EATONTON, Ga. – Team Canada’s Amateur Squad member Hugo Bernard finished T4 on Tuesday at the Bobcat Invitational to record his third consecutive top-5 collegiate finish.

Bernard, a freshman with the Div II Saint Leo Lions, finished at 4-over par (71-69-74) to share a three-way tie of 4th place at the Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee course. The group was chasing Lynn University’s Jose Andres Miranda, who ran away with a three-stroke victory thanks to a tournament-low 66 in Sunday’s opening round.

Collectively, Bernard led the Lions to a 6th place finish overall, with Lynn University taking home the hardware.

Since joining the Lions in January, Bernard has made a significant impact. The 21 year-old Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., product notched a T20, 4^th, and two T4 finishes in his first four events.

Canadian standout and Team Canada graduate Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., won medalist honours for Barry University in 2014.

Bernard, last year’s Canadian Men’s Amateur runner-up, will look to keep up his hot play when the Lions hit the Argonaut Invivational from Apr. 4–5.

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Kissimmee, Fla. – Georgia’s Seth Reeves fired a 6-under par 66 on Tuesday at Reunion Resort and Spa’s Jack Nicklaus Signature Course to take the round one lead at Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada qualifying school.

The 25-year old, a former NCAA All-American at Georgia Tech, carded eight birdies against just two bogeys to lead by three over Ted Smith, Bobby Wyatt and Sam Love through two rounds.

“Q-School is a marathon as guys say, so to get off to a good start and know I can shoot this number out here helps a lot,” said Reeves. “Even if things get a little rocky, I’ll have that in my head now and I know that I can make birdies out here. My goal is to just be pretty chill and see what happens.”

The long-hitting lefthander made birdie on three of the four par-5s at Reunion and took advantage of his length off the tee by giving himself birdie opportunities where other players scrambled for pars.

“I just was pretty relaxed starting out today. I drove the ball well and I hit it fairly long, so to be able to get some drivers in my hand and let ‘em loose and drive it well gave me the opportunity to have some shorter irons into holes, and I took advantage,” said Reeves.

Ottawa’s Andrew Jensen opened with a 1-over 73 and was tied for low Canadian at T24 with Toronto’s Sebastian Szirmak.

“It’s massively important to play the way I did, knowing that bogeys aren’t terrible and attitude is everything,” said Jensen, a Bell Let’s Talk Ambassador. “You really need to make keeping double bogeys off the card a priority, and when you do make birdies it’s a big help. There aren’t a lot of gimme birdies out there. Even starting bogey-bogey today, I didn’t panic out there and knew that you need to be a tactician a bit around the golf course.”

There will be a first for Canadian golf in 2016. For the first time ever, two Canadian clubs will play host to U.S. Amateur championship qualifiers.

Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver will host a qualifier for the men on July 18, while Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont., will host a qualifier for the women on June 27.

“Golf Canada has been working on several initiatives with the USGA to strengthen our partnership and these qualifiers are the beginning of what we hope to be larger collaborations,” says Mary Beth McKenna, manager of rules and competitions for Golf Canada. “With Canadian golfers experiencing more and more success on the professional and amateur level, it was likely a natural fit for the USGA to expand these qualifiers into Canada.”

Brampton Golf Club

At Brampton, Head Professional Emerson Mahoney says the club is “very excited” to host the qualifier and is “looking forward to having the best women amateurs in the area vying for a spot in the very prestigious event.”

Built in 1963, the Robbie Robinson layout also hosted the 2014 Ontario Women’s Amateur. And unlike hosting a weeklong event and coordinating course availability with members, the qualifier is only a one-day event.

“The club has been very supportive of the idea,” Mahoney continues. “The management is very excited to showcase the golf course, and it’s an opportunity that’s good for golf overall, which is something our membership is all about.”

Meanwhile, at Marine Drive, the longtime director of golf Tim Tait told the Vancouver Province that he was contacted and asked if the club would be interested in hosting a sectional qualifier in Canada for the U.S. Amateur, and of course he said yes.

“Actually, I said yes and then I went to my board and they said yes. It happened quite quickly,” he tells the newspaper.

Marine Drive has long been a hotbed for Canadian golf greatness, as a number of Canadian Golf Hall of Famers like Richard Zokol and Stan Leonard have been involved with the club for a number of years.

According to McKenna, this year is hopefully just the start of a long-standing relationship between the USGA and Golf Canada in terms of qualifiers for their historic championships.

“Golf Canada is excited to offer the opportunity for Canadian players to compete at home to earn their way into the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur,” says McKenna.

The U.S. Amateur will take place from Aug. 15-21 at Oakland Hills Golf Club in Michigan, while the U.S. Women’s Amateur goes Aug. 1-7 at Rolling Green Golf Club in Pennsylvania.

In 1988, the Cherry Hill Club in Ridgeway, Ont., hosted a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur qualifier.

For more information on USGA championships, click here.

AUSTIN, Texas – Defending champion Rory McIlroy will face a player he knows very little about in the Dell Match Play.

