Canadian golf star Brooke Henderson has used longer clubs since her junior days and it has helped her create a unique swing that generates tremendous power.

Henderson brings the club way back, flattens it out as it comes down and then uses her balance and core strength as she strikes the ball. She has become one of the longer hitters on the LPGA Tour and is expected to be a podium favourite in the Olympic women’s golf tournament, which starts Wednesday.

“When you mix power and probably some clubs that are a little longer, she’s created a way to create some leverage,” said Canadian women’s team coach Tristan Mullally. “She definitely uses the ground, she definitely gets down into it, sinks into it and then rotates her body super quickly. When she came on to the program, strength wasn’t the issue, it was more stability and balance.

“We’ve worked a lot on trying to clean up the little things so that she can continue to be powerful and continue to have a go at it because that’s when she plays great.”

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., turns 19 next month. She has risen to No. 2 in the world rankings and won her first major tournament — the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — in June.

She’ll be joined by Alena Sharp of Hamilton at the Olympic Golf Course for the stroke play competition.

Mullally has worked with Henderson since she was 14 and has helped fine-tune a swing he describes as “hard and aggressive.”

“We wanted to keep that but with kids, you can run into injuries pretty quickly if that’s the way you go,” he said in a recent interview. “It was just about cleaning that up. I would say it’s natural, it’s her. She knows where the club is in space which makes her great.

“Anything we’ve ever done has always been around trying to help with the variety of shots or to make it pain and injury-free. That’s really where we’ve had some input.”

Long-time golf instructor Kevin Haime hosted a recent junior golf event in the Ottawa area that featured Henderson and her sister Brittany. Haime said he regularly uses a video demo of Brooke’s swing for his students.

“I will tell you that she is in some incredibly good positions,” he said. “Her transfer of club from backswing to downswing is really dynamic. It’s really similar to Sergio Garcia’s, it’s almost (Ben) Hogan-esque, the way the club drops. You don’t see that very often.”

Haime called it an “athletic swing” that is only seen a few times a generation on tour.

“She’s got that Rory McIlroy-type of talent if she gets it all going,” he said. “I think Lexi Thompson has that as well, a dominant performance possibility. I’m not so sure how many others have that. It wouldn’t be more than 10.

“So if you think about the limited field at the Olympics, No. 1, and then No. 2, you think about her horsepower if she gets it going just right, I think Canadians should be excited about that.”

Golf is making its return to the Olympic program for the first time since the 1904 St. Louis Games.

VICTORIA, B.C. – Canadians Stephen Ames, Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge have committed to play the 2016 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship at Bear Mountain Golf Resort’s Mountain Course in Victoria from September 19-25, 2016. The event will feature a US$2.5 million purse, with 81 players competing for a winner’s share of $440,000.

Ames, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, but owns dual citizenship in Canada as well, starred on the PGA TOUR through the mid-2000s, earning four titles – including a breakthrough win at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2006, when he dominated the world-class field to the tune of a six-shot victory.

The 52-year-old made his Champions Tour debut in 2014, and has made 34 additional starts since, racking up nine top-10 finishes and career-best, T4 efforts at the 2015 Mitsubishi Electric Classic and 2016 Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

Ames, who resides in Vancouver, turned professional in 1987 before winning on the Web.com Tour in 1991, and later adding European Tour victories in 1994 and 1996 before earning his PGA TOUR card at Q-School in 1997.

Spittle, a native of St. Catharines, Ont., took the road less traveled to the Champions Tour. After playing college golf at famed Ohio State alongside the likes of fellow Tour players Joey Sindelar and John Cook, the two-time Canadian Amateur champion took a job in the insurance industry, where he worked for 25 years in his adopted home state of Ohio.

In 2004, Spittle turned professional in advance of his 50th birthday, then earned status on on the Champions Tour via a T3 finish at the annual Qualifying Tournament in 2006. Since that point, the 61-year-old has made 151 career starts, collecting 19 top-10 finishes, including a playoff win at the 2010 AT&T Championship. The three-time Ohio Mid-Amateur champion has earned over $3.3 million on the golf course since leaving the insurance industry 11 years ago.

