SYLVANIA, Ohio – Lydia Ko outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee to win the Marathon Classic on Sunday for her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the season.

The top-ranked Ko made a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole after Jutanugarn and Lee ran into trouble.

Also the 2014 winner, Ko closed with a 2-under 69 at Highland Meadows to match Jutanugarn and Lee at 14-under 270.

The 19-year-old New Zealander has 14 LPGA Tour titles, also winning consecutive events in South California – the second the major ANA Inspiration – and later in Arkansas. She’s 4-1 in playoffs, with the loss coming to Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., this year in the KPMG Women’s PGA.

Ko missed a 5-footer birdie putt on the third extra hole, sending the trio back to the 18th tee for the final time. Jutanugarn had chances to win on the first two playoff holes, missing birdie putts of 14 and 8 feet.

Ko opened with rounds of 68, 66 and 67 to enter the day three strokes behind Hyo Joo Kim. Ko birdied three of the first six holes, while Kim had three bogeys on the stretch. Ko birdied the par-4 ninth, bogeyed the par-3 14th and 16th and finished with two pars.

Lee shot a 65, bogeying the 18th after making birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 16 and 17.

Jutanugarn had a 68, reaching 14 under with an eagle on 17. The long-hitting Thai player won three straight events in May.

Kim followed her third-round 64 with a 73 to finish a stroke back.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp were the top Canadians at 7 under, good for 11th place. Henderson finished even while Quebec City’s Anne Catherine Tanguay was 2 over.

Stacy Lewis was fifth at 11 under after a 71. Born in the area, the Texan is winless in 56 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th tour victory. She has 11 runner-up finishes during the drought and 24 overall.

Alison Lee, tied for second with Ko entering the round, had a 73 to fall into a tie for sixth with Beatriz Recari (68) at 10 under.

Brittany Lang, coming off a playoff victory over Anna Nordqvist in the U.S. Women’s Open, had a 74 to tie for 24th at 3 under. Nordqvist also was 3 under after a 70.

OPELIKA, Ala. – Jhonattan Vegas’ lead was down to three strokes Saturday when rain finally stopped third-round play in the Barbasol Championship.

Six shots ahead after a course-record 11-under 60 on Friday, Vegas was 1 over for the round and 16 under overall playing the par-4 14th when play was stopped on Grand National’s Lake Course.

The 29-year-old Venezuelan Olympic qualifier failed to qualify for the British Open and has only past champion status – he won the 2011 Bob Hope Classic for his lone tour title – on the PGA Tour. The winner Sunday will get a two-year exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship, but will not be exempt for the Masters.

David Toms and Aaron Baddeley were 13 under.

The 49-year-old Toms was 4 under for the day with four holes left.

Baddeley shot a 64, chipping in on the par-4 18th for his third straight birdie. The 35-year-old Australian, also limited to past champion status, won the last of his three titles in 2011 at Riviera.

“All I was thinking is just playing golf,” Baddeley said. “If you try and force the issue, that’s usually when you go backwards. I was just trying to play golf, just keep playing, keep hitting good shots and, if I keep doing that, there’s a chance I’m going to shoot a low score and I did that.”

Michael Johnson, the former Auburn player making his pro debut, was tied for fourth at 11 under with five holes to go.

Sam Saunders also was 11 under along with Stuart Appleby, Brian Harman, Roberto Castro and Hudson Swafford. Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, shot a 65.

“It’s just a nice solid round, I played really well,” Saunders said. “Momentum got thrown off a little bit there with the rain delay, but I’m still pleased with the way I finished and put myself in a good position for tomorrow.”

Appleby had a 66. Harman had two holes left, Castro four, and Swafford five.

Canadian Olympian David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was 2-under through 17 holes when play was halted. He holds a share of 21st, while fellow Olympian Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., sits T37 and is in the midst of a 4-under round with one hole to play in his third round.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) and Golf Canada are pleased to announce the six champions of Saturday’s CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., site of next week’s 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

The National Event, running for the eighth consecutive year, crowned female and male champions from three age groups (9-11, 12-14 and 15-18). Among the 25 participants from across the country, the following six individuals emerged as champions:

• Austin Boge, Golf Mentor Academy, MB (Boys 9-11)
• Kelly Zhao, King Valley Golf Club, ON (Girls 9-11)
• Ben Callaghan, Brian Affleck Academy, NS (Boys 12-14)
• Emily Zhu, King Valley Golf and Country Club, ON (Girls 12-14)
• Marc Sweeney, Wildwood Golf Course, SK (Boys 15-18)
• Alexandra Jucan, Copper Creek Golf Club, ON (Girls 15-18)

The winners of each age group received a champion’s package from Titleist Footjoy. In addition, Marc Sweeney and Alexandra Jucan – winners of the 15-18 age groups – have earned exemptions into their local 2017 CN Future Links Championship.

