Kimberley, B.C., product Jared du Toit ignited the nation during the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club where he finished T9 amongst some of the best golfers in the world. Here’s what clubs he used during his run at the Open to help him win the Gary Cowan Award for low amateur:

JOHN’S, N.L. – The unpredictable weather conditions characteristic of the Newfoundland golf experience welcomed competitors to the first round of the Canadian Junior Boys Championship. Sam Meek opened with a 6-under 66 showing at Clovelly to sit atop the leaderboard.

The native of Peterborough, Ont., began his round by birdieing No. 10. He would go on to collect nine more birdies on the day, including four back-to-back pairs to claim the early lead.

“It was really good,” said Meek when asked about his round. “I struck the ball really well. I was able to make 10 birdies today, so that always helps your cause. Just closing out the round was probably my main focus once I got to the back nine. I had a few hiccups on the back, but I was able to keep it intact for a good round.”

Beaming sunshine and clear skies gave way to chilly gusts and cloud cover as the day progressed. “Early on in the round, the conditions were very score-able,” explained Meek. “For our front nine, there was no wind, it was sunny, then all of a sudden, we were standing on the eighth tee and we all said to each other, ‘it just got really cold’ and the wind picked up tremendously. So you definitely had to change your game plan accordingly.”

Meek, who finished T35 in 2015 at Summerlea Golf & Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., stressed the need to remain focused in the coming days.

“A four-day tournament is long, it’s not a sprint. You’ve got to stay patient with it. When you get the opportunity to make your birdies, you have to make them and just hold on when the weather gets tough.”

Max Sekulic carded a 68 and is two shots back of the lead. The Rycroft, Alta., native began the day on the back nine and collected a string of three birdies on holes 12 to 14, before registering a bogey-free 2-under 34 across the second half of his round. Fellow Albertan Brendan MacDougall of Calgary sits third following a 3-under 69 performance.

Team Alberta holds a seven-stroke advantage in the inter-provincial team competition. MacDougall’s 69 and Springbrook, Alta., native Chandler McDowell’s 71 gives the team a total of 4-under 140. Matt Bean of Canmore completes the contingent from the prairie province.

Team Canada Development Squad member Charles-Éric Bélanger of Québec City, Marc-Antoine Hotte of Mascouche and Longueil’s Laurent Desmarchais form the team representing Québec, which sits second at 3-over 147.

Sitting atop the Juvenile division is Thomas Critch of Cedar Park, Texas. The 16-year-old notched five birdies and sits T4 in the overall competition at 2-under. One stroke off the lead in the 16-and-under division is Chandler McDowell.

In addition to the title of Canadian Junior Boys champion, the winner will receive an exemption into the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. The competition will be co-hosted by The Royal Ottawa Golf Club and Eagle Creek Golf Club from August 8 to 11.

The second round of the Canadian Junior Boys Championship will begin with groups teeing off Nos. 1 and 10 at 7:30 a.m. NST. The afternoon wave of competitors will begin their rounds at 12:30 p.m. NST.

Additional information from the tournament can be found here.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – Jimmy Walker did everything required of a major champion on the longest final day in 64 years at a PGA Championship.

And then Jason Day made him do a little bit more.

Walker was standing over an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th hole Sunday when he heard a roar that caused him to twice back off the putt. It was Day, the defending champion and world’s No. 1 player, down to his last chance and delivering with a 2-iron that landed in front of the pin and stopped 15 feet away for eagle.

Walker answered, like he had done all day, with a birdie for a three-shot lead.

Moments later, another roar.

Day made the eagle putt, and the lead was down to one.

“There was nothing easy about the day – really about the week, for that matter,” Walker said. “Especially coming down the last hole.”

He went for the 18th green knowing it was his easiest chance for the par he needed to win. The outcome was still in doubt until Walker missed the green to the right, pitched out of deep rough to 35 feet and rolled his first putt about 3 feet past the cup.

Walker calmly made it to capture the PGA Championship, ending a long and wet week at Baltusrol, and still having just enough strength left to hoist the 37-pound Wanamaker Trophy.

“He really put it on me to make a par,” Walker said. “Sometimes pars are hard. But we got it.”

That par gave him a 3-under 67 and a one-shot victory and made the 37-year-old from Texas a major champion. Even with the silver trophy at his side, Walker still had a hard time letting that sink in.

Because of rain, the 36-hole final was the longest in PGA Championship history since Jim Turnesa won his 36-hole match in 1952. Walker at least had time to rest in his travel bus – he’s a frequent neighbour of Day on the PGA Tour – and get right back out into the final round. Walker, who shot a 68 in the morning for a one-shot lead over Day, didn’t make a bogey over the last 28 holes.

