Though he should be considered one of Canada’s greatest sporting heroes, the sad reality is that George Seymour Lyon is little known in this country.

That will change, to a small degree, during the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when Lyon is recognized as the defending champion in golf for his win in 1904, the last time the sport was in the Summer Games.

What most media won’t have time or the inclination to tell is the full story of who he was, what an amazing athlete he became, how he didn’t take up golf until his late 30s, and won the Olympic gold medal at the age of 46 against a rising star less than half his age. Not to mention how four years later Lyon became one of the first athletes in Olympic history to decline a gold medal because he felt he hadn’t earned it.

“The story of what George S. Lyon did, at age 46, and all of the other things he accomplished in his life is simply remarkable,” says Scott Simmons, CEO of Golf Canada. “There is no doubt in my mind that if he, as a multi-sport athlete, had accomplished what he did in today’s modern era sport and media landscape instead of the late 1800s and early 1900s, that we would be celebrating one of Canada’s most iconic athletes and arguably one of the most compelling stories in the history of sport.”

Lyon was born in Richmond, Ont., near Ottawa, in 1858 and it seems he was born to do historic things. His great uncle Robert Lyon fought and lost the last duel in Canadian history. And his grandfather, captain George Lyon, was wounded but survived in the Battle of Chippewa during the War of 1812. It was a noteworthy battle because it marked the first time that American regulars had defeated British regulars on the battlefield.

The Lyon family moved from Richmond to Toronto where young George would demonstrate a remarkable ability as an athlete. It didn’t seem to matter what sport he tried — track and field, baseball, cricket, hockey, tennis, curling, golf — he was good at it.

At the age of 18 he set a Canadian pole vault record.

George S. Lyon (middle, seated) was a member of the 1894 Canadian International Eleven (Golf Canada Archives)

Lyon was one of, if not the best, batsmen in Canada at a time when cricket was still big in this country.

In 1894, playing for a Toronto team against Peterborough, he carried his bat for 238, a record which lasted for 40 years. And he regularly captained Canadian teams in international competitions.

Lyon was a good enough curler to be a part of numerous championship teams, including vice-skipping a rink that won the Ontario tankard.

Golf was a sport that came late to Lyon, however. He was usually tied up with cricket during the summer months and he even showed some disdain for the game initially.

He was 38 and, if the old story is to be believed, was waiting for a cricket practice to begin when a friend, John Dick, invited him to come to the adjacent golf course to give it a try.

After those first few swings, Lyon like so many before and after him, was hooked on golf.

He eschewed the golf swing of the day and instead came at the ball hard like he was swinging a cricket bat at it. The swing may have been unorthodox and looked odd but the result was prodigious length. That, and his natural athletic ability, allowed him to pick up the sport very quickly. So quickly in fact that within two years he had won the first of his record eight Canadian Amateur Championships.

In September of 1904, Lyon journeyed by train to St. Louis to play in the Olympic Games with two other golfers from his home club, Lambton Golf and Country, which he had helped found and design in then-suburban Toronto.

Lyon, at age 46, qualified for match play and made it to the finals where he faced Chandler Egan, the 20-year-old rising star of American golf who had already won the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur earlier that summer.

In the 36-hole, one-day final, played partly in a pouring rain storm, Lyon won 3 & 2 to capture the Olympic gold medal (which has long since gone missing) and the majestic championship trophy which resides in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum.

Egan, citing exhaustion, retired to his hotel room while Lyon, who had been kidded by the local press about being old and overweight, walked the length of the banquet hall on his hands to accept his reward.

Four years later Lyon went to London, England to attempt to defend his Olympic title. When he arrived, Games organizers informed him golf had been cancelled over a dispute involving the rules of amateur status. They offered Lyon the gold medal but he declined it because he said he hadn’t earned it.

Lyon went on to have many more years of competitive golf and served as an administrator with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada) including a term as president of the organization in 1923.

He died in 1938 at the age of 79.

George S. Lyon This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.

