SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – James Hahn has settled down a lot since his wild days – and nights – at the University of California led to the end of his college career. He still knows how to have a good time.

That was on display again Friday at the golf party known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where Hahn took the lead with a bogey-free 6-under 65 in breezy conditions.

“I’m having fun out there,” Hahn said.

He wasn’t alone at TPC Scottsdale.

An estimated 160,415 fans, not counting a large bobcat that sauntered between the first and second holes in the afternoon, packed the grounds. The crowd broke the Friday record of 123,674 set in 2014 and was the 10th-largest figure for any day in tournament history.

Hawn became an internet sensation in 2013 when he celebrated a birdie on the rowdy par-3 16th with a “Gangnam Style” dance.

“It’s the one week out of the year where you’re allowed to do anything you want and not get fined,” Hahn said. “It’s good for golf, good for the game, good for the fans that come out here. They support the golf tournament, so might as well give them a show.”

On Friday, he did 10 pushups after teeing off on the stadium 16th.

“They came out to watch the gun show, so I popped them out right there on the tee box,” Hahn said.

Hahn had a 10-under 132 total on the Stadium Course to enter the weekend a stroke ahead of Rickie Fowler and Danny Lee. Fowler birdied his final hole for a 68, and Lee had a 66.

Hahn opened with a chip-in birdie on the par-4 10th and birdied the two back-nine par 5s, making a 30-footer on the 13th and hitting a wedge to 7 feet on the 15th. On his final nine, he hit a wedge to 3 feet to set up a birdie on the par-4 second, chipped to 3 feet for another birdie on the par-5 third, and took the outright lead with a 10-footer on the par-4 sixth.

“Sleeping in my own bed this week, live about 10 minutes away,” Hahn said. “I have played this course a hundred times. The only thing different about the course today, as any other day, is the greens are better.”

Fowler rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the par-4 17th with the birdie on the par-4 18th. A day after driving into the left-side water, he hammered a fairway wood down the middle and – with music thumping in the background – hit his approach to 4 feet.

“It wasn’t playing easy,” Fowler said. “The wind was kind of blowing from an awkward position. … Just tried to stay patient, fight through it.”

The top-ranked player in the field at No. 4, Fowler has four worldwide victories in the last nine months. He missed the cut last week at Torrey Pines after winning in Abu Dhabi the previous week.

Lee birdied five of his first eight holes, highlighted by a 20-footer on 16. The South Korean-born New Zealander won the Greenbrier Classic last year for his first tour title.

“Wind was definitely in play today,” Lee said. “The greens being so firm, you’re kind of forced to hit driver. You want to hit a shorter club on the second shot.”

Harris English (67), Shane Lowry (70) and Hideki Matsuyama (70) were 7 under.

Keegan Bradley, penalized two strokes Thursday for having too many clubs in his bag, was 5 under after a 69. Bradley and caddie Steve Hale didn’t notice the extra club until after the first hole in the first round.

Bubba Watson shot his second straight 69. Two days after criticizing the renovated course and saying he was only playing the tournament out of loyalty to his sponsors, he apologized.

“I didn’t explain myself well,” Watson said. “My wife says that, too, when I go home. I don’t communicate very well.”

The two-time Masters champion tied for second the last two years and has shot par or better in all 36 of his rounds in the event, playing to a cumulative 97 under.

Phil Mickelson was 2 under after a 71. The 45-year-old former Arizona State player bogeyed Nos. 14 and 15, hitting a hybrid approach into the water on 15.

“That kind of let the round get away,” said Mickelson, the tournament winner in 1996, 2005 and 2013. “I’m looking forward to having another shot at this golf course tomorrow.”

In Canadian action, Adam Hadwin carded a 68 Friday to sit 1-under. Nick Taylor squeezed by the cutline at even par after a 69.

Graham DeLaet (+4) and David Hearn (+7) both failed to make it to weekend action.

