PONTE VEDRA BEACH and DAYTONA BEACH, FL – The PGA TOUR and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced that they have formalized their longstanding cooperative relationship by entering into a long-term, written strategic alliance agreement designed to further promote the growth of golf.  This partnership between the leading men’s and women’s professional golf tours will include areas such as schedule coordination, joint marketing programs, domestic television representation, digital media and exploring the potential development of joint events.

“From our collaboration in bringing golf back as an Olympic sport as joint members of the International Golf Federation to our cooperation in helping to grow the game of golf as part of the World Golf Foundation, our two organizations have had a long history of working together for the common good of our sport,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.  “Extending our relationship with the LPGA into these new areas is a natural extension of this work and collaboration.”

“We believe the PGA TOUR has significant expertise in the areas that we will focus on together and working more closely with them carries with it the very real potential of positively impacting our members, our tournaments, and our ability to grow our sport around the world,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.  “We look forward to working with the PGA TOUR team to deliver a positive impact for our sport.”

Both organizations emphasized that while the alliance strengthens their relationship and the potential benefits of working together in these various areas are attractive for the overall growth of the sport, it involves no formal financial investment or transfer of ownership or control.  Both parties remain wholly separate and independent organizations.

DORAL, Fla. – Phil Mickelson’s scores from Doral over the past two years clearly suggested that the redesigned Blue Monster wasn’t completely to his liking.

He had to re-learn a course that he played for more than 20 years, and indicated Thursday that he finally has the new Doral figured out.

Mickelson shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship, the first World Golf Championships event of the year. Seeking his first win since the British Open in 2013, Mickelson made seven birdies and finished the day one shot back of leaders Scott Piercy and Marcus Fraser.

“There is a bit of a learning curve on some of the contours and where you have to go and where you want to go and the best place to be,” Mickelson said. “It’s not like I came in here weeks before and mapped it out like a major. You’re here only the week of. But this is our third year here now and it continues to get better each year.”

Fraser had seven birdies before his lone bogey of the day, and Piercy also got to 7 under at one point before settling for his 66.

Mickelson made bogey only twice, immediately erasing each with a birdie on the following hole, and the 67 was nearly six full shots better than his average round score at Doral in his previous two visits.

His best round on the Blue Monster in 2014 was a 69, and his low score at Doral last year was 71.

“It was a good day,” said Mickelson, who feigned disbelief when his chip on the par-5 8th – his 17th of the day – stopped inches from the hole, leaving him a tap-in birdie. “I hit a lot of good shots, made some good putts and just drove it well, enjoyed the day. It was a good day.”

Danny Willett, Adam Scott, Jason Dufner and Charley Hoffman were all two shots back of Piercy, each carding 68s. World No. 1 Jordan Spieth was in a group another shot back, three off the pace at 3 under, and said that even on a relatively calm day by Doral weather standards, it felt like a grind.

“It always is here,” Spieth said. “And this would be a day that should play about as easy as it possibly can with just a 5- to 10-mile-an-hour breeze. The standard wind here I think. Still, the scores aren’t extremely low.”

Spieth was in a featured group, with world No. 2 Jason Day and No. 3 Rory McIlroy with him. McIlroy shot 1 under, Day finished at even par.

“Human error, unfortunately,” Day said. “I wish I could hit it in the centre of the golf club all the time but sometimes I’m like an amateur and I hit it in the parts where we’re not supposed to. But that’s how it is.”

Piercy spent eight hours on the range Monday working on a change to his backswing and saw immediate results, making seven birdies in his first 11 holes. Being atop a World Golf Championships leaderboard on Sunday is far different than on a Thursday, but it’s a most positive sign for Piercy – a three-time winner on tour including the RBC Canadian Open – who shot better than 66 only once in his first 24 stroke-play rounds in WGC events.

“We all know we’re trying to beat those guys week-in, week-out,” Piercy said. “They have proved it. I haven’t proven it week-in, week-out, but when my game’s there I’m pretty decent. We all know they are there. They are looking at my name today. So maybe they will do it tomorrow.”

