CALGARY – Canadians who collect an ace between March 1 and August 10 can win the opportunity to play with the pros at the 2016 Shaw Charity Classic, thanks to RBC’s extended support of the Pro-Am Championship for two more years.

The award-winning PGA TOUR Champions event in Calgary, along with RBC, will bring back a truly unique, three-stage contest for a second straight year for any Canadian resident that scores a hole-in-one at a Golf Canada Member Club across the country between March 1 and August 10.

Individuals who record a hole-in-one on a hole 85 yards or longer during a nine- or 18-hole round of golf can register the feat to be invited to a qualification event at Calgary’s Golf Canada Centre on August 13, 2016. Each member of this hole-in-one club will have one attempt in a closest-to-the-pin contest. The 10 closest shots will then be invited to Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, the host course of the Shaw Charity Classic, on August 19, 2016, where they will compete head-to-head in another closest-to-the-pin contest for the Grand Prize of one full Pro-Am team at the Shaw Charity Classic. Balls finishing off the green will be ignored, even if they are closest to the hole. Entrants will be responsible for all their costs for attending and playing golf on the day of the qualifiers.

“Anyone who ever plays golf knows that getting a hole-in-one earns you a spot in a very exclusive club, and we want to celebrate these accomplishments by not only recognizing all Canadians who achieve the feat, but also giving them the opportunity to win the ultimate golf experience and tee it up under the ropes with the greatest names in the game,” said Sean Van Kesteren, tournament director, Shaw Charity Classic.

The announcement was symbolically made Wednesday with two of the Stampede City’s legendary mascots – Harvey the Hound and Ralph the Dog – leading a star-studded group of Calgary’s elite athletes, volunteers, kids and media in the tournament’s annual “Shootout at the Meadows” – a head-to-head, par-3 closest-to-the-pin competition.

“The Shootout traditionally kicks off our marketing campaign each year, and I can’t think of a better way to launch this season than by welcoming RBC back as title sponsor of our Pro-Am Championship for two more years, and more importantly, by giving as many Canadians as possible the opportunity to win a chance to feel like a PGA TOUR professional for a day at the Shaw Charity Classic,” added Van Kesteren.

The winner among the 10 finalists invited to compete at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club will receive one RBC Championship Pro-Am team on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 – a prize value of $20,000. Second place will receive two weekly tickets to the Champions Club for all tournament rounds, along with one TaylorMade putter and one dozen TaylorMade golf balls. The third-place finisher will win two weekly tickets to the Champions Club.

Individuals who record a hole-in-one during the 2016 contest period must register through the tournament website at www.shawcharityclassic.com. The hole-in-one must be attested by the golf facility’s general manager, chief operating officer, club president, head professional or director of golf. Participants between the ages of 13 and 18 must also have parental consent. Full contest details and an FAQ can be found here.

Tournament officials also used the Shootout at the Meadows to announce that the Shaw Charity Classic will be donating $100,000 to support children’s charities in Fort McMurray.

“Everyone across the province and country were saddened to see the devastation caused by the fires in Fort McMurray, and the impact it will have on thousands of children in the city,” said Clay Riddell, chairman of the Shaw Charity Classic. “In keeping with the spirit in which we created the Shaw Charity Classic Foundation, and the PGA TOUR Champions mandate to support communities in need, we are proud to direct the Foundation’s first donation this year to Fort McMurray.”

Specific youth-based charities in Fort McMurray who will benefit from the donation will be named at a later day.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – The Web.com Tour and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada announced today a joint donation of $20,000 to the relief efforts directed towards the recent wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alta., which impacted Fort McMurray Golf Club, annual host of the Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON.

“We’ve always been touched by the support from the Fort McMurray community, from families billeting players at their homes to volunteers who put hard work and dedication into the event,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “We look forward to seeing that spirit come through as the community recovers and gets back on its feet.”

Dry conditions and high temperatures in Fort McMurray over two weeks ago sparked a wildfire blaze that forced the evacuation of nearly 90,000 residents – one of the largest evacuations in Canadian history. The fire caused extensive damage to the clubhouse and course at Fort McMurray Golf Club.

“The tragic wildfires in Alberta have impacted many lives in one of the country’s great golf provinces. It is our hope that this joint donation between the Web.com Tour and the Mackenzie Tour will inspire others to follow suit, helping not only Fort McMurray, but the region as a whole, in an extreme time of need,” said Web.com Tour President Bill Calfee.