Jordan Spieth knows one of his opponents all too well.

Spieth, the former Texas Longhorn and crowd favorite at Austin Country Club, wound up in the same group as longtime friend Justin Thomas.

Both are 22 and they have been friends since 2007, when they were selected to represent the United States in the Evian Junior Masters. Spieth beat him in a high-profile match in the NCAA Championship at Riviera in 2012, which the Longhorns won, and has gone on to two majors and reach the No. 1 world ranking.

The 64 players were broken into four groups based on this week’s ranking, and one player was chosen by lottery to fill out the 16 four-man groups. The draw was held at the Paramount Theater, and Ben Crenshaw picked the names out of the bowl for Spieth’s group.

“Jordan probably won’t talk to me the rest of the week,” Crenshaw said. “They’ve played a lot of golf together. Obviously, they know each other very well. They’re admirers of each other.”

Spieth and Thomas already have played together three times this year – the opening two rounds at Riviera, and the third round at Doral. They won’t play each other at the Match Play until Friday. Also in their group are Victor Dubuisson of France and Jamie Donaldson of Wales.

McIlroy won last year at Harding Park with three close calls before beating Gary Woodland in the championship match. He is the only player among the top six in the world who has yet to win this year, and hopes this week will spark him in his final tournament before the Masters.

In his group is Smylie Kaufman, who won his first PGA Tour event in Las Vegas in just his second start as a member. McIlroy also has Kevin Na and Thorbjorn Olesen.

“Thorbjorn is a good friend of mine. The first time I played with Thorbjorn was in Egypt in 2010. We’ve got a little bit of history,” McIlroy said.

“Smylie, I really don’t know that much about. I know that he got off to a great start in his PGA Tour career. As I said, no matter who you draw in this event, you know you’re going to get a tough match.”

The 18-hole match play switched to group last year, moving away from the single-elimination format that made this event aggravating to those who lost early, and difficult on the sponsors because top players often were gone by the weekend.

This year, however, matches during group play can end in a draw.

One player from each of the 16 groups advance to the knockout stage that starts on Saturday. If two or more players in a group are tied, they go to a sudden-death playoff.

Jason Day, the No. 2 seed based on his victory Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, preferred the single-elimination format because it made every match feel more important. He lost all three of his matches last year at Harding Park.

His group has a couple of names that should get his attention. Day will face Graeme McDowell on Wednesday and Paul Casey on Friday. Thongchai Jaidee is the other player in his group.

PHOENIX – Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished in a tie for fourth place at the JTBC Founders Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz., shooting 67 in the final round on Sunday.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jason Day turned his fortunes at just the right time Sunday by making a 12-foot birdie putt and then saving par from just under 100 feet away in a bunker to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It was another great moment for Palmer, the 86-year-old tournament host who watched it unfold on the 18th green.

Day closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory over Kevin Chappell, who looked as if he might finally win in his 150th start on the PGA Tour. Chappell didn’t flinch the entire back nine until his tee shot was buried in deep rough on the 18th, forcing him to lay up. He hit wedge to 25 feet and was ready to putt when he heard the big roar when Day made birdie on the 17th to tie for the lead.

“Being honest, kind of had me rattled a little bit,” Chappell said. He left his par putt well short and made bogey for a 69.

The closing hole at Bay Hill was just as tough for Day.

With a one-shot lead after Chappell made bogey, Day took water out of play from the right rough and went well left of the green into a bunker, 95 feet away with water on the other side of the green. Day blasted out to 4 feet and made the par for his first victory of the year.

He moves to No. 2 in the world and will have a chance to overtake Jordan Spieth next week in the Dell Match Play.

“It means the world,” Day said of winning Palmer’s tournament. “I just ground it out. I got it done when I wasn’t quite on.”

Four players had at least a share of the lead on the back nine. Day was the last man standing.

Troy Merritt, four shots behind when he made the turn, ran off five straight birdies to catch the leaders, and then chipped in for par on the 17th to keep his hopes alive. But his approach on the 18th went into the water and he made double bogey for a 71.

Merritt tied for third with Henrik Stenson, who was tied for the lead until failing to save par on the 14th and then finding the water for bogey on the 16th. He also shot 71.

Day finished at 17-under 271.

Chappell was sick all week after catching a bug from his young son. He took the lead with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th, hit a tough bunker shot close on the 17th to save par. The shot that cost him was his tee shot, and the lie was so atrocious that the only question was where to lay up.

“I had a chance to win, and that’s all I can ask for,” Chappell said after his fourth runner-up finish on the PGA Tour, and second this season.

Rory McIlroy ended a wild week with his sixth double bogey – the most he has ever made in a PGA Tour event – along with two eagles and five birdies for a 65. He shot a 67 on Friday to make the cut. It was the 75s in the other two rounds that held him back.

“Pretty much every week there’s a lot of good golf in there, which you’ve seen on Friday and today,” he said. “I’m just making a lot of mistakes.”