Rutledge will be making a hometown appearance at the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship after growing up in Victoria.

The 56-year-old won six times on the Canadian Tour – now Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada- including three victories in the British Columbia Open. Rutledge’s professional career, which began in 1978, took him through the Web.com Tour, the European Tour and the Asian Tour before settling on the Champions Tour – where he has competed since the 2010 season.

Over the past seven years, Rutledge has recorded nine top-10 Champions Tour finishes, earning more than $1.3 million in earnings.

“Canada is a golf-rich country that has consistently cheered for its own through the years at PGA TOUR-sanctioned events,” said Tournament Director David Skitt. “The addition of these three players not only adds to the strength of our field, but also to the excitement heading into tournament week, as Canadian golf fans will have genuine passion in supporting Stephen Ames, Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge.”

The announcement is the latest in a string of player commitments for the event, including World Golf Hall of Fame members Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle and Tom Kite, as well as PGA TOUR Champions winners Rocco Mediate, Lee Janzen and Jesper Parnevik.

Tournament week in Victoria will begin with Pro-Ams on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by 54 holes of championship play from Friday through Sunday, with no cut. All three competitive rounds will be broadcast live by Golf Channel to more than 200 million homes in 84 countries and 11 languages around the world.

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio – Gene Sauers closed with a 1-under 69 and took advantage of another collapse by Miguel Angel Jimenez to win the rain-delayed U.S. Senior Open on Monday for his first senior victory.

The 53-year-old from Georgia finished with three straight pars to go from a one-shot deficit to a one-shot victory over Jimenez and Billy Mayfair at Scioto Country Club.

It capped a remarkable comeback for Sauers, who nearly died from a rare disease 10 years ago and was out of golf for seven years with pain so severe there were times he couldn’t even get off the couch.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “It’s been a long time, and I’m at a loss for words right now.”

He finished at 3-under 277.

Jimenez had a one-shot lead going into the final round, but blew a lead at a second straight major. The Spaniard regained the lead with a birdie on the 15th hole, a two-shot swing when Sauers made bogey, only to bogey the 17th hole.

They were tied on the 18th, but Jimenez missed the green and made a second straight bogey. Sauers made a 5-foot par putt to win it.

Sauers, who once thought he might never play again, now is exempt into the U.S. Open next year at Erin Hills.

Ten years ago, he was incorrectly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ended up in the hospital for seven weeks and was given a 25 percent chance of survival. Eventually he was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare disorder of the skin and mucous membranes that causes the skin on his extremities to burn from the inside out. He was out of the game for seven years

“Being back to playing with these guys, it’s a pleasure,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d ever be here. I told my wife, when I was in the hospital, I didn’t think I was ever coming out. She kept me strong.”

He had 17 top-10 finishes in five years on the senior tour but hadn’t managed a win. He last won a PGA Tour event in 2002.

For Jimenez, it was the third consecutive tournament he let a lead slip away.

Three weeks ago at Carnoustie in the Senior British Open, the 52-year-old Spaniard took a four-stroke lead into the last day, then shot 75 and tied for third – three strokes behind winner Paul Broadhurst. Last week in the 3M Championship, he was a stroke ahead entering the final round and ended up losing when Joe Durant shot 63 and eagled the first hole of a playoff.

He led by a stroke after the third round at Scioto on Saturday but double-bogeyed the second hole to let Sauers overtake him, then couldn’t get it done at the end after Sauers let him back in it.

“I’m human, you know?” Jimenez said. “I’m going to make bogeys. I’m going to make birdies. It’s the way it’s coming. That moment is not on my side.”

Mayfair carded four birdies against a single bogey for a 3-under 67. Ian Woosnam was the only other player under par, finishing fourth at 1-under after a 68.

“All four days we saw different golf courses,” Mayfair said. “Kind of medium on Thursday. It wasn’t all that bad, that windy, but it was still hard to play on Friday. Of course, Saturday the wind started blowing. It was blowing all over the place. Today it was wet and soft and hardly any wind. We got to see Scioto in four different ways on four different days.”

