BETHESDA, Md. – Naval Academy graduate Billy Hurley III shot a 4-under 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Ernie Els into the final round of the Quicken Loans National.

Hurley had four birdies in the bogey-free round at Congressional to reach 15 under.

Els holed out for eagle on the par4 12th with the shot of the week and finished with a 65.

Jon Rahm, who held the lead after one round and shared it with Hurley after two, struggled. Playing his first event as a professional, the 21-year-old former Arizona State star from Spain had four bogeys in a 70 that left him three strokes behind Hurley.

Hurley, who grew up in Leesburg, Virginia, has been able to take advantage of favourable conditions at Congressional this week for Tiger Woods’ annual tournament.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 14th after a 69 and is 5 under. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is 4 under after shooting a 72.

MADISON, Wis. – Jean-Francois Remesy had two eagles in an 8-under 64 on Saturday to take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ inaugural American Family Insurance Championship.

The last alternate to get into the field after losing a playoff in a Monday qualifier, the 52-year-old Frenchman holed out for eagle from 92 yards with a 52-degree wedge on the par-4 first. He also eagled the par-5 11th, and had four birdies in the bogey-free round to reach 13-under 131 at University Ridge.

“If I can afford the bogeys, game is OK, putting is OK,” Remesy said. “I feel great. It is a dream to come and play in the States.”

Making his seventh start on the 50-and-over circuit, the two-time French Open champion is one of the tour’s smallest players at 5-foot-8 and 148 pounds.

Gene Sauers and Bart Bryant were a stroke back. Sauers, tied for the first-round lead with Estaban Toledo after an opening 63, had a 69. He’s is in contention two weeks after withdrawing from the Constellation Senior Players Championship because of a bulging disk.

“I’m still right there, so I’m OK,” Sauers said. “I put a lot of pressure on probably all parts of my game today, driving, all irons. I wasn’t making the putts, leaving them all short, leaving myself 3-, 4-, 5-footers for par. Hopefully, things will be a little different tomorrow, I can relax and calm down and get into the zone again like I was the first day.”

Bryant birdied the final hole for a 66. He won his lone tour title in 2013.

“I actually did not drive the ball great today, which is usually my strong point,” Bryant said. “But I made a boatload of putts, and I think whenever you have a great tournament you look back, that’s usually what the catalyst is. I made a huge putt on No. 8, probably a 40- or 50-footer, then I made another 20-footer there on the last hole and a couple other 15-footers.”

Large crowds again followed the players in the event that hometown PGA Tour player Steve Stricker helped launch and hosts. He turns 50 in February and will be eligible to play next year.

Mike Goodes (66) was 11 under, and Kirk Triplett (66), Billy Andrade (67) and Kevin Sutherland (69) were 10 under.

Bernhard Langer was 8 under after a 69. The 58-year-old German star is coming off a victory two weeks ago in the Constellation Senior Players Championship, his second major win of the year. He has three overall victories this year to push his senior total to 28.

Wes Short Jr. also was in the group at 8 under, following an opening 72 with a 64. He was 7 under in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, making a hole-in-one on the 12th and five birdies.

“The back side was a lot of fun,” Short said. “There’s a lot of birdie holes out there. You can get it going on that back side. You know, get 2 or 3-under on the front, and then the back side is where you can kind of take advantage of the course.”

He used a 7-iron on the 194-yard 12th.

“It started a little bit left and the wind drifted it back,” Short said. “I thought it was going to be close, but then it disappeared. Only second hole-in-one I made in competition, so that was pretty fun.”

Toledo shot a 79 to drop into a tie for 47th at 2 under. He had a quadruple-bogey 9 on No. 9.

John Daly had a 72 to remain 1 under. He’s making his sixth tour start since turning 50 in late April.

BETHESDA, Md. – The PGA Tour announced Saturday that the Greenbrier Classic scheduled for next month has been cancelled because of the devastating flooding in West Virginia.