OCALA, Fla. – Lydia Ko hit the ball only 22 times in a span of 11 hours Friday in the Coates Golf Championship and finished where she started – with a share of the lead, and still a long way from the finish line.

Ko three-putted from 15 feet for bogey in 39-degree weather to finish the rain-delayed second round in the morning. In the afternoon, she made one birdie in six holes to get back to 7-under par and share the lead with Ha Na Jang, who played 24 holes on Friday.

None of the 75 players who made the cut finished the third round, which was to resume Saturday morning.

Jang played her entire second round Friday morning, when temperatures eventually climbed into the 50s. She made 15 pars, two birdies and a double bogey for an even-par 72 and the 36-hole lead. Jang was even par through six holes of the third round when play was halted by darkness.

Lexi Thompson was among five players who were one shot out of the lead.

Rain that soaked Golden Ocala on Thursday gave way to a cold front that chilled central Florida. Ko had a 15-foot birdie putt on her last hole of the second round when she returned Friday morning, only to ram the putt about 4 feet by, miss the next one for par and have to make a 3 1/2-foot bogey putt to limit the damage. That gave her a 69.

“I did some 15-footer practice on the putting green before I went, but when I hit it on the course, the green was a touch faster than what I thought it would be,” Ko said. “Obviously, it’s not the best start of the day, but I had a nap and of got over it, and it definitely got much better. Who knows? It might have happened yesterday. But because it happened right first thing in the morning, it might feel worse.”

Ko, the No. 1 player in women’s golf who is making her 2016 debut, at least headed off to sleep confident about her game _ and her score. She summoned a rules official to discuss whether her ball moved on the sixth green.

“I wasn’t sure because it’s obviously getting a little dark and with the steepness of the greens, you never know if it does move or not,” she said. “I kind of was hovering over it, going back and forth, so I don’t know if that action was making it look like it moved or not.

“We cleared everything, so now I can just go to bed and have a good dinner and come out here early.”

Players had to wear extra layers of clothing to combat the cold weather, and Jang soldiered on beautifully with a steady diet of pars to offset her lone mistake in the morning. She started the third round with a birdie, only to drop a shot on the next hole with follow with four pars.

“Very confident right now,” Jang said.

The tournament is still hopeful of ending on Saturday.

Kim Kaufman made four birdies on the front nine before her lone bogey. She was 3 under for the third round and 6 under for the tournament through 12 holes, tied with Thompson, Sei Young Kim, Jessica Korda and Haru Nomura.

U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun and Candie Kung were two shots behind at 5 under. Michelle Wie was even through 12 holes and four shots back.

Canadian Brooke Henderson was even through nine holes before her third round came to an end. The Smiths Falls, Ont., native is 4 under for the tournament.

Jang played more golf. Players like Ko, Thompson and Suzann Pettersen (4 under) felt like the day was even longer. They played no more than two holes in the morning, and then didn’t play again for at least six hours.

“It was an early wake-up call to play two holes and then wait around until 3 to warm back up,” Thompson said. “You can’t control the weather. I went back and slept for an hour. I wasted some time. And then I went through my whole warm-up stretching routine in the hotel room to get ready and come out here mentally prepared.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. – In conditions that more resembled a British Open than South Florida, former major champions Corey Pavin and Todd Hamilton shot 6-under 66s Friday to tie for the first-round lead in the Allianz Championship.

Pavin won the 1995 U.S. Open among his 15 PGA Tour titles. He made four birdies in a five-hole stretch on The Old Course despite 20-mph winds and temperatures in the 50s at the start of the PGA Tour Champions event.

“It played tough today,” Pavin said. “The only thing that made the course a little easier was the greens were receptive. If they were firm, it would have been really difficult.”

Hamilton, the 2004 British Open champion, reeled off four consecutive birdies on his back nine.

