PGA TOUR

Spieth wins at Colonial for his first home state victory

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Jordan Spieth (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

FORT WORTH, Texas – Jordan Spieth birdied his final three holes, chipping in from behind the 17th green and closing with a 34-foot putt, and shot a 5-under 65 on Sunday to win at Colonial for his first home state victory.

It was the eighth career win for Spieth, the world’s No. 2-ranked player, and came in his third tournament since blowing a five-stroke lead on the back nine last month when trying to win the Masters for the second year in a row. He will try to defend his U.S. Open title in three weeks.

At 17-under 263, Spieth finished three strokes ahead of Harris English at the Dean & Deluca Invitational. Colonial member Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson tied for third.

Spieth had a pair of curling 20-foot birdie putts on the back nine. He also had a 14-foot par save at No. 14 right after his only bogey.

David Hearn was the top-finishing Canadian. The Brantford, Ont., native carded a final-round 68 to tie for 17th at 5-under. Abbotsford, B.C. natives Adam Hadwin (-4) and Nick Taylor (+1) tied for 22nd and 47th respectively.

Champions Tour

Rocco Mediate wins Senior PGA Championship

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Rocco Mediate (Montana Pritchard/The PGA of America)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Rocco Mediate holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-3 17th to wrap up a record-setting, wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Senior PGA Championship.

Smoking cigars during the round, the 53-year-old Mediate closed with a 5-under 66 – holing a 15-footer for par on the last at Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores, for a three-stroke victory over two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie.

Mediate finished at 19-under 265 to break the tournament record of 268 set by Sam Snead in 1973 at PGA National. The six-time PGA Tour winner became the first wire-to-wire winner in the event since Nicklaus in 1991 at PGA National.

Mediate matched the course and tournament records with an opening 62 and added rounds of 66 and 71 to take a two-stroke lead over Montgomerie into the final round.

Mediate broke through with the PGA Tour Champions major victory nearly eight years after losing the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines to Tiger Woods on the first extra hole after an 18-hole playoff.

Mediate won for the third time on the 50-and-over tour, with the first two coming in 2013.

Montgomerie shot a 67 – and matched Snead for the second-best total in tournament history. The 52-year-old Scot won in 2014 at Harbor Shores and last year at French Lick in Indiana. He also won the 2014 U.S. Senior Open.

Bernhard Langer tied for third at 13 under in a failed bid to become the first player to win all five PGA Tour Champions majors. The 58-year-old German won the Regions Tradition last week in Alabama for his sixth senior major title and 100th worldwide victory. In Alabama, Langer joined Nicklaus as the only players to win four different senior majors.

Langer finished with a 67. Brandt Jobe also was 13 under after a 68.

John DalCorobbo tied for seventh at 11 under to top the club professionals, shooting a 71. The 51-year-old DalCorobbo is a PGA assistant professional at Brickyard Crossing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the Senior PGA Professional in October to top the club pro qualifiers.

Rod Spittle of St. Catharines tied for 12th at 10-under while compatriot Stephen Ames took 44th place at 1-under.

PGA TOUR Americas

Williams sits T8 as McCumber leads suspended Freedom 55 Financial Open

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Ryan Williams (Chuck Russell/PGA TOUR)

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida’s Tyler McCumber reached 13-under par midway through his third round Saturday at the Freedom 55 Financial Open to open up a three shot lead before play was suspended due to darkness.

Saturday’s play, which was originally delayed 8 hours and 30 minutes due to rain, was suspended at 8:23 p.m., with round three set to begin at 8:30 a.m. at Point Grey Golf and Country Club on Sunday morning.

McCumber, a 25-year old two-time winner on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and the son of 10-time PGA TOUR winner Mark McCumber, was ahead of Atlanta, Georgia’s Wade Binfield when play was called for the day.

“It’s more mental than physical,” said McCumber of overcoming the lengthy delay before the start of Saturday’s play. “For me, I have things that I do before every round that get me in a consistent mindest, so I did that and I was good to go.”

The University of Florida graduate has conditional status on the Web.com Tour this year after finishing 90th on the Money List last year, and as a result has struggled to find starts this season. McCumber joined this week’s field through a category for Web.com Tour members, and said he was grateful for the chance to compete this week.

