NAPLES, Fla. – Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn will settle the LPGA Tour’s biggest awards and prizes Sunday at Tiburon. They’re chasing Charley Hull in the CME Group Tour Championship.

“I think it’s going to be a very interesting Sunday,” Ko said Saturday after dropping into a tie for fourth in the season finale.

Ko needs a victory to top Jutanugarn in the player of the year race, and also would take the season points title and $1 million CME Globe bonus with a win. Ko also is fighting Jutanugarn for the money title and Chun for the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

“It’s simple: I got win to get it.” Ko said. “That’s why no matter what position I am, I’m the chaser. So, I think that almost puts less pressure on me, where I’m not thinking about where I am exactly. I’m trying to make as many birdies as I can and give myself those opportunities.”

Hull birdied all four par-5 holes in a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Brittany Lincicome (66) and So Yeon Ryu (69) and two-stroke advantage over Ko (73), Jutanugarn (65), Chun (68), Jennifer Song (66) and Lizette Salas (67).

“Just kind of kept in the zone,” Hull said. “I felt like I hit it pretty decent, better than I did yesterday. I holed a few putts and got up-and-down when I needed to. … I’m happy with my score and looking forward to tomorrow.”

The 20-year-old Hull, from England, had a 13-under 203 total. She’s winless on the tour.

“It was scoreable out there,” Hull said. “I don’t understand why everyone has dropped back. Obviously, it is tricky little golf course on some shots, like 18. You’ve got a good finishing hole.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 34th at 3 under after a 69. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp had a 72 and was tied for 47th at 1 over.

The top-ranked Ko began the day with a three-shot lead after shooting a 63 on Friday.

“I just got to stay patient.” The 19-year-old New Zealander said. “I don’t think like I did something horribly or drastically different. Probably those little things. If you tug it a bit on a right-to-left wind, for example, on the 18th hole, it’s going to look like much more of that draw or pull.”

Jutanugarn had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.

“I just try to focus shot by shot, not think about outcome and not think about like too much future,” Jutanugarn said. “I’m ready to have fun and be happy on the course. I don’t know I can win or not, but I’m going to do my best.”

The 20-year-old Thai star leads the tour with five victories, one more than Ko.

“This year is like great for me,” Jutanugarn said. “I know tomorrow going to be a lot of pressure, but I’m just going to do my best and whatever going to happen I still love my year this year.”

First-round leader Shanshan Feng was tied for 12th at 8 under after a 69. The Chinese star is coming off consecutive victories in Malaysia and Japan.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.

That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.

The 25-year-old from Dundas, Ont., had another bogey-free round Friday and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year.

Hughes at was at 14-under 128.

Pan also is a rookie, and perhaps they can take inspiration from rookie Cody Gribble winning in Mississippi three weeks ago. Hughes and Pan both spent last year on the Web.com Tour to earn their cards.

“There’s going to be nerves tomorrow, and I’m going to be a little jittery starting out, but that’s completely natural,” Hughes said. “But I just think guys come off the Web.com Tour that … for example, I won in Missouri and I feel like the win translates to being able to win out here. The margin is so small that the things I did on that weekend to win that tournament are the same things I’ll have to do Saturday and Sunday.”

Hughes started his rookie season in the Safeway Open, made the cut and wound up in the same group with Mickelson, who attracted the largest gallery.

“The atmosphere was a dream start for me,” Hughes said. “We played the first day, and I had a nine-footer on 19 for par to make par and stay tied with him. I was so pumped that I made it because I got one more round out of it. He was a super nice guy, really welcoming. It was a nice way to break yourself in.”

There wasn’t much of a gallery at Sea Island on another pristine day for scoring, so ideal that the cut came at 5-under par. That probably won’t change for the weekend, especially with tournament host Davis Love III and Sea Island neighbours Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among those missing the cut.

Even so, it was an experience that could come in handy Hughes.

“Being with him for two days and with his galleries and all the distractions going on there, that’s probably as good a preparation as you would have for tomorrow and Sunday,” Hughes said. “There was so much learning going on that weekend that I’ll be able to apply.”

It was the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5 under at the 2015 Zurich Classic.

Hughes opened with a 9-under 61 on the Seaside course at Sea Island, while he didn’t hit the ball as cleanly over at Plantation, he had few complaints. He picked up three of his birdies at the par 5s, even on the 18th when he found a fairway bunker off the tee and had to lay up. He hit wedge to eight feet and made the putt.