“It was so exciting and competitive at the same time,” said boys 12-14 winner Ben Callaghan. “I was pretty nervous going into it but I started to build some confidence and am very happy to come out on top.”

Saturday’s National Event tested juniors in a four-part skills challenge which tested putting, chipping, driving and iron play. The participants, split into three different age groups, were invited based on their scores from individual Skills Challenge events hosted at 134 clubs throughout the year by CN Future Links instructors, totaling over 2,200 competitors.

On the Sunday prior to tournament week, junior participants will also have the opportunity to test the storied Glen Abbey layout in an exciting match play format, outfitted by program sponsor Cobra Puma Golf. Following that, participants will be provided weekly grounds passes and have an opportunity to be involved in Monday’s Pro-Am and secure a spot in Wednesday’s CN Future Links Walk with a Pro event during the Wednesday Pro-Am.

“The CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event is in place to recognize individuals from across the country in three age groups who have accumulated the highest score in our four key skill areas—chipping, putting, iron play and driving,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “The event being held at the RBC Canadian Open for the second straight year made for a very exciting atmosphere for all involved – we’d like to congratulate our champions and thank all competitors for their participation.”

Current CN Future Links programming includes the Learn to Play program as well as mobile clinics presented by ACURA, PGA Jr. League, Girls Club, Field Trip and the CN Future Links Championships. As part of its investment in Canadian junior golf, CN is also a proud supporter of Golf in Schools.

In 2015, CN Future Links junior golf activities were conducted at 518 golf facilities with more than 7,100 juniors registered in the Learn to Play program. In addition, 164 golf facilities took part in the Junior Skills Challenge running more than 3,200 juniors through qualifying events. More than 64,000 youngsters participated in over 1,200 mobile golf clinics presented by ACURA. Since 2006, more than 1.3 million children have been introduced to golf through the CN Future Links program.

Click here for champion and general photos from Saturday’s event.

THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Edmond, Oklahoma’s Taylor Moore eagled the 18th hole on Saturday at Whitewater Golf Club to shoot a 6-under 66 and take the 54-hole lead at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel, the sixth event of the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 22-year old rolled in a 30-foot putt for eagle on the final hole to lead by one shot over Irvine, California’s Tain Lee and two over a group of three players headed to Sunday in Thunder Bay.

“Obviously that was nice to see that go in. I was just trying to lag it down the hill there and get another shot going into tomorrow, and it happened to fall in, so it was a bonus,” said Moore. “The wind started blowing on the back nine, and I just stayed steady throughout.”

Starting the day three strokes off the lead, the University of Arkansas graduate started slowly but caught fire with a 5-under 31 on the inward nine to reach 12-under, with four birdies complementing his eagle at the last.

“I got it going on those holes into the wind. I hit a few quality shots and had some putts drop,” said Moore.

Sunday’s fourth round will put plenty on the line for Moore, who needs at least a two-way tie for second to move inside the top three on the Order of Merit and earn an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open next week. Still, the rookie pro said he would try not to get caught up in the moment and continue with what has worked for him so far this week.

“I’m just going to try to take it one shot at a time and stick to my gameplan and add ‘em up at the end. At the end of the day, it’s just another golf tournament and I’ll try to hit some golf shots and make a few putts,” said Moore.

Lee, who began the day with a two-shot lead, managed a 70 to sit at 11-under, while Corey Conners, David Skinns and Cameron Peck were a shot further behind heading into Sunday.

Corey Conners is making his third start of the season and 12th of his Mackenzie Tour career. The Listowel, Ont., native sits third on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit this season with four Top-10s and no missed cuts in eight events. “I have a lot of confidence from playing well down there. I have a goal to keep getting myself in position and hopefully to win an event, and it’s great to have played well all year and know that I can trust my game,” said the 24-year-old.

The member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad is in his second season as a professional after a stellar amateur career that included a runner-up finish at the 2014 U.S. Amateur and a berth in the 2015 Masters Tournament. Conners played collegiate golf at Kent State, where he was twice named an NCAA All-American.

Conners finished third at the 2015 Staal Foundation open presented by Tbaytel, which earned him conditional status for the remainder of the season as one of the top three non-members on the Order of Merit through six events. Conners went on to finish 37th on the Order of Merit to retain exempt status for 2016.

