Cornelson wins Bayview Place Island Savings Open pres. by Times Colonist
Victoria, B.C. – Langley, B.C.’s Adam Cornelson shot a 6-under 65 on Saturday at Uplands Golf Club to capture the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist for his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada title in record-breaking fashion.
The 28-year set the new PGA TOUR-era scoring record on the Mackenzie Tour, finishing at 20-under par 260 for the week thanks to a chip-in birdie on the 72nd hole, giving him a five shot lead over Edmond, Oklahoma’s Taylor Moore. The win moves Cornelson to second place on the Order of Merit, in position to earn Web.com Tour status for 2017.
“It’s the best week of my golfing life,” said Cornelson, finding a poetic ending in capturing his first win at his favourite tournament. “I’ve always felt like if and when I was going to win, it would be at this tournament. It suits my eye so well, and I love this city so much. The support this city, this crowd and the volunteers have showed me, it was chilling. I’ve never felt support like that in my life, and it gave me so much energy to continue on, it was phenomenal.”
Starting the day with a three-shot lead over Cibolo, Texas’ Jeff Rein, Cornelson took control of the tournament with birdies on the first and sixth holes and an eagle on the seventh, opening a lead that swelled to as many as six on the front nine.
“With the talent on this Tour, a three-shot lead is great, but just look at Moore there. If I shoot even-par I’m in a playoff, and I knew that would be the case, so that’s all the motivation I needed,” said Cornelson, who added birdies at the 12th, 14th and 18th holes for a closing 65.
The win comes as validation for an offseason of hard work and self-reflection for Cornelson, who finished 94th on the Order of Merit in 2015 to lose his card. After setting new goals and putting in hard work on his fitness and swing, the University of New Orleans grad came in to the year with new motivation, and it paid off on Sunday.
“At the end of last year, I didn’t know if I wanted to keep doing this. My family is so supportive, they egged me on and I worked harder than ever,” said Cornelson, adding that the success of his Mackenzie Tour alumni peers at the next level provided extra inspiration. “You see guys that win and finish in the top five on this Tour and go up through the pipeline, like Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Roger Sloan and Joel Dahmen, they all started here and when you see them succeed, it’s motivating.”
Cornelson, who was surrounded after putting out by family and friends, including Mackenzie Tour players and British Columbia natives Brad Clapp, Thomas Hay and Seann Harlingten, added that he put some old demons to rest with his nearly-flawless final round.
“I’ve seen leads dwindle, and I’ve been in contention myself and I’ve failed. I slept on that last night, and I learned a lot from those failures. They helped me a lot today,” said Cornelson.
Moore, a former NCAA All-American at the University of Arkansas, finished second in his pro debut, while Rein finished solo third to record his first career Mackenzie Tour top-10.
Monet Chun and Callum Davison claim 2016 CN Future Links Quebec Championship titles
BEAUCEVILLE, Que. – A cloudy drizzle hung over Club de golf Beauceville, but the competitors played through the damp conditions as the 2016 CN Future Links Quebec Championship drew to a close. Monet Chun and Callum Davison held the opposition at bay and emerged victorious at Golf Canada’s third CN Future Links event of the season.
The Junior Girls’ lead teetered between Chun (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Noémie Paré (Victoriaville, Que.) throughout the day, but the resilient Chun made par on her final eight holes to secure top spot. The first-time CN Future Links champion held the lead through all three rounds of play and closed the weekend at 5-over 221.
“My round wasn’t great today, but I’m glad I finished well on the back nine,” she said. “It’s my first CN win and I’m really happy about it because it’s one of the biggest tournaments I’ve won.”
The 15-year-old collected two birdies on the day to finish one-stroke ahead of Paré, who carded a 76.
When asked about her preparations for the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, Chun said today’s event was a good start. “This win is a definite confidence-booster, and it exposed me to all the good players that are in Quebec. It’s definitely going to help me prepare more for the Nationals.”
Céleste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-L’Île-Perrot, Que., remained among the Top-5 throughout the weekend, tallying a tournament total 8-over 224 to claim third place.
