OAKVILLE, Ont. – ZTE and Golf Canada announced today a one-year partnership that will see ZTE become the Official Smartphone of the RBC Canadian Open. This year’s RBC Canadian Open is set to take place at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, from July 18-24, 2016.

As the Official Smartphone of the RBC Canadian Open, ZTE will have exclusive naming rights to the Spectator Village, which will be known as the ZTE Spectator Village. ZTE is also the official sponsor of the ZTE Tweet Caddies, a group that will be keeping fans updated on the tournament, games and giveaways through social media channels.

“We’re thrilled to sponsor the RBC Canadian Open and showcase our devices at this world-class event. This partnership marks the second PGA TOUR event we’ve sponsored and a major step forward in our North American sports marketing strategy,” said Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE North America. “ZTE is committed to ensuring consumers get cutting edge technology at an affordable price and we’re looking forward to letting RBC Canadian Open spectators get up close and personal with our newest flagship device, the Axon 7.”

ZTE will offer charging stations for patrons, as well as showcase the popular Axon smartphone series, Grand X View tablet and SPro 2 Smart Projector. There will also be exciting games and giveaways throughout the Championship, with prizes including free rounds of golf, stays at a resort, swag bags and chances to win the Axon 7 smartphone all located in the ZTE Spectator Village.

“We are pleased to welcome ZTE as a partner of our National Championship,” said Golf Canada Chief Commercial Officer Gavin Roth. “Innovative technology is having a positive impact on fan engagement at major sporting events and we know ZTE will deliver an exciting spectator experience at this year’s RBC Canadian Open.”

TROON, Scotland – Jason Day is more motivated by failure than success, which helps explain how he reached No. 1 in the world.

And it all started last year at the British Open.

Day had never felt so calm in the midst of such raging emotion that being in contention at a major can bring. He had an innate sense that it would all work out in his favour, right up until the moment that it didn’t.

He had a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at St. Andrews to get into a playoff. It was right on line. And he left it short.

But it was that moment he realized he was good enough to win majors, and that he would win them if he had more chances. The following week he won the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Two weeks later, he won the PGA Championship with such a dominant display of power that he became the first player to finish at 20-under par in a major.

Six weeks later, he reached No. 1 for the first time.

“It was kind of, I guess, the start of my run where everything kind of changed my world,” Day said.

The 28-year-old Aussie arrived at Royal Troon on the weekend and headed out to a links course he had never seen, playing in a wind he might not see the rest of the week.

The intrigue of Troon is that the shorter nine going out typically is with the wind, while the stronger, longer holes coming back are into the wind. It was the other way around over the weekend, and it began to shift on Monday on the first official day of practice with 25 mph (40 kph) gusts straight off the Irish Sea.

“In the last five days, the forecast has changed dramatically,” defending champion Zach Johnson said. “And my guess is, it could change again.”

The forecast for Day has a little more clarity.

He has finished out of the top 10 only twice in his nine tournaments dating to March. What he brings to the Ayrshire coast of Scotland is more motivation – his last golfing memory was more failure.

Day appeared to be firmly in control at the World Golf Championship in Ohio two weeks ago until he three-putted for bogey on the 15th hole, made a mess of the par-5 16th hole on his way to a double bogey, and wound up three shots behind U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson.

“I learn more when I fail than when I win,” Days. “We’re not going to win every single one. Even though I don’t like losing, it was great to be able to learn something from that and turn this into what I would say a learning experience. … It was really bad. It was a terrible way to lose, and it was frustrating and disappointing. But things like this, you can’t win them all.”

He said the Tiger Woods era spoiled golf fans into believing everyone should win tournaments when given a chance, and no one was better at that than Woods. Seventy times around the world, Woods had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He won 60 of them.

“That’s what I’m shooting for, to be able to finish off like he did back in the day,” he said. “Will I ever get to a point like that? Maybe not. But that’s what I’m shooting for right now.”

As a kid, Day said the two biggest tournaments were the Masters and the British Open. Australians have a long history with the claret jug, dating to Peter Thomson winning five times and Greg Norman winning twice. Day was only a year old when Norman closed with a 64 at Royal Troon, only to hit his drive on the final hole of the playoff so far that it went into a pot bunker and ended his chances.

Norman still has his name on the jug twice. Woods, whom Day seeks out for advice in golf, is on there three times.