“It’s definitely a groove that I haven’t been able to experience lately,” said McCumber, who chipped in on the fourth hole and holed out from a bunker on the eighth, both for birdies. “I’m stoked. It’s going to be a long day, and you have to stay patient and not get ahead of yourself. You have to embrace the fact that you’re going to have a chance to win a golf tournament, which is something that every one of us wants.”

One shot back of Binfield in a three-way tie for third at 9-under were Joseph Harrison, Talor Gooch and 36-hole co-leader Dan McCarthy.

Ryan Williams of Surrey B.C. leads the Canadians in the field at 7-under through 14 holes.

National Team member Eric Banks from Truro, N.S., shot a 3-under 69 in round three to sit T15 at 5-under.

PGA TOUR

Spieth third-round leader at Colonial, seeks 1st win in Texas

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Jordan Spieth (Ralph Lauer/ Getty Images)

FORT WORTH, Texas – Jordan Spieth shot a 5-under 65, even while missing a lot of fairways and a few greens, to take the third-round lead Saturday at Colonial.

The second-ranked Spieth was alone in the lead at the Dean & Deluca Invitational after three birdies and a huge par save in a four-hole stretch in the middle of his round. At 12-under 198, he was one stroke ahead of Colonial member Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson.

Palmer overcame consecutive early bogeys to shoot 66. Simpson shot 67 after 3-foot par putt at the 18th hole for a share of the lead lipped out of the cup.

Adam Hadwin (70) of Abbotsford, B.C., David Hearn (73) of Brantford, Ont., and Nick Taylor (73), also of Abbotsford, are the Canadians in the field.

None of Spieth’s seven PGA Tour victories have come in his home state of Texas. The 22-year-old Dallas native tied for second at Hogan’s Alley last year, one of his three runner-up finishes in the Lone Star State.

Spieth drove into only three of 14 fairways, and hit only 11 of 18 greens in regulation. He drove into the rough and was short of the green on his approach at No. 18, but held his hand over his mouth in some disbelief after his 9-foot par chance slid by the hole for his only bogey.

After a 12-foot birdie at No. 9 to make the turn at 10 under, Spieth’s approach at No. 10 went over the green before pitching to about 9 feet and making that putt to save par. He then chipped in from off the front of the green at the 615-yard 11th and hit his approach within a foot at the 12th for another birdie and stayed along at top of the leaderboard after that.

Spieth went into the final round last weekend at the Byron Nelson alone in second place before a closing 74 that left him tied for 18th in the Irving event where six years ago he played his first PGA Tour as a 16-year-old amateur and tied for 16th.

Simpson pumped his fist from the bunker at No. 14 after blasting in for a birdie to get back the stroke he lost on the par-3 13th when he missed the green with his tee shot. He followed both of his bogeys at par 3s immediately with birdies, including a 12-footer at No. 9 after also missing the green at the 194-yard eighth.

Martin Piller, in the final group with Spieth and Simpson for the third round, had to play 12 holes earlier in the day to complete the second round that had been suspended by darkness Friday after a 5 1/2-hour weather delay.

Spieth and Simpson both finished their second rounds Friday, so only had to play 18 holes Saturday.

Piller shot a 68 and was tied for fourth at 10 under with Harris English (64) and Kyle Reifers (67).

Like Spieth, Piller was born in Dallas. But Piller lives in north Fort Worth and his wife, LPGA Tour player Gerina Piller, is at Colonial with him while taking a week off her tour before an extended stretch apart for the couple.

Matt Kuchar, ranked 20th in the world, had a bogey-free 63 for his best score in 33 career rounds at Colonial, where he was the runner-up three years ago and had finished his second round Friday with a triple-bogey.

Kuchar moved up 35 places, from a tie for 44th to a tie for ninth, after a 13-foot birdie chance at No. 18 slid by the hole.

Abbotsford, B.C., native Adam Hadwin led the Canadian contingent with an even-par 70 and sits T15. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., carded a 73 and holds a share of 24th. Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, collected a trio of birdies and moved to T31.