Behind every successful junior golfer there is a vital mentor, teacher, instructor or coach. For instance, do you think Canadian Golf Hall of Famers Marlene Stewart Streit and Gary Cowan would have reached such dizzying heights around the world had they not worked with Gordon McInnis, Sr. and Lloyd Tucker, respectively, when they were young?

From coast to coast, Canada has been blessed with many wonderful junior golf instructors, coaches and PGA of Canada professionals that have kept the cradle of golf alive in this country.

Each of the current crop of Canadian professional stars like Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, Nick Taylor, David Hearn, Graham DeLaet and Brad Fritsch had mentors too. And their success serves as a carrot for aspiring young golfers today.

“When you see all the good players like Brooke Henderson that Golf Canada has helped to produce through its national team programs you see a lot of young athletes who want to play golf to become the next Brooke Henderson or whoever,” said Dave Smallwood, who runs the successful Golf Performance Centre at Whistle Bear GC in Cambridge, Ont.

“Golf Canada and the provincial golf associations have done a great job with their [National Junior Golf Develop- ment Centres].”

Smallwood was a successful club pro for more than two decades, but about 10 years ago he decided to move solely into a coaching role.

“For me, it’s not only rewarding to coach juniors, the move allowed me to specialize,” said Smallwood, a PGA of Canada Class “A” member. “As a club pro you obviously have to wear many hats and one of those hats used to be instruction.

“To have professionals who can now specialize in instruction has im- proved the quality of teaching or coaching better than technology and we have many more teachers suitable for player development.”

Smallwood has seen the quality of play among junior golfers evolve and improve in his time as a coach because there is “actual coaching going on.”

At Whistle Bear, the students of Smallwood and his staff are working on their games all season long because of an indoor facility.

Launch monitors, video, mental coaching and work in the gym are areas that encompass the best junior teachers in Canada. It’s not just about the fundamentals anymore.

“If you have a junior who wants to be the best he or she can be, you have to offer all the tools they may need,” Smallwood said. “Whether it’s technology, proper club fitting, whether it’s sports psychology, strength and conditioning or quality instruction, all my players have that. There are no limitations.”

“When I was a young golfer I never had that. I didn’t have a high-end player to idolize. It’s revolutionary what’s going on in Canada.”

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is keeping golf fun. It’s always a challenge with such a difficult sport to learn and young athletes have other options to pursue.

That’s why when you arrive at the Brian Affleck Golf Academy in New Glasgow, N.S., you may wonder if you’re at a hockey school, soccer academy or golf academy.

Affleck isn’t afraid to bring out hockey sticks or have his students kick soccer balls to better understand the body motion required for a successful golf swing.

“Yeah, we have a few unconventional methods,” said Affleck, who has seen his program boom from 43 students when he opened his facility in 2013 to more than 300.

“My biggest philosophy is that everybody is different, so I don’t try to teach everybody the same golf swing,” Affleck said. “I try to teach them a swing that is natural to them and then we find a way to make that work.

“This way they enjoy it more and really that’s the ultimate goal — find a way for them to enjoy themselves playing golf.”

A common approach among Canada’s top junior golf coaches is to treat the young golfer as a young athlete.

Golf Québec’s provincial coach Fred Colgan was a baseball player first, then got hurt and fell in love with golf. He opened his first golf academy in Quebec City 25 years ago and has seen quite a difference in the type of young people who are playing golf.

“Golf has become a sport,” Colgan said. “There no longer are players who look like Craig Stadler or John Daly.

“I’d say in the past 10 years the game of golf has improved in all kinds of directions and one has been teaching or coaching. You have swing fundamentals, short game, mental therapists and trainers so the golfer becomes an athlete too.”

Colgan and his team have been successful because of their commitment to developing their high-performance students not just with their swing skills but their life skills.

“You have to be committed to coaching a person over a long period of time,” said Colgan, who is a leader in delivering Learn to Compete, Golf Canada’s latest development program.

“Golf is more than a sport, it’s a way of life. You’re teaching them to set goals, planning a day, making them a better player and a better person.”

Brian Gallant takes a similar approach at his Junior Golf Development Centre at Firerock GC in London, Ont., with his pilot program called Learn to Play, Life Skills he helped set up last year.