Past winners at Doral struggled a bit. Defending champion Dustin Johnson shot an even-par 72, putting him in a tie for 28th. And 2014 winner Patrick Reed could get nothing going, his 5-over 77 beating only three other players.

Mickelson won on the previous version of the Blue Monster, a course he knew as well as anyone. And Thursday showed he’s got a chance to do just fine on the redesign as well.

“I’m not going to complain,” Mickelson said.

HOUSTON – Team Canada member and University of Houston Men’s Golf senior Blair Hamilton was honoured Thursday morning as the 2015-16 American Athletic Conference (AAC) Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Hamilton will receive a $4,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. His selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.

A four-year member of the Men’s Golf program, led the Cougars with a 72.03 scoring average as a junior during the 2014-15 season. The Burlington, Ontario, Canada, native earned eight top-20 finishes in 12 tournaments with three top-10 showings.

With scores of 68-69-68, he captured a share of the individual title at the NCAA Lubbock Regional a year ago, becoming the third Cougar to earn medalist honors at an NCAA Regional and the first to record three straight rounds in the 60s in the NCAA postseason.

Hamilton drained a birdie on the 17th hole of the NCAA Lubbock Regional and led the Cougars into a tie with Purdue for the fifth and final sport to advance to the NCAA Championships. On the first playoff hole, the Cougars broke the tie and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season..

Competing at the nation’s top collegiate event, Hamilton tied for 27th with a score of 292 and received PING All-America Honorable Mention after being named to the All-Central Region Team.

He qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship last summer after advancing to the Round of 32 in match play in 2013. In addition, he received the Gary Cowan Award – given to the top amateur player – at the 2015 Canadian Open, where he finished in a tie for 71st.

In 2015-16, Hamilton has picked up where he left off a year ago. He ranks second among the Cougars with a 72.43 scoring average and nine rounds of par or better. Hamilton has posted six top-20 finishes in seven tournaments to date and enjoyed three top-10 finishes in a 4-tournament stretch at the end of the fall and start of the spring seasons.

Hamilton was named to the Dean’s List twice in seven semesters and earned a place on the American Athletic Conference All-Academic in each of the last two seasons. Holding a 3.25 grade-point average, he will graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, he has volunteered for several service projects at Houston, including the annual Canned Food Drive, the Generation One Volunteer program (an elementary school program for underprivileged children), the Halton Women’s Place Shelter (for victims of domestic violence) and the annual Christmas Charity fundraiser.

The American Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the 2015-16 academic year. One male and one female from each of the conference’s 11 member institutions may be named as the winners of the conference’s Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and a Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

SINGAPORE – Australian teenager Minjee Lee took a share of the lead with Taiwan’s Candie Kung at the LPGA’s Women’s Champions tournament in Singapore on Thursday.

Lee made four birdies and an eagle in her opening round of 5-under 67 to join Kung at the top of the leaderboard on a windy day at the Sentosa Golf Club.

The defending champion, South Korea’s Inbee Park, was among a group of four players tied for third at 4-under 68.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson carded five birdies compared to three bogeys to open with a 2-under 70. She’s tied for 12th with a slew of players including Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr and Sandra Gal.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko and in-form Lexi Thompson both shot rounds of 1-under 71.

Ko had a frustrating day, parring her first 10 holes before dropping a shot on the 11th but the New Zealander knocked in two late birdies to finish in red figures.

“I didn’t have that many birdie opportunities today, so unless my long putts were going to be hot, I wasn’t going to shoot extremely low,” she said.

Thompson, who won in Thailand last week, made four birdies but lost her momentum when she took a double-bogey on the 11th.

MONTGOMERY, Texas – An 11-year-old from Texas had a day he’ll never forget on the golf course – and it happened with Tiger Woods watching.

Woods was on hand for the opening Wednesday of The Playgrounds at Bluejack National, which he helped design.

Taylor Crozier stepped up to the first tee and knocked in the inaugural shot on the 81-yard, par 3. The crowd went wild.

Woods posted the YouTube video on his Twitter page. He ran over to the boy and gave him a big bear hug, smiling and laughing.

Woods shouted to the crowd, the “inaugural shot and he holes it!”