LPGA Tour

Henderson moves to T9; Jutanugarn eagles 18 and leads in Ann Arbor

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Brooke Henderson (Scott Halleran/ Getty Images)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ariya Jutanugarn ended a shaky round spectacularly, making a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole Saturday at Travis Pointe to take a one-stroke lead in the Volvik Championship.

Trying to become the first to win three straight LPGA Tour events since Inbee Park in 2013, the 20-year-old Jutanugarn shot a 1-over 73 in the third round to reach 10-under 206. She became the first Thai winner in tour history three weeks ago in Alabama and followed that up last week with a victory in Virginia.

Following three straight pars, she teed off on the 500-yard, par-5 18th with a 3-wood and landed in the rough. From 220 yards, she an impressive 3-iron shot that went as planned.

“Just go to the pin,” she said.

Jutanugarn shrugs off her stellar play, but is earning praise from other players.

“It’s incredible what she can do with the golf ball,” said Christina Kim, who was tied for second. “It’s just absurd. She is able to dominate really any golf course without necessarily hitting driver on any hole

Kim shot a 72 to join Jessica Korda (70) at 9 under.

Korda said pin placements made Travis Pointe, a new venue on the LPGA Tour, play much tougher than it did the previous two days.

“They are tucked in a lot of places and the greens are just super firm,” she said.

Stiffer wind was a factor, too.

“It’s very hard,” Jutanugarn said.

Hyo Joo Kim and Suzann Pettersen were 7 under, each shooting 70. Top-ranked Lydia Ko was tied for 25th at 2 under after a 72.

Jutanugarn has been playing better than any woman on the planet lately, including earlier in the week with a 65-68 start.

On Saturday afternoon, though, she fell back to the pack and then behind it with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 3, missing a 3-foot putt, and 4 and a third bogey to close the front nine. A bogey at No. 13 dropped her to 7 under and she birdied the next hole.

A freak accident was the only thing that slowed Jutanugarn down three years ago as a teenage phenom.

After finishing in the top four of each of the five tournaments she played in 2013, Jutanugarn fell off a tee box while running away from her sister, fellow tour player Moriya, who was trying to pour water on her while they were goofing around. Jutanugarn needed shoulder surgery and was knocked out of competition for nine months.

“I think it made her want it even more,” said Michael Yim, Jutanugarn’s agent.

Korda is aiming for her fifth title on the PGA Tour and first since winning last year in Malaysia. She has three top-10 finishes this year, including a tie for third.

Kim, meanwhile, has been struggling. A tie for 19th last month, her season-best finish, was followed by missing the cut and being tied for 45th and 65th the previous two tournaments. She won her third LPGA Tour title in 2014. Kim was leading late in the third round, but bogeyed No. 15 to fall into a four-way tie with Jutanugarn, Korda and So Yeon Ryu.

With a birdie on her first hole, Ryu was 10 under and among the leaders. She didn’t have another birdie the rest of the day and had four bogeys, including on Nos. 16 and 17, to fall to 3 over for the day and 6 under for the tournament and into a sixth-place tie with Belen Mozo (70) and Marina Alex (75).

Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson shot even-par and moved into a tie for 9th. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., and Quebec City’s Anne Catherine Tanguay matched 75s on the day and sit T59 and T73, respectively.

Champions Tour

Rocco Mediate hangs onto Senior PGA Championship lead

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Rocco Mediate (Jeff Curry/ Getty Images)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Rocco Mediate shot an even-par 71 in tricky wind conditions Saturday in the Senior PGA Championship to take a two-stroke lead over two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie into the final round.

Four strokes ahead at a tournament-record 14 under entering the day, Mediate had three birdies and three bogeys – his first of the week – at Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores. He matched the course and tournament records with an opening 62 and had a 66 on Friday.

“I was ecstatic with today, believe it or not,” Mediate said. “I would love to have made a couple more putts, but so would everybody else in the field. But I was happy with the way I felt. I felt good.

“The club was flying today. I let it, just let it go, even more than first two days, believe it or not. I just didn’t hole enough putts. … But I was ecstatic with the shots I hit into some of these wind conditions. It’s a good sign.”