Conners’ 64 matches the course and tournament record, which was shot four times in 2014-15 and earlier on Saturday by Long Beach, California’s Brett Lederer.

Team Canada National Amateur Squad alum Austin Connelly holds a share of sixth at 9-under. Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., and Montréal’s Max Gilbert are part of a five-way tie for 8th.

Mary Parsons cooly rolled in her 6th birdie putt of the day on the par 5 18th and final hole of the tournament at Big Sky Golf Club on Friday to put the finishing touches on her 6-shot victory in the 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship. Parsons finished at even par (288) for the 4 rounds.

Finishing tied for 2nd were Tiffany Kong and Hannah Lee, with halfway mark leader Sumie Francois coming in 4th and 13-year old Akari Hayashi rounding out the top 5.

The win wasn’t without it’s up downs along the way, but Parsons’ perseverance proved to be the difference in the end.

Asked how it feels to be the 2016 BC Jr. Girls Champion, Delta’s Parsons said, “It feels great, having such a strong start to the season. All these girls here are strong players and we all fought our way through this course, so it feels really great.”

Each time she faced any adversity Parsons was able to refocus quickly and invariably make another birdie to get herself back on track. In round one she stemmed the damage from making bogey, double-bogey on the 7th and 8th holes with a birdie on the 9th to rescue her opening nine and proceeded to finish 2-under on the back nine.

She offset 3 bogies with 4 birdies in round two and probably did her best work of the event in Thursday’s third round where her front nine was fraught with potential disaster as every bad break possible seemed to challenge her.

After posting a 4-over 40 on the outward nine, which included a double-bogey 6 on the par 4 6th, followed of course by a birdie on the 7th, she then took on the howling wind and rain that showed up during the back nine. Her 2-under 34 coming home in that 3rd round staked her to the 2-shot lead she would take into the final round and eventually stretch to the 6-shot win.

Of course she couldn’t go through that final round without some sort of bumps in the road to navigate. First, it came in the form of the par 5 4th hole where, having made a birdie on the preceding par 3 and with her lead now up to 3 shots, she was looking to put even more distance between herself and her closest pursuer, Tiffany Kong.

It didn’t exactly work out that way, as she explains, “My alignment was a little bit off starting the round, so when I was going to hit my approach to the second landing patch in front of the green, (on the 4th) I was looking at my feet and I looked up and thought,’hmmm…that tree looks a little bit close…,” she began in recounting her 4th hole adventure.

“But I decided to hit it, ended up hitting the tree. Then I thought, ‘hey, let’s just get through this hole’. Hit it into the bunker… duffed it out of the bunker…so I thought ‘let’s just take it and go.’ ” What she took was an 8 on the hole and suddenly found herself in a tie for the lead with Kong.

But wouldn’t you know it…she made a birdie on the very next hole at the par 3 5th, giving her back a one-shot lead. Over the next four holes Parsons would add two more birdies while Kong played them in 2-over par. Suddenly from having lost her 3-shot lead on one hole she completely turned it around to take a five-shot advantage into the final 9 holes.

With neither Kong nor third place contender Hannah Lee seemingly able to mount anything of a charge on the back nine, Parsons appeared poised to cruise to the win. Not so fast…just to try and make things interesting she hit the ball out-of-bounds on the par 5 13th leading to a bogey. Lo and behold, she birdied the very next hole once more to regain her comfortable lead.

Parsons, who plays out of Mayfair Lakes in Richmond, recorded a total of 17 birdies over the 4 rounds.

This win is the second significant victory of her 2016 season following the one she picked up in the CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Kamloops earlier this summer. She had commented after that win, against a field that included many of the top juniors in the country, that she felt it was going to be a confidence-booster for the rest of the summer.

It certainly seems to have been so far, with this triumph coming just one week after she took runner-up honours in the BC Women’s Amateur at Beach Grove. The win should be a big boost toward Parsons achieving one of her big goals this year, making one of Golf Canada’s national teams.

Parsons has already committed to Indiana University, where in the fall of 2017 she will join West Vancouver’s Alix Kong as a Hoosier.

Joining Parsons on the BC Junior Girls Team going to the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia will be Vancouver’s Tiffany Kong and Surrey’s Hannah Lee.

The 2016 venue for the BC Junior Girls Championship is TBD.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Hyo Joo Kim had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and shot a 7-under 64 on Saturday at Highland Meadows to open a three-stroke lead in the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic.

