Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. – Canadian Adam Svensson started the second round of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament with four consecutive birdies on the par-72 Fazio Course at PGA National Resort & Spa en route to a 7-under-par 65. The 21-year-old from Surrey, Vancouver, British Columbia’s 14-under 129 total is good for a commanding five-stroke lead over former No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking Ollie Schniederjans (68).

In a tie for third, six back, are PGA TOUR Latinoamérica alum Justin Hueber (69) and Australian Alistair Presnell (68).

Another six players are knotted at 7-under 136 and tied for fifth.

Svensson opened with a 64 on the tougher Champions Course on Thursday and successfully carried that momentum into Friday. After three consecutive birdies to the start the second round, the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada alum blocked his tee shot right on the par-5, 4^th hole behind a group of trees. After a successful layup, Svensson flushed his third, a 9-iron from 142 yards, to 15 feet behind the hole and drained the tricky downhill putt for birdie.

“I was hitting it pretty well,” said Svensson, who found every green in regulation on the front nine. “Every shot was close to the pin and I just kept it going.”

This past season, Svensson had an opportunity to earn a PGA TOUR card through the Web.com Tour with a victory at the Regular Season finale. This past fall at the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented Kraft Heinz the former two-time All-American at Barry University had a one-shot lead over Dicky Pride heading into the weekend and carded 74-71 to fall back into a tie for 13^th place.

The tournament did not end the way Svensson had hoped but he was able to take away some positives from the experience.

“I think the Oregon event helped me out a lot,” said Svensson. “I learned a lot from it and I think it was a good thing what happened to me there.”

With two rounds left before a champion is crowned, Svensson knows he must finish strong the final two days to accomplish his goal for the week.

“It’s huge to have full status and get into every event,” said Svensson, who made seven starts on Tour this past season. “It’s good to pick your own schedule, but I’m having fun and looking forward to the weekend.”

One key to Svensson’s success this week has been his play from off the tee. Through two rounds, he is T1 in Driving Accuracy (25 of 28).

Svensson’s 36-hole total of 129 (-14) is the lowest of his professional career. His previous low 36-hole total of 130 (-14) came at the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft Heinz on the Web.com Tour.

The last time Svensson competed at PGA National Resort & Spa, he was a member of the Barry University golf team and led the Buccaneers to a 19-stroke win in the three-day event. Svensson used a second-round 64 to win the individual title by three strokes.

Players will be repaired for the third and final rounds according to scores. The leaders will play the Fazio Course in the third round and the Champion Course in the final round.

CHONBURI, Thailand – Jamie Donaldson of Wales leads the Thailand Championship into the weekend by two shots over Martin Kaymer after the second round on Friday.

Donaldson carded a 4-under-par 68 to lie at 13 under in the Asian Tour event at Amata Spring Country Club.

Kaymer, the runner-up last year, sank eight birdies against a single bogey on the 14th hole, for a second round of 65 and two-day total at 11 under.

Former champion Sergio Garcia featured in a three-man group tied for third at 9 under.

Donaldson started on the back nine and made four birdies, but ran into trouble on the front nine with three birdies and three bogeys.

“You need to keep the momentum going and I managed to do that today,” he said. “It was a great temperature at the start of the day but it got really hot on my back nine which is the front nine.”

Kaymer thought his round was an improvement on Thursday but merely solid.

“There wasn’t really any highlight for me,” he said. “I just hit good iron shots towards the greens, and gave myself a lot of good chances for birdies. I didn’t miss many putts.”

Garcia also struggled in the heat on his back nine and shot a 69, to tie with Matthew Fitzpatrick of England (67), and Chinnarat Phadungsil of Thailand (69).

Defending champion Lee Westwood improved with a 68 after his opening 71, to be eight shots behind Donaldson.

Canada’s flagship junior program, CN Future Links, is set to enter its twentieth year of golf on the heels of a season which saw Learn to Play numbers climb to reach record highs.