His aim is three-fold: to keep the game fun; the importance on being an athlete first and golfer second; and a family and life-skills approach.

“Golf is an activity you can do as a family for your entire life,” said Gallant, who enjoys working with juniors of all ages and all levels. “You don’t see a family playing hockey together at the rink or playing soccer together on the same pitch.

“There has to be enjoyment and fun first. If kids aren’t having a good time at something they are probably not going to want to continue to do it because there are so many things for them they can do.”

One of the attractions to golf over time has been how it can bleed into other areas of life. Discipline, work ethic, commitment, honesty and life skills are areas long been associated with golf and are areas that Colin Lavers teaches at the state-of-the-art instruction facility at Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

“I love teaching juniors because I want them to learn to love the game the way I did when I was their age,” Lavers said. “Some of my best memories as a child were spending the summer at the golf course from ages 12 to 18.

“One of the great things about juniors is they have more time to spend working on their game compared to adults, so they see improvement. The more they improve, the more they want to play and the better they play the more they believe in themselves.

“It’s a lot of fun to see a junior golfer go from a 30 handicapper to a two handicapper and be along for the ride.”

People like Lavers, Gallant, Colgan, Affleck and Smallwood are a small sample of why the game is in good hands in this country.

Will juniors be the answer?

Programming and membership created specifically for junior players are key to the survival of an Ontario course. 

A neat development over the winter took place in Brantford, Ont., when the Arrowdale Municipal Golf Course was up for closure but then saved.

With support from Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons, a Brantford native, the nine-hole layout is staying open. Jeff Moore, the director of golf operations for the five city courses in Brantford, found a way to rescue Arrowdale by introducing two new programs aimed at getting young golfers involved in the game.

The new Junior Junior program will offer special twilight fees every weekend and holidays for young golfers aged six through 10 and a family twilight golf special every weekend and holiday during the season.

The second program will offer a new Junior Junior membership for $100, plus tax, that includes unlimited play after 11 a.m. as well as reduced green fees for a parent or adult wishing to accompany the junior golfer.

Moore came up with the idea when he studied the membership statistics of both Arrowdale and Northridge Municipal Golf Course in Brantford. He discovered there were 114 juniors at the 18-hole Northridge club, but only 11 junior members at Arrowdale.

“I started thinking Arrowdale would be the perfect place to introduce it to give them the start,” Moore told Brant-News.

Moore’s hope is that juniors will ignite their passion for golf at Arrowdale and continue to play at Northridge as adults.

“I think it’s going to be a win-win for both operations,” said Moore, the 2011 Ontario PGA Junior Leader of the Year, who along with his son, Zac, will teach biweekly short game clinics for the juniors on Saturday afternoons in June through August.

“I’ve always had a passion for working with the juniors. I’ve always operated under the premise if you take care of the kids, the parents aren’t going to be too far behind.”

Camp counsellors This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.

The magnitude of Canada’s most significant golf victory since Mike Weir won The Masters in 2003 was still sinking in Monday for Brooke Henderson.

Phone calls to her parents, responding to a stream of congratulatory text and Twitter messages – including one from Weir – and a road trip filled the hours after her first major win Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The 18-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied the first hole of a playoff to beat world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand at the Sahalee Country Club east of Seattle.

From three sand saves, to a 90-foot eagle putt on No. 11, to getting out of tree trouble for par on No. 18, Henderson was a study in resilience and shot versatility in a 6-under final round.

The victory propelled Henderson into the No. 2 spot behind Ko in the world rankings. It also pushed Henderson’s season earnings to over US$1 million.

With a lot more golf to play in 2016, including three more majors and the Olympic Games, the Canadian has set her sights on overtaking Ko.

“This is huge momentum for sure,” Henderson told reporters Monday morning from Portland, Ore., on a conference call.

“Definitely a huge confidence booster. To get that world ranking up to No. 2 is kind of surreal, kind of unbelievable, but I still have one more spot to go.”

Henderson was in Portland promoting the Cambia Classic, which was the scene of her first LPGA victory last August.