The tournament had been scheduled for July 7-10 at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, which was inundated with floodwaters after heavy storms rolled into the state Thursday. Tour officials say the Old White TPC, the host course, suffered extensive damage and “is beyond reasonable repair to conduct the tournament.”

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said officials were heartbroken by the devastation in West Virginia and offered their thoughts and prayers.

“Cancelling the Greenbrier Classic is certainly the most prudent course of action as our foremost concern is the well-being of those who are having to live through this tragic situation,” Finchem said.

Greenbrier County claimed 15 of the 23 deaths attributed to the flooding.

This is the first time a PGA Tour event has been washed out since the Viking Classic in Madison, Mississippi, in 2009. Unplayable conditions also led to the cancellation of the 1996 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

More than 150 players had committed to playing the Greenbrier, which was set to follow the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational. The PGA Tour is at Congressional this weekend for Tiger Woods’ Quicken Loans National.

The Greenbrier was supposed to be the final chance to qualify for the British Open at Royal Troon on July 14-17, with one spot available to the highest finisher who was not already eligible. Andy Pazder, the tour’s chief of operations, said the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, which runs the British Open, was deciding what to do with that spot.

One possibility is to award it to the Barracuda Championship, to be played next week opposite the WGC-Bridgestone.

At the Greenbrier, owner Jim Justice said the focus is on helping the people of West Virginia.

“So many have lost loved ones, their homes, and have no place to go,” Justice said. “All of us are united with only one common goal: to help the people through this terrible time.”

The Greenbrier Classic began in 2010. The PGA Tour is committed to holding the event through 2021.

“We know we will have the opportunity to return again next year, and we look forward to that time,” Finchem said. “But for now, that is of secondary concern. The priority is safety of the residents and their recovery from this disaster.”

Whitecap, Sask. – Co-leaders Max Rottluff of Dusseldorf, Germany and Carter Jenkins of Raleigh, North Carolina completed one hole of the third round at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open on Saturday when play was suspended due to dangerous weather.

After Jenkins and Rottluff recorded opening pars at the first hole, play was initially suspended for 3 hours and 57 minutes at 9:48 a.m. due to dangerous weather in the area. Though play resumed at 1:45 p.m., storms returned and the round was suspended again four minutes later, eventually wiping out play for the day.

“Unfortunately, a number of storm cells producing lightning passed through the area today, preventing us from getting players back out on the course,” said PGA TOUR Tournament Director, Jamie Wiles. “Having made the 36-hole cut, we are confident that without any further delays we’ll be able to get 72 holes completed by tomorrow.”

With players having as many as 35 holes to complete, Sunday promises to be a grind for players in contention.

“It’s more of a mental challenge than anything, staying prepared and being ready for tomorrow,” said Brad Clapp, who had played one hole and was in a tie for fifth at 10-under when play was suspended. “Weather permitting, hopefully we’re going to get the two rounds in tomorrow. I know the Tour does everything it can to get it in, and we’ll try for that tomorrow.”

One shot behind Jenkins and Rottluff were Orlando, Florida’s Ross Beal and Calgary, Alberta’s James Love, who both also opened with pars at the first before play was suspended. 

Round three will resume with players in position at 8 a.m. on Sunday. Players will not be re-grouped for round four.

EDMONTON – Jack Wood, a Banff Springs Golf Club phenom, needed one extra hole in the final match to claim victory at the 2016 Alberta Match Play Championship. The UBC Thunderbird and No. 10 seeded player took down the No. 1 seed University of Houston Cougar, Matt Williams.

Williams held a 1-up advantage on the final hole when play was suspended due to dangerous weather conditions with players in the fairway. When play resumed, Wood was able to save par while Williams bogeyed, sending the match to extra holes. Wood made a solid par three on the extra hole while Williams again bogeyed, leaving Wood victorious after four gruelling matches over the past two days at RedTail Landing Golf Club.