The 53-year-old Mediate won both of his PGA Tour Champions titles in 2013 after winning six times on the PGA Tour. In the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, he lost to Tiger Woods on the first extra hole after an 18-hole playoff.

“I can’t wait until tomorrow,” Mediate said. “Today, I wanted to see what I had and I had it. It wasn’t bad. The golf course was hard today, I thought. Wind was cooking, it was just hard. This golf course is hard without any wind. … This is what you want to feel. I’m playing against one of the best we have. A lot of the best we have are just a little bit behind. So, it’s not going to be easy and it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s going to be a tough day and it’s going to be a fun day.”

Montgomerie had a 68 to reach 12 under.

“It was very difficult today,” Montgomerie said. “Club selection was extremely difficult on a course that demands good club selection or else you got out of position. I would have taken 68 at the start of the day. It was very windy and very difficult to judge the distances into the pins. So, I was delighted with 68. It’s one of the better scores of the leading pack.

The 52-year-old Scot won the major championship in 2014 at Harbor Shores and last year at French Lick Resort in Indiana. He also won the 2014 U.S. Senior Open.

“You know how much this tournament championship means to me,” Montgomerie said. “Obviously, my first 72-hole stroke play win here in America and managed to repeat the feat last year. To come back here, I wanted to make a good showing of it. I really did. I wanted to come here and contend on Saturday night. And that’s what I’ve done. So, I’m in a position where I can win.”

Club pro John DalCorobbo was third at 11 under after a 69. The 51-year-old DalCorobbo is a PGA assistant professional at Brickyard Crossing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the Senior PGA Professional in October to top the club pro qualifiers.

Tom Lehman, Kirk Triplett and Brandt Jobe were 10 under, all shooting 69.

“A little tougher conditions, I thought,” Triplett said. “Some good pins. A little bit more wind. It made you think. The greens are still receptive and guys can still make birdies. … Twelve-, 13-under’s not going to win it, you’re going to have to get to 15, 16 to have a chance.”

Bernhard Langer had a 71 to drop into a tie for seventh at 9 under in his bid to become the first player to win all five PGA Tour Champions majors. The 58-year-old German won the Regions Tradition last week in Alabama for his sixth senior major title and 100th worldwide victory. In Alabama, Langer joined Nicklaus as the only players to win four different senior majors.

An even-par round has St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle sitting T11 at 8-under. Calgary’s Stephen Ames is T20 at 6-under.

Amateur Team Canada

Monet Chun tops Junior Girls; James Parsons and Brandon Lacasse share lead at CN Future Links Ontario Championship

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CN Future Links Championship (Herb Fung/ Golf Canada)

MIDLAND, Ont. – Temperatures flared at Midland Golf & Country Club during the second round of the CN Future Links Ontario Championship. Monet Chun claimed sole possession of the lead in the Junior Girls division, while James Parsons and Brandon Lacasse share top spot in the Junior Boys division.

Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont., shot 1-under 69 to improve upon her opening-round 72. The 15-year-old tallied four birdies, including two back-to-back on holes 13 and 14, en route to a 1-under 35 across the back nine.

Three Team Canada Women’s Development Squad members are within the Top-5. First round leader Grace St-Germain (Orleans, Ont.) carded a 5-over 75 and sits two strokes behind Chun. Teammate Hannah Lee of Surrey, B.C., sunk five birdies for a 1-over 71 and shares 3rd with London, Ont., native Isabella Portokalis. National Team member Tiffany Kong of Vancouver also recorded five birdies on the day, advancing to T5.

The low round of the day in the Junior Girls division came courtesy of Ellie Szeryk. The dual-citizen and product of London, Ont., collected six birdies and finished 2-under 68 to climb into a share of 5th. Chloe Currie of Mississauga, Ont., and Kathrine Chan of Richmond, B.C., are T12 and T17, respectively.

The Junior Boys’ top-spot is split between James Parsons of Almonte, Ont., and Brandon Lacasse of Châteauguay, Que. The pair sit 2-over 142 and hold a one-stroke advantage after matching 70s on the day.