She and her sister and caddie Brittany checked into their hotel early Monday morning following the three-hour drive from Washington.

They were to fly to Michigan later Monday for this week’s Meijer Classic, as well as meet up with parents Dave and Darlene.

The first Canadian woman to win a major since Sandra Post in 1968 had an inkling of her victory’s impact at home because of Weir’s example.

Henderson was five when a 32-year-old Weir won at Augusta.

She grew up with the knowledge a fellow Canadian could hoist one of golf’s most prestigious trophies despite the country’s short playing season.

“He really changed golf in Canada I think for everybody,” she said.

As Post put it Monday on the conference call “majors are forever and that’s sort of how you define careers.”

But Henderson is far from done defining her career. She turns 19 in September so her competitive upside is abundant.

The corporate world will take notice if they aren’t already, according to one sports marketing expert.

Given the limited advertising space on their clothing, the ideal for golfers is to have deep sponsorship deals with three or four companies as opposed to shallow contracts with many brands, says Brian Cooper of S & E Sponsorship Group.

“Has this win propelled her to the level where she’s being noticed by brands as a potential sponsor? Without a doubt,” Cooper said from Toronto.

“The fact that she’s a very attractive, Canadian, young female that sort of projects Canadian values with true grit the way she won yesterday, that is definitely going to work in her favour.

“She’s got to sustain it. If she wins another major or puts together three or four titles within the next 12 months, she’ll be well on her way.”

Henderson’s ascension from the two hundreds to No. 2 in the world in the span of a year coincides with golf’s re-entry into the Olympic Games in Rio in August.

Canada’s George Lyon won gold in the sport’s lone previous appearance in 1904. Henderson is a medal favourite the first time women play golf in a Summer Games.

“The Olympics is kind of an opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “I’m very fortunate to look like I’m going to be representing Canada and be on that team.

“Winning a gold medal and defending that championship that the Canadian won over 100 years ago, it would be a lot of fun to bring that back home to Canadians.

“I know I have the whole country behind me cheering me on.”

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Team Canada Men’s Development Squad returns to the Chukyo Golf Club this week from June 14–17 for the 24^th annual Toyota Junior Golf World Cup supported by JAL.

Leading the way for the Canadian foursome is Tony Gil of Vaughan, Ont., who will be returning to the event for the third consecutive year. In 2015, the 18-year-old University of Houston commit finished T10 to lead the Canadians. He will be joined by teammates Charles-Éric Belanger (Quebec), A.J. Ewart (Coquitlam, B.C.) and Jack Simpson (Aurora, Ont.).

The Canadian contingent will be under the direction of Lead Development Squad Coach, Robert Ratcliffe—who is entering his fourth year coaching the event. Ratcliffe will be joined by fellow PGA of Canada Class “A” member Matt Wilson, who will be acting as team captain for the second straight year. Wilson currently works out of the La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, Calif., as the Director of Instruction.

The 72-hole event, featuring both a boys and girls division, plays host to 87 players from 19 countries across the globe. The scoring is conducted in a stroke-play format, with each team’s lowest three scores counting towards the day’s aggregate total.

The Canadian quartet will look to improve on last year’s sixth place finish 2015 and they will look to dethrone the defending champion and host Japan.

Click here for pairings.
Click here for scoring.

CALGARY—The bad boy of golf, John Daly, has confirmed he will be driving his bus to Calgary this summer to  bomb it off the tee at the 2016 Shaw Charity Classic, August 31 – September 4.

The country boy from Arkansas, who is the newest rookie to star on the Champions Tour, has been in high demand since reaching life’s half-century mark on April 28. One of the most colourful characters in professional sports, the two-time major champion and winner of five PGA TOUR titles is one of the most adored by golf fans around the globe, which has helped spiked galleries over the last six weeks on the senior circuit.

“John Daly is one of a handful of players in professional golf who is a needle mover,” said Sean Van Kesteren, executive director, Shaw Charity Classic. “Sport is entertainment, and John is exactly who fans of any sporting event want to come out and see. He is extremely talented. He still hits the ball a mile, and is a colourful character that is very entertaining while interacting with his loyal fan base. Having John Daly commit to playing in Calgary simply takes our tournament to a new level.”