“I hit good drives, good tee shots and iron shots,” Kim said. “I managed to get up-and-down and I made good putts. It was good.”

Kim had shares of the lead the first two days, opening with a 66 on her 21st birthday and shooting a 68 on Friday. The South Korean player won the season-opening event in the Bahamas for her third career title.

“I just feel happy right now,” Kim said. “I will be happy again tomorrow. Every day I’m happy.”

Kim began the birdie run on the par-4 fifth, parred the par-3 sixth, then ran off four straight on the par-5 seventh, par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth and 10th holes. She added birdies on the par-3 14th and par-5 17th and parred the par-5 18th to finish at 15 under.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko and Alison Lee were tied for second.

Ko, the 2014 winner, had a bogey-free 67. She missed a short birdie putt on the final hole.

“I let one – it was a very dumb one – slip on the last hole,” Ko said. “I’ve got to take the positives. There were so many putts that were so close but didn’t end up falling, so hopefully a few more fall tomorrow. Hyo Joo played great today, holed a lot of putts, put herself in really good positions. Obviously, I’ll be trying to track her down tomorrow, but there’s still a lot of golf to be played.”

Ko won in consecutive weeks in Southern California this year, the second the major ANA Inspiration. The 19-year-old New Zealander tied for third last week in the U.S. Women’s Open in California.

“At the end of the day, I’ve just got to focus on my game,” Ko said. “If I can put some good shots and put myself in good positions to make birdies and put good strokes on it, that’s all I can do.”

Lee, the 21-year-old American who has struggled in her second season on the tour while still attending classes at UCLA, birdied Nos. 15-17 in a 66.

“Feels like I’m playing golf again,” Lee said. “I’m actually having a great time out there and committing to the shot and watching the ball go where I want it to go. I feel really confident going into tomorrow. It’s definitely been a while since I’ve felt like this, but it was worth the wait.”

Stacy Lewis and Ariya Jutanugarn were 11 under.

Lewis birdied six of the first 13 holes in a bogey-free 65.

“I played really solid today,” Lewis said. “It was probably one of the most solid rounds of the year, just ball-striking-wise. I felt like I could hit any shot I needed to, was killing my driver.”

Born in the area, the Texan is winless in 55 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th tour victory. She has 11 runner-up finishes during the drought and 24 overall.

“I want to enjoy this one today because that was probably one of the easiest rounds of the year,” Lewis said. “I just need to keep trusting what I’m doing. That’s kind of been my motto the last week or so, just believe in it and trust it, and that’s what I keep trying to do.”

Jutanugarn birdied the final three holes for a 66. The long-hitting Thai player won three straight events in May.

“I hit my tee shots really good, really a lot better than yesterday,” Jutanugarn said. “I get more comfortable with my putting, so my putting is getting better.”

Brittany Lang, coming off a playoff victory over Anna Nordqvist in the U.S. Women’s Open, was tied for 13th at 6 under after a 68. Nordqvist was 2 under after a 69.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp sits T19 to lead the Canadians in the field at 5-under. Sherbrooke, Que., native Maude-Aimée Leblanc is tied for 28th at 3-under. Québec’s Anne Catherine Tanguay is T41, while Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson holds a share of 50th.

Pace of play was an non-issue Saturday at Glen Abbey Golf Club as the inaugural RBC Canadian Open 5K kicked off tournament week of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

The five kilometre run/walk—organized by Landmark Sport Group Inc.—welcomed more than 500 enthusiasts of all ages who raced along a 5km route across the grounds of the renowned Oakville layout. Participants received the full race experience with running bibs and timed results for every competitor.

“What a great kick-off event to help celebrate the 107^th playing of Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship,” said Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin who joined the race as a participant Saturday. “I think it was a great showcase to bring running and fitness enthusiasts out to the golf course in advance of next week’s championship and we couldn’t be happier with the success of this year’s inaugural event.”

The RBC Canadian Open 5K routing began near the first tee of the championship course and trailed across the front nine with a final race leg that included the 17^th hole and grand finish alongside the iconic 18^th green at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

An awards ceremony took place immediately following the conclusion of the race in the Molson Canadian 67 Beer Garden located within the ZTE Spectator Village at Glen Abbey as participants enjoyed live third-round coverage of the British Open Championship.

Every registered participant also received a free ANYDAY ticket to come back and enjoy the 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

Click here to see a photo gallery from the inaugural RBC Canadian Open 5K.

Click here for results.

TROON, Scotland – Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson delivered what everyone expects out of a major championship.