“Coming so close last year was definitely a motivational factor in that I would love to one day hold the claret jug and be able to put my name down in history with the best that have ever lived and played the game,” he said.

The jug for the last year belonged to Johnson, who poured wine from it one last time on Sunday night at a house he is sharing with players. Johnson’s first duty Monday morning was to give it back to R&A chief Martin Slumbers outside the clubhouse at Royal Troon.

“It was bittersweet,” Johnson said. “More sweet, but the fact that you’ve got to give it back, you know it’s coming. I guess a portion of that sweetness is you still have an opportunity to get it back.”

Day will defend his RBC Canadian Open title from July 18-24, 2016 at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

TROON, Scotland – Jordan Spieth withdrew from the Olympics on Monday, leaving golf without its top four players when the sport returns to the games for the first time since 1904.

The decision was announced by International Golf Federation President Peter Dawson.

Spieth was the last player to say he was not going to Rio, telling the IGF it was for “health reasons.” Spieth was practicing at Royal Troon during the IGF news conference and was not expected to speak until Tuesday.

Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy previously withdrew, all citing the Zika virus. Day and Johnson have said they plan on having more children, while McIlroy is engaged and said he would soon be starting a family.

Golf still has eight of the top 15 players in the world competing in Rio, though losing the top four could be a big setback in its bid to stay in the Olympic program. It is assured of being part of the Tokyo Games in 2020, but the International Olympic Committee votes next year to decide whether it stays beyond that.

Spieth was replaced by Matt Kuchar, who narrowly reached No. 15 in the world two weeks ago with a tie for third in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Spieth was enthusiastic about the Olympics until about a month ago, when he started to mention security, Zika and other concerns. Spieth was said to be struggling with his decision until Monday.

SAN MARTIN, Calif. – Eleven years after finishing as runner-up as an amateur in her first U.S. Women’s Open, Brittany Lang won her first major title – with help from a playoff penalty on Anna Nordqvist.

Lang made par on all three holes of the aggregate playoff and Nordqvist was given a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with her club in a fairway bunker on the second playoff hole Sunday, helping deliver Lang the title.

The players were not told of the penalty until they were in the middle of playing the final hole after officials reviewed replays in the latest controversy at a USGA event.

Lang then sealed the win with a short par putt on the final playoff hole, while Nordqvist made bogey to lose by three shots.

At last month’s men’s U.S. Open, eventual winner Dustin Johnson played much of the final round not knowing if he would be penalized one stroke because his ball moved as he addressed it on the fifth green. The penalty ended up proving moot as Johnson won by three shots.

Lang shot a 1-under 71 to finish with a 6-under 282 for the tournament at CordeValle for her second win in 287 tournaments on the LPGA Tour. She survived a bogey on the 17th hole that led to the playoff before recovering in the playoff for a breakthrough win at age 30.

Both players made pars on the first hole of the playoff, which was played on the final three holes of the course. Then things got interesting on the next hole after Nordqvist hit her tee shot into a fairway bunker.

While preparing to hit the shot, Nordqvist’s club barely touched the sand. She did not realize it and both players made par on the hole, heading to the final playoff hole seemingly tied.

But television replays showed the infraction and USGA officials studied the video before determining if the two-stroke penalty was necessary. An official told Nordqvist about the penalty after she hit her third shot on the 18th hole but before Lang did, giving her a possible advantage.

Lang hit her shot onto the green and the two-putted for the win, getting hearty congratulations from many of her fellow Americans on tour after she joined Michelle Wie (2014) as the only U.S. golfers to win the Open in the past six years.

Lang capitalized on a surprising final-round collapse by world No. 1 and 54-hole leader Lydia Ko, who made a double-bogey 7 on the ninth hole and shot 3-over 75 on the day, finishing two shots off the lead in a four-way tie for third with Amy Yang, Sung Hyun Park and 2009 winner Eun Hee Ji.

Lang took sole possession of the lead when she perfectly read a putt from more than 20 feet that broke slightly right before going in the hole to move her to 7-under, with Nordqvist in the clubhouse at 6-under after making an eagle on the par-5 15th.

But Lang followed that up with her first three-putt of the week when she just missed a par from about 5 feet, leading to groans from the crowd. She followed with a two-putt for birdie on the par-5 18th, setting the stage for the playoff.