Daly is excited to be back playing full-time on a Tour that will bring him to Calgary.

“I’m very excited about it. For me, it’s been seven years since I had a good schedule. My golf game hasn’t been that great, but I have been working really hard lately and I’m excited to have a full schedule and start a new chapter,” said Daly just days after his 50th birthday.

Always straight up with fans and media, Daly is renowned for having one of the largest galleries on any professional golf tour through good times and bad. Daly’s life full of public problems has pulled his loyal fans even closer to him.

“I’ve always said I’ve got the greatest fans in the world, and Calgary is no different. No matter what, through thick and thin, they’ve always stuck by me,” said Daly. “I hear the Shaw Charity Classic already attracts huge galleries. The fans pump me up and I feed off them. I always have and I probably always will. There is nothing better than getting it going and having the fans get loud and crazy. That’s just the way I like them so I’m looking forward to driving the bus up to Canada and hopefully give the fans something to get loud about.”

A wild backstory and unpredictable style, Daly has played in five events on the PGA TOUR Champions and is still searching for his first victory. His best finish is 15th at the Regions Tradition.

Daly joins World Golf Hall of Fame Members, Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer, who have already committed to play in the award-winning Shaw Charity Classic.

Click below to listen to our media teleconference with Brooke Henderson.

SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson beat top-ranked Lydia Ko with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff Sunday in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after overcoming a three-shot deficit on the back nine.

The 18-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., ranked No. 4 in the world, closed with a bogey-free 6-under 65 – the best round of the week at Sahalee – to match Ko at 6-under 278. Ko finished with a 67.

In the playoff on the par-4 18th, Henderson hit her second shot from 155 yards to 3 feet, while Ko’s second from farther back in the fairway left her with 20 feet. Ko missed to the left, and Henderson tapped in to cap a week that started with a hole-in-one on her fourth hole of the tournament and ended with a major championship.

In regulation, Henderson saved par on 18 with a 12-footer, moments before Ko missed a 4-foot birdie try on the par-3 17th. Henderson also made a long eagle putt on the par-5 11th and birdied the par-3 13th. She won last year in Portland, Oregon, for her first tour title.

Henderson became the second-youngest winner in a major championship, with Ko the youngest last year in the Evian Championship in France. Henderson also ended the 19-year-old Ko’s bid for her third straight major victory.

Ariya Jutanugarn, in search of a fourth straight victory, shot a 66 to finish a stroke back. The 20-year Thai player missed a birdie putt on the 18th that could have put her into the playoff.

Henderson, the first-round leader after a 67, began the day at even par – two strokes behind Ko – after consecutive rounds of 73. The Canadian pulled off the comeback with a perfect back nine after going out in 2 under. Henderson’s eagle at the 11th was just the third at the long par 5 all week and separated her from a large pack at 2 under. Ko answered with a birdie at the 11th, but Henderson drew another huge roar with a birdie at the 13th to stay one shot behind.

Both continued to make pars until the 17th when Henderson dropped a 50-foot birdie putt after pulling her tee shot to the wrong side of the green on the par 3. And Henderson managed to make par on the 18th the first time despite pushing her tee shot in the trees down the right side.

The 17th also made the difference for Ko. After hitting a perfect tee shot, Ko left her short birdie putt out to the right and missed the chance to take a one-shot lead to the final hole. Ko missed a lengthy birdie putt the first time playing the 18th.

“I’m happy with the way I played. I just got outplayed,” Ko said. “For Brooke to shoot 65 on the final day at a major, at a course like this is very impressive.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Daniel Berger won the FedEx St. Jude Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, shooting a 3-under 67 to hold off Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Brooks Koepka by three strokes.

The 23-year-old Floridian had had never been in a final pairing until Sunday. When Mickelson, with his 42 career PGA Tour titles, closed within a stroke, Berger birdied three of his next four holes, highlighted by a 32-foot putt on the par-3 14th that pushed his lead to 13 under.

