Tour this year, joining Jason Day, Adam Scott, Greg Chalmers and Aaron Baddeley.

Ogilvy had his best finish since he tied for second in the Deutsche Bank Championship two years ago. Keegan Bradley closed with a 66 and tied for seventh. Bradley tied for sixth two weeks ago in Malaysia, giving him consecutive top 10s for the first time since March 2013.

Aaron Wise, the NCAA champion from Oregon, tied for 10th and earned a spot in the field next week in Mexico.