Lang came on the scene as an amateur back in 2005 when she finished tied for second at the U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills. But in more than a decade as a pro, Lang has won just one tournament, the 2012 Manulife Financial LPGA.

After shooting a 75 in the second round to drop seven shots behind leader Park, this tournament didn’t appear to be the one where she would have her breakthrough.

But she staged one of the best U.S. comebacks in years, with her 36-hole deficit the biggest for any winner at the tournament since Betsy King came from nine shots back after two rounds to win in 1990.

Ko had a two-shot lead heading to the eighth hole and seemed on her way to becoming the youngest man or woman to win three majors. But then she bogeyed the eighth hole before her collapse on nine.

Ko’s tee shot went left into the rough. Instead of just chipping out, Ko decided to try to clear the hazard and get back into position to make a possible birdie.

But her shot from the rough landed in the hazard and Ko could not find it and took a penalty. Then her wedge shot went over the green into the rough before Ko managed to get up and down from there for a double bogey that dropped her out of the lead for good.

“I should have judged the lie a little better and maybe played a little smarter and laid up short of the hazard,” she said. “Then just lay up again and try and make up-and-down for par.”

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp led the Canadian contingent with an even-par final round to finish T21 for her best career result at a major championship. Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., earned a share of 26th with a 2-over showing. Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson finished 64th, while Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Sue Kim of Langley,  B.C., tied for 65th.

WINNIPEG – Syracuse, New York’s Dan McCarthy took his record-breaking season to new heights on Sunday, capturing the Players Cup to become the first player in the PGA TOUR-era on the Mackenzie Tour to win three times in a season.

The 30-year old shot a final-round 7-under 64 at Niakwa Country Club to win by seven over Olympia, Washington’s Cameron Peck and Burlington, Ontario’s Michael Gligic, guaranteeing himself a spot in The Five and Web.com Tour status for 2016.

“It feels amazing. It hasn’t fully set in and I’m kind of shaking here,” McCarthy said. “It never gets old, and it feels better every time. Each time is a new test, and I’m very happy with the way I did today.”

Entering the day with a five-stroke advantage, McCarthy cruised past a flurry of low scores around him by carding birdies on three of the first six holes, never letting his lead shrink to more than two shots. The Le Moyne College graduate went without a bogey over his final 36 holes.

“It wasn’t as easy as the score made it look,” McCarthy said. “That was my plan all day, to keep the foot on the gas. I knew guys were going to make birdies in front of me, and I figured if I went low, then it would be tough to catch me.”

The win adds another chapter to what has already been a record-breaking season, with McCarthy matching his own record for the lowest 72-hole total on the Mackenzie Tour, as well as the largest margin of victory, set earlier this season at the GolfBC Championship. In addition to becoming the first three-time winner in a season, McCarthy is the first player to surpass $100,000 in single season earnings, now sitting at $105,428 for the year.

“It’s a tremendous confidence boost to know that I can do it, even just once. Now three times is really, really special. All these guys out here that are playing well deserve to be at the next level and are good enough. Like myself, they just haven’t played well enough at the right time. It’s a huge confidence boost for me going forward.”

Now with a virtually insurmountable lead on the Order of Merit, McCarthy can turn his sights towards competing at the next level – including a start at the RBC Canadian Open in two weeks. Even with opportunities on the horizon, however, the fifth-year Mackenzie Tour veteran said past experience has taught him not to take anything for granted.

“I’m not going to change anything. I’m just going to continue doing the drills that I always do, that keep me going. I’m going to try to treat it as just another tournament. I’m sure when I get there the whole scene is going to be a bit unusual with the bigger crowds and all that, but I’m sure I’ll handle it okay.”

With the Players Cup win, McCarthy adds his name to a list of champions that includes PGA TOUR players Erik Compton, Graham DeLaet and a long list of other legends of the game, including Moe Norman.

“It’s extremely special. [Players Cup Executive Director Ryan Hart] was telling me during the trophy ceremony that Moe Norman’s name is on here four or five times, and I’ve studied a lot of Moe Norman’s swing, so it’s pretty special to add my name to the same trophy that he’s on.”

Seven shots back in a tie for second were Peck, who played in the final group with McCarthy, and Gligic, who recorded his best finish on the Mackenzie Tour in two seasons.

With a total score of 18-under par in a tie for second place, Burlington, Ontario’s Michael Gligic finished as the top Canadian on the leaderboard, earning Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week honours and a $2,500 prize.