Competitors in the Top-6, including ties, in the Junior Girls division gained entry into the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, N.S., August 2-5. Chun, Paré, and Dao will be joined by Isabella Portokalis (London, Ont.), Meghan McLean (Port Williams, N.S.), and Alyssa DiMarcantonio (Maple, Ont.).
Four birdies in a final-round 73 made the difference as Callum Davison registered a two-stroke win. The Duncan B.C., resident finished the competition at 3-under 210.
“As the round got going I made a couple good up-and-downs to save par, and then from there I started to play better and get more confident,” he said.
The 15-year-old says the key to his success was staying calm, despite the crowded leaderboard. “I had a little bit of pressure after nine holes, and then gave myself a little bit of a cushion. It feels good to finish well.”
A tournament total of 212 gave first-round leader Sam Meek (Peterborough, Ont.) a runner-up result, while Minwoo Park (Toronto) and Marc-Antoine Hotte (Mascouche, Que.) rounded out the Top-3 with matching 214s.
Team Canada Development Squad member Charles-Éric Bélanger finished tied for 15th. The Québec City native posted a 75 in his final round.
CN Future Links Ontario champion Brandon Lacasse (Châteauguay, Que.) joins Davison, Meek, Park, and Hotte in the Top-5 of the Junior Boys division. All have earned exemptions into the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship at Clovelly Golf Club in St. John’s N.L., from August 1-4. William Duquette of Laval, Que., defeated Fredericton, N.B., native Calvin Ross in a one-hole playoff to earn the final qualifying spot available in this competition.
Three more CN Future Links Championships will be played this season:
- June 10-12 – CN Future Links Prairie – Neepawa, Man. – Neepawa Golf & Country Club
- July 4-6 – CN Future Links Western – Medicine Hat, Alta. – Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club
- July 12-14 – CN Future Links Atlantic – Fairview, P.E.I. – Countryview Golf Club
Additional information regarding the 2016 CN Future Links Quebec Championship can be found here.
McGirt wins Memorial in playoff
DUBLIN, Ohio – William McGirt won for the first time in 165 starts on the PGA Tour, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
McGirt played the final 22 holes of the Memorial without a bogey, and his 6-foot par on the second extra hole to beat Jon Curran, earn a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus and move high enough in the world ranking (No. 43) to get into the U.S. Open in two weeks at Oakmont.
He had to work harder than ever for his first victory.
McGirt, who made one birdie in his closing round of 1-under 71, kept it steady as everyone around him was falling apart on the back nine. His final par in regulation was the most important, a two-putt from 65 feet to join Curran in a playoff.
Curran showed his mettle, too, hitting out of a fairway bunker on the 17th hole to 7 feet for a birdie that carried him to a 70.
They finished at 15-under 273, one shot ahead of Dustin Johnson (71), with Rory McIlroy (68) among those two shots behind.
McGirt was in trouble on the first playoff hole until he played expertly from the deep bunker short and left of the green, using the slope behind the hole for the ball to roll back to a few feet for par. Curran missed his 25-foot birdie putt for the win.
Returning to the 18th for the third time, both players were in trouble. McGirt went over the green from the fairway. Curran went from a fairway bunker into the gallery, pitched long and two-putted for bogey. McGirt played a superb flop shot than ran out just over 6 feet from the cup, and he clenched his fist before it even dropped in.
It was the third straight year the Memorial was won by a first-time PGA Tour champion, following David Lingmerth and Hideki Matsuyama.
Jason Day, a Muirfield Village member who had never cracked the top 25, kept that streak going even though he started Sunday in contention. Day closed with a 74 finished in a tie for 27th, matching his best finish at the Memorial.
Twenty players were separated by four shots going into the final round, and not much changed throughout the day. What finally brought some separation were mistakes, and the surprise was that it came from players with far more experience winning than Curran or McGirt.
Matt Kuchar, the 2013 winner at Muirfield Village, had the lead at 16 under when he played too far away from the pin at the par-3 12th and made bogey, and then effectively took himself out of the tournament when it took two shots to get out of a fairway bunker on the next hole in making double bogey.
Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, who began the PGA Tour season by winning the Frys.com Open, was the first to get to 16 under. It didn’t last long. He began the back nine with four straight bogeys and never quite recovered.
Johnson also had a share of the lead at 16 under until a bogey to start the back nine and a long three-putt bogey on the 12th. He was still in the game until missing a 6-foot par putt on the 16th hole, and his birdie at the final hole was too late. It was his fifth top-five finish this season.
Gary Woodland also was in prime position to win until he ran off three straight bogeys around the turn, and his hopes ended when he failed to get up-and-down from behind the 17th green.
Instead, the final act belonged to Curran and McGirt, neither of whom had ever won on the PGA Tour.
Curran, who plays out of the Bear’s Club that Nicklaus built in south Florida, lost in a five-way playoff a year ago in the Puerto Rico Open. McGirt has had a couple of close calls, including a 54-hole lead at Riviera in 2015 and missing the playoff by one shot in Mississippi last fall.
They both played down the stretch as if they had been in this position before.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 74 and slipped into a tie for 11th place at -11. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont,, has completed his round in 68 strokes to tie for 27th at -9.
Bozzelli wins first Web.com Tour title, Choi finishes T5
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Dominic Bozzelli won the inaugural Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title.
The 25-year-old former Auburn player closed with a 4-under 68 for a four-stroke victory over Roberto Diaz, Sam Ryder and Blake Adams.
Bozzelli, from Rochester, New York, finished at 24-under 264 after opening with rounds of 69, 63 and 64. He earned $112,500 to jump from 37th to sixth on the money list with $163,288. The top 25 at the end of the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards.
“This is a big relief. I really wanted to win this year,” Bozzelli said. “I think I’m pretty close to locking up that card. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m going to enjoy this one for sure, but I’d like to try and get another one. … The goal was to get onto the PGA Tour. Getting this win changes things. The win will help my confidence. I think the sky’s the limit from here.”
Diaz shot 68, Ryder 69, and Adams 72. Jeff Gove and Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Albin Choi each each shot 67 to tie for fifth at 19 under.
Bozzelli three-putted for bogey on the par-4 18th, his first blemish in 37 holes.
“I would’ve liked to make par on 18 to finish it off,” Bozzelli said. “I’m happy to get the win.”
After tapping in for the victory, Bozzelli was greeted by father Dominic, mother Susan and sister Bianca.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for their support,” Bozzelli said. “To have them here to see that first one was really special. It’s definitely a week we won’t forget.”
Nordqvist successfully defends ShopRite LPGA title
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Anna Nordqvist successfully defended her ShopRite LPGA Classic title Sunday, closing with a 7-under 64 in breezy conditions for a one-stroke victory over Haru Nomura.
The 28-year-old Swede became the oldest tour winner this year by more than five years and the first to successfully defend a title since Inbee Park won the KPMG Women’s PGA for the third straight time last year.
“It feels really special, because I’ve been playing pretty good all spring,” Nordqvist said. “I just haven’t really got any results, and it just really got frustrating. … I’m very proud of myself for sitting here again. Just any time you can win on tour, it’s a special moment. It’s just getting tougher. The competition is getting really tough.”
Nordqvist finished at 17-under 196 on Stockton Seaview’s Donald Ross-designed Bay Course to tie the tournament record that Annika Sorenstam set in 1998 and matched in 2005. The 6-foot former Arizona State player earned $225,000 for her sixth tour title. She opened with rounds of 64 and 68.
“My team deserves a huge credit for just keep pushing me to stay patient and keep believing in myself, because there were times where I was hitting it really well and just couldn’t get anything out of it,” Nordqvist said. “Sitting here now, it almost feels even sweeter, being back in the winner’s circle, just knowing that I’ve been playing well, I have been staying patient, and it finally paid off.”
Nomura, a two-time winner this year, was second after a 66. The Japanese player birdied the par-5 18th.