Wood went 1 up, 2-and-1, 3-and-1, 1 up (19 holes) in his victories over Max Sekulic, Brett Pasula, Jared Nicolls, and Matt Williams, respectively.

By virtue of competing in the final match both Wood and Williams have earned quota positions into the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship taking place at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club, August 8-11th. Wood has also punched his ticket into the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship. He becomes the second member selected to Team Alberta after Emmett Oh of Calgary earned the first spot last week at The Glencoe Invitational where he finished as the low Albertan.

Dusseldorf, Germany’s Max Rottluff and Raleigh, North Carolina’s Carter Jenkins reached 12-under par through two rounds on Friday at Dakota Dunes Golf Links to share the 36-hole lead at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s SIGA Dakota Dunes Open.

Rottluff and Jenkins, who both turned professional earlier this year after concluding their college careers, played together the first two days and carded identical rounds of 67-65 over the first two days to lead by one over Calgary, Alberta’s James Love and Orlando, Florida’s Ross Beal.

“He bombs the ball and it’s fun to watch, so we were having a good time for sure,” said Rottluff, a 2015 1^st team NCAA All-American at Arizona State, of his high-octane grouping with Jenkins.

Jenkins, a 20-year old who turned pro following his junior season at the University of North Carolina this spring, said he enjoyed treating the pairing like match play and fuelled his own solid play by watching Rottluff.

“He got off to a great start and eagled No. 2, which was our 11th hole. That put him to 10-under, and I had a 4- or 5-footer for birdie on that same hole to get to nine, so I definitely tried my hardest to catch him, and it was great to have someone to feed off of,” said Jenkins.

With both players heading straight from the conclusion of their college seasons to the Mackenzie Tour last month, a week off after the GolfBC Championship was a welcome sight, bringing a chance for a refreshed approach this week in Saskatoon.

“It was nice to have the off week and to settle back down and think about what happened in the first two weeks. I missed the cut in both events with good opening rounds, so that was definitely disappointing, but I didn’t feel like my game was very far off,” said Rottluff, echoing similar comments from Jenkins.

“It was nice to have an off week, especially coming straight from college and having three weeks in a row. It was nice to get home for a few days and see the family, see my coach and get a little work done,” said Jenkins.

One shot behind were Beal and Love, with Harare, Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and Chilliwack, British Columbia’s Brad Clapp a shot further behind at 10-under.

ROGERS, Ark. – One of Ayako Uehara’s best memories in her four full-time seasons on the LPGA Tour is a hole-in-one she made in her first appearance at the NW Arkansas Championship in 2013.

Uehara added to her growing list of memorable moments at Pinnacle Country Club by shooting a career-best 62 in the opening round Friday.

The 9-under round matched the course record and gave the Japanese player a two-stroke lead, a remarkable position for a player who entered the week ranked 214th in the world after struggling with her game for much of the year.

Uehara needed only 25 putts and made nine birdies in her bogey-free round, a score that bested her previous career low of 63 she posted in Malaysia in 2014. That was a year after her first appearance in northwest Arkansas, where she holed out on the par-3 17th on her way to a 25th-place finish.

It’s a moment she’s relived countless times since, especially in the days leading to the start of this week’s tournament.

“Since I got here this year, I’ve been watching this video of this hole-in-one many times,” Uehara said. “Also, I show my caddie.”

Taiwan’s Candie Kung had a 64, and 13 players, including Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, are tied for third at 65.

Uehara will tee off Saturday afternoon in pursuit of her first career victory, and at the very least looking to earn only her fourth career top-10 finish in 76 tournaments.

“The course conditions will be different, so we have to make good judgment decisions and we’ll go from there,” Uehara said.

Playing in muggy conditions after overnight rain, Uehara took advantage of the soft greens during the morning to match the course record of 62 set by Angela Park and Jane Park in 2008.