“Today was definitely a little more work,” Hughes said, though he quickly added that 67 was “no slouch of a score and I would take two more of those in a heartbeat.”

Hughes and Pan, who shot a 64 at Seaside, played together on the Canadian Tour two years ago, and then all last year on the Web.com Tour. Pan had a brief stay atop the world amateur ranking in 2013 when he won eight times at Washington, and he made the cut as an amateur at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

They will be joined in the final group by Hudson Swafford, who lives at Sea Island and shot a 67 on the Plantation. Swafford was three shots behind, along with Chad Campbell, Chesson Hadley and Blayne Barber.

“It should be fun,” Pan said. “We played on the Canadian tour last year, and then we played the Web.com Tour this year and now we are both on the PGA Tour. So it’s exciting to see both of us play well out there, because it’s a dream come true for both of us.”

That much was clear when Hughes came into the media centre for an interview. He left his seat, walked to the back of the room and handed his phone to his mother to take a picture. It was that kind of moment for him.

Even with a two-shot lead, however, the conditions have been such that low scores are available to anyone at any time. Twenty-five players were separated by just five shots with two more rounds to play.

That group includes Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink. Four shots behind was Jonathan Byrd, a five-time PGA Tour winner who spent last year on the Web.com Tour and still doesn’t have full status. He is playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption and wants to make the most out of limited chances like this.

NAPLES, Fla. – Lydia Ko shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 on Friday to take a three-stroke lead in the CME Group Tour Championship, putting the top-ranked New Zealander in position to win the player of the year award with a victory Sunday.

Ko birdied four of the first six holes and had seven birdies and a bogey on the back nine to get to 12-under 132 in the season finale. Ryann O’Toole (67) and So Yeon Ryu (68) were tied for second, and Sei Young Kim (68) and Beatriz Recari (68) followed at 8 under.

“Going into today definitely my goal wasn’t the 62,” said Ko, the 2014 winner at Tiburon Golf Club. “The first three holes made great birdies. I was going in with really good momentum, and I was able to carry that for pretty much the rest of my round. I think I was putting good, so if I was within a distance that I felt comfortable I felt like, ‘Hey, I could hole this.”’

Ko needs a victory to top Ariya Jutanugarn in the player of the year race, and also would take the season points title and $1 million bonus with a win. The points in the CME Globe standings were reset for the finale, so Ko, Jutanugarn and Brooke Henderson all control their destinies.

“I think the big key mindset for me is that I’ve been not really thinking about everything that could happen,” Ko said. “For me to win player the year I know I need to win this championship. A lot of things come with that. So to me, it’s more important to finish off my season strong. I think that way I don’t feel more pressure about everything that’s going on.”

Ko is fighting Jutanugarn for the money title and In Gee Chun for the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. Jutanugarn, the tour victory leader with five, was tied for 19th at 4 under after a 68.

“I started to make some putts,” Jutanugarn said. “Today was pretty good day for me.”

Chun (69) was tied for sixth at 7 under, and Henderson (72) was tied for 38th at even par.

The 62 matched Ko’s lowest score of the season, shot in the second round of her Walmart NW Arkansas victory in June. She has four victories this year.

“Going into today, I just wanted to focus on my game,” Ko said. “I knew I had a great pairing Eun Hee (Ji) and Mi Hyang (Lee). Mi Hyang said, ‘Hey, whenever you play with us you seem to play well.’ Maybe it’s the good vibes I got from them. Obviously, it’s a great round. It’s a better position, even better than I could have imagined. Even on the weekend I just got to focus and keep playing great.”

Ko is using Gary Matthews as her caddie for the second straight event. She fired Jason Hamilton – now with Ha Na Jang – and used Sargunan Suntharaj in Malaysia, then teamed with Matthews in Japan.

She worked with instructor David Leadbetter on the range late Thursday.

“It was just more about my iron play,” Ko said. “I hit my drives really well yesterday. My irons were kind of on and off. Not that many where I was looking for birdies. So, it was just very simple. Just in the takeaway where I wasn’t going too out. It’s something that you normally do, but especially when you’re hitting it good, it’s more about the basics and the little things.”

O’Toole had six birdies and a bogey.

“I think usually my drives are my strong point,” O’Toole said. “Right now I’m hitting these little cuts that aren’t going as far as they could. Definitely could give me shorter irons in. But I’m striking my irons well, putting myself in position.”

Ryu earned a spot in the final group Saturday with friend Ko.