Berger finished at 13-under 267. He became the 13th first-time winner on tour this season and took home the winner’s check of $1.1 million in the 50th start of his career.

“It’s the greatest feeling,” Berger said. “You work so hard to get here and to finally be able to put the trophy up, there’s no way I can describe it.”

Mickelson and Stricker shot 67, and Koepka had a 66 in the round that was delayed three hours because of storms. Dustin Johnson had a 63, setting the back-nine record with a 29, to finish fifth at 9 under.

Berger also became the fourth first-time winner at this event in the past six years and 10th overall in Memphis.

David Hearn, of Brantford, Ont., shot an even 70 in his fourth round and finished the tournament in a tie for 41st at 1-over 281.

Now he will head to Oakmont trying to do something no one has ever done before by following up a tour title by winning the U.S. Open. Only 11 have ever won a major after winning on tour, and Rory McIlroy was the last when he won the PGA Championship the week after taking the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2014.

The thunderstorms slowed down the confident Berger, and only for a hole. He had hit only hit three shots when the horn sounded. Play finally resumed at 4 p.m. local time, and Berger resumed by two-putting from 10 feet on No. 1 for bogey.

But the 2014-15 rookie of the year who already has finished second twice with a total of nine top 10s in his young career. He shook off the bogey by stringing together four straight pars with Koepka catching him atop the leaderboard at 9 under before bogeying No. 8. Berger birdied Nos. 6 and 11 to make the turn at 11 under.

He stumbled on No. 10, two-putting from 10 feet again for bogey. Mickelson went to 9 under with two birdies on his first three holes on the back nine, which included a 44-footer on the par-4 12th. Then Mickelson’s putter failed him as he just missed from 11 feet on No. 13 and 17 feet on No. 14 chasing his first win since the 2013 British Open.

Berger had no such issues as he rolled in putts of 8 feet on No. 12, the 32-footer on No. 14 and a 22-footer on No. 15. That proved more than enough margin as Mickelson birdied the par-5 16th.

Johnson rebounded from a 73 by shooting the best round this week before heading to Oakmont. He chipped in for eagle on No. 16 from 16 feet and holed out from 22 feet on No. 18 to set the back-nine record. That put him a stroke back of Berger who had 11 holes to play, but Johnson felt good about his game with the U.S. Open next.

“On the back nine, I had great looks on every hole,” Johnson said. “Struck it a little better. I got a little sloppy with my setup the first couple days. Caused me to mishit some shots. I’m real comfortable, real confident going into next week.”

FLOURTOWN, Pa. – Bernhard Langer won the Constellation Senior Players Championship for the third straight year, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for a one-stroke victory at windy Philadelphia Cricket Club.

The 58-year-old German star won his seventh senior major title – his fifth in the last 11 majors – to tie Hale Irwin for second place on the career list, a victory behind Jack Nicklaus.

“It was a tough, tough day,” Langer said. “The wind was so gusty and so strong at times, I was wondering if they were going to call the tournament today. The ball was oscillating a lot and there were a few putts, if you hit them at the wrong time, the ball would have just continued to go.”

Three strokes ahead at 2 under entering the round on the difficult Wissahickon Course, Langer closed with a 3-over 73 to finish at 1-over 281 – the highest winning score in the history of the event first played in 1983. Mark O’Meara had the previous record at 7 under in 2010 at TPC Potomac in Maryland.

In contention this year at the Masters, Langer held off Miguel Angel Jimenez and Joe Durant, saving bogey with a 6-footer on the par-4 17th and getting his birdie putt to drop on the par-4 18th after it caught the edge and circled the cup.

“I didn’t make anything until I made about a 6-footer on 17 and a 12-footer on 18, that was about it,” Langer said. “Made nothing all day and had many opportunities. Now, you know, whether that was me or the wind or the greens, who knows, but it was difficult and I don’t think there were many good scores.”

Langer parred 10 of the first 11 holes on the A.W. Tillinghast-designed layout, making a bogey on the par-3 third. He also bogeyed the par-4 12th and was fortunate to escape with the bogey on 17.