Uehara, whose best finish in an LPGA Tour event is third in Japan in the 2012 Mizuno Classic, missed the cut in eight of her first nine tournaments to begin this year. However, she entered this weekend having finished 39th or better in five of her last six events – an improvement in play she carried over to Friday.

After a pair of birdies on her opening nine, Uehara birdied four of the first five holes after the turn, including three straight to reach 7 under. She then reached 9 under with a closing birdie on the par-4 ninth, capping a round in which she hit 11 of 13 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation.

Uehara finished 4 under at the NW Arkansas Championship during her rookie season in 2013, tying for 25th. However, she missed the cut at the event in each of the last two seasons before putting together her career-best round on Friday.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko opened the tournament with a 5-under 66, while local favorite Stacy Lewis shot a 4-under 67.

Ko and Lewis were paired together with Minjee Lee – who finished with a 65 – and the trio attracted the largest gallery of the morning at the 6,330-yard Pinnacle Country Club.

Lewis, the former world No. 1 who played collegiately at nearby Arkansas, hasn’t won since her victory in the event two years ago.

However, she continued to draw large cheers of “Woo Pig Sooie” from the Razorbacks fans and finished with the 67. She had 31 putts, missing an 8-foot birdie attempt on her final hole of the day.

Ko, meanwhile, closed her round with a flurry while in search of her third victory of the year. The New Zealander, after opening on the back nine, eagled the par-5 seventh with a 35-foot putt, and she recovered from a poor chip and bogey on No. 8 with a short birdie putt on the ninth.

Second-ranked Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 69. She beat Ko in a playoff two weeks ago in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship outside Seattle.

Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Kelowna, B.C., native Samantha Richdale are tied for 89th at even par.

Michelle Wie had a 71, and defending champion Na Yeon Choi shot 75.

BETHESDA, Md. – Jon Rahm was surprised about the level of fan support he has received at the Quicken Loans National, far away from his native Spain and where he went to school at Arizona State.

It helped that Rahm was playing with local guy Bobby Hurley III and helped even more that the two players went shot-for-shot Friday to share the lead. Rahm and Hurley were tied at 11 under, three strokes ahead of Vijay Singh going into the weekend at Congressional.

Rahm, who’s playing his first event as a professional, said he couldn’t be happier by following a great first round with a second-round 67.

“I’m just lucky to be here today,” said Rahm, who led Thursday after a 64. “If you tell me 10 years ago when I was 11 years old that I would be leading a PGA Tour event when I was 21, I wouldn’t believe you.”

Rahm would’ve had sole possession of the lead had he not missed a 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole. As a result, he was tied with Hurley, a Naval Academy graduate who lives in nearby Annapolis and grew up in Leesburg, Virginia.

Hearing chants of the Annapolis zip code and more from the galleries, Hurley shot a 6-under 65.

“I just hit a lot of good shots,” Hurley said. “I was just able to keep the pedal down and continue to attack the golf course, which is not something you usually do around Congressional. But being soft I was able to take advantage of the conditions and get the ball a little closer to the hole than you’re used to.”

Before Rahm and Hurley even got onto the Blue Course on Friday, Singh put on a show to rival what Ernie Els did Thursday. Singh turned in a 66 that was most memorable for his shot from the edge of the water on No. 18.

The 53-year-old Singh hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2008. He would be the oldest PGA Tour winner if he captures the Quicken Loans National, but said he wasn’t thinking about making that kind of history.

“It would be good to win,” the three-time major champion said. “But it’s only halfway, so I’ll be focused on my game tomorrow and see what happens.”

Singh looked to be in trouble on the 18th when he hit into the rough under a tree and then landed his approach shot just inches from the water. He rolled up his pants and waded in to hit the shot that dropped him to 8 under at Tiger Woods’ annual tournament.

“I was unfortunate that it went that far in and fortunate that it stayed out,” Singh said. “I kept sinking when I got in the water. I started out with just my foot in the water and then it started getting up to my ankles. The more I moved the deeper I went, so I kind of had to play a very safe shot. I got away with a bogey.”