In addition to the donation put forth by the Web.com Tour and the Mackenzie Tour, players will show their support over the next two weeks by pledging a donation amount for each birdie they make, and asking fans to do the same.

All donations put forth by the Tours and raised by players and fans will be directed towards the United Way of Canada, through the PGA TOUR Charities, Inc.

The Mackenzie Tour will kick off its 2016 season with the Freedom 55 Financial Open, to be contested May 26-29 in Vancouver. Participating players at each event will set a dollar amount to donate for each birdie made, and fans will be able to match that number or contribute a set amount to pledge their support.

“I’m really pleased that the Web.com Tour and the membership are coming together to support such a worthy cause. A lot of us are Mackenzie Tour alums, and thus played in Fort McMurray. As well, many of us stayed with host families there, in homes we can only assume are now gone or badly damaged,” said Web.com Tour member and Alberta native Brad Fritsch. “What we are doing this week is a small token of our gratitude towards the Fort McMurray community. They support professional golf and golfers, so it is incumbent upon us to step up and help them in their time of need. Hopefully we can raise a whole lot of money and help with the process of rebuilding their lives.”

“The people in Fort McMurray have been so supportive of Mackenzie Tour players and always welcomed us into their community with open arms. Hopefully we can make some birdies and help raise a bunch of money to support and give back to a place that’s given us so much over the years,” said 2015 Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON champion Kevin Spooner.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – To see him now, it’s hard to believe Jason Day had only one victory in his first six years on the PGA Tour.

Then again, consider the start of the year.

Day finished a combined 35 shots out of the lead in the three tournaments he finished. The other was Torrey Pines, where he was defending champion and missed the cut while coping with a nasty virus.

Since then, he has gone wire-to-wire against strong fields twice in the last two months, and he effectively did the same at the Dell Match Play when only one of the seven matches he won reached the 18th hole. He has seven victories in his last 17 tournaments. He is No. 1 in the world with the highest points average since Tiger Woods.

For Day, it’s all about the long haul.

To measure his career to date, he is different from Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth in one respect. Everyone knew McIlroy and Spieth had exceptional talent, and it didn’t take long for them to get on the fast track. McIlroy locked up his European Tour card in two events, won in his second full season and was a U.S. Open champion at 22. Spieth had no status when he turned pro, won on the PGA Tour, was the youngest American to play in the Presidents Cup and had two majors at 21.

Day had every bit as much talent.

He turned heads when he came to America to play the Web.com Tour and won a tournament at 18. What followed were marriage, nagging injuries, his first child, finding a balance between home and golf and questions about why he wasn’t winning more.

The answer was a hard look at who he was and motivated him.

Colin Swatton, his longtime coach and caddie, recalls a conversation they had early in his career.

“He said, ‘When do you think I’ll win on tour?’ And I said, ‘You’ll win when you want to win. You’ll dominate when you want to dominate.’ He never understood that,” Swatton said Tuesday. “And then at the British Open he was like, ‘Gosh, I let another one slip through my fingers. Enough is enough. This is my time. This is when I want to make my mark in golf.’

“Motivation for any player has to come from within.”

Day looks back at that British Open last summer as a turning point in his career. He came up short on a 30-foot birdie putt to get into a playoff at St. Andrews, and he walked away more determined than ever to make it his time. He would follow up that week with a win at the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey.

There was another moment this year at Doral that reminded the 28-year-old Australian what it took.

Swatton prefers data over emotion because that’s what gets through to Day, so he keeps files of information. One reason Day started off the year so slowly is because he stayed away from the game for three months, mainly because wife Ellie gave birth to their second child.

Day was disappointed at Doral, where he tied for 23rd and was never in the picture.

Swatton was realistic. He knew that Day couldn’t expect to have the same form after sitting out three months. Hours lost meant more hours required to reformulate the swing and the feel. So he kept a log of the hours Day had put in and showed it to him after Doral.

“When he walks off and he’s disappointed, you have to present him with facts. You can’t present him with emotion,” Swatton said. “I said, ‘The fact is, this is all the practice you’ve done.’ He looked at it and said, ‘Oh my goodness.’ I said, ‘Exactly.’

“He just had to be patient.”