“It’s think it’s definitely going to be really fun to competing with world No. 1 player,” Ryu said. “She is not only great player, she’s really great person. … She loves food like me, so we just talk a lot of thing about food when we are on the golf course.”

First-round leader Shanshan Feng followed her opening 66 with a 73 to drop into a tie for 16th at 5 under. The Chinese star is coming off consecutive victories in Malaysia and Japan.

Watch Rory’s toughest interview ever shot at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, where the four-time Major winner met with a young reporter on the eve of his DP World Tour Championship defence.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mackenzie Hughes, the Canadian rookie on the PGA Tour, had thoughts of a sub-60 round on a perfect day for scoring in the RSM Classic on Thursday.

The 25-year-old from Dundas, Ont., wound up with a 61 at Sea Island for a one-shot lead after the first round.

Here are a few highlights from his round.

A great start to the week got even better when Stewart Cink opened with a career-low 62. His wife, Lisa, walked all 18 holes.

Cink stepped away from the PGA Tour in May when his wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. After nine rounds of chemotherapy, she received what Cink said was a good report from doctors in Houston on Monday.

Cink says he’s made some changes in his attitude on the course to make golf only part of his life.

More highlights from round 1.

NAPLES, Fla. – Shanshan Feng was right back on top of an LPGA Tour leaderboard Thursday, shooting a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over So Yeon Ryu and Charley Hull after the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Coming off consecutive victories in Malaysia and Japan, Feng is one of nine players who entered the season finale with a chance to win the Race to the CME Globe season title and $1 million bonus. The Chinese star won in 2013 at Tiburon Golf Club.

“Somehow, the course is playing longer compared to three years ago,” Feng said. “I don’t know, maybe because I’m getting older I’m hitting shorter.”

Ha Na Jang, Sei Young Kim, In Gee Chun, Amy Yang, Lizette Salas, Beatriz Recari, Ryann O’Toole and Mo Martin all shot 68.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko had a 70. She needs a win this week to secure player of the year honours,

Ariya Jutanugarn and Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson, who like Ko are guaranteed the points crown if they prevail this week, each shot 72.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp was 3 under.

Feng has finished no worse than a tie for fourth in her last seven events. She started the run with the Olympic bronze medal in Rio, tied for fourth at Evian in France, opened the Asia trip at home in China with a fourth-place tie, was second in Taiwan and tied for third in South Korea before winning in Malaysia and Japan. She took last week off, practicing only three days in Orlando.

“I think after the Asian wave, we’re just so tired. I think I needed the rest,” Feng said. “I feel actually pretty fresh coming into this week. … I’ve been playing well, so just wanted to keep up with the good playing.”

Feng birdied four of the last six holes – the par-4 13th, par-5 14th, par-3 16th and par-5 17th – in her bogey-free round. She made a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-5 first hole and also birdied the par-3 eighth.

Ryu won the last of her three LPGA Tour titles in 2014.

“What I learned through this year, having like swing change this year, sometimes I just think about swing too much,” Ryu said. “So what I learned through that is I just rather more focus to like imagination. Just keep imagine how the ball is going to fly and what shot I am going to hit instead of where is my hand going to be, my wrist.”

Hull birdied the final four holes on the front nine and also birdied the 14th. She also was off last week after being delayed getting out of Japan.

“I was only home for four days,” the 20-year-old English player said. “I didn’t touch a golf club. Hung out with my friends. I think I only touched a golf club once or twice last week.”

Carlota Ciganda had a 75. She won her first LPGA Tour title last month in South Korea and won the event in Mexico City on Sunday.

Ko and Jutanugarn are fighting for the big year-end honours.

Only a win would be enough to give Ko her second straight player-of-the-year award; any other result, and that title goes to Jutanugarn. They came in separated by $17,305 in the money standings, and Ko (69.611) enters with a minuscule edge over Chun (69.632) for the Vare Trophy presented to the player with the lowest scoring average.

The points in the CME Globe standings reset for the finale, so Jutanugarn, Ko and Henderson all truly control their destinies when it comes to the $1 million bonus that goes to the points champion.

GIRONA, Spain –  Y.E. Yang and former Ryder Cup player Edoardo Molinari were among the 30 golfers to earn a European Tour card for the 2017 season on Thursday following the final round of Q School.

On one of the most nerve-racking days on the European golfing calendar, the high-profile names in the 156-player field all came through safely after six rounds at PGA Catalunya just outside Barcelona.

Unfortunately, Canada’s Austin Connelly wasn’t as lucky.