Calgary’s Stephen Ames finished as the top Canadian in the field with a T24 6-over 286 tournament total, and St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle finished T51 following a 14-over 294 performance.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The International Golf Federation has announced the draw for the first and second rounds of the Women’s Golf Competition at Rio 2016.

Brazil’s Miriam Nagl will represent the host nation as she tees off beside Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Malaysia’s Kelly Tan in the first group at 7:30 a.m. local time. They will make history as the Women’s Golf event returns to the Olympic Games following a 116-year hiatus.

American Margaret Abbott took home the Olympic Women’s Golf title when the event was last included in the Olympics at the 1900 Games in Paris.

World No. 3 Brooke Henderson will tee off first for the Canadian contingent at 9:14 a.m. alongside two-time major champion Suzann Pettersen of Norway and World No. 4 Lexi Thompson of the United States. Henderson has put together a strong 2016 season with two wins on the LPGA Tour, and is eyeing a podium spot at her first Olympic Games.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp will take to the course at 10:25 a.m. with Mexico’s Gaby Lopez and Shanshan Feng of China.

An interview with Canada’s Alena Sharp – LISTEN

A full listing of the draw, which includes Wednesday and Thursday tee times, can be found here.

Despite battling an injured thumb, former World No. 1 Inbee Park of Korea will compete against the field of 60 alongside Spain’s Azahara Munoz and American Gerina Piller at 9:03 a.m.

Ariya Jutanugarn became the first golfer from Thailand to claim a major title when she emerged victorious at the 2016 RICOH Women’s British Open Championship, and will look to make more history in Rio. The second ranked Jutanugarn will tee off at 10:58 a.m. with Stacy Lewis of the United States and Korea’s Sei Young Kim.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko will headline the final group of Wednesday’s opening round. The New Zealand native will tee off at 11:09 a.m. in the company of Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, and Charley Hull of Great Britain.

As I write this, Englishman Justin Rose has just won the first Olympic gold medal for men’s golf since Canada’s George Lyon did so in 1904, and I am eagerly anticipating the start of the women’s competition on Gil Hanse’s magnificent course in Rio.

That may surprise some who follow me on Twitter, as I have voiced opinions on the field and the format, not to mention the abysmal “world feed” broadcast we are subjected to here in Canada thanks to an obtuse and incomprehensible decision by the CBC not to allow us access to the excellent Golf Channel coverage.

But my purpose is not to revisit those quibbles, which hopefully will be rectified over the next four years before golf is again contested at the Tokyo Games.

Speaking of “games,” the reappearance of golf in the Olympic Games has reignited a most polarizing debate topic: Is golf a sport or a game? The corollary is: Does golf belong in the Olympics?

Two Golf Canada Twitter polls were conducted over the weekend.

One asked: “Do you consider pro golfers to be athletes?” Ninety-six per cent of the respondents said yes.

Do you consider pro golfers to be athletes?

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) August 14, 2016

The other asked: “Do you think golf should be in the Olympics?” Seventy-seven per cent responded in the affirmative.

Do you think #golf should be in the #Olympics?

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) August 13, 2016

Granted, those who follow Golf Canada on Twitter are most likely keen golfers with a bias. That puts them in a worldwide community of an estimated 60 million people who golf, the vast majority of whom live in one of the 118 countries that are members of the International Golf Federation.

The vast majority of that vast majority no doubt considers golf to be a sport.

At this point, my inclination is to grab my dictionary and recite the definition of a “sport.”

But I will resist that trite and predictable urge and instead quote Gary Belsky, former managing editor of ESPN the Magazine and co-author of the book On the Origins of Sports.

“You don’t need a definition of sports,” Belsky said in a recent Newsweek article. “It’s more quantum physics, like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. There are simply too many variables.”

Critics cite overweight golfers riding in carts, puffing on cigars and cigarettes, enjoying a refreshing ale or six. That’s not a sport, they claim. At that level, focussing solely on that narrow and unattractive demographic sliver, they are right.

But if they widen their focus and clear their bias, they will see they are wrong; that they have ignored, intentionally or not, the variables Belsky mentions. Like the difference between the recreational and professional (or elite amateur) levels of any other sport, from soccer to basketball to hockey and baseball.