Day is diligent when it comes to work. He thought winning would come easier when he showed up on the PGA Tour in 2008. He doesn’t want to make that mistake again. So he kept working. And he started winning. And here he is, No. 1 by a margin that suggests he might be there for some time.

“He found what motivates him to work hard,” Swatton said. “And right now he’s motivated to do something similar to Greg Norman, to Tiger Woods. I think he just loves winning. Walking down 18 on Sunday, people are yelling and screaming, and he said, ‘This is why I work hard. This walk.’

“It’s not about the $1.8 million or whatever,” Swatton said. “He just loves winning.”

It doesn’t come as easily as he can make it look.

Day said he has been building to this moment, even during the lean years, finding something that will make him a little better each year.

“Look, I’m in it for the long haul,” he said after his most recent victory. “It’s not like I’m here for five years and someone younger than me is going to be a half-step quicker or I’m going to be an old, slow man. At the end of my career, I want to be able to look back and know that I incrementally got better as the years went on. And if I can focus on that, then I will.

“As long as I want it, and if I do the work, then I’ll get better.”

Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru is pleased to welcome LPGA Tour member Anne-Catherine Tanguay as a program ambassador. She joins Alena Sharp, Rebecca-Lee Bentham and Evanka Osmak as representatives for the Golf Canada program.

Tanguay, who made her debut on the LPGA Tour last month at the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii, is a former Golf Canada National Development team and National Amateur team member. Hailing from Quebec City, Tanguay is proud to back a program that promotes women’s golf in support of a great cause.

“I am pleased to be an ambassador of Golf Canada’s Golf Fore the Cure program,” said Tanguay. “Pairing women’s golf along with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is a great initiative and I’m thrilled to be joining the team.”

Committed to growing women’s participation in the sport, the program has included over 100,000 participants throughout its 12 seasons. Over that period, Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru has raised over $5.4 million dollars in support of breast cancer research.

This year, adidas Canada has signed on as the exclusive apparel partner of the program, and will provide a free adidas uniform to each event coordinator and a $100 gift card for adidasgolf.ca to be awarded to the top fundraiser of each event.

Join the fight against breast cancer and register your event today!

TROON, Scotland – Royal Troon Golf Club, the host of this year’s British Open, is consulting members on whether its male-only membership policy should end.

Troon says it has written to its 800 members “seeking views on the issue of the admission of women members.”

Troon official Martin Cheyne says “we care very much for the reputation of Royal Troon Golf Club and it is important that the club, much like the wider game, reflects the modern society in which we exist.”

Royal Troon, formed in 1878, is sharing the responsibility of hosting next year’s British Open with The Ladies Golf Club in Troon that uses its facilities.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews decided in 2014 to open its membership to women after 260 years of male exclusivity.

ST ANDREWS, Scotland – A new manual giving guidance to golf clubs and golfers on ways of improving pace of play has been published today by The R&A.

The manual will be distributed to The R&A’s 152 affiliated organisations around the world and every golf club in Great Britain and Ireland. It will be available to download from The R&A website, www.randa.org/paceofplay, where further information, resources and related videos can also be viewed.

The new manual provides practical guidance in the three key areas of management, course set-up and player behaviour.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “There is no doubt that pace of play is a key issue for golf today and one on which many golfers have strong views. Through the research exercise and the conference we gained some valuable insights into the views of players, administrators and officials involved in all levels of golf.

“We fully recognize that in a sport as diverse as golf there is no one-size-fits-all approach and so the new manual outlines approaches which have proved to be effective and offers some thoughtful solutions to day-to day pace of play challenges which can arise in golf. We hope the manual will prove to be a useful reference guide for clubs, competition organizers and players alike.”

The R&A carried out an extensive international survey into golfers’ views on pace of play in 2014/15 which attracted more than 56,000 responses from golfers in 122 countries. One of the key findings of the research was that 60% of golfers said they would enjoy golf more if they played in less time.

The findings were discussed at the Time for Golf conference last November, which was attended by professionals and administrators from throughout the world of golf and those discussions helped shape the new manual.

European Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher took part in a discussion session at the conference. Welcoming the launch of the new manual, he said, “I think this is an important step forward in providing some practical ways of improving pace of play. It was fascinating to hear different perspectives on pace of play at the Time for Golf conference and there was definitely a feeling that we should share some of the best approaches to dealing with the issue with a wider audience. The new manual gives some great examples of best practice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone involved in golf.”