They matched birdies and improbable par saves. Momentum could change with any shot. The lead changed four times over four hours of golf at its highest level, played in the cold wind and occasional rain off the Irish Sea. All the British Open lacked Saturday was a winner.

Turns out this was only the preview to a duel at Royal Troon.

Stenson took the lead for the last time with another two-shot swing on an inward par 3, and he kept it with a nifty up-and-down on the 18th for par and a 3-under 68, the second straight day that no one had a better score.

That gave the 40-year-old Swede his first lead in a major, even if it was just one shot over someone who already has five majors and his name on the claret jug.

“There’s only one thing that matters tomorrow,” Stenson said. “I know he’s not going to back down, and I’m certainly going to try to not back down, either. So it should be an exciting afternoon. … I’ve worked hard these first three days to put myself in this situation and I’m going to try my hardest tomorrow to finish the job.”

Links golf can deliver some strange finishes, though this had all the trappings of a two-man race on Sunday.

Stenson had his third straight round in the 60s – no one has ever won at Royal Troon with all four rounds in the 60s – and was at 12-under 201. He is trying to become only the eighth player dating to Old Tom Morris in 1861 to win his first major after turning 40.

Mickelson, winless since he lifted golf’s oldest trophy at Muirfield three years ago, had a 70. His game was nowhere near as sharp as his opening-round 63 that tied a major championship record. Even so, he came up with the rights shots at the right time until Stenson passed him late in the afternoon.

“Some days it’s easy and it looks pretty like the first couple,” Mickelson said. “Some days it’s hard and it looks terrible, like it did today. But either way, I shot three rounds under par.”

He made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole for a two-shot lead. Stenson answered with a 5-iron to 6 feet for birdie on the next hole to tie for the lead when Mickelson three-putted, only his third bogey of the week.

Mickelson regained the lead with a pitch to 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 16th, only for the Swede to answer again, this time with an all-out 3-iron into the wind on the 220-yard 17th hole to 20 feet. Mickelson lost the lead by missing the green to the left and making bogey.

Everyone else felt like mere spectators.

Bill Haas, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who is rarely heard from at majors, was solid with a 69 and alone in third. It’s his highest position ever in a major, yet he was six shots off the lead. Another shot back was Andrew Johnston, the Englishman with a big belly and beard to match who goes by “Beef.” He broke par for the third straight day with a 70.

It was unlikely to matter.

This was all about Stenson and Mickelson, two powerful players with different styles and different credentials, mainly the number of majors – five for Mickelson, none for Stenson. Mickelson spoke earlier in the week about not having as much pressure knowing he already has won them.

Not since Davis Love III and Justin Leonard shared the lead and were seven shots clear of the field in the 1997 PGA Championship has the final round of a major took on the appearance of match play.

“I was happy enough to throw two good punches in there on the par 3s and pick up two shots on either one of them to come back out on top at the end of the third round,” Stenson said. “I’ve always been of the thought that it’s better to be one ahead than one behind, because that means Phil’s got to play better than I do.”

Mickelson finished three shots ahead of Stenson three years ago at Muirfield when Lefty closed with a 66 in one of the best final rounds of a major. He hasn’t won another tournament since, and at age 46, it appeared time was running out.

A victory Sunday would give him six majors, same as Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino. He also would be the third-oldest major champion behind Julius Boros (48) and Morris, with whom Mickelson shares a birthday – June 16, albeit 149 years apart. The 1861 Open was played in September.

Stenson was on the verge of falling two shots behind until he holed a 40-foot par putt on the 10th. Two holes later, Mickelson was in danger of losing the lead when he pushed his 2-iron toward trouble and was fortunate the ball deflected off a piece of prickly gorse. He had just enough room to hammer it up the fairway, and then played a shot rarely seen in links golf – instead of running it up along the ground, he spun it back down a ridge to 6 feet for a key par.

“I got lucky that that ball didn’t go into the gorse, even though I didn’t have a back swing,” Mickelson said. “I still had a chance to advance it a little bit. I still hit a good shot to advance it down the fairway like I did, and found a way to get up and down.”

Now, they have one more round, this time with a claret jug at stake.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Jason Millard separated himself from the pack with a second-round, 6-under 65 to take the outright lead at the Lincoln Land Charity Championship. His 13-under-par 129 total places him one ahead of Ollie Schniederjans (62) and Martin Flores (64) heading into the weekend.

Ryan Brehm (65), former Web.com Tour Player of the Year Casey Wittenberg (65), Trey Mullinax (66) and current money leader Wesley Bryan (65) sit two back at 11-under-par 131.