“My patience was good, it really was good all day,” Langer said. “I was fortunate that I was never really caught. I think I was always in the lead all day, even though it dwindled to one or two at a time, but I was always in the lead. So even though I made some bogeys here and there, I still kept my nose in front. … I just couldn’t make the putts.”

Langer became the oldest winner in the history of the tournament and earned a spot next year spot in The Players Championship. He won in 2014 at Fox Chapel in Pittsburgh and last year at Belmont in Massachusetts.

“It feels great to have achieved the hat trick in this tournament the last three years,” Langer said. “It’s amazing, I still have to pinch myself to realize what happened.

Langer has three victories this year, also winning the Chubb Classic in Florida in February and the major Regions Tradition last month in Alabama.

“When you keep winning, confidence breeds success and success breeds confidence,” Langer said. “When you’re constantly up there, it’s like when Tiger (Woods) was up there almost every time he teed it up, he’s used to that. You get used to the pressure, you get used to being in the hunt and you get used to winning.”

The two-time Masters champion is third on the tour victory list with 28, one behind Lee Trevino. Irwin is the leader with 45.

“Well, he’s Bernhard Langer, you know?” Jimenez said. “He’s a top class player for many, many years. He’s an outstanding player. Still very fit, still strong, still passion with golf.”

Jimenez and Durant each shot 68 for the low rounds of the day.

It’s tough from the very beginning all day long,“ Jimenez said. ”Par is good in this condition, it’s very good. … The golf course is a magnificent golf course. Beautiful. People say it’s always nice and we play with a lot of wind here, but the condition of the course is perfect and it’s a great track.“

Durant birdied the 15th and 18th holes.

“What a beautiful golf course,” Durant said. “We’re having a ball playing here, it’s just very hard. The wind hasn’t been down at all the entire week and it’s just been tough, and when it dries out it makes it that much tougher.”

Brandt Jobe was fourth at 3 over after a 71.

“It was swirling so hard,” Jobe said. “I mean, from 105 yards we played a 150-yard shot, so how do you gauge that? But the golf course is playable. We had to have gusts over 40 today. It was brutal, but I think today was the toughest day because it was hard to putt.”

Kelowna, B.C. – Syracuse, New York’s Dan McCarthy took a commanding lead on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit Sunday, cruising to victory at the inaugural GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club.

The 30-year old managed a final round 7-under 64, including a hole out from 102 yards on the par-5 12^th, to win by seven over Vancouver, B.C.’s Ryan Williams. McCarthy shot 25-under 259 for the week, setting the new PGA TOUR-era scoring record on the Mackenzie Tour for 72 holes.

With the win, McCarthy strengthens his lead atop the Order of Merit to $30,053 over Adam Cornelson, putting him in position to earn exempt status on the Web.com Tour for 2017.

“It hasn’t even fully hit me yet, but I’m sure it will on the way home when I have some time to decompress.” said McCarthy, who also claimed victory two weeks ago at the Freedom 55 Financial Open. “It feels so good. I’ve worked really hard for a really long time, so this is a really nice culmination of it all.”

Starting the day two strokes ahead of Williams thanks to a hole-out eagle from 103 yards on the 18^th hole Saturday, McCarthy built a four stroke lead after 10 holes, then holed out for eagle again on the 12^th to remove any doubt of who the week’s winner would be.

“I think I’ll be laying up to 102 or 103 a few more times this year. That was really fortunate to have two hole outs on the weekend,” said McCarthy.

The victory marks the first time a player has captured two victories in the first three starts of the season since Joel Dahmen won the Freedom 55 Financial Open and Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON in 2014. McCarthy said he plans to keep trying to make as many birdies as possible as he chases a promotion to the Web.com Tour in 2017.

“It sets me well ahead of everyone else, and now they’re chasing. I’m not going to let up and I’m going to keep my foot on the pedal. These guys are really, really good up here, and I’m sure many of the guys will give me a run for my money,” said McCarthy.

One shot behind Williams in solo third was Laurens, South Carolina’s Caleb Sturgeon, while Temecula, California’s John Chin was two shots further behind in solo fourth.