Day, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play, came out to the 18th green with his son to watch the finish and quickly found Walker. “Great stuff, mate,” he said.

“It was nice to get the eagle, just to try and make Jimmy think about it,” Day said after a 67. “But obviously, Jimmy just played too good all day.”

In a most peculiar final day at a major, the PGA Championship allowed for preferred lies – that never happens in a major – because of nearly 4 inches of rain during the week that drenched the Lower Course. Desperate to beat the clock and avoid a second straight Monday finish at Baltusrol, the pairings stayed the same for the final round.

Walker and Day were playing with occasional mud on their golf balls on the back nine of the third round Sunday morning as some players behind them were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in short grass in the fourth round.

But it ended on a happy note for Walker. He is a major champion, completing a sweep of first-time winners in the majors this year. Better yet: It moved him from No. 29 to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup standings, all but assuring him a spot on the team.

He finished at 14-under 266, one shot from David Toms’ record score in the 2001 PGA Championship.

Walker began the back nine by holing a 45-foot bunker shot on No. 10 and making a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 11. The final birdie on the 17th was the most important because he had a cushion. And thanks to Day, he needed it.

“Two-putting from that is pretty difficult, especially trying to go for your first major,” Day said. “But he’s handled himself pretty good.”

British Open champion Henrik Stenson, trying to join Ben Hogan as the only players to win back-to-back majors at age 40, faded with a double bogey on the 15th hole.

“It was a long day. I never felt like I brought my ‘A’ game,” said Stenson, who started the final round two shots behind and closed with a 71. “I think I hit more poor shots in the two rounds today than in the previous six or seven rounds combined.”

For the second straight major, this became a duel over the final hour.

Day pulled within one shot with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 11, but he never had another birdie chance closer than 25 feet until the two par 5s at the end. Even so, the Australian battled to the end with the second of two 2-irons at 18 leading him to shout, “Get back there!” And it did.

Thanks to Walker holding his nerves, it just wasn’t enough.

“God, just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is just … it’s so gratifying,” Walker said.

MILTON KEYNES, England – Ariya Jutanugarn won the Women’s British Open on Sunday at Woburn for her first major championship and fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year.

The 20-year-old Jutanugarn closed with an even-par 72 for a three-stroke victory over American Mo Martin and South Korea’s Mirim Lee. Jutanugarn became the first major winner from Thailand.

“I think it’s really important for me and for Thai golf, also,” Jutanugarn said. “Like my goal, I really want to win major and I did. I’m really proud of my achievement because I accomplished my goal this year.”

She will be one of the favourites at the Rio Olympics.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Jutanugarn said. “I can’t wait. I’m really excited about that.”

She finished at 16-under 272 on the Marquess Course, the hilly, forest layout that is a big change from the usual seaside layouts in the tournament rotation.

Lee closed with a bogey for a 73. She matched the tournament record Thursday with an opening 62.

“I really had fun,” Lee said. “That was the most important thing. I had fun throughout the whole thing.”

Alena Sharp of Hamilton was the top Canadian. She shot a 71 for a share of 31st place. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., tied for 50th while Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., finished in 69th place.

Martin, the 2014 winner at Royal Birkdale, shot a 70.

“That was my heart and my soul out there,” Martin said. “That’s all I had. I gave it everything I could.”

The long-hitting Jutanugarn had a six-stroke lead over Lee at the turn, but Lee picked up five strokes on the next four holes with three birdies and Jutanugarn’s double bogey on the par-4 13th.

“On 13, I’m like, ‘Oh, what’s wrong with me,”’ Jutanugarn said. “But after that, I’m really like be patient and I can come back really good.”

Jutanugarn made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th to take a two-shot advantage to the final hole. Jutanugarn closed with a par, and Lee dropped a stroke.

Jutanugarn, the long-hitter who leaves driver out of the bag and hammers 3-wood and 2-iron off the tee, broke through four months after blowing a late lead in the first major championship of the year. In early April in the ANA Inspiration in the California desert, Jutanugarn – at the time, best known for blowing a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in the 2013 LPGA Thailand – bogeyed the final three holes to hand the title to Lydia Ko.

Jutanugarn put the hard lessons to use in May, winning three straight events to become the LPGA Tour’s first Thai champion. And Saturday at Woburn, she shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to pull two strokes ahead of Lee and break the tournament 54-hole record of 201.

Jutanugarn is projected to jump from sixth to third in the world ranking Monday. A year ago, she was 52nd.

Stacy Lewis was fourth at 11 under after her third straight 70.