Els bogeyed holes Nos. 1 and 18 but played well enough in between to finish with a 69 to get to 7 under along with Webb Simpson (68), Bill Haas (69) and Harold Varner III (69). The 46-year-old Els said he has to be happy with where he’s at and hopes he and Singh can play well Saturday to set up a vintage showdown.

“I’m not quite as old as Vijay, but I’m getting there,” Els said. “He’s obviously a legend of the game and done so much for the Tour and a great champion. I know he’s been working hard on his game and he’s been quietly optimistic. Same with me. I’d love to maybe see if we can really go low tomorrow and see him on tomorrow.”

Sixth-ranked Rickie Fowler had just one bogey in his second round, shooting 68 to get to 6 under. Fowler ended his streak of missed cuts at three.

“I was able to just kind of stay patient and give myself a lot of looks at birdie, which is always good,” Fowler said. “Nice to have a tee time on the weekend.”

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., carded a 4-under 67 to hold a share of 11th, and Abbotsford, B.C., native Nick Taylor is tied for 25th at 3-under.

MADISON, Wis. – Gene Sauers rebounded from a bulging disk to share the first-round lead with Estaban Toledo on Friday in the PGA Tour Champions’ inaugural American Family Insurance Championship.

The 53-year-old Sauers matched Toledo with a 9-under 63 in front of large galleries at University Ridge. Sauers withdrew from the Constellation Senior Players Championship two weeks ago in Pennsylvania because of the disk problem.

“I had to go home, see my doctor, and I didn’t play for like seven, eight days,” Sauers said. “Of course, we had the week off prior, which was great, which helped me. And saw my teacher at home, he got me kind of straightened out. Coming here this week I had a lot of good thoughts coming into this week. … Hopefully, I can make it the next few more days.”

Sauers closed his bogey-free round with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.

“It’s a great golf course,” Sauers said. “The front side is kind of wide open and then the back nine is tree-lined, so it’s a good mixture. The golf course is in great shape. The greens are perfect. What more can you ask for? You know, shooting 9 under is pretty good out here on this track. It’s not a real easy golf course. You’ve got to just concentrate on fairways and greens and give yourself opportunities.”

The three-time PGA Tour winner has successfully fought the rare skin condition Stevens-Johnson syndrome to continue his career. He has four runner-up finishes in 81 career starts on the 50-and-over tour.

Toledo made five straight birdies on his first nine, added three more on Nos. 1, 2 and 4 and capped his bogey-free round with another on the ninth. The 53-year-old Mexican player won the Allianz Championship in February for his fourth senior title.

Fran Quin was a stroke back, making six birdies in an eight-hole stretch that ended on the par-5 16th. The 51-year-old Quin has finished in the top 25 in all three of his tour starts this year.

Kevin Sutherland and Tom Byrum shot 65, and Fred Funk, Duffy Waldorf, Loren Roberts and Bart Bryan followed at 66.

Large crowds followed the players in event that hometown PGA Tour player Steve Stricker helped launch and hosts. He turns 50 in February and will be eligible to play next year.

“We can’t ask for anything more,” Sutherland said. “There was a lot of people out there today. It was amazing to see everybody out here. I think it says a locality about Steve Stricker, about the way people feel about him around here, and they should. He’s a tremendous human being, he’s obviously a great golfer. So this says a lot about Steve, says a lot about Madison. It’s been fantastic.”

Bernhard Langer topped the group at 67. The 58-year-old German star is coming off a victory two weeks ago in the Constellation Senior Players Championship, his second major win of the year. He has three overall victories this year to push his senior total to 28.

“I just didn’t make any putts on the back nine,” Langer said. “Played pretty good, but the greens were a bit on the slow side, so I left a couple short and didn’t get it close enough. But overall it’s a solid round. I’m right there. Got two days to catch up.”

John Daly opened with a 71, also finishing with a birdie on No. 9. He’s making his sixth tour start since turning 50 in late April.