“Today I played good,” Nomura said. “Still 5 under. Today, Anna, 7 under. Yeah, my play today is good.”
Nomura was the previous oldest winner this season at 23.
Nordqvist birdied three of the first four holes and added birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn in 5-under 32. She also birdied the par-4 12th and 16th.
“You’re just trying to hit a lot of greens,” Nordqvist said. “I hit 17 greens and I just missed the last one. Just tried to control the ball in the wind, hitting fairways, hitting greens, and I think that’s always been one of my keys on this course.”
Projected to jump from 19th to 16th in the world ranking, Nordqvist is the first European winner on the tour since Suzann Pettersen won the Manulife LPGA Classic last June.
“I was a couple shots behind, so I knew I had to post a really good score,” Nordqvist said. “After a good start, I just tried to keep my focus, and can’t really take anything for granted. You lose your focus a little bit, and that’s when you are going to start missing shots.”
In seven starts on the Bay Course, Nordqvist has five top-five finishes. She tied for fifth in 2011 and 2012 and tied for third in 2014.
“It just fits my eye,” Nordqvist said. “I think smaller greens, it narrows down my focus a little bit. You really get distinct fairways here. I like wind and I like challenges. I wish I knew what the recipe was, or is, but I just feel very comfortable coming here and I feel very confident.”
Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished the tournament with a 4-under 209 and tied for 45th. The 18-year-old was coming off a third-place tie last week in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., was the top Canadian at 7-under 206 and tied for 14th. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., tied for 31st while Quebec City’s Anne Catherine Tanguay tied for 55th.
France’s Karine Icher, the second-round leader after matching the course record with a 62, birdied the 18th for a 69 to finish third at 14 under. She’s winless on the tour.
Christina Kim was fourth at 13 under after a 65. She finished second last week in Michigan, five strokes behind winner Ariya Jutanugarn.
Stacy Lewis, the winner in 2012 and 2014, had her second straight 74 after an opening 66 to tie for 67th at 1 over. The 31-year-old Lewis is winless in 50 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th tour victory. She tied for second last month in Alabama, her 10th runner-up finish during the drought and 23rd overall.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko and the streaking Jutanugarn skipped the tournament to get ready for the KPMG Women’s PGA, the second major championship of the year that starts Thursday at Sahalee near Seattle. Jutanugarn has won three straight events.
McCarron wins PGA Tour Champions event in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa – Marriage has made Scott McCarron a much better golfer.
McCarron won the Principal Charity Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour Champions title, birdieing the final three holes for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke victory.
The 50-year-old McCarron finished at 15-under 201 at Wakonda Club to edge Miguel Angel Jimenez and Billy Andrade. Making his 17th start on the 50-and-over tour, McCarron won for the first time since taking the 2001 Bellsouth Classic for the last of his three PGA Tour titles.
McCarron didn’t have a top-10 finish during the first three months of the season. But after getting hitched last month, he had back-to-back top-10s before his milestone victory in Iowa.
“She’s been a phenomenal support. Even when I was thinking of hanging it up and just doing TV, she really pushed me,” McCarron said about wife Jenny. “I’ve got to hand it to her. She really stuck by me through a lot of difficult times.”
Andrade had a 68 after shooting a course-record 63 on Saturday. Jimenez shot a 67.
Duffy Waldorf (67) and Joe Durant (71) tied for fourth at 11 under, and Tom Lehman (71) and Senior PGA winner Rocco Mediate (70) were 10 under.
McCarron’s surge began with an eagle on the 5th hole that put him in position to challenge the leaders, and he pulled even with a birdie on the par-4 16th.
McCarron then drilled a 36-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 17, and he put his approach from the rough on the 18th hole within 10 feet of the pin.
McCarron played his final 47 holes without a bogey.
“Once I got to 16 I said, ‘You know, if I can birdie the last three I might have a chance to close it out.’ I played some great holes the last couple of holes,” McCarron said.
Jimenez appeared to be primed for his fourth senior tour win in just 12 starts after a long birdie putt on the 10th hole. But Jimenez bogeyed the 12th hole and could only muster pars on the 16th and 17th as McCarron surged past him.