Jake Bryson of Dunrobin, Ont., is third following a 73. The 16-year-old was one of three players to collect an eagle on the day. Two Ontarians – Thomas Code of Dorchester and Toronto’s Tyler Nagano – are tied at 4-over to complete the Top-5 in the Junior Boys division. Men’s Development Squad member Thomas ‘Jack’ Simpson (Aurora, Ont.) is part of a six-way tie for 21st.

The top six finalists in the Junior Boys division will earn exemptions into the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship at Clovelly Golf Club in St. John’s, N.L., from August 1-4. Exemptions will be decided via a hole-by-hole playoff in the case of ties. All competitors in the Top-6, including ties, in the Junior Girls division will gain exemptions into the Canadian Junior Girls Championship. The tournament will be held August 2-5 at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, N.S.

The second day of competition will see the Junior Boys division tee-off at 7 a.m. before the Junior Girls take to the course at 11:10 a.m. Additional information, including pairings and up-to-date scoring is available here.

PGA TOUR

Bryce Molder leads in suspended second round at Colonial

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Bryce Molder (Tom Pennington/ Getty Images)

FORT WORTH, Texas – Bryce Molder would have a magical number if he could combine his front-nine scores through two days at Colonial into one round.

Bolstered by 11 combined birdies on Nos. 1-9 at Hogan’s Alley, Molder had a one-stroke lead with three holes to play Friday in the Dean & Deluca Invitational when second-round play was suspended because of darkness.

“It kind of tale of two nines even though I didn’t finish the second nine,” Molder said “The first nine was really clean. … Everything was going right.”

At 9 under, Molder was a stroke ahead of Webb Simpson and two in front of second-ranked Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. Simpson and Spieth completed their rounds.

Molder was the first-round leader after an opening 64 with six birdies on the front nine. He had five more birdies on that side Friday, which would translate to a 59 – that is the best score ever shot on the PGA Tour.

“You know, I thought about that when I was on No. 6 today,” Molder said. “That was fun. I mean, I wish I could have just turned back around, teed off on No. 1 and just kept going because that side has been really good to me.”

Play was stopped at 8:21 p.m. with 61 of the 121 players still on the course. They will return to complete the second round Saturday morning, scheduled to resume just more than 11 hours after stopping. The third round will be played after the cut is made.

Simpson was 8 under after a 67.

Spieth shot a 66 with four birdies in five holes after turning to the front nine.

Reed had 10 holes left. He has a PGA Tour-high eight top-10 finishes this season.

Molder’s only slip-up was a double bogey at the 441-yard 12th, when he hit his first two shots into the rough and three-putted from 27 feet not long before play was stopped Friday.

In his first round Thursday, Molder was in the first group off the No. 10 tee. He got to his seventh hole before a 75-minute weather delay, then came out to finish the seventh of his nine consecutive pars before all his birdies on the front side.

There were consecutive birdies after starting at No. 1 on Friday, and Molder hit his approach from 188 yards at the difficult fifth hole to 2 feet for another birdie. He chipped in from the front bunker at the par-3 eighth.

Spieth goes into the weekend in contention at home for the second week in a row, and at Colonial for the second year in a row. He tied for second in the 2015 Colonial, one stroke behind Chris Kirk.

The 22-year-old Dallas native was a stroke out of the lead after two rounds last week at the Byron Nelson, and was alone in second going into the final round before a closing 74 that left him tied for 18th.

This week, Spieth said he is much more comfortable with his swing and his game overall midway through the tournament.

“Much better, yeah. I’d say it’s up there close to if I want to have it 100 percent trust by major time. It’s creeping up,” said Spieth, the defending U.S. Open champ playing his third tournament since blowing a five-stroke lead on the back nine when trying to win his second consecutive Masters last month. “Big step up from last week. It’s getting close.”

After starting the second round with a three-putt bogey at the 408-yard 10th, Spieth had a couple of short birdies before another bogey at the 192-yard 16th. His 35-foot downhill putt that he hit at a 90-degree angle picked up speed and went 15 feet past the hole.

His birdie rush after the turn went through Nos. 4 and 5, the 221-yard par 3 followed by the 472-yard hole along the Trinity River that wrap up a difficult trio of holes known as Colonial’s “horrible horseshoe.”