The top Canadian on the leaderboard each week takes home the award, with the top Canadian on the Order of Merit at season’s end earning the Dan Halldorson Trophy, Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year honours and a $25,000 prize.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Paul Goydos likes to say his golf game is two good rounds, then a mediocre one.

“That’s kind of all tournaments, not just here,” he said before playing in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

Last year, he did just that at En-Joie Golf Club, fading late while challenging for the lead and losing to Jeff Maggert by two shots.

For one day at least, Goydos didn’t follow that script. He shot a bogey-free 69 on Sunday to beat Wes Short Jr. (69) by two shots on a tricky day at En-Joie buffeted by gusting winds, finishing at 14-under 202 for his third career victory on the Champions Tour.

“My game is like a jack-in-the box, kind of keep spinning it and it pops up every once in a while,” Goydos deadpanned afterward. “There was no inkling that I was going to play well, other than the mythical law of averages. Things hadn’t gone well, hadn’t played well, my attitude was bad, so naturally I won.”

Qualifier Neal Lancaster (70) was alone in third at 11 under, while John Riegger (72) finished tied for fourth at 10 under with Joe Durant (68).

Glen Day (69) and Kevin Sutherland (69) were another shot back in a tie for sixth.

John Daly (73) was three shots behind to start and couldn’t muster anything. He made bogey at the par-5 fifth hole and another at No. 9 to make the turn at 7 under, where he finished.

First-round leader Scott Dunlap began the overcast day one shot off the lead and took himself out of contention with a disastrous second hole. Dunlap twice plunked shots into the greenside water hazard at the par 4, a 379-yard dogleg left, and carded a quintuple-bogey 9. He finished with a 75 to tie Daly.

Goydos began play tied for the lead at 11 under with Riegger and was the steadiest of the leaders, carding eight pars and making birdie at the par-4 sixth hole while none of the others staged a threat in difficult conditions. A birdie at No. 10 dropped him to 13 under, three shots ahead of Riegger, Short and Lancaster.

Riegger, who played the first two rounds without making bogey, had his streak end with a bogey on Sunday’s opening hole. He had another at the par-3 fourth hole after having recovered with a pretty fairway chip for eagle at the par-5 No. 3, but another bogey at No. 10 dropped him to 10 under in a three-way tie for second.

Riegger’s strength over the first two rounds had been his play at the generous par-5s, having gone 7 under, and his streak of excellence on the holes continued on the back side. At the par-5 No. 12, he notched his second straight eagle at the hole to move within a shot of Goydos.

Despite another bogey at No. 14, Riegger was still within striking distance at No. 16 and rallied once more. He drove the trees right at the short par 4 but rallied for birdie. Unfazed, Goydos, who played it safe on the hole by laying up short of the elevated green that’s guarded by a handful of bunkers, matched Riegger’s birdie to maintain his two-shot edge.

“I mean, John couldn’t have hit a better putt,” Goydos said. “He hit that putt and I’m like, ‘Wow!’ I was very happy with the way I kind of didn’t rush it. I kind of stayed in my routine, kind of went through whatever I needed to do to hit a good putt.”

Both drove into the bunker on the right of the green at No. 17, their balls sitting side-by-side in the white sand, and only Goydos escaped. After Riegger hit out past the pin and two-putted for bogey, Goydos blasted to 4 feet and saved par.

“John hit a nice bunker shot. Him going first I think was an advantage for me,” Goydos said.

Riegger also made bogey at 18 to slip back further.

Lancaster, in only his second tournament of the year, watched his chances fade when his tap-in putt for birdie at No. 16 lipped out while trailing by two shots.

“I guess just so close you kind of took it for granted,” Lancaster said. “I just think it’s nerves. I feel like I should have won the tournament.”

Calgary’s Stephen Ames finished in a tie for 23rd at 4-under. Jim Rutledge of Victoria posted a 3-under on the day to earn a share of 39th, while St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle finished T66.

CLYMER, N.Y. – Monday qualifier Rick Lamb chipped in for birdie on the second hole of a four-man playoff Sunday to win the LECOM Health Challenge for his first Web.com Tour title.

Lamb closed with a 9-under 63 to match Dominic Bozzelli, Rhein Gibson and Cheng Tsung Pan at 19-under 269 on Peek’n Peak’s Upper Course.