With the wind at its back, CN Future Links marched forward to hit 7,130 participants in the summer of 2015—up from 2,860 since 2010. Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer, Jeff Thompson, credits the national success of the program to strengthened collaboration with program partners.

“The measured success we have achieved with CN Future Links would be not be attainable without the continued support of our partners,” said Thompson. “Together, we have continued to push the needle in terms of evolving the program and growing participation at the grassroots level.”

Nationally, CN Future Links is powered by a team of dedicated supporters, led by title sponsor CN railway. Since 2006, CN has been at the forefront of junior golf in Canada, extending the values of the sport while promoting health and safety to youth to communities across Canada.

Learn to Play, the feature program of CN Future Links, has continued to evolve over its 12 years of existence, most recently with a free mobile app for instructors and a new progress reward from apparel sponsor, Cobra PUMA Golf. Upon completing one of the four stages, participants receive a highly popular Puma hat branded with the CN Future Links stage colour completed (at no cost to the instructor).

The diagram below outlines how each reward aligns with golf’s Long-Term Player Development Model and PGA of Canada’s coaching stream context.

Looking to get a jump on next year’s programming? Learn more about CN Future Links here.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Canadian Adam Svensson and Georgia’s Rick Lamb share the first-round lead at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament after each finished at 7 under for the day.

Svensson’s 64 came on the par-71 Champion Course, while Lamb fired a 65 on the par-72 Fazio Course at PGA National Resort & Spa.

Four players are tied for third at 6 under: Taiwan’s Cheng Tsung Pan, Ollie Schniederjans, T.J. Vogel and Austin Cook.

Svensson, who finished ninth on the 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit in only six starts, finished his round on the front nine with an eagle on the par-5 third and birdies on the final three holes.

“I hit it exceptional all day today,” said Svensson, who turned professional earlier this year. “I had a couple of nice putts drop there in the end including a tricky right-to-left putt on the ninth that somehow ended up rolling in.”

The 21-year-old was quick to admit that a strong round on the more difficult Champion Course will give him an advantage heading into the second round.

“It was huge,” he said. “I just have to go out tomorrow and stay focused and not think about anything that happened today and just stick to the game plan.”

With ideal scoring conditions greeting players on Thursday, Lamb, 25, took advantage of the Fazio Course with eight birdies on the day, including one final effort on the par-4 18th.

“Got on a little roll and went with it,” Lamb said. “Hit a 7-iron from 165 yards into the wind and had 5 feet for birdie.”

Even after an early bogey on the fifth hole, the University of Tennessee alum was able to bounce back with a birdie on the par-4 sixth to keep his round in control.

“I’m pretty pleased with the start,” he said. “You can’t complain when you shoot 7 under so I am happy with the way everything started today. It’s more relaxing knowing I am in a good position but I still have three more days and need to continue to play well.”

The Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament is a four-day, 72-hole competition that ends on Sunday, Dec. 13. The tournament is being contested at the PGA National Resort & Spa’s Champion Course (CC) and Fazio Course (FC). The Champion Course has played host to The Honda Classic on the PGA TOUR since 2007. The Fazio Course plays to a par-72, while the Champion Course plays to a par-71.

There were nearly 1,000 entries for the tournament, which included previous Pre-Qualifying, First and Second stages that began in August.

A total of 155 players began play on Thursday morning.

Players in this event are competing for positions on 2016 Web.com Tour priority ranking, which will be used to form tournament fields. The medalist (or co-medalists) will be guaranteed fully-exempt status next year. Players 2-10 (and ties) will be subject to the third reshuffle next year and players 11-45 (and ties) will be subject to the second reshuffle.

This week’s medalist will earn $25,000. Players 2-10 (and ties) will earn $15,000 each. Players 11-45 (and ties) will earn $10,000 each.

TORONTO – Brooke Henderson had two dreams come true this year: she became a member of the LPGA Tour and won her first tournament at that level.

She’s setting her sights even higher in 2016.

Henderson hopes to continue her ascent on the top women’s professional golf circuit and also lead Canada to the podium when the sport makes its return to the Olympic program next summer in Rio.

She got a chance to learn more about the