Simpson had 17 consecutive rounds of 70 or higher before an opening 65 at Colonial that he backed up with a round of four birdies and one bogey.

“It was kind of a grind. … I had to get up-and-down a few more times today and guess out of the rough what the ball was going to do into the green,” Simpson said. “But it felt great. Just almost more satisfying today than yesterday because I managed my game.”

The trio of Canadians in the field had yet to play their second rounds when play was halted. Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn’s first-round 67 has him tied for 12th. Abbotsford, B.C., products Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor sit T17 and T30, respectively.

Brooke Henderson LPGA Tour

Henderson climbs to T10; Jutanugarn takes two-shot lead

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Brooke Henderson (Leon Halip/ Getty Images)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ariya Jutanugarn tore her scorecard into pieces after walking off the 18th green at Travis Pointe, proving the competition isn’t the only thing she is tearing up.

Jutanugarn moved a step closer to winning a third straight LPGA Tour title by shooting a 4-under 68 on Friday to take a two-shot lead in the Volvik Championship.

She had four back-nine birdies, including No. 18 when her approach went off a hospitality suite and landed in a greenside bunker 20 yards from the hole.

“Hit cut 3-wood and it didn’t cut,” she said.

As Jutanugarn dug her heels into the sand, it sounded as if a spectator dropped something in an elevated viewing area just behind her. She stepped away from the ball, then addressed it again. Clearly unfazed, she blasted out of the bunker well enough to set up a 1-foot putt that pushed her to 11-under 133.

The 20-year-old Jutanugarn is coming off a win at the Kingsmill Championship in Virginia after becoming the first Thai winner in tour history at the previous tournament in Alabama. She insisted a third straight title isn’t on her mind.

“I’m not thinking about I’m going to win, I’m going to lose,” she said. “But just have fun.”

Second-ranked Inbee Park, who withdrew Thursday with a thumb injury, was the last LPGA Tour player to win three straight tournaments in 2013.

So Yeon Ryu (67), Marina Alex (67) and first-round leader Christina Kim (71) were tied for second.

Jessica Korda (65), Giulia Molinaro (67) and Brittany Lincicome (67) were 7 under.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko was 2 under after her second straight 71.

Unlike some of the other top players, Jutanugarn doesn’t have a driver in her bag this week.

The powerful player simply doesn’t need it, outdriving people in her group with 270-yard shots with a 2-iron or 3-wood. Her touch around and on the greens are appear to be superior.

Usually, she keeps an eye on the leaderboard. On Friday, though, she didn’t.

“I forgot,” she said.

If Jutanugarn puts up another low score after her 65-68 start, the remaining field may be relegated to vying for second place.

Kim opened with a 64 for a one-shot lead over Jutanugarn.

Alex pulled into a first-place tie in the morning with her fourth birdie on the front nine, playing a steady game that included hitting the fairways and greens and making the most of opportunities on makeable putts such as the 4-footer on No. 9.

The 163rd-ranked player in the world missed the cut in her first four tournaments this year and hasn’t finished better than ninth in her career.

“There’s really no expectations for the weekend,” she said.

Michelle Wie wasn’t close to the 2-over cut, going 8 over with two 76s. She has missed two straight cuts and three of four and six this year.

Ryu, meanwhile, is one of the many South Koreans having a great year. She tied for 10th at her last two tournaments, was fifth at an event a month ago and has four top-10s in her last six starts.

“I was so close to winning the last three tournaments, the final round wasn’t good enough to get the trophies so I was really disappointed in myself,” she said. “But the good thing is, I just kept in contention, just kept fighting. I really want to hold this and I really want to keep my positive mind until Sunday.”

A 5-under 67 performance saw Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson climb into a tie for tenth place. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., is T37 at 1-under, while Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City sits T58. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp will not advance to the weekend. Sherbrooke, Que., product Maude-Aimée LeBlanc was forced to withdraw.

Champions Tour

Canada’s Rod Spittle sits T6; Rocco Mediate leads Senior PGA Championship

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Rod Spittle (Kevin C. Cox/ Getty Images)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Rocco Mediate stretched his Senior PGA Championship lead to four strokes Friday at Harbor Shores, birdieing the final two holes for a 5-under 66.