“It hasn’t set in yet,” Lamb said. “Everything happened so quick. It’s just one of those days where everything went my way. It couldn’t have turned out any better.”

Lamb won on the par-5 18th after the four players each parred the hole to open the playoff.

The 25-year-old former Tennessee player earned $108,000 to enter the money list at 21st, with the top 25 at the end of the regular season earning PGA Tour cards. Lamb missed the cuts in his other two starts this season. He also shot a 63 on Monday on the Lower Course to get into the field.

“It’s completely life changing,” said Lamb, the first Monday qualifier to win since Sebastian Cappelen in the 2014 Air Capital Classic. “The money puts me in the top 25 on the money list and now sets me up for the final stretch to potentially get a card.”

Lamb was 6 under on the first six holes on the back nine, making an eagle on the par-4 12th and four birdies. He parred the final three holes of regulation, finishing about an hour before the final group.

“I was just trying to stay loose,” Lamb said. “I thought someone might come in at 20 under, but I tried to stay in it mentally just in case there was a playoff.”

Bozzelli shot 66, Gibson 69, and Pan 68.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished T5 at 16-under alongside Joel Dahmen.

Surrey, B.C., product Adam Svensson earned a share of 9th at 13-under, while fellow British Columbian Roger Sloan of Merritt was T14 at 12-under. Calgary’s Ryan Yip was T54 and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch claimed 62nd.

INVERNESS, Scotland – Alex Noren held off his pursuers in the final round Sunday to win the Scottish Open by one shot for his fifth victory on the European Tour.

All of Noren’s victories have come after he started the final round in the lead and this was another impressive display of front-running from the Swede, who shot a 2-under 70 to finish on 14-under 274.

Tyrrell Hatton, Noren’s playing partner, was the runner-up at Castle Stuart in northern Scotland after a 69, while Nicolas Colsaerts (66), Danny Lee (69) and Matteo Manassero (70) were a further shot back.

Hatton, Colsaerts, Manassero and Richie Ramsay took the final four qualification places for next week’s British Open at Royal Troon.

Noren began the day with a two-shot lead, which disappeared after a bogey at No. 8 that left him tied with Lee. The 33-year-old Noren birdied Nos. 12 and 15 to go two shots in front again, and a two-putt par at the par-5 18th was enough to win.

“I was so nervous the whole day today,” said Noren, who also led after the second round. “When the game doesn’t feel as good as it looks, you just want it to be over and to come out with a win. That’s what happened.”

When Noren birdied the 12th, there were seven players within two shots. Yet the chasers barely made a birdie putt in the closing holes, with Colsaerts the fastest finisher by making eagle with a huge putt on No. 12 and then rolling in birdies on Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 18.

“I don’t even want to calculate the length of putts on the back nine,” the big-hitting Colsaerts said.

Hatton, who was bogey-free in his final round, ended a frustrating run of five straight pars by making birdie at No. 18 to break free of a four-way tie for second. It secured his place at a fourth consecutive British Open but Hatton remains without a professional win.

Americans Phil Mickelson (66), Patrick Reed (67) and Steve Stricker (67) were among the players going low in the final round, with Castle Stuart playing easier because of only light winds.

Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit leader Dan McCarthy continued his torrid pace on Saturday at the Players Cup, carding a 6-under 65 to take a five-stroke lead into the final round in Winnipeg at 18-under par.

McCarthy’s bogey-free 65 included four birdies on the front nine and two on the back, all while hitting every green at Niakwa Country Club.

“I struck the ball better today,” said McCarthy, who has played the front nine in 14-under over the first three rounds. “I really didn’t get into any trouble all day long and hit a lot of fairways so it was definitely a bit more solid today and even keeled.”

The Syracuse, New York, native will once again play in the final pairing on Sunday, having done so with the lead or co-lead on two occasions this season. McCarthy was able to convert the victory both times, but he still feels the pressure of trying to finish the job.

“There’s always going to be nerves,” McCarthy said. “If you’re not nervous doing what we do then there is something wrong. All I can do is focus on executing what I need to do.”

McCarthy was tied for the lead after 54 holes at the Freedom 55 Financial Championship before winning by one, and led by two through three rounds at the GolfBC Championship. With a win on Sunday, McCarthy would join Aaron Goldberg and John Ellis as the only players to win three times in one season. Goldberg accomplished the feat in 2010 and Ellis did so in 2008, prior to the PGA TOUR era.