Adam Scott, coming off two straight PGA Tour victories, played the 18th hole in 5 over on the weekend. He made double bogey on Sunday and still shot 69.

The four-man sprint required some help from Day early, and an improbable birdie run by Merritt after he made the turn.

Day twice made bogey on the par 5s – a poor chip on No. 4 and a shot into the water on No. 6 – and went from a two-shot lead to a two-shot deficit. But he got right back into the mix with a towering shot out of the rough on No. 9 at a pin guarded by a bunker, so high that it landed softly on the green and rolled to a foot for a tap-in birdie.

Merritt chopped his way to a double bogey on No. 9 to fall four shots behind, seemingly out of the mix until he began the back nine with four straight birdie putts, and then holing out from the bunker from 40 feet on No. 14 for his fifth straight birdie to share the lead.

Stenson was the only one who didn’t have a chance on the 18th.

Day said he received a text from eight-time Bay Hill winner Tiger Woods on Sunday morning. He has talked about how much he turns to Woods for advice on such things as protecting a 54-hole lead. And then he delivered a clutch moment to win.

“It’s obviously those things – one of many – why he’s been the No. 1 player in the world, and why I’m the 150th player in the world,” Chappell said. “You just can’t bogey the last when you’re in contention, and hats off to Jason. He played well, real clutch down the stretch. And I’ll learn from this and get better.”

Canada’s David Hearn started the day in a tie for 7th, but posted an even-round of 72 Sunday to drop into a tie for 20th at 7-under 281.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Woody Austin holed out for eagle from a greenside bunker on the par-5 15th and held on to win the Tucson Conquistadores Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour Champions title.

The 52-year-old Austin bogeyed the par-4 final hole after driving left into the water and ended up beating Jim Carter by a stroke on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course.

Making his 28th start of the 50-and-over tour, Austin finished with a 7-under 65 for a 16-under 200 total. He was 5 under on the four par-5 holes with the eagle and three birdies.

Austin won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship at age 49 for the last of his four PGA Tour titles.

Playing in the group behind Austin, Carter birdied the 18th for a 68. The 54-year-old Carter, playing on a sponsor exemption, won the 2000 PGA Tour event at Tucson National for his lone title.

Bernhard Langer was third at 14 under after a 67. Playing alongside Austin, Langer drove into the right-side water on 18 and made a bogey. The German star was coming off a victory Feb. 14 in Naples, Florida.

Canadian Stephen Ames (69) and 2015 winner Marco Dawson (70) tied for fourth at 11 under. Scott Verplank, the second-round leader after his second straight 66, shot a 74 to drop into a tie for sixth at 10 under.

BROUSSARD, La. – Wesley Bryan won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a one-stroke victory.

The 25-year-old former South Carolina player birdied the par-4 17th and closed with a par in cool, windy conditions at Le Triomphe. He finished at 14-under 270 and earned $99,000.

Bryan was making his third tour start after earning a card in December at Q-school.

Argentina’s Julian Etulain was second after a 70. Martin Flores (70), Jonathan Byrd (71), Ryan Brehm (71) and Joel Dahmen (71) tied for third at 11 under.

Greg Chalmers had a one-stroke lead with seven holes to play, but had two bogeys and double bogey to drop back. The Australian finished with a 73 to tie for seventh at 10 under.

Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (73) tied for 55th at 2-under 282.

NEW DELHI – India’s SSP Chawrasia pulled off a two-shot win over defending champion Anirban Lahiri and Korea’s Jeunghun Wang with a birdie on the final hole Sunday at the US$1.66 million Hero Indian Open.

Chawrasia shot 71 for a 15-under-par 273, two better than Lahiri (69) and Wang (68). It was his third European Tour win and the fourth on Asian Tour. Lahiri, the reigning Asian Tour No. 1, missed his birdie attempt on the final hole while Chawrasia struck a third shot from the rough that landed within three feet of the cup at the Delhi Golf Club.

“It is a very important day for me. I have finished second four times in the Indian Open and every time that happened to me I wondered if I would ever be able to one day be the champion,” said Chawrasia, who won US$276,660.

“Anirban is a great player and a fine sportsman and I enjoy my duels with him,” Chawrasia said. “ Now quite possibly both of us will go to the Olympics as part of the Indian team.”

“There was a lot of pressure on me on the last hole,” he said. “This win means so much to me. I don’t know how I will celebrate it. I will let my wife (Simantini) do that for me. Last year when I lost, she was crying so now we can both enjoy this victory together,” he said with a smile.

“It was pretty intense. I got off to a great start but lost a bit of momentum after that,” Lahiri said. “I gave myself a lot of chances but missed quite few from 15-20 feet but at the end of day, SSP hung tough and played very well.”

“There is nothing sweeter than being the Indian Open champion. It was a disappointing finish after a promising start for me. But I am so happy for SSP. This win is huge for him,” Lahiri added.

Wang, a member of Team Asia at the EurAsia Cup earlier this year, came close to winning his first Asian Tour title, settling for a bogey-free 68 highlighted by four birdies.