Pavin has won just once in 111 starts on the PGA Tour Champions circuit – he took the 2012 Allianz Championship, thanks to a left-handed chip with an 8-iron that saved par.

“Never before and never after,” Pavin said of that recovery shot. “It’s been hard for me to win out here, I’ll tell you what. I’ve played some good golf and not won. On this tour all these guys have won a lot of tournaments. It’s not like you’re playing against guys who have never won. They know how to win.”

This was Hamilton’s fourth start in the 50-and-older competition.

“The wind conditions were similar (to the British Open), but the ground conditions weren’t because they’ve had some rain here lately,” Hamilton said. “I knew I was climbing the leader board a little bit. I knew whoever shot 6-under would be pleased.”

Another major champion, 1996 British Open winner Tom Lehman, birdied his last hole to share third place with Billy Andrade after 67s. Lehman made three birdies in a row on the front nine.

“In these conditions, you have to hit it solid,” said Lehman, who won here in 2011. “If you don’t hit it solid, you’re really going to get eaten up by the conditions.”

John Huston, Guy Boros, Kirk Triplett and Esteban Toledo are tied for fifth place at 68.

Defending champion Paul Goydos was tied for 13th with a 70.

Canada’s Stephen Ames shot 1-under and was tied for 23rd place, while compatriot Rod Spittle was 45th at 1-over.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Ernie Els surged into contention Friday at the Dubai Desert Classic, while Rory McIlroy struggled just to make the cut.

The 46-year-old Els, who has dropped to 205th in the world after struggling with yips over the past year, shot a 5-under 67 to move to within one shot of the lead at the halfway stage of a tournament he has won three times.

Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello, winner here in 2012, shot his second consecutive 67 to grab a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend.

Els, who was tied with compatriot Trevor Fisher Jr. and England’s Danny Willett at 9-under, made several crucial par putts to keep a bogey-free round.

“It’s an exact turnaround from a couple weeks ago where I was dreading to get on the greens,” he said. “I’m actually enjoying it on the greens. The surfaces are just unbelievable and I’ve got a lot more confidence in the stroke and in the setup and all of that stuff. It has almost got a smile out of me right now.”

Defending champion McIlroy shot a 72 to finish at 4-under 140 after two rounds, six shots off the lead. He had three birdies in his last three holes.

“I struggled in the wind a little bit and didn’t get off to the best of starts again,” McIlroy said. “Being 2-over through four on this golf course when you have a couple of good birdie chances wasn’t great.”

“The middle of the round was tough,” he added. “There were a few holes that were playing really tough, and I struggled on those, but I bounced back well and persevered and got something out of the round in the end. I just need to make sure I get off to a fast start tomorrow.”

Cabrera-Bello, who had just one bogey in his first 36 holes, credited his putter for his strong showing Friday.

“I mean, today has been a little bit of a different round to yesterday,” the Spaniard said. “Yesterday, I really felt I played great until the green. I gave myself lots of chances.

“And today was the exact opposite. I didn’t play as good, as sharp. It was windy. I didn’t quite find my tempo but the putting was extremely hot today. I rolled one of the best putting rounds of my life today, so that made up for everything else.”

Henrik Stenson shot a 68 to stay in contention at 137, but Louis Oosthuizen was among those who missed the cut. Also missing the cut were Germany’s Martin Kaymer, European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, two-time Dubai champion Stephen Gallacher and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

SEA ISLAND, Ga. – Four of Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad members are set to tee-it-up on Friday at the Jones Cup Invitational at the Ocean Forest Golf Club.

Blair Hamilton (Burlington, Ont.), Eric Banks (Truro, N.S.), Hugo Bernard (Mont-St-Hilaire, Que.) and Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver) will each look to become the third consecutive Canadian to win the event. Former Amateur Squad member and dual citizen Austin Connelly of Austin, Tex., took home the honours in 2015, with current Young Pro Squad member Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., winning the hardware the year before.