The top-ranked Ko tied for 40th at 1 under after a 74.

Jutanugarn’s older sister, Moriya, had a 75 to tie for 43rd at 3 over.

EDMONTON – Former University of Oregon player Aaron Wise won the Syncrude Oil Country Championship on Sunday for his first Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada victory.

The NCAA individual champion in May, Wise closed with a 2-under 70 at Glendale Golf and Country Club for a one-stroke victory over Brock Mackenzie and Argentina’s Puma Dominguez.

“I battled all day long,” Wise said. “I got a couple of good breaks and a couple bad breaks. For it all to come in the way it did and for me to win, that was the goal and I’m very excited.”

Wise finished at 19-under 269 after opening with rounds of 67, 66 and 66.

Mackenzie shot a 71, and Dominguez had a 68.

LEWISTON, NY – The good times continued on Saturday for newfound Canadian fan-favourite Jared du Toit, who rallied with a final-round 67 (-3) to crack the Top-5 at the Porter Cup.

A member of Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, du Toit carded four birdies alongside just one bogey to continue his strong rebound after an opening-round 73 (+3) set him back on Wednesday. His effort on Saturday solidified another strong result following his captivating performance at the RBC Canadian Open last week, in which the 21-year-old finished inside the Top-10 to earn the Gary Cowan award (low amateur) amongst the world’s best athletes.

The Kimberley, B.C., native finished at 4-under par (73-67-69-67) for the tournament, sharing fourth place with fellow Canadian Josh Whalen of Napanee, Ont. The pair of Canucks finished 10 strokes back of champion Harrison Endycott of Australia, who closed at 14-under (69-64-67-66) to earn the one-stroke victory over runner-up Gavin Hall of Pittsford, N.Y.

du Toit, entering his senior year at Arizona State, now sits at No.25 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), which will likely improve further following his finish at the “A” ranked Porter Cup event. Team Canada teammates Blair Hamilton (Burlington, Ont.) and Hugo Bernard (Mont-St-Hilaire, Que.) came in at even-par to finish T18, while Eric Banks (Truro, N.S.) was 4-over to finish T35.

Team Canada’s Josée Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. claimed the victory in the women’s event back in June.

Click here for full scoring.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – The PGA Championship was halted because of thunderstorms Saturday, raising the possibility of a second straight Monday finish in a major championship at Baltusrol.

Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb, tied for the lead at 9-under par, were 40 minutes from teeing off in the third round when clouds gathered, the sky rumbled and the horn sounded to suspend play. The course was pounded with rain and players eventually were sent home.

The third round was to resume at 7 a.m., weather permitting. More rain was in the forecast.

The PGA said players would stay in the same pairings and go off in the same order for the final round, starting as early as 8:40 a.m. That at least would allow the chance to finish Sunday evening, though it also meant the champion could finish hours before the last group finished.

Kevin Kisner had a 5-under 65 and was done with 54 holes at 5-under 205. Padraig Harrington also had a 65 and was at 4-under 206.

Only 37 of the 86 players who made the cut completed the third round, and 10 players had yet to tee off. Russell Knox lagged his 65-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole to within a few inches, tapped in for par and a 67, and then the horn sounded right as Marc Leishman was getting ready for his 12-foot birdie putt.

Knox jokingly apologized to Leishman on Twitter: “Grub, showered and feet now up. Make that putt so we don’t play 4 straight days together.”

Phil Mickelson won the 2005 PGA Championship when tournament organizers took a gamble on not moving up the Sunday tee times because of rain in the forecast, and it cost them. Mickelson had to return Monday morning to claim a one-shot victory.

The last Monday finish in a major was just last year at the British Open because of heavy rain that flooded St. Andrews.

Kisner and Harrington showed a glimpse of what figured to be low scoring Saturday because of the soft conditions from two spells of rain earlier in the week. Play had to be stopped Friday morning for nearly an hour because of moderate rain that left the two fairways on the far end of the course filled with too much water.

“You keep it in the fairway, you can attack,” Kisner said. “The course is receptive enough. You can make a lot of birdies.”

Mickelson made the cut with one shot to spare on Friday, rallying from an opening tee shot that went out-of-bounds and onto a side street. He shot a 68 on Saturday and was at 1-under 209.

“There is a low 60s round,” Mickelson said when he finished. “I think somebody is going to break that 63 record in these next two days. The greens are pristine. You can make a lot of putts. They are soft, so you can get the ball very close. I think that there’s that 61 or 62 out there that I was probably trying to chase a little too hard.”

Two weeks ago, Mickelson had a putt for 62 that rimmed out of the cup at Royal Troon in the opening round. Henrik Stenson closed with a 63, needing his best golf to hold off Mickelson.