Still, Jimenez has finished fourth or better in his last three appearances on the senior tour this season.
Andrade, Durant and Todd Hamilton began the final round in a three-way tie for the lead.
Only Andrade was truly a factor Sunday.
Andrade fell quickly from the top, with bogeys on his first three holes. But he surged back and had a relatively easy eagle putt on the 15th hole, which he left it just inches wide.
Andrade could’ve forced a playoff with a long-shot chip on No. 18. He didn’t get it, but Andrade did sink a long putt to tie for second.
“Just a bad start. It was a funky day. The wind was swirling,” Andrade said.
Durant also started poorly before a string of birdies on the back nine ensured a top-five finish.
Hamilton also fell apart on the front nine. Hamilton had four bogeys and, like Durant, a double bogey on No. 7. He shot a 76 to tie for 17th.
John Daly, whose debut in Iowa helped draw record crowds all weekend, finally put together a solid round. Daly shot a 69 and wound up 1 over for the tournament, just a week after missing the cut at the Senior PGA Championship.
Hadwin sits T4; Kuchar endures up-and-down day for share of lead at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio – A storm system that rolled through Muirfield Village late Saturday only further muddled the outlook at the Memorial.
Emiliano Grillo had the lead, came back from a 2 1/2-hour delay and promptly made double bogey. Matt Kuchar was rolling along after recovering from a freak bounce early in his round only to chop his way to bogey on the final hole.
Kuchar, who shared the 54-hole lead with Gary Woodland and William McGirt, sized up the final round when someone asked what it would take to win.
“You’re guess is as good as mine,” he said.
Kuchar rallied from a rough start and wound up with a 2-under 70 to join Woodland (69) and McGirt (64) at 14-under 202. The starting times were moved up for Sunday with players going off both tees in an effort to beat more bad weather in the forecast, which is easier to predict than the winner.
Twenty players were separated by four shots. Eight of them have never won on the PGA Tour. Three of them can avoid U.S. Open qualifying if they were to win.
And all of them would like nothing more than to relish a winner’s handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus.
That includes the No. 1 player in the world.
Jason Day, a Muirfield Village member who has never finished in the top 25 at the Memorial, ran off two quick birdies to get within one of the lead, only to watch a chip roll back past him into the fairway on the 18th hole for a double bogey and a 68. He was three shots behind.
Rory McIlroy was making headway until he dropped a shot at the last for a 70 that put him five back.
The other member of the modern Big Three never recovered from his mistakes. Jordan Spieth, after two quick birdies, went through a stretch of poor swings and missed putts, dropped four shots in a six-hole stretch. He had a 74 and was 10 behind.
So many others were still in the game, although Grillo appeared the least happy. He was at 15 under and on the 17th tee when he says an official told him to wait because the horn was getting ready to sound. It did a minute later, and Grillo said he would have rather hit.
When he returned, his tee shot went deep in the rough, he hacked out to the fairway, just missed the green to the left and took double bogey.
“I had to go home with 10 shots instead of eight, or maybe seven, the way I was playing,” he said. “But it is what it is, and tomorrow will be another day.”
He was at 13-under 203, along with Abbotsford, B.C., native Adam Hadwin (67), Jon Curran (68) and Dustin Johnson, who returned from the delay to tap in a short birdie putt for a 68.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot 72 to tie for 51st.
Woodland and McGirt are among dozens of players who face 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying Monday, but they can take care of that with a victory, which would put both well inside the top 60 when the cutoff falls a week later. A victory for Scott Brown, three shots back after a 69, likely would do the same.
“I’m feeling pretty confident about where my game is,” said Woodland, who has made only one bogey in 54 holes at Muirfield Village. “I’ve been playing well for a while, and it’s starting to come together.”
McGirt cares only about winning. He has gone 164 starts on the PGA Tour, and he figures it’s about time. He played like it Saturday, going 5 under through his opening five holes with an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. McGirt dropped a shot on the tough par-3 16th, answered with a birdie and signed for a 64.