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods grimaced as he took three warmup swings after sitting in a chair for 30 minutes on a cool, blustery Monday morning at Congressional talking about his upcoming tournament. Hitting a ceremonial shot from a forward tee on the par-3 10th hole, he chunked his first attempt into the pond short of the green.

He asked for another ball. That one splashed, too. With officials from his foundation egging him on, he tried one more time. The last one cleared the pond, but not by enough. It landed on a steep bank and rolled down into the water.

His efforts at Congressional – home to the Quicken Loans National, which he hosts and which benefits his foundation – put to rest most of the lingering questions about whether he’ll be ready to return to competitive golf anytime soon.

“I have been practicing at home, and I’m progressing nicely. I’m hoping to play,” Woods said. “That’s the overriding question I keep hearing: When are you coming back, when are you playing? I get it all the time. If I knew, I’d tell, you, because it’d be fun to know.”

Woods, who underwent two back surgeries last fall, said he’s getting stronger and hitting the ball better. The tournament at Congressional will be played June 23-26, the week after the U.S. Open, and it certainly appears that Woods will attend only in a noncompetitive role.

Woods, 40, hasn’t played since last August, and he’s fallen to no. 524 in the world ranking. He said Monday he can’t spend nearly as much time practicing as he used to. He’s been playing friendly games at Medalist, his home club in Florida, but he’s yet to play 18 holes, although he said he’s physically capable of playing a full round.

“Everything about my game is coming around. Now it’s just a matter of being consistent with it,” Woods said. “And then being able to do that not only at home against the boys at Medalist and trying to take their cash, but trying to come out here and doing it against the best players in the world is a completely different deal.”

If he were healthy, June would be a busy month for Woods, starting with the Memorial and then the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he tied for second in 2007, followed by the Quicken Loans National, which he’s won twice. While Woods did not confirm that he would be absent from those events, he said it’s frustrating not to be able to play at places where he’s been successful.

“I want to play. Trust me, I want to,” he said. “The plan is to get well, and whether that’s by next week or it’s a year from now, I don’t know. My doctors don’t know, I don’t know.”

Woods also said he considered walking away from the game after his first back surgery, a microdiscectomy in 2014.

“Do I want to go through that whole process again of getting back? Some part of me said yes, some part of me said no. Because it is hard,” Woods said. “Nerve pain – if you’ve never experienced it, man, it’s something else.”

He said he no longer has any nerve pain, although he’s not pain-free.

Still, Woods believes he can still generate the same clubhead speed that he did when he was younger, and he showed little interest in changing his aggressive style of play to protect his body.

“Ironically enough, my speed’s higher than it’s been in a few years. And I’m not trying. My technique just changed. That’s a good sign. When I get stronger and I do crank it up, I’ll have the speed I used to have, which will be nice,” Woods said. “… Guys who are on the shorter side have success, but when they’re not quite on their game, they’re missing cuts.”

While sidelined, Woods has watched admiringly as his friend Jason Day has solidified his hold on the No. 1 ranking. The two are in touch frequently and Day, who won the Players Championship on Sunday, has spoken about the valuable advice he’s gotten from Woods.

“I think it’s fantastic how he’s playing, how he’s handling himself, how focused he is and how committed to improving” he is, Woods said. “He practices with purpose and you can see it when he plays.”

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The final round of the 2016 CN Future Links Pacific Championship at The Dunes at Kamloops Golf Club unfolded in much the same way as the previous two – with the Junior Boys and Junior Girls fields in pursuit of Tony Gil and Mary Parsons. Neither would be caught as the pair completed wire-to-wire victories to open Golf Canada’s championship season.

Team Canada Men’s Development Squad member Tony Gil matched his opening-round 66 with another six-birdie performance. “I managed myself really well, strategically and mentally,” said the product of Vaughan, Ont. “Tee to green, I was really solid. I made a couple of long putts for birdie. Overall this week, my ball-striking was on point. I only made two bogeys which was quite nice. I’m pretty happy with how I played.”

The significance of the victory was not lost upon Gil. “This is my last CN Future Links event, so it means a lot to cap it off with a win. This was a huge confidence booster. To know that I’m shooting that low – this experience will be really useful for the World Junior coming up.” The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup will take place at Chukyo Golf Club in Toyota, Japan from June 11-17.

