BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –

Kenny Perry made a couple of early birdie putts from about 20 feet, mostly steered clear of trouble and finished well.

Perry birdied the final hole for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke lead Thursday in the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.

“I mean, I didn’t miss a green,” he said. “I putted for birdies or eagles on every hole so took a lot of pressure off myself by doing that. I hit the ball nicely, drove it beautifully, hit lots of fairways. Was able to attack the par 5s.”

Bernhard Langer matched him going into the final hole. Then Langer bogeyed No. 18 for a 66 to fall into a second-place tie with Gene Sauers at Greystone Golf and Country Club, hosting its first PGA Tour Champions event since the Bruno’s Memorial Classic in 2005.

Perry won the Regions Tradition a few miles away at Shoal Creek in 2014, and the 14-time PGA Tour winner started on a roll. He birdied five of the first eight holes in a bogey-free round, including the two long putts during that hot start.

He was in a tie going into 18 with Langer, who had three straight birdies starting on No. 11.

Billy Andrade was three strokes back at 67. Defending champion Jeff Maggert was among seven players four shots behind.

Langer, who has not finished worse than 11th this year, needed two attempts to escape the greenside bunker on 18. The two-time Masters winner, who leads the tour in scoring average, then two-putted.

“I bladed it,” Langer said about his first bunker shot. “I was just trying to bank it against it but not fly it into the netting. No other way to get it close. It was a very bad trap.”

He said he had hit “a beautiful 3-wood” that kicked right and into the sand.

Sauers, who tied for third at last year’s Regions Tradition, had birdies on four of the final six holes, including 18. The three-time PGA Tour winner has four runner-up finishes on the 50-and-over circuit. His only bogey came on the par-5 fifth hole.

Sauers started practicing a new putting grip a couple of days before leaving for the Insperity Invitational, where he tied for 12th after a closing 67.

“I made some putts where before I wasn’t making the putts and now I’m really rolling it better and I’m kind of going cross-handed, left hand low,” Sauers said. “This is my second week for it, so I should have done it 20 years ago.”

With an eagle and a double bogey, John Daly finished his first round in a PGA Tour Champions major with a 70. He made an eagle from the fairway on the 435-yard fifth hole. Two holes later, came the double bogey after Daly’s drive went into the rough.

“Getting into this thing is pretty cool, I’m enjoying myself,” he said. “But having a start like that is kind of cool. My last round at Houston I had it going but didn’t finish it, so I’ve just got to keep going and try to finish these good starts.”

In the meantime, he relished having a big following around Greystone – and not having to worry about making a cut.

“Oh, it’s great, man. It’s just awesome,” Daly said. “That’s what’s cool. They get me for three or four days now instead of two, so it’s good to work on weekends again.”

Jesper Parnevik, who’s coming off a four-stroke victory at the Insperity Invitational, finished with a 70. He was 3 over on the final three holes, including a double bogey on No. 18.

With rain and thunderstorms forecast for Friday, Perry expects the scoring and conditions to change significantly. Play will start on two tees with tour officials aiming for a mid-afternoon finish.

“I’m not a great rainy (day) player,” he said. “I have trouble hanging onto the club and stuff, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

Stephen Ames of Calgary and St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle sit T39 at even-par.

Saskatoon – Graham DeLaet and brewer Bomber Brewing have launched a new craft beer, Prairie Baard – Blue Collar Craft.

Over the upcoming weeks, the beer will be available in SLGA locations across Saskatchewan and in liquor distributors throughout Alberta – including Sobeys, Safeway, Co-op, and Liquor Depot, with plans to expand its footprint coast to coast across Canada in the near future.

For the launch and just in time to kick off the May long weekend, Prairie Baard will hit shelves at SLGA University Heights in Saskatoon and SLGA South Albert in Regina.

To officially launch Prairie Baard, DeLaet will be touring two locations to host kick-off events, where consumers can enjoy Prairie Baard tastings and meet Graham DeLaet and the team behind the beer:

• Wednesday, May 25th from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
  SLGA University Heights – 503 Nelson Road, Saskatoon, SK

• Thursday, May 26th from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
  Sobeys Royal Oak – 8888 Country Hills Blvd NW, Calgary, AB

DeLaet, born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, has a passion for all things Canadian – including hockey, fishing, golf and of course, beer. In collaboration with Bomber Brewing, the concept of Prairie Baard was designed by DeLaet with these passions in mind while building the concept of the beer from the ground up. Throughout the creation process, DeLaet inserted his personal tasting notes into the development of the recipe with Bomber.