Woods has been taking time off from competitive golf as he recovers from back operations.

DORAL, Fla. – Rory McIlroy is shaking up his putting technique by going to a cross-handed grip for the Cadillac Championship, and he plans to stick with it.

McIlroy posted a video on Instagram that showed him putting with the left hand low, and then he confirmed Wednesday in his news conference that it was worth a try. He said he typically practices that way to make sure he keeps the right hand from influencing the putting stroke.

Put some good work in the last few days, ready for the blue monster this week!

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Mar 2, 2016 at 3:46am PST

“It’s a drill that I’ve always done,” he said. “And I’ve putted a lot just with my left hand. It’s one of those things where the drill started to feel a little bit better than the real thing, so I’m just going to stick with it.”

The catalyst for change was the Honda Classic, where McIlroy missed the cut with rounds of 72-72.

He said there were a couple of putts in the second round that he knew he was going to miss before he even made contact because his right hand was too active.

“So it was, ‘I need to do something here,'” he said. “I was sort of playing around with a few different grips on the putting green over the weekend. This one felt more natural to me because I’ve done it before and I do it quite a lot when I’m just practicing in drills. I thought, ‘Why not give it a go?'”

McIlroy plays the opening two rounds at Trump National Doral with Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, the two players ahead of him in the world ranking. Spieth also putts with his left hand low, and he is regarded among the best medium-length putters in golf.

McIlroy said he used the cross-handed grip at times during his rookie year on the European Tour in 2008. Since then, he has won 18 times around the world, including four majors. The Masters is just over a month away, the one major McIlroy needs to complete the career Grand Slam.

It sounded as though he would be taking that grip to Augusta National.

“I feel like it’s something I’m going to stick with regardless of what the outcome is tomorrow or this week or next week,” he said. “I really do feel like it helps me put a stroke on it that I want to. It’s a great feeling. I feel like it gives my putting stroke a bit more of a better rhythm, as well, a better flow. Look, if it doesn’t work right from the get-go tomorrow, you’re not going to see me on Friday morning putting conventional again. It’s something I’m going to stick with for a while.”

DORAL, Fla. – Tiger Woods says he is starting to feel better, though he is not sure when he will return to competitive golf.

Woods released a statement Wednesday saying he has been chipping and putting at home in Florida as his recovery from back surgeries progresses. He says he and his son, Charlie, are competing in three-hole chipping contests.

Woods has not played in a tournament since August, and he has not won since August 2013. He says, “I have a lot of work ahead of me.”

Woods will appear later Wednesday at a news conference near Houston to announce the opening of a 10-hole short course designed for families.

For the second straight year, the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event will be held at Glen Abbey Golf Club—site of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open.

The top-24 qualifiers (12 male, 12 female) from the National Leaderboard will look to be crowned a national champion come Jul. 16—the Saturday prior to RBC Canadian Open tournament week. Competing in putting, chipping, driving and iron play, the boys and girls will vie for the title of their respective age group (9–11; 12–14; 15–18).

The event will be conducted in the same format as the qualifying events held across the country at CN Future Links facilities.

PGA of Canada instructors are encouraged to submit scores by this season’s cut-off date of June 14^th.

Click here to learn more about the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge.

Click here to view pictures from last year’s National Event.

This past January, I had the opportunity to attend the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

This is where some of the new products are launched by various companies and where PGA of America professionals purchase clothing, equipment, teaching aids, etc. for their golf shops and academies.

Many Canadian pros attend as well and buy products, although this year with the exchange rate, they certainly bought less than usual.

The first day of the show is a demo day that is held at Orange County National golf club. This humongous 360 degree driving range is the perfect place for companies to showcase their products and have potential buyers try them on the driving range. Golfers can try clubs, shafts, gloves, teaching aids, shoes, GPS systems, ball fitting, and more. Professionals can also attend seminars from some of the leading teachers in the game like David Leadbetter.

I even attended a clinic by Bubba Watson where he hit a few amazing shots, but unfortunately the MC’s lengthy commentary did not leave enough time for Bubba to hit all the shots that everyone wanted to see! When one of the top players in the world gives an exhibition, people want to see him hit balls, not necessarily have a discussion with the company rep! Bubba is such an extraordinary ball striker, it would have been nice to see him hit more!