“This game owes you nothing,” McGirt said. “I feel like I’ve put myself in position a few times, and it’s one of those things where you kind of have to screw it up a couple of times before you learn. I feel like every time I’ve been in this position I’ve learned something. So hopefully, tomorrow, if I can make it work out, it would be good.”
Kuchar won the Memorial three years ago. Johnson is a powerful presence at any tournament.
And then there’s Day.
He was determined to show he can play the Memorial better than he has, though little mistakes have held him back. Just short of the 18th, he had a pitch mark behind his ball on a delicate shot, caught it fat and watched it roll off the false front (the pin was in front), past his feet and back to the fairway.
“At the start of the day, if they said you’re going to shoot a 68, I would have taken it,” he said. “I think I played pretty good. I hit a lot better than I did yesterday, and there’s a lot of positives going into tomorrow.”
Karine Icher ties course record with 62, leads Shoprite LPGA
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Karine Icher matched the Bay Course record with a 9-under 62 on Saturday to take the second-round lead in the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
The 31-year-old French player, winless on the tour, had nine birdies in a 13-hole stretch in the round that started on No. 10 at Stockton Seaview. She tied the record on the Donald Ross-designed course set by Laura Davies in 2005 and matched by Jimin Kang that year and Jennifer Johnson in 2014.
“I don’t realize,” Icher said after her lowest round on the LPGA Tour. “I just like try to play easy and not look at the scoreboard, because it doesn’t serve me. I know that. So, try to play shot after shot, and then it’s becomes like a game to make as many birdies as possible.”
Icher began the run on Nos. 14 and 15, added two more on 17 and 18, ran off four straight on 3-6, reached 12 under on the eighth and closed with a par. She had only 23 putts.
“I made a lot of second shots close to the hole, so made some birdie easier to do,” Icher said. “The greens are difficult to read, and to get the right speed with the right slope. So, the closer you are, the easiest it is. It was a good round. I putted well. I had good wedges. So, quite happy.”
She chipped in on the par-4 sixth.
“I had to do like a rescue hybrid,” Icher said. “That one was lucky because it was quite hard. Dead straight in the hole.”
Japan’s Haru Nomura, a two-time winner this year, and South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi were a stroke back at 11 under. Nomura had a 66, and Choi birdied five of the last eight in a 64.
“I just remind myself like, ‘Hey, you can go aggressive a little bit more. You can shoot lower,’ So, I kind of motivate myself,” Choi said. “And just back nine, my shot was great and I got a lot of birdie chances, too. Seven under, I still feel like I left a couple out there.”
Nomura eagled the par-5 third and rebounded from a bogey on 14 to birdie three of the last four.
“Everything good,” Nomura said. “Driver, woods, irons, putting not bad.”
Defending champion Anna Nordqvist, tied for the first-round lead after a 64, had a 68 to drop to fourth at 10 under. The Swede bogeyed the first two holes, eagled the third and had five birdies and two bogeys the rest of the way.
“I feel I played pretty good,” Nordqvist said. “It was really tough wind this afternoon. A little hard to judge the direction. And then 17, 18 played dead into the wind. Made those holes a little tougher. But I shot 3-under today and I’m two shots out of it, and I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe had a birdie-eagle finish for a 65 to reach 8 under. She holed out from 35 yards on the par-5 18th.
“It landed like 5 yards short and it just went in on the second bounce, an eagle,” Uribe said. “It’s a pretty nice way to finish.”
Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., leads the Canadian contingent at T15 after matching her first round 68. Sherbrooke, Que., resident Maude-Aimee Leblanc shot 72. Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson was 3 under after a 70. The 18-year-old Canadian is coming off a third-place tie last week in Ann Arbor, Michigan, her ninth top-10 finish of the year.
Québec native Anne-Catherine Tanguay also recorded a 70, while Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., will not be moving onto the final round.