“I haven’t been here in a long time,” Mediate said. “I’m looking forward to trying to drive it in the first fairway and see what happens from there. That’s all you can really do. … They’re going to be coming and it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s nervy. It’s cool.”

Mediate had a 14-under 128 total, four strokes better than the previous tournament record set by Sam Snead in 1973 and matched by Arnold Palmer in 1984 and Jack Nicklaus in 1991. The 53-year-old Mediate opened with a 62 on Thursday to tie the tournament and course records set by Kenny Perry in the 2012 final round on the Nicklaus-designed layout.

“I love it. This place, it’s just evil. In a good way,” said Mediate, bogey-free through 36 holes. “It’s just a great place. It really shows you the control you have. That’s why Jack built these greens, I’m sure he said, ‘Well, let’s see how good these guys are?'”

On Friday, Mediate started play on the 10th tee and birdied the par-4 16th and 18th. He added birdies on the par-5 fifth, par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth, leaving an eagle putt an inch short on the last.

“I had some moments out there where it went a little south, but I covered up with the short game today,” Mediate said. “I made some ridiculously good putts to save, and I made a bunch of birdies again. I hit a bunch of good shots. Hit a few loose ones and I covered it up.”

Mediate has one-putted 22 of his 36 holes, finishing with 22 putts Thursday and 26 on Friday. He won both of his PGA Tour Champions victories in 2013 after winning six times on the PGA Tour.

Gene Sauers was second, closing with a bogey for a 69. The three-time PGA Tour winner has successfully fought a rare skin condition, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, to play the 50-and-over tour.

“This is a blast,” Sauers said. “Coming back from where I’ve been, when I got sick back in 2011, and didn’t ever think I would play golf again and then coming back and playing with some of the best guys in the world. It’s a pleasure to be here and I’m humbled to be able to play with all these guys again.

Bernhard Langer birdied three of his last four holes in a 64 to reach 9 under in his bid to become the first player to win all five PGA Tour Champions majors.

“I made more putts today and I hit my irons a little closer,” Langer said. “It’s a little easier to make a 10-foot putt than a 20-foot putt. I played pretty well yesterday, just didn’t get much going. I was a little bit flat. But today I got off to a nice start and continued to play really good golf.”

The 58-year-old German won the Regions Tradition last week in Alabama for his sixth senior major title and 100th worldwide victory. In Alabama, Langer joined Nicklaus as the only players to win four different senior majors. Nicklaus had largely retired when the Senior British Open was added to the major rotation. He only played that once in its first year as a major in 2003.

Mediate played alongside two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie and Perry. Montgomerie had a 66 to join Langer in the third-place tie at 9 under. The Scot won in 2014 at Harbor Shores and last year at French Lick Resort in Indiana.

Perry had a 71 to drop eight strokes back at 6 under. He had the first double eagle in the history of the event, holing out with a 5-iron from 227 yards on the par-5 fifth hole. He eagled the hole Thursday.

“Straight down wind,” Perry said. “Hit the prettiest 5-iron, landed on the front of the green, and it just broke right in there like a putt. That’s the first one I ever made. So it was pretty neat to make your first albatross at the Senior PGA.”

Club pro John DalCorobbo also was 9 under after a 68. DalCorobbo is a PGA assistant professional at Brickyard Crossing in Indiana. He won the Senior PGA Professional Championship in October.

“It’s pretty special,” DalCorobbo said. “I just kept trying to stay with each shot, treating it like it was. It seems so cliche, but all I tried to do was just treat everything and just have really good acceptance for what happened.”

Fellow club pro J.R. Roth (67) was 8 under along with Tom Lehman (65), Kirk Triplett (69), Brandt Jobe (67), Canadian Rod Spittle (65) of St. Catharines, Ont., and Scott McCarron (65). Roth is the PGA director of golf at San Juan Country Club in Farmington, New Mexico.

John Daly missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 74. He had a 9 on the par-4 16th on Thursday.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames is T38 following a 2-under 69 performance.