And then Friday, Streb became the 28th player to post a 63 when he made a 20-foot birdie on his final hole at Baltusrol.

The course was so susceptible that Harrington didn’t feel as though he played all that well and still played bogey-free for a 65.

“Hit the right shots at the right time and any of the shots that I didn’t hit well didn’t do me any harm,” he said. “So it was one of those days. It’s nice when you score better than you play. It was just an average day, as I said. Thursday was the day I played well. It was amazing, the best I played Thursday, is the worst score I shot. That’s the nature of the game.”

The nature of the game Saturday was to wait.

Jordan Spieth played one hole and narrowly missed a birdie putt. Rickie Fowler had 45 feet for birdie on the first hole.

That was as far as they got.

Now they face a marathon Sunday, with a reasonable chance they will not finish until Monday.

WOBURN, England – Ariya Jutanugarn took the Women’s British Open lead Saturday at tree-lined Woburn, nearly four months after blowing a late lead in the first major championship of the year.

“I think I know how to play under pressure,” the 20-year-old Thai player said. “I know like what I have to focus and the only thing I have to is like focus on what is under my control.”

In early April in the ANA Inspiration in the California desert, Jutanugarn – at the time, best known for blowing a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in the 2013 LPGA Thailand – bogeyed the final three holes to hand the title to Lydia Ko.

“I really get nervous, especially being my first time leading,” Jutanugarn said that afternoon at Rancho Mirage. “I got a lot of experience from this week.”

She put the hard lessons to use in May, winning three straight events to become the LPGA Tour’s first Thai champion. And Saturday, she shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to pull two strokes ahead of Mirim Lee.

“I feel a lot more comfortable,” Jutanugarn said. “Like especially today, because I didn’t hit my iron good, but I still make some birdies.”

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot a 2-under for a share of 40th place, while Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., both shot 1-under.

Jutanugarn birdied six of the first 14 holes and closed with four pars to reach 16-under 200 and break the tournament 54-hole scoring record. She chipped in from 90 feet for birdie on No. 8 and made a 30-footer on 10 on the Marquess Course, the hilly, forest layout that is a big change from the usual seaside links.

Lee shot a 69. The South Korean player led after each of the first two rounds, opening with a 62 and shooting a 71 on Friday.

“Everything was OK. Just OK, not perfect,” Lee said.

Mo Martin was third at 11 under after a 69. The American won the 2014 tournament at Royal Birkdale.

Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, at 46 trying to become the oldest major champion, had a 71 to move into fourth at 10 under. She played alongside Jutanugarn.

“If she keeps playing like she keeps playing, she’s going to be tough to catch,” Matthew said. “But go out tomorrow and try to make as many birdies as I can.”

The top-ranked Ko was tied for 27th at 3 under after a 69. She closed with a double bogey after birdieing five of the previous seven holes.

“I just had a toffee. Sugar always helps the feelings,” Ko joked. “But I know that I still played solid out there. It’s not the greatest finish to finish with a bogey or a double. … I’ve just got to get over it.”

Stacy Lewis was 9 under after a 70. She won at St. Andrews in 2013.

“A little bit of a mess today,” the American said. “Just a few too many mistakes.”

Charley Hull, the English star playing on her home course, was tied for 40th at 2 under after a 75.

“I felt like I played pretty decent, just didn’t hole any putts,” Hull said.

Jutanugarn broke the 54-hole record of 201 set by Caroline Masson in 2011 at Carnoustie. The 72-hole mark is 269 by Karen Stupples in 2004 at Sunningdale.

To relax, the Thai player smiles as part of her pre-shot routine.

“I really want to try to be like relaxed before the shot,” said Jutanugarn, in position to jump from sixth to third in the world ranking with a victory. “I feel like whatever is going to make me happy and easy one is like smile.”

She hoped to be smiling late Sunday.

“I think it’s no pressure for me because only thing I want to is have fun,” Jutanugarn said. “So one more day, I want to have fun.”

Edmonton – California’s Aaron Wise and Washington’s Brock Mackenzie shot a pair of matching 6-under 66s on Saturday at Glendale Golf and Country Club to share the 54-hole lead at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship presented by AECON, the seventh event of the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

Wise, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Individual and Team Champion at the University of Oregon, rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole to reach 17-under and shoot 66 for the second straight day, a feat Mackenzie matched shortly after.