“No lead is safe. I’m going to try and go out and be aggressive again and try to make as many birdies as I can to force them to make that many more,” McCarthy said. “I’m not going to try and change my game plan at all – just try to hit fairways and greens. When I do that I usually putt pretty well and that makes me tough to beat.”

Tied for second and five behind McCarthy are Cameron Peck and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., at 13-under. After starting his round with three bogeys in his first six holes, Peck rebounded with six birdies to finish with a 3-under 68.

“I think my timing was just a little bit off because I was hitting everything a little bit right,” said Peck, who is looking to record his first top-10 finish of the season. “I got to 3-over, and I was little worried but I knew there were a lot of birdies out there and I could get them back one at a time.”

Gligic made an early charge at the lead with birdies on his first two holes and an eagle at the par-5 eighth en route to a 4-under 67.

“On Sunday, with me being close the final group with a chance to win, I’d say I’ve done a decent job these first three days and need to play a good one tomorrow,” said Gligic.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for 18th at 9-under.

SAN MARTIN, Calif. – World No. 1 Lydia Ko birdied the 18th hole to cap a 2-under 70 in the third round Saturday that put her in the lead of the U.S. Women’s Open, bolstering her chance for her third major title in less than a year.

The 19-year-old Ko became the youngest woman to win a major last year at the Evian Championship and followed that up by winning the ANA Inspiration this spring. Now she’s in contention for her first U.S. Open title after failing to make the top 10 in her first four appearances.

Ko has a one-shot lead over 2009 winner Eun Hee Ji and Sung Hyun Park. Brittany Lang and Amy Yang are two shots back at 5 under and Angela Stanford is in sixth place at 4 under at CordeValle.

Ko’s week at the Open got off to a somewhat shaky start when she was tied for 52nd after a 73 in the first round in the difficult afternoon conditions.

But Ko got into contention with a 66 in the second round and then got right back to work on Saturday. She made a long downhill putt for birdie on No. 3 before losing a stroke with a bogey at No. 9. She made another birdie at No. 13 before her strong closing hole.

Even though the 18th is reachable in two shots, Ko opted to take three and it paid off when her approach stopped about 9 feet from the hole. She calmly sank the putt to give her sole possession of the lead. She then threw her ball into the stands in celebration.

Ji has been consistent all week. She has broken par all three rounds with a 69 and 71 in the first two rounds followed by the 2-under performance on Saturday. She is looking for her first LPGA Tour win since winning the Open at Saucon Valley seven years ago.

Park, playing her first U.S. Open and second major ever, got off to a solid start with birdies on the sixth and eighth holes to move to 9 under. But fortunes quickly changed at the par-5 ninth when she hit her tee shot into a hazard for a penalty.

She got onto the green with her fifth shot and two-putted for a double bogey that dropped her to 7 under and a tie for the lead with Yang, who birdied three out of four holes during one stretch on the front nine.

Park fell to 6 under when she bogeyed 14 after a drive in the rough but followed with a birdie and then another bogey as part of an up-and-down round.

Lang birdied 14 and 15 and had the low round of the day at 68 to move to 5 under. Lang finished tied for second as an amateur in her first U.S. Open back in 2005 but has only gotten in the top five once since then back in 2010.

“I’ve been here before and I think you really have to just get to work on what you’re doing, because if you spend a lot of time thinking about where you’re going to finish, you’re going to drop down pretty quick,” Lang said. “So just really do like I did today, not look at the scoreboard – it’s easier said than done.”

There are several other golfers lurking close enough to make a push on Sunday. Danielle Kang is at 3 under and fellow Americans Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis and Kris Tamulis are among seven golfers five shots back at 2 under.

“There’s no doubt I have to shoot at least 4 to 6 under, I’d say tomorrow to have a chance,” Kerr said. “It depends on the wind and the weather and the pins. Sometimes they like to set it up easier on Sunday and people get some low scores. I don’t know what they’re going to do, but I have to be prepared for anything. If the conditions are easier, I have to be prepared to go low.”

The highlight of the day might have been Lee Lopez’s ace on the 191-yard, par-3 12th hole. Lopez is at even par for the tournament.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot 75 on the day and is tied for 26th with Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., at 1-over 217.

World No. 2 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., are knotted at T58 after matching rounds of 76.