The Canadian foursome will tee-it-up against a strong international field when the 54-hole stroke-play event kicks off Friday morning. Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.), the fifth member of the Amateur Squad, is competing in Hawaii for Arizona State’s first event back after the break.

First contested in 2001, the Jones Cup boasts an impressive list of past participants including PGA TOUR stars Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Bubba Watson.

Click here for live scoring.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Bubba Watson repeated that he doesn’t like TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course. He also said he loves everything else about the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

“I will have to say, I have to apologize,” Watson said Friday, two days after criticizing the renovated course and saying he was only playing the tournament out of loyalty to his sponsors.

“I used the wrong words. I have nothing against the fans and the tournament. The fans have been great. I love coming here. I’ve lived here every winter for eight years. This is a beautiful place. And the reason why I’m here is because of the excitement around this golf tournament. The fans have been great.

“I used words that I shouldn’t have used. I didn’t explain myself well. My wife says that, too, when I go home. I don’t communicate very well. … It was about the golf course. I’m not a fan of the golf course.”

Two days earlier, Watson was blunt when asked about the course.

“I don’t like it,” Watson said Wednesday. “I’m not going to PC it. I don’t like it at all. … Obviously, I’m here because of my sponsors and everything. … I’ve got three beautiful sponsors that love it here.”

The long-hitting Watson has had a lot success on the desert layout that Tom Weiskopf renovated in 2014. The two-time Masters champion tied for second the last two years and has shot par or better in all 36 of his career rounds in the event, playing to a cumulative 97 under.

“I have played well because we all made the tournament bomb and gouge,” Watson said Friday after his second 2-under 69. “If you notice, the big hitters are hitting it hard and hopefully get the right breaks. … Over the last couple of years, I have made some putts. So far these two days, I just haven’t made putts.”

Watson threw socks – from sponsor Stance Socks – to some fans on the par-3 16th hole, the tournament’s signature stadium hole. He three-putted for bogey on the rowdy hole, missing a 4-footer.

“They love me again,” Watson said. “That’s why I bring the stuff, so they all love me no matter how I hit it.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Rickie Fowler overcame some bad shots for a share of the lead Thursday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Phil Mickelson compounded his mistakes and fell back.

After an hour-long frost delay at chilly TPC Scottsdale, Fowler played the first six holes in 5 under. A group behind, Mickelson took the lead at 5 under with a birdie on his eighth hole.

While Fowler finished with a 6-under 65 to tie Shane Lowry and Hideki Matsuyama for the lead in the suspended first round, Mickelson had a 69 after dropping four strokes in a two-hole stretch.

“I made some good putts to start,” Fowler said. “Just kind of got everything going. Made a couple of bad swings. Cost me a little bit, but other than that, nice way to get off to a good start.”

Mickelson bogeyed the par-3 fourth after hitting short and right and failing to reach the green with his second, and unraveled with a triple bogey on the par-4 fifth. He drove out of bounds to the right, hit his second tee shot into the right bunker and three-putted from 50 feet.

“I hit a bad shot at the wrong time,” Mickelson said. “It’s the tightest hole out there. You miss the fairway 5 yards left, you’re in the wash, in the hazard. You miss it right of the bunker, you’re out of bounds. … I’m not going to dwell on the one bad one because there were really a lot of good ones.”

The best one was on the par-5 13th – his fourth hole of the day – when he hit a 252-yard hybrid approach to 2 1/2 feet to set up an eagle.

Winless in 48 events since the 2013 British Open, the 45-year-old former Arizona State player is working with swing coach Andrew Getson after splitting with Butch Harmon. Lefty tied for third two weeks ago at La Quinta in his season debut and missed the cut last week at Torrey Pines.

“When you don’t score as low as you feel like you’re playing, it can be frustrating, but for me, I find it to be more encouraging that I’m making a lot of birdies,” said Mickelson, the tournament winner in 1996, 2005 and 2013.