Bubba’s demeanor and sometimes odd personality remind me somewhat of Moe Norman.
He is a completely natural talent with a non-traditional swing and a demeanor outside the golf course which can sometimes be misunderstood.

My next two days (where it rained) were spent indoors at the Orange County Convention Center.
I had a great time looking at all the products and even had a chance to witness the new shoe fitting from FootJoy with a teaching device called Bodytrack! Did you know that wearing the right shoe can increase your clubhead speed by 3 to 5 km per hour?

I also had a chance to interview a number of golf celebrities for the French TV show Au 19e that will air on RDS this Spring and Summer. I interviewed Justin Thomas and his dad – a great young player who is currently 6^th on the FedEx Cup standings. His dad is a PGA pro and a great example of what parents should do with young talented golfers – let them play golf and have fun!

I interviewed Jim Nantz, the television commentator for The Masters and the Superbowl  He’s a class act! I spoke with Lee Trevino who at 76, recalled his three Canadian Open wins (1971 at Vallée du Richelieu and 1977, 1979 at Glen Abbey) as if they happened last month!

I spoke as well with David Leadbetter and Dave Pelz about their teaching philosophies; to Annika Sorenstam about her future plans and the upcoming Olympics; and to Johnny Miller about the PGA Tour and his dislike of slow play!

Many of the pros that attend the show embrace the opportunity to polish their knowledge about club fitting, pro-shop management, equipment and rules through different workshops and seminars provided by the PGA of America and some show exhibitors.

The PGA of Canada took advantage of the fact that many Canadians from across the Country attended to present its yearly awards at the PGA of Canada Night cocktail and celebration. Serge Savard, the former Montreal Canadians star, received the George Cumming Distinguished Service Award for 2015.

All in all, it was a great week for the North American industry to get together and celebrate the game we all love. The attendance this year seemed on the rise which hopefully bodes well for the upcoming golf season!

After five years at Golf Canada, I am leaving to take on a Head Professional job at Pinegrove Country Club in Québec. I’m looking forward to this great opportunity and I leave Golf Canada and my colleagues at every Provincial Association with the sentiment of satisfaction that the industry is moving in the right direction. I will keep some great memories of my time at Golf Canada!

Great season to all!

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Jason Bohn says he wanted to go back to his room to take a shower before going to the hospital with chest pains and didn’t realize he was having a major heart attack until paramedics at the Honda Classic put him on a stretcher and called for an ambulance.

“So it was kind of a scary moment for me,” Bohn said Monday in an interview with SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “I didn’t realize what was happening. I just never thought at age 42 I’d be having a heart attack to the degree that I had one.”

Bohn figured the chest pains were from bronchitis and pneumonia. He made the cut on Friday and then sought medical attention, and before long he was in an ambulance on his way to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

He told SiriusXM that his heart is pumping at a weak rate and suffered damage from the heart attack. Doctors told him his left anterior descending artery was 99 percent blocked. That’s known as the “widow maker” because a heart attack can lead to a sudden death.

In that respect, Bohn says he was lucky to be alive.

“My doctors all have told me that had I passed out or gone down on the golf course that they really don’t think they would have had time to get the proper blood thinners in me – and put the stent in that they were able to do – in time,” he said. “I got one hell of a mulligan. That’s all I can say.”

Bohn said he looks forward to returning to competition, though he has no idea when that will be.

He remained hospitalized Monday for more tests and that his blood pressure was still low. He said he looked forward to getting home to the Atlanta area so he could meet with a cardiologist and figure out the best course of recovery.

“It’ll be sooner than later I’ll be back out there chatting away, having my fun, doing what I love to do,” he said. “So I know that this isn’t going to take me down and I’ve got a second chance. Like I said, when you drop that mulligan, that second ball is always better than the first ball. So I look forward to my return and I really feel like I’m going to come out of this a lot stronger than I have.”

Bohn is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour who is No. 15 in the FedEx Cup this year based on a pair of runner-up finishes and a tie for third.