“I looked at the leaderboard and saw I could be in the final group, which is where I wanted to be. To make a nice 15-footer on the last hole was good,” said Wise, who has just one blemish on his scorecard through three rounds. “I’ve only made one bogey this week and that came with an out-of-bounds ball, so it’s a testament to how well I’m striking the ball and if I can get a few of those mid-range putts to drop, there’s a low one out there for me.”

Mackenzie, a two-time Tour winner who won the last time he played in Alberta at the 2014 ATB Financial Classic, cruised steadily for most of the day before going eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 14-16 to earn a share of the lead.

“I plugged along and played real solid. I got a very nice kick on my approach into 14, when it kicked right down to about six feet for eagle,” said Mackenzie, who added that his goal was to try and separate himself from the pack on Moving Day. “The guys are so good on this Tour and they go so low, you want to try and get as far ahead as possible just because you know there’s going to be guys shooting 8-under tomorrow.”

The win sets up a Sunday duel between two players in differing points of their respective careers, with the 35-year old Mackenzie pitting years of experience against the 20-year old Wise’s youth and exuberance.

“A Husky versus a Duck, old versus young. There’s a lot of fun ways you can play with that, so it’ll be fun tomorrow,” said Mackenzie, a former University of Washington standout.

For Wise, who made his pro debut at the U.S. Open, Sunday represents a chance to continue what has been a dream season so far in 2016, including his NCAA win and a semi-finalist nomination for the Ben Hogan Award during his sophomore season at Oregon. The Californian pointed to an amateur event in Australia this past January as the turning point for his stellar rise in the game.

“I look back at the Australian Master of the Amateurs as kind of the turning point for me,” said Wise. “That was the first tournament I’ve ever played where I was expected to win. I was the lowest ranked guy there, and to have that pressure on me and play as well as I did and win at Royal Melbourne, it gave me so much confidence.”

“I think my expectations,” Wise added, “are higher than just about anyone else’s. I know how good I can be and just how much work I’ve put into being as good as I can, especially now that I’ve turned pro.”

Two shots back of Wise and Mackenzie was Georgia’s Seth Reeves, who shot the round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 on Saturday, while PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit leader Puma Dominguez was a shot further behind at 14-under.

EDMONTON – Lake Elsinore, California’s Aaron Wise, Yakima, Washington’s Brock Mackenzie and Las Vegas, Nevada’s Joseph Harrison reached 11-under par through 36 holes at Glendale Golf and Country Club to share the lead through two rounds at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship presented by AECON, the seventh event of the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

Wise, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Individual and Team Champion at the University of Oregon, matched Mackenzie and Harrison with identical rounds of 69-66 to take a co-share of the pole position heading into the weekend in Edmonton.

“I played better today. I didn’t hit the ball very well yesterday, and I went to the range this morning to work on it and hit it a lot better,” said the 21-year old, who arrived more than two hours before his tee time to put in some work ahead of his second round. “I’m definitely taking steps in the right direction and I think I’ll be ready for the weekend.”

Mackenzie, a two-time Tour winner who claimed victory the last time he teed it up in Alberta at the 2014 ATB Financial Classic in Calgary, said he has found comfort once again competing in the province and looked forward to the weekend ahead.

“I don’t know what it is. I stayed with (Calgary native and Mackenzie Tour member) James Love’s parents last time and I’m staying with his aunt this week, so maybe I just need to try and find every relative he has across Canada and stay with them,” said Mackenzie with a laugh.

Harrison, a second-year Mackenzie Tour member, put a conservative game plan in play on Glendale’s tree-line layout and took advantage with a 66 to share the lead.

“I hit more 3-irons off the tees than drivers, just to keep it in play and keep the big numbers off the scorecard,” said Harrison, who said he anticipated the chance to gain valuable experience this weekend. The 27-year old is 21st on the Order of Merit this year after getting in contention a handful of times early on this season.

“I’m definitely more comfortable having been in that situation before, but I still get a little nervous on that first tee and coming down 18, but that’s the adrenaline rush that feels good,” said Harrison.

One shot behind Wise, Mackenzie and Harrison were Airdrie, Alberta’s Riley Fleming and Olympia, Washington’s Cameron Peck at 10-under through two rounds.

Fleming is in his third season on the Mackenzie Tour and is making his 30th career start this week. In 2015, he finished 46th on the Order of Merit with four Top-25 finishes and one Top-10. Two of Fleming’s best three career finishes on the Mackenzie Tour have come in Alberta: a T4 at the 2015 Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON in Fort McMurray and a T13 at the 2014 ATB Financial Classic in Calgary.

“I feel like I’m playing well and the scores haven’t been there yet, so it’s nice to shoot some low numbers,” said Fleming. “I just wish the Alberta swing came a little earlier and I got the season off to a better start.”