Fowler also missed the cut at Torrey Pines after winning the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi the previous week. He has four worldwide victories in the last nine months.

“I know I have been swinging well and playing well,” Fowler said. “I just didn’t make anything last week.”

Fowler opened with a birdie on the par-4 10th as the temperature crawled into the 40s, holing a 16-foot putt. He made a 35-footer on the 12th, two-putted for birdie on the 13th and made a 28-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th after hitting a 258-yard shot over the water.

“I had a good number in there,” Fowler said. “Actually, put a 5-wood in play last week, a new one.”

The top-ranked player in the field at No. 4, Fowler bogeyed the par-3 16th after drawing an awkward lie in the right bunker. He birdied the short par-4 17th, and bogeyed the par-4 18th after driving left into the water. On his back nine, he got up-and-down for birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-5 third and closed with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth.

Lowry birdied seven of his first 13 holes, then bogeyed the next two.

“I got to 7 under and just became a little bit tense there,” the Irishman said. “That’s something that I need to work on. … It’s a bad mistake if you don’t learn from it.”

Matsuyama was in one of the last groups to finish before play was stopped because of darkness.

India’s Anirban Lahiri was a stroke back at 66, and Bryce Molder also was 5 under with two holes left. He was one of 33 players who failed to finish.

Bubba Watson opened with a 69, finishing in fading light a day after saying he doesn’t like the renovated course and is only playing the tournament out of loyalty to his sponsors. The two-time Masters champion tied for second the last two seasons.

The crowd was estimated at 101,021. The first-round record of 118,461 was set last year with Tiger Woods in the field.

Graham DeLeat leads the Canadians in the field. The Weyburn, Sask., native is 1-over after a 72, which included a near ace at the infamous par-3 16th.

OCALA, Fla. – Lydia Ko played enough golf Thursday to catch up to the lead. She just didn’t play enough to finish the rain-delayed second round of the Coates Golf Championship.

Ko, the No. 1 player in golf making her 2016 debut, was 4-under par for her round and had a 15-foot birdie putt on her final hole at the par-4 ninth hole at Golden Ocala when the horn sounded to stop play because of thunderstorms in the area.

Ko was 7 under for the tournament, tied with Ha Na Jang.

Jang, who opened with a 65, didn’t hit a shot Thursday. She was to tee off in the afternoon, but within an hour of play being stopped, several greens already were flooded. Play was suspended for the rest of the day and will resume on Friday.

The 72-hole tournament is scheduled to end Saturday.

Haru Nomura made seven birdies for a 66 and finished two rounds at 6-under 136.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson was in a large group at 4 under that included Michelle Wie, Suzann Pettersen, U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun, Lexi Thompson and Juli Inkster, who birdied her opening hole of the second round before the storms arrived.

Henderson has three holes to play in her second round.

Ko started quickly Thursday by opening with two birdies. But she birdied only one of the par 5s, though she never missed a fairway.

“I felt more comfortable today. I was pretty pleased to see all my balls finish in the fairway,” Ko said.

Ko played with Morgan Pressel, who was 3 under, and Paula Creamer, who was even. They could tell storm clouds approaching and Creamer jokingly said that play would be stopped right before they finished. All they could do was laugh when they reached the ninth green to mark their golf balls.

“At least we don’t have to go back to the range,” Pressel said.

Ko, the 18-year-old from New Zealand, is coming off a five-victory season that included her first major (Evian Championship in France) and LPGA player of the year. She conceded to having some rust during her start on Wednesday, though she was dialed in for much of her second round until the rain arrived.

“Last year was an awesome year, so much better than I ever expected,” Ko said. “Things I only dreamt of happened. But you have to forget about it. It’s a whole new year. Obviously, you come into the year with a bit of confidence, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

Pettersen started with a 73. After making the turn, she birdied five of the next six holes – the exception was the par-5 fifth hole – to get within range. Pettersen played with Stacy Lewis (1 over) and Alison Lee, with whom Pettersen was involved in a bitter rules controversy at the Solheim Cup last year over a putt that Pettersen said was never conceded. Pettersen said there was no drama with the group and the media “want to make it another story.”