The 18-year-old Gil finished 16-under 200 – 10-strokes clear of Conaire Kehoe of Calgary, who tallied five birdies to match the 69 he posted on the first day. Two Calgarians finished tied for third at 5-under: Brendan MacDougall, who carded a 68, and Development Squad member Alexander Smith, who made four birdies, including three across a bogey-free back nine.

When asked about her play throughout the tournament, Mary Parsons credited her preparedness for the victory. “I felt I played pretty well. I stuck to my game plan and didn’t try to change anything out on the course.”

“I really wanted to start the (Golf Canada) season off strong because I’ve had a bunch of Top-5 finishes in the season openers,” added the 16-year-old when reflecting on the importance of the win. “I really wanted to make this one count because I want to make Team Canada this year. I just played my game and I just wanted to have a good showing this week.”

Entering the final round, Parsons from Delta, B.C., held a six-shot advantage over Team Canada Development Squad member Chloe Currie of Mississauga, Ont. Parsons finished with four birdies on the day to hold off Currie, who was unable to catch the leader despite a seven-birdie 3-under 69. Fellow National Team member Grace St-Germain surged up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 5-under performance to finish T3 alongside British Columbians Sumie Francois of Burnaby and Amanda Minni of Delta.

All competitors within the Top-6 in the Junior Girls division have earned exemptions into the 2016 Canadian Junior Girls Championship from August 2-5 at The Links at Penn Hills in Shubenacadie, N.S. Joining Parsons in playing their way into the national amateur championship were Currie, St-Germain, Francois, Minni and Courtenay, B.C., native Abigail Rigsby.

As the competition’s top-six finishers, Gil, Kehoe, MacDougall, Smith, Chandler McDowell (Springbrook, Alta.) and Gavin Ciulla (Surrey, B.C.) have earned entry into the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship. McDowell claimed his exemption on the first playoff hole, while Ciulla emerged victorious on the third extra hole. The national amateur championship will be hosted by Clovelly Golf Club in St. John’s, N.L., from August 1-4.

Tony Gil (Chuck Russell/ Golf Canada)

Five additional CN Future Links Championships will cross the country this summer:

• May 27-29 – CN Future Links Ontario – Midland, Ont. – Midland Golf & Country Club
• June 3-5 – CN Future Links Quebec – Beauceville, Que. – Club de golf Beauceville
• 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 Pacific Championship can be found here.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jason Day wanted to win The Players Championship so badly that he wasn’t going to let anything stop him.

Not the super slick greens that nearly derailed him Saturday. Not the three muffed chips that turned potential birdie into a unsettling bogey as he made the turn Sunday. And certainly not the best field in golf.

With another command performance, Day put his stamp on No. 1 in the world by never letting anyone closer than two shots in the final round, playing bogey-free on the back nine of the TPC Sawgrass for the fourth straight day and closing with a 1-under 71 for a wire-to-wire victory.

It was his seventh title in the last 10 months.

And the 28-year-old Australian wants to win a lot more.

“I want to be to be able to be looked back on and know that ‘he was one of the greats in the game.’ If I have the opportunity to do that, I’m going to try my best,” Day said after his four-shot victory. “And I have the opportunity to do that right now, try and work has hard as I can to really leave my footprint in this game.

“I’m very motivated to win as much as I can right now.”

He stomped his way all over everyone at The Players Championship, even though he had a few nervous moments.

Day made bogey on No. 6, had to make a 15-foot par putt on the next hole and really looked out of sorts from just 40 feet right of the green on the par-5 ninth. He muffed three straight chips and had to make a 6-foot putt just to escape with bogey, dropping his lead to two shots.

“If I walk away with a double bogey there, I let everyone (back) in the field,” he said. “I was right there next to the green in two and felt like an amateur chopping my way to the pin. That putt was probably the most crucial putt of this tournament for me.”

Two 15-foot birdies over the next three holes restored his margin and sent him on his way. The last hurdle was finding land on the island-green 17th, and he cleared the water with about 10 feet to spare.

Day’s seven victories dating to the Canadian Open include the PGA Championship, The Players, a World Golf Championship and a pair of FedEx Cup events, all some of the strongest fields in golf. He became the first wire-to-wire winner in 16 years at Sawgrass, and he joined Tiger Woods, Johnny Miller and Tom Watson as the only players to go wire-to-wire twice in the same season dating to 1970.