Millard started his day with seven straight pars before getting his round into red numbers. The 26-year-old from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, eagled the par-5 seventh and then drained a 25-foot birdie try on No. 8 to turn in 33. Millard added four more birdies on the back to reach 13-under-par. On the par-4 17th hole, he did his best to give a stroke back but drained a 30-footer for par to solidify his lead.

“I just kept telling myself to be patient,” said Millard, who is 5-for-5 in scrambling this week. “I was hitting some good putts; they just weren’t going in.”

Millard battled a rib injury early in the week and made the final decision to play on Wednesday. Things are progressing nicely for the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada alum on and off the golf course. Millard was pain-free on Friday and holds the 36-hole lead of a Tour event for the first time in his career.

“Hopefully I’m healed up,” said Millard, who has been receiving treatment every day. “It felt really good today. It’s the best I’ve felt in a long time.”

Back in May, Millard was one back heading into the third round of the Rex Hospital Open and carded 71-74 on the weekend. He’s been in the hunt a few more times since then and has responded well to the nerves. Millard notched his best showing on Tour, a solo fifth, at the Rust-Oleum Championship a month ago.

“I was in this position in Raleigh,” said Millard, who settled for a tie for 19th place. “I didn’t handle it well; hopefully I’ve learned from that experience.”

Schniederjans charged up the leaderboard Friday morning with five birdies in his first eight holes. The 23-year-old from Dallas, Texas recorded 10 birdies in total during his second round and posted his second lowest score this season as a result.

A few weeks ago, Schniederjans fired a course record-tying 61 at the Air Capital Classic presented by AETNA on his way to earning his first Tour win in a playoff over J.J. Spaun and amateur Collin Morikawa.

“I hit it so good all day,” said Schniederjans, who hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. “I didn’t miss any shots and played amazing off the tee. It was really similar to the round in Wichita.”

Schniederjans made a bogey at the par-4 ninth when he misjudged his approach from the rough. The ball sailed over the green and he failed to get it up and down. The three-time All-American at Georgia Tech University righted the ship quickly with birdies at holes 10 and 11. His last surge came when he went birdie-birdie-birdie-par to close out the round.

“A lot of times it doesn’t get that low until the very end,” said Schniederjans, about his late run up the leaderboard. “I know the course is super gettable and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone matches it.”

Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., shot 3-under for a share of eighth. Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ont.) of Team Canada’s Young Pro Squad also recorded a second-round 68 to sit T31, while former Young Pro Squad member Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.) finished the day tied for 48th.

Current Young Pro Squad members Albin Choi (Toronto) and Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) missed the cut with respective rounds of 70 and 71.

Irvine, California’s Tain Lee shot a 6-under 66 on Friday at Whitewater Golf Club to take the 36-hole lead at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel, the sixth event of the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 26-year old carded five straight birdies midway through his round and was without a bogey on Friday, building a two shot lead over Comox, British Columbia’s Riley Wheeldon and Santee, California’s Dan Miernicki.

“I felt like someone was going to go really low, so I was going pedal to the metal. The scores aren’t as low as I thought they would be, but obviously I’m happy with how I played,” said Lee, who parred his first seven holes but gained momentum after a draining a long birdie putt on the 18^th, his ninth.

“On 17 I hit it to four feet, maybe even less, and the putt didn’t even touch the hole. I hit a bad putt. After that, I was a little frustrated with myself and made a good putt on 18. Once I saw that go in, I was comfortable and kind of free-wheeling,” said Lee.

After getting off to a slow start this year, Lee, a former Web.com Tour member, carded four rounds in the 60s last week for his best finish of the year, a T15 result at the Players Cup, giving him confidence heading into this week.

“Last week, I’ve been playing pretty good coming into this stretch. I think my confidence is a little higher than normal and so far it’s showing, but we’ll see what happens,” said Lee.

Two shots behind Lee were Miernicki, who carded the round of the day with a 7-under 65, and Wheeldon, who carded three birdies and a bogey.

Former National Team member Austin Connelly of Irving, Texas matched Wheeldon’s round of 70 to sit one stroke back in a tie for fourth. Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) holds a share of 33rd along with Brad Clapp (Chilliwack, B.C.) and Aaron Cockerill (Gunton, Man.). National Team member Blair Hamilton (Burlington, Ont.), Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Ont.), Adam Cornelson (New Westminster, B.C.), and Ryan Williams (Surrey, B.C.) are knotted at 57th.