“Alison and I are pretty good friends,” she said. “I’m very happy with the way I’m playing.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy started the defense of his Dubai Desert Classic title with a bogey but battled back to post a 4-under 68 on Thursday, leaving him two shots off the lead.

McIlroy bogeyed two of the easiest holes on the course – the par-5 10th, which was his first hole, and the driveable par-4 second – but also had six birdies to put him close behind leader Alex Noren of Sweden.

“I thought I did well, considering the start and having some of the shots I hit throughout the round,” McIlroy said. “A 68 was probably a fair reflection of how I played. I don’t feel like I could have really gone any lower than that but at the same time, I gave myself enough chances to make some birdies.”

Ernie Els, the most successful player in the history of the tournament with three titles and eight other top-10 finishes, matched McIlroy’s 68. The four-time major champion hit 17 greens and putted well with his new grip.

Four players were tied at 5-under 67 – Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Australia’s Brett Rumford and South African Trevor Fisher Jr.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden, playing alongside McIlroy, opened with a 3-under 69.

The new changes in the course, where the fairways have been made firmer and grass has been shaved off the fringe of the greens, troubled McIlroy, who has never finished outside the top 10 in his last six starts at the Emirates Golf Club.

On McIlroy’s first hole, his second shot landed on the green and rolled off into the back bunker, from where he needed two shots to come out. Then, on the par-5 dogleg 18th, he hit a towering draw with his driver but the ball went through the fairway and into the water hazard. McIlroy then hit a great third shot from 198 yards and walked away with an unlikely birdie.

“All in all, a decent day, decent score,” he said. “I think with the way the weather conditions are, it’s made the golf course quite tricky out there. I don’t think I’ll ever hit as many bunker shots.”

The United States Golf Association hosted 125 industry experts Jan. 19-20 at Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena, Calif., for the Association’s Pace and Innovation Symposium.

The two-day symposium marked the third time that the USGA has brought together experts and leaders from throughout the industry to discuss the issues that often serve as barriers to participation and enjoyment of the game.

Golf Canada continues to work with the USGA and R&A in the administration of golf and the rules of golf, and pace of play is certainly one area that has been under the microscope.  A lot of research and studies have been conducted to help all of us gain a clear understanding of all the variables that affect pace of play. Ultimately, everyone has a role to play in ensuring that pace of play does not have a negative impact on a golfer’s experience.

Golf Canada will continue to work with our national and provincial partners, including course owners/operators, manager, superintendents and PGA of Canada professionals to communicate best practices and address factors that contribute to pace of play.

Here are a few aspects to consider that could improve pace of play:

• Minimize time on the tee and between shots – encourage your group to play “ready golf”, keep your pre-shot routine to a minimum and place your clubs in a convenient location in relation to the path to your next shot (i.e. close to the next tee when you’re near the green).
• Keep up with the group in front – your goal should be to keep up with the group in front, not immediately in front of the group behind.  A good rule is to arrive at the location of your next shot as the group in front is leaving your landing area.
• Tee it Forward – this initiative encourages all golfers to play the course at a length that is aligned with their average driving distance. For more information, click here.
• Other forms of play – match play, stableford, best-ball and foursomes are a few examples that take less time to play while still offering a fun and competitive environment
• Course set-up – courses should set up the course to encourage a good pace by having a reasonable height for rough, appropriate green speed for the contour of your greens, clearly identified yardage markers and fair hole locations.
• Play 9 – if you don’t have time to play a full 18-hole round, we encourage everyone to get out and play nine holes.  This is in accordance with the rules of golf and Golf Canada’s Handicap System.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to email them to me at ahelmer@golfcanada.ca.