St. Catharines, Ont., resident Rod Spittle and Victoria B.C., native Jim Rutledge shot matching 70s for shares of 42nd.

The Olympic trophy is in the midst of a historic and timely renaissance. Golf’s return to the Games this summer has ramped up interest in the beautiful sterling silver chalice to an unprecedented, never-before-seen level. For decades it remained cloaked in relative obscurity. No more.

Golf Channel showcased the trophy earlier this year in a segment on Morning Drive. It has made public appearances in support of Olympic golf, including at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., and last year’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and RBC Canadian Open. Highlighting a busy upcoming schedule it will tentatively be on display during the Open Championship at Royal Troon, be flown back from Scotland for the RBC Canadian Open the following week, then tentatively be in Rio de Janeiro August 5-21 for the men’s and women’s Olympic golf competitions.

Awarded to Toronto’s George S. Lyon in 1904, the Olympic trophy has never shined quite as brilliantly as it has of late. On permanent display at the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum on the grounds of Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ont., this uptick in attention has put it into the conversation among the game’s grandest trophies.

“During many Canadian Opens that I played at Glen Abbey, I had a chance to see the Olympic individual trophy George Lyon won several times,” said two-time Masters champion and noted golf historian, Ben Crenshaw. “Mr. Lyon was one of the great amateur golfers in Canadian history. I’ve also read he was a very fine player, with his crowning achievement being his Olympic win in that playoff with Chandler Egan in St. Louis in 1904. It’s a shame he didn’t get the chance to defend the trophy with golf cancelled out of the Olympics in 1908.”

Lyon’s fellow countrymen will take up that quest on his behalf. More than a century later Canada’s Olympic golf team heads to Brazil as the defending gold medallists. The trophy is a symbolic reminder of that victory, a feat that ranks right alongside Mike Weir’s victory at the 2003 Masters as one of this country’s greatest golfing achievements.

“There’s kind of an aura about the trophy,” says PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor, one of the players vying for a spot on the Olympic men’s team. “When you’re around it you feel it. It’s pretty special.”

Lorne Rubenstein can relate to Taylor’s viewpoint. The renowned national writer’s first job in golf was as curator of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, Museum & Library during its time in a spacious room on the ground floor of the old Jesuit retreat at Glen Abbey. Now a Hall of Fame member himself, Rubenstein fondly recalls the hours he spent in such close proximity to the iconic piece of golf history.

“The Olympic trophy took pride of place on a stand all its own, in a central part of the museum,” recalls Rubenstein. “I was in the museum every day, and, every day, I would make my way over to this ornate, grand trophy that seemed to stand sentinel over the room, bathed in light pouring in through the leaded windows. It seemed almost mystical to me. The trophy belonged to Canada, to all golfers. I often wondered if we would again see golf in the Olympics, and if golfers from around the world might even again compete for this iconic trophy — so special among all the trophies in the game.”

Made of 26-point sterling silver, the trophy — along with all trophies and medals awarded for golf at the 1904 Games in St. Louis — was commissioned by host course Glen Echo Country Club. Local business J. Bolland Jeweller Co. designed and manufactured the trophy, which features the stately Glen Echo clubhouse on one side.

Fred Lyon, George S. Lyon’s son, donated the trophy along with the clubs his father used in the Olympic Games during his time as a Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada) governor back in the late 1950s.

“The RCGA had started to collect memorabilia and artefacts for a potential museum and library in the 1950s,” explains Meggan Gardner, current Canadian Golf Hall of Fame curator. “It was a generous donation of a treasured Lyon family heirloom. It’s certainly our crown jewel.”

And as Rubenstein points out, Canadian golf’s crown jewel is about to go global.

“There was nothing like it. There still is nothing like it,” he says. “In my mind’s eye I still see the trophy in the museum, drawing me in, drawing in all visitors just as it will draw the world’s attention this summer for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.”

Olympic trophy This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.