For the record, most recreational golfers walk. Over the average 18-hole course, that equates to an eight-kilometre hike, sometimes over challenging terrain, burning about 2,000 calories. Carrying clubs, using a push cart or a caddie makes little difference in both numbers.

And that is just recreational golfers.

Those fact-challenged critics (including one click-bait artist who demonstrated his ignorance in a piece published on the host broadcaster’s web site) conveniently disregard that today’s pros are without question athletes, with personal trainers, nutritionists and sports psychologists among their entourages. I defy the naysayers to play 36 holes of matchplay in a single day or challenge Henrik Stenson or Dustin Johnson to arm-wrestling.

Golf is a sport. Period.

Ignore the trumpery (look it up because it’s a perfect use of the word) of those critics, and I paraphrase here, with apologies to a line from the old movie Time Bandit,  who are mercifully unafflicted by the ravages of intelligence and/or facts.

Here’s a suggestion for those knuckleheads. Do some research. Play the sport. Try to attain a level of proficiency that will elevate you to the elite level and put the Olympics in your sights.

Then belly up to the table and prepare to eat your words.

The 116^th playing of the U.S. Amateur Championship begins today at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Twelve Canadians will vie for the title from August 15 to 21 in pursuit of the Havemeyer Trophy. The Canadian contingent will be lead by three Team Canada National Team members, including recent 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur champion Hugo Bernard of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.

Team Canada National Team members- 

• Eric Banks – Truro, N.S.
• Blair Hamilton – Burlington, Ont.
• Hugo Bernard – Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.

Canadians in the field-

• Maxwell Sear – Unionville, Ont.
• Austin James – Bath, Ont.
• Joey Savoie – Montreal, Que.
• Chris Crisologo – Richmond, B.C.
• Bradford Curren – Hammonds Plains, N.S.
• Luke Moser – Waterloo, Ont.
• Kaleb Gorbahn – Smithers, B.C.
• William Deck – Kelowna, B.C.
• Garrett Rank – Elmira, Ont.

The competition will begin with two rounds of stroke play from August 17 to 18, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 competitors for match play. The remaining competitors will partake in six rounds of match play through August 19 to 22, and the championship match will take place on August 23.

Full schedule-

• Monday, August 15 – First round of stroke-play qualifying (18 holes)
• Tuesday, August 16 – Second round of stroke-play qualifying (18 holes)
• Wednesday, August 17 – Round of 64 match play
• Thursday, August 18 – Round of 32 and Round of 16 match play
• Friday, August 19 – Quarterfinal round of match play
• Saturday, August 20 – Semifinal round of match play
• Sunday, August 21 – Championship match (36 holes)

The 2016 championship will be the second U.S. Amateur and 11th USGA championship to be hosted by Oakland Hills Country Club.

For more information on the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship including scores and pairings, click here.

It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you have a team of passionate, driven leaders at the helm.

Take the “Moosehide Mommas” for example, a group of five ladies who have run Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru events for the last six years, raising close to $27,000 for breast cancer research—a great accomplishment in its own right. What’s even more empowering, is that this dedicated group has done so through a small town population just over 1,200 Canadians.

Nestled in the southern part of Canada’s Northwest Territories, a seven-hour drive west of Yellowknife, is the modest town of Fort Simpson. Small in size, but rich in history, Fort Simpson is home to just one golf course across its 78 km² area—Seven Spruce Golf Course. For the sixth consecutive year, this 9-hole course played host to the Moosehide Mommas’ annual Golf Fore the Cure event, which hosted over 40 women in a day of celebration with a round of golf and supporting events. At day’s end, this remarkable group of women raised over $14,000—their highest annual total to date.

How do they do it? Just ask one of the team’s lead site coordinators, Jennifer Thistle.

“It really starts with the incredible people we work with, who share a deep passion for the cause and what we are fighting for through this event,” she said. “We have such a memorable time golfing every year, and continue to challenge ourselves in new and exciting ways to make our event as special as it can be.”