Prairie Baard’s Golden Ale is brewed with 70% Saskatchewan Barley and 30% Saskatchewan wheat, both of which are malted in Biggar, SK.

Three Men’s Amateur Squad members punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship on Wednesday by advancing at their respective regional events.

Leading the way for Team Canada was Kimberley, B.C., native Jared du Toit, who finished at 4-over (72-73-75) to tie for fifth at the Albuquerque Regional hosted at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. The Arizona State junior opened the tournament with an eagle, setting the tone early to help the Sun Devils finish first overall as a team. The Sun Devils were led by World No. 1 ranked John Rahm, who repeated as medalist at 4-under par (69-71-72).

Team Canada veteran Blair Hamilton of Burlington, Ont., posted a final score of 2-over par (78-68-72) at the Franklin Regional to close at T51. The University of Houston senior was part of a Cougars squad that finished at 25-under par to tie for third place, earning one of the Top-5 spots to move on to the championship.

Rounding out the trio of Team Canada members to advance is Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, who closed at T52 with a score of 24-over par (88-75-77). Despite his individual struggles, Macdonald and the Purdue Boilermakers captured the fifth and final spot at the Stillwater Regional with a two-stroke advantage over Augusta University.

All three Canucks will tee-it-up at the NCAA Div I Championship from May 27–June 1 at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oreg.

—

Albuquerque Regional scoring (Jared du Toit)

Franklin Regional scoring (Blair Hamilton)

Stillwater Regional scoring (Stuart Macdonald)

Muirfield was removed from the list of courses that can host the British Open golf tournament, after the Scottish club voted against admitting female members in a move Thursday that provoked sharp criticism from players and lawmakers.

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which owns Muirfield, announced its decision to retain the club’s male-only policy following a ballot of its 750 members. A two-thirds majority was required for a change to take place, but 36 percent of members voted against allowing women.

The Royal and Ancient, which runs the British Open, said Muirfield has been taken off the list of courses that can host golf’s oldest major championship.

“Going forward we will not stage the Championship at a venue that does not admit women as members,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “If the policy at the club should change, we would reconsider Muirfield as a venue for The Open in future.”

Muirfield is one of 10 courses on the British Open rotation and has staged the event 16 times, most recently in 2013. Royal Troon, which hosts this year’s tournament from July 14-17, is the only other club on the rotation to still exclude women.

British sports minister David Evennett said the decision by Muirfield’s members was “extremely disappointing” and “sends out completely the wrong message.”

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, voiced her disappointment on Twitter.

Scotland has women leaders in every walk of life. It is 2016. This is simply indefensible. https://t.co/qrULGuFG8v

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 19, 2016

Speaking after finishing his first round at the Irish Open, two-time British Open champion Padriag Harrington backed the R&A’s decision to remove Muirfield from the list of hosts.

“We love playing the golf course but there’s more to modern golf than just the course,” Harrington said. “Gone are the days where you can discriminate in a club. The R&A have a bigger responsibility to society, and they’ve done the right thing.”

Henry Fairweather, captain of Muirfield, said the club had to follow the rules set by its members.

“Women will continue to be welcome at Muirfield on the course and in the clubhouse as guests and visitors, as they have been for many years,” Fairweather said.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, the spiritual “Home of Golf,” opened its membership to women in 2014 for the first time in 260 years. Royal St. George’s, another British Open host, ended its male-only membership last year.

Augusta National, home of the Masters, decided in 2012 to invite women to join.

On the last occasion Muirfield hosted the British Open, when Phil Mickelson lifted the claret jug, the R&A was heavily criticized for allowing Muirfield to stage the event given its opposition to having female members.

A consultation exercise with members was opened as a result.

Scottish newspaper The Scotsman reported Wednesday that a group of members at Muirfield – leading a “No” campaign against women joining the club – had canvassed fellow members, saying “it is accepted that we may have to change, but we should not do so now on the basis suggested.”

“A traditional resistance to change is one of the foundations of our unique position in golf and our reputation,” the members wrote in the letter, according to The Scotsman.

Troon has separate men’s and women’s clubs and is consulting members over whether to alter that arrangement.

The Golf in Schools Professional Visitation Program was established to provide another avenue for CN Future Links instructors to further engagement with junior golfers—Canada’s future body of membership.

Developed by Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada, the latest national grassroots initiative offers $150 grants to CN Future Links instructors to conduct a personal lesson to students (and teachers) at Golf in Schools sites.

The initiative is an extension of the CN Future Links Field Trip Program, which provides grants for a class of students to experience a golf facility first-hand through field trips.

Click here to apply for a grant.

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.