Stacy Lewis, the tournament winner in 2012 and 2014, followed her opening 66 with a 74 to drop to 2 under. Down to sixth in the world, the 31-year-old Lewis is winless in 49 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th LPGA Tour victory. She tied for second three weeks ago in Alabama, her 10th runner-up finish during the drought and her 23rd overall.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko and streaking Ariya Jutanugarn skipped the tournament to get ready for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the second major championship of the year, next week at Sahalee near Seattle. Jutanugarn has won three straight events, the last a five-stroke victory last week in Ann Arbor.
Andrade, Durant, Hamilton tied for PGA Champions Tour lead
DES MOINES, Iowa – Billy Andrade broke the course record with a 9-under 63 on Saturday for a share of the second-round lead with Joe Durant and Todd Hamilton in the PGA Tour Champions’ Principal Charity Classic.
Durant had a 65, and Hamilton shot a 67 to match Andrade at 10-under 134 at the Wakonda Club.
Andrade broke the course record of 64 set by Bart Bryant in 2013 and matched by Bill Glasson in 2014. Andrade also tied the tournament record of 62 set by Kirk Triplett in 2012 at Glen Oaks.
Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) and Tom Lehman (68) were two strokes back, and Senior PGA winner Rocco Mediate (67) was 8 under along with Scott McCarron (68) and first-round leader John Inman (71).
John Daly, the senior newcomer who helped draw a record opening-round crowd on Friday, shot his second straight 74 to drop to 4 over.
St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle shot a 3-under 69 and is tied for 37th.
Monet Chun and Callum Davison take 36-hole lead at CN Future Links Quebec Championship
BEAUCEVILLE, Que. – Clear skies and good weather brought ideal playing conditions to the second round of the CN Future Links Quebec Championship. First round co-leader Monet Chun took sole possession of the Junior Girls’ top spot, while Callum Davison moved up from second place to lead the Junior Boys into the final round.
Chun, a product of Richmond Hill, Ont., tallied four birdies across her first 11 holes to card a 2-under 70 on the day. The 15-year-old reached 2-under in the competition to extend her advantage by four strokes.
Noemie Paré of Victoriaville, Que., matched Chun’s 2-under day. The 18-year-old’s 4-under back nine comprised of two birdies and an eagle on the par-4 13th catapulted her into second place.
First round co-leader Alyssa DiMarcantonio of Maple, Ont., shot 76 and sits third, while Meghan McLean of Port Williams, N.S., holds fourth-place after carding a 71. Completing the Top-5 is Céleste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-L’Île-Perrot, Que., who is 6-over after equaling DiMarcantonio’s round of 76.
A new leader took hold of the Junior Boys division as Davison shot a 67 to secure a 5-under-par, one-stroke lead. The Duncan, B.C., product notched back-to-back birdies on holes 4 and 5, then another pair on 11 and 12, before adding an eagle on the par-5 16th. Mascouche, Que., resident Marc-Antoine Hotte matched Davison’s eagle on the same hole and sits second after a round of 68.
One week removed from his victory at the CN Future Links Ontario Championship at Midland Golf & Country Club in Midland, Ont., Brandon Lacasse equaled Davison’s 4-under 67 to take sole possession of third place. The native of Châteauguay, Que., drained four birdies in a bogey-free round.
First round leader Sam Meek carded a 71 to stand alone at fourth, while William Duquette (Laval, Que.), Minwoo Park (Toronto) and Ty Celone (Long Sault, Ont.) hold shares of fifth at 1-under. Québec City native Charles-Éric Bélanger, a member of Team Canada’s Development Squad, is T16.
Exemptions into the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship will be awarded to the top six finalists in the Junior Boys division. The event will be contested at Clovelly Golf Club in St. John’s N.L., from August 1-4. In the case of ties, exemptions will be decided via a hole-by-hole playoff. All those in the Top-6, including ties, in the Junior Girls division will gain entry into the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, N.S., August 2-5.
The final day of competition will see the first round of Junior Boys tee-off at 7 a.m. before the Junior Girls take to the course at 11:20 a.m. The second round of Junior Boys will begin play at 1 p.m. Additional information, including pairings and up-to-date scoring is available here.