Thistle was one of many site coordinators to receive a free polo shirt from adidas Golf, a new Pink Partner to Golf Fore the Cure in 2016. In the giving spirit, Thistle happily donated the adidas Golf polo towards the event’s raffle to help the cause.

To further help with events, Golf Canada ships a complimentary tournament kit to each team that includes pledge forms, signage, ribbons and prizing.

Committed to growing women’s participation, Golf Fore the Cure boasts over 100,000 participants throughout 12 seasons. During that period, the program has raised over $5.4 million dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society and Québec Breast Cancer Foundation in support of breast cancer research.

There are many other Canadian teams like the Moosehide Mommas that are behind Golf Fore the Cure’s mission, and you can be a part of that too.

Register to run an event—free of charge—by visiting golfcanada.ca/golfforethecure

FORSYTH, Ill. – Clariss Guce (Artesia, Calif.) made birdie on hole 14 and closed with four pars to win the Decatur-Forsyth Classic by two shots at 10-under, 206. The rookie carded a 1-under, 71 on Sunday at Hickory Point Golf Course to earn her second win of the 2016 season. Laura Gonzalez Escallon (La Hulpe, Belgium) posted a 5-under, 67 to finish in a tie for second with two-time winner Jackie Stoelting (Vero Beach, Florida) at 8-under, 208.

Guce, who was number 84 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in mid-July, moves into the top 10 for the first time this season. She is now number seven with exactly seven events remaining. The 26-year-old earns the first-place check of $19,500 to increase her total to $56,656.

“Anytime you win, it feels great,” said Guce, who moved to the United States with her family from the Philippines in 2001. “Every win is special and I’m just overjoyed.”

Guce was doused with water again by her crew of rookie friends – Kristin Coleman, Jenny Coleman, Mallory Kent and Dana Finkelstein – as soon as she came off the green.

“I knew I was going to get soaked,” said Guce, who spotted her friends on hole 15. “I saw them walking around with a lot of bottles of water and I was thinking don’t screw it up and just two putt.”

Guce, who entered the day with a two shot lead, made eight pars and a birdie on the front nine to build a three shot lead at the turn. Her lone bogey of the day came on the 12th hole and all of a sudden her lead was down to one after Gonzalez Escallon drained a 20-footer on the 18th to finish at 8-under. Guce hit a great approach shot into the par-5 14th and made a 7-footer to build the lead back to two. She made par the rest of the way to comfortably win.

“My irons and my putting were the two keys,” said Guce. “I just stayed patient and I think I was a little more nervous today than Rochester because I had the lead. My friend Hayley (Davis) was on the bag and she kept me calm and we just laughed the whole day.”

Guce missed five cuts in a row in the middle of the season and had to take a few tournaments off to flush the negative thoughts and hone in on her swing.

“I didn’t really think about what others were saying, I’m just trying to go to each tournament and play as best I can,” said Guce. “If it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, at least I know I gave my best.”

Guce doesn’t want to look too far ahead now that she is in the top ten with only seven events remaining.

“There is still a lot more golf and anything can still happen,” said Guce. “Just like in Rochester, I went from 84th to 12th so you just never know.”

Guce wins her second on the weekend of her parents 28th wedding anniversary. She also owes her dad, a professional jockey that has won over 1,000 races, a dinner or two now.

“Maybe I’ll by him dinner, it depends how many races he wins this week,” joked Guce. “I’ll definitely try to get them something nice because they are my inspiration.”

Guce remembers the struggles the family went through when they first relocated to the U.S. and her dad had a hard time finding races.

The Tour heads to Milwaukee and Brown Deer Park Golf Course for the 2nd annual PHC Classic next week. The field of 144 will compete for a total purse of $100,000.

Laura Gonzalez Escallon (La Hulpe, Belgium) peaked at the leaderboard on 18 and saw she was in a 3-way tie at the time for second. She had a 20-footer for birdie and nailed it.

“I was like ‘I don’t want to be in a tie’ and it was big to make that,” said Gonzalez Escallon with a wide smile. “It’s always nice to play on Sundays and try to shoot as low as I can. I was also having a blast with my caddy.”