The former Team Canada member, who enjoys dual citizenship from Canada and the U.S., fell just a single-shot shy of joining a group of players tied for 25th place –  the cut-off mark for qualifying.

Connelly bogeyed his final hole, which would have given him a share of 25th.

The Church Point N.S., native was the lone Canaidan in the field.

There was a tension-filled end to the day for Englishmen Jamie Rutherford and Gary King, Jaco Ahlers of South Africa, Niclas Johansson of Sweden and Espen Kofstad of Norway, who were all tied for 25th place as Richard McEvoy made his way down the 18th. A birdie for McEvoy would have deprived the quintet of European Tour privileges and forced them to compete next year on the second-tier Challenge Tour, where the prize money is less. However, McEvoy made par and all six got their cards.

For Yang, a Major winner, his seven-year exemption for winning the 2009 U.S. PGA Championship expired this year, meaning he had to go to qualifying school after a disappointing season on the main tour when he had just two top-20 finishes.

For full results, click here.

The final PGA of Canada national championship of 2016 takes place next week in Bermuda at the famed Port Royal Golf Course.

The 54-hole PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy features PGA of Canada head professionals, head teaching professionals and executive professionals taking place Nov. 21-24.

“We’re very pleased to have the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy in Bermuda for the first time and the wonderful venue of Port Royal Golf Course,” said PGA of Canada President Steve Wood.

Six past PGA of Canada national championship winners highlight this year’s field at Port Royal, including Danny King, Dave Levesque, Matt Peavoy, Adam Chamberlain, Ian Dog and Matt Palsenbarg.

Additionally, a number of top-ranked PGA of Canada players are in the field including Scott Allred (No. 11); Ron Kenesky (No. 19); Jean Laforce (No. 25); Dan Greenwood (No. 27); Dave Zibrik (No. 40); Lindsay Bernakevitch (No. 41); Gordon Burns (No. 42); and Kevin Black (No. 49).

For tee-times and results, CLICK HERE.

In 2015, Danny King of The Performance Academy at Magna captured his third PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada. King’s three-day total of 11-under-par at Verrado Golf Club in Buckeye, Ariz., was two shots better than James Skrypec of The Golf Academy at Deer Ridge.

In addition to competing for the overall championship trophy, players in the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada earn much-coveted ranking points with hopes of moving up on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC. Players who are ranked inside the top 64 following the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada earn invites into the following year’s PGA Championship of Canada.

The Inter-Zone Team Championship, which is comprised of four players per zone (and three scores per team counting), is also handed out after 36-holes.

Former champions of the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada include Danny King, Adam Chamberlain, Roger Beale, Norm Jarvis, Gar Hamilton, Bob Panasik, Yvan Beauchemin, Graham Gunn, Ken Tarling and Brian Hutton.

FAR HILLS, N.J. – Diana Murphy has been nominated to serve a second one-year term as the 64th president of the United States Golf Association by the USGA Nominating Committee, as the organization prepares for its 123rd year of service to the game of golf.

In addition, there are three newly nominated candidates for the 15-member Executive Committee: Thomas Barkin, Stephen Beebe and William Siart. Their collective experience encompasses expertise in strategic planning and nonprofit leadership, as well as a passion for environmental sustainability. If elected at the USGA’s Annual Meeting on Feb. 4, 2017 in Washington, D.C., they will replace retiring members William Fallon, Malcolm Holland and Asuka Nakahara.

The committee also nominated Mark Newell, a four-year Executive Committee member, as president-elect. The new officer position replaces the role of vice president eliminated in 2016, and supports succession planning for future association leadership. Newell, who served as USGA general counsel in 2011-12, currently chairs the USGA Rules of Golf Committee. He has focused significant efforts on a multi-year Rules modernization project led by the USGA and The R&A, and he continues to provide support and leadership toward the development of a world handicap system.

Current officers Sheila Johnson and George Still have been nominated to continue their service as secretary and treasurer, respectively. The eight committee members nominated to continue their service are: Michael Bailey, Stuart Francis, Thomas Hough, Robert Kain, Martha Lang, Gregory Morrison, Mark Reinemann and Clifford Shahbaz.

In addition, Robert Weber has been nominated to serve a second term as USGA general counsel.

For some, the Mannequin Challenge may be starting to feel overdone. Everybody from The Rock to the NBA have created their own version of these viral videos, where people pose as mannequins while the hip-hop song Black Beatles plays.

Still, the European Tour joined the viral-video challenge this week and it is one of my favourite versions. Hope you enjoy it, too.