Day finished at 15-under 273 and earned $1.89 million, the richest payoff in golf.

Kevin Chappell, who finished one shot behind Day at Bay Hill, was 5 under over his final 10 holes for a 69. He picked up a consolation check of $1,134,000 and moves just outside the top 30 in the world, giving him a spot in the next two majors.

“That’s getting a little old,” Chappell said of his two runner-up finishes to Day. “I’m not sure what Jason’s scrambling stats were, but they were much better than mine on the week.”

Day got up-and-down 85 per cent of the time this week, best at Sawgrass.

He now has won 10 times on the PGA Tour – only Rory McIlroy with 11 has won more among players in their 20s.

“It’s no coincidence he’s No. 1 in the world,” Justin Thomas said after closing with a Sunday-best 65 to tie for third. “He drives it extremely far, extremely straight. He hits it to the moon, so he can access pins that most people can’t. His short game is ridiculous. I think I’ve pretty much covered it all there when it comes to the golf.”

Day is the third No. 1 player to win The Players Championship, joining Greg Norman (1994) and Woods (2001 and 2013).

Thomas, who started 11 shots behind, stuck around Sawgrass to see if 10-under 278 would have a chance. He wound up tied for third with Matt Kuchar (68), Colt Knost (69) and Ken Duke (72).

Canada’s David Hearn, of Brantford, Ont., shot a 71 on Sunday to finish tied for 28th at 3 under for the tournament. Adam Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 39th at 1 under.

Hideki Matsuyama, playing in the final group with Day, was 3 over after three holes and quickly out of the mix.

The pressure didn’t come from anyone else. Day brought it on himself. He only hit three greens on the front nine, and let evil thoughts of blowing the lead creep into his head until he steadied himself with the bogey putt on No. 9 and the two birdies on the 10th and 12th holes.

Day now has a large lead in the world ranking over Jordan Spieth, who missed the cut, and McIlroy at No. 3, who was never a factor on Sunday at Sawgrass. Dating to his 81 last year at The Players to miss the cut, Day has finished out of the top 10 only seven times in his last 20 starts.

Adam Scott referred to his run as “Tigeresque.”

“That’s one of the hardest things to do when you are hot like that, to keep pushing,” Scott said. “But he has a very strong desire to achieve so much, and I think probably his goals are changing throughout this period, and he’s expecting more and more of himself. He’s got that ability to push himself and accomplish.”

RALEIGH, N.C. – Trey Mullinax won the Rex Hospital Open on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, shooting a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over Brady Schnell.

“It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it. It hasn’t hit me, but it will,” said Mullinax, five strokes behind Schnell with nine holes left. “This year hasn’t been long, but it’s been hard on me, dealing with expectations and being able to come out here and just have a free attitude and do what I need to do.”

The 23-year-old former Alabama player finished at 14-under 270 at TPC Wakefield Plantation. He earned $117,000 to jump from 33rd to fourth on the money list with $154,486. The top 25 at the end of the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

“I think winning kind of changes some things. When you win, it changes your whole year. You can take off, but I don’t feel like I want to even take off,” Mullinax said. “I’m playing well. I’ve got a good attitude. I’m enjoying what I’m doing and I really just want to keep doing this.”

After playing the front nine in 2 over, Mullinax birdied the next three holes and chipped in from 20 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th.

“I got it up there real close to the green and had a pretty easy chip,” Mullinax said about the eagle. “In my mind, I thought I could make it and when I chipped it, it kind of took a good bounce to the hole and it went in.”

He two-putted from 45 feet for par on the par-4 18th.

“I got up there, and the crowd was obviously having a good time, and some guy yelled, ‘If you two putt this, you’ll win,”’ Mullinax said. “I thought, ‘Hey, thanks buddy.’ As if this wasn’t hard enough.”’

Schnell shot a 72. He bogeyed the final two holes, three-putting from 50 feet on the par-4 17th and hitting into the back bunker on 18.

“Looking back on it, probably tried to make too many pars and got a little conservative and a little gun shy with some shots out there,” Schnell said. “Just kept leaving myself with too long of putts, too long of opportunities coming in.”

JT Poston had a 69 to finish third at 11 under. Cameron Percy (67) and Dominic Bozzelli (73) followed at 10 under.

Toronto’s Albin Choi tied for 10th at 7 under.