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., carded five birdies through a bogey-free day for a final-round 67. The former Team Canada National Squad member registered a 6-under 210 tournament total to claim her share of eighth.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – It took 112 years for golf to find a new Olympic champion, but it was well worth the wait.  Great Britain’s Justin Rose followed in the footsteps of the long-departed George Lyon of Canada when he climbed onto the podium to collect the Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.

On a sun-drenched final day, in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000 at Reserva de Marapendi Golf Course, Rose added the Olympic crown to his 2013 US Open title after a prolonged and exciting battle down the stretch with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.

In the end, the packed grandstand which turned the 18th arena into a noisy sporting amphitheatre, watched spellbound as Rose got up-and-down from the side of the green for the birdie which sealed a worthy gold medal performance.

Stenson, who knew he needed to hole a 25-footer of his own to force a play-off, three-putted and the first Olympic golf competition since 1904 had a new champion.

Stenson, who emerged on top after a similarly epic shoot-out with Phil Mickelson in The Open at Royal Troon last night, had to accept second place this time and the silver medal was a deserving reward for his part in a wonderful spectacle which saw Matt Kuchar of the United States claim the bronze medal after a course record-equalling last round of 63.

Rose finished with four rounds in the sixties and his closing 67 secured the gold medal with a 16-under-par total of 268. Stenson took silver with a fourth-round 68 for 270 and Kuchar’s swashbuckling last day brought home the remaining medal on 271.

The leading three players completed the 72-hole test detached from the rest of the field, in which Belgium’s Thomas Pieters finished a highly creditable fourth after slicing 12 shots off his third-round 77 with a final day 65.

After holing out for a birdie four on the 18^th, Rose punched the air in celebration and fell into the arms of his wife, Kate, before savouring the medal ceremony as the Olympic golf champion.

“Olympic gold medalist – It sounds absolutely incredible,” said the 36-year-old.  “I was on that last green, just sort of pinching myself and taking myself back to the quote that I had given about the Olympics all along – that I hoped my resumé one day read: ‘multiple major champion and Olympic gold medalist’ and if that happened then I’d be a very, very happy man.  I pretty much just need the multiple major now, but for the most part, I’m there on that quote.

“The whole week, I’ve been so focused, really, to be honest with you.  I’ve been so into it.  I’ve been so up for it.  I’ve been just so determined, I suppose, to represent Team GB as best as I could, and it was just the most magical week, it really was.”

The final round in Rio delivered the anticipated head-to-head between two outstanding major champions. And both men held a narrow lead at different times as they exchanged birdies.

It seemed that Stenson might repeat his Open victory at Royal Troon when he edged in front due to a Rose bogey at the 13^th, but he handed back the initiative to the Englishman when he bogeyed the 14^th and Rose knocked in an eight-footer for birdie on the 15^th.

Despite both men missing the green at the last, it was Stenson who blinked first, hitting a weak chip to 25 feet while Rose struck a deft chip close to the hole for a cast-iron birdie four.

Stenson recognised the quality of the golf on display on the final day and admitted: “When you’re in good position to try and win, you always kind of feel a little disappointed afterwards.  But at the same time, we said that all along in the Olympics, you’ve got some pretty good consolation prizes.

“I guess if you would have asked me before the week that I would leave here with a medal, I would have been pretty pleased and I managed to do that.  I’m quite happy, I didn’t feel like I played my absolute best throughout the week but I played good enough to put myself in contention and that was my goal.  Once I was up there, I played pretty well but I needed to play one or two shots better to win it today.”

Rose paid tribute to his rival and friend by saying: “I just said today that I had to out‑Stenson Stenson.  I knew I wasn’t going to get much from him at all.  Obviously the bogey at the last only came because he had to force the putt in.

“But he is unbelievable.  He’s relentless and a great player, and I can’t wait to be on the same team as him in The Ryder Cup.  He’s a great player and he’s a great friend, and I just gave him a hug on the 18th green and he was as gracious as ever. I just said to him, ‘Great summer – winning The Open Championship’, I was so pleased for him.  There are very few guys are you really genuinely, genuinely happy for, and Henrik is one of them.”

Bronze medalist Kuchar just came up short, despite equaling the record 63 set by Australian Marcus Fraser on Thursday. Had he not three putted the 16^th and failed to birdie the 18^th, he might just have grabbed another colour of medal.

The American Ryder Cup player said: “It’s just an amazing week. It’s a boyhood dream come true. I keep expressing the feeling of sheer pride.  I knew when I was out there playing that I was in third place.  I certainly didn’t want to lose that but also wanted to keep pushing forward.

“While I was out there, playing that back nine, the sense of being an Olympic medalist really hit me.  There were times I kind of had to back off a few times and regather my thoughts and composure to make sure I try to continue to hit good shots and keep making birdies.”

Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar Interview: Transcript

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., collected two birdies and an eagle through the day en route to a final-round 69. The 34-year-old carded a 4-under 280 tournament total to claim sole possession of 20th.

Graham DeLaet Interview: Audio

Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn recorded six birdies on a 5-under day to secure his share of 30th at 1-under 283.

David Hearn Interview: Audio

SILVIS, Ill. – For all the late pars and the closing run of 46 holes without a bogey, Ryan Moore thought the key to his victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic was a 24-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole.

It moved him to 20 under and kept him two strokes ahead of Morgan Hoffmann, who was about to birdie the fifth hole.

“That was huge to get another birdie early, just to show the guys behind me I’m not messing around,” Moore said. “The worst thing to do is to be even or 1 over after five or six holes. Then all of a sudden you’ve got 10 guys thinking, ‘All right, I can go get this today.'”

With Moore making three birdies on the front nine and another on the 10th hole en route to a 4-under 67, they had no chance. He won his fifth PGA Tour title by two strokes over Ben Martin.

The 33-year-old Moore finished at 22-under 262 at TPC Deere Run, making only one bogey in 72 holes. He won for the first time since successfully defending his CIMB Classic title in Malaysia in 2014.

“Every win is a little different,” Moore said. “I like how steady this was, with no bogeys on the weekend.”

Martin had three straight back-nine birdies in a 68.

“I never got a whole lot going,” Martin said. “I just told (Moore), ‘You couldn’t make one bogey out there for me today?’ Hats off to him for just a solid round of golf. I don’t think he really ever sniffed a bogey.”

South Korea’s Whee Kim shot 67 to tie for third with Hoffmann (71) at 17 under.

Moore birdied Nos. 2, 4, 9 and 10 and closed with eight pars. He had a five-stroke lead when Hoffmann bogeyed the 12th hole. Martin, playing with Moore in the final twosome, birdied Nos. 12-14, but couldn’t get closer than two strokes. Martin parred his last four holes, and Hoffmann his final six.

“I just wanted to make a putt, which didn’t happen all day,” Hoffmann said. “In the middle of the round, it kind of went sideways.”

Moore hit 13 of 14 fairways in the final round and 14 of 18 greens in regulation, including the 18th, which he two-putted from 47 feet for the victory. He opened with three straight 65s in the event thrown off schedule by rain Thursday and Friday.

Jordan Spieth chose not to defend his title because he didn’t think it would be appropriate in light of his decision to skip the Rio Olympics.

Wesley Bryan, the leader Friday when play was suspended, tied for eighth at 14 under after his second straight 70. He earned a PGA Tour card last week with his third Web.com Tour victory of the year. Bryan was joined by Abbotsford, B.C., native Adam Hadwin who carded eight birdies through the final day of competition to move into his share of eighth.

NCAA champion Aaron Wise followed his third-round 63 with a 70 to tie for 16th at 12 under in his PGA Tour debut as a pro. The former Oregon player won a PGA Tour Canada event two weeks ago in Edmonton, Alberta.

Zach Johnson, the 2012 winner and member of the tournament’s board, shot a 69 to tie for 34th at 9-under 275. He’s from nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Steve Stricker had a 72 to tie for 52nd at 6 under. The 49-year-old Stricker, a former University of Illinois player from Wisconsin, won the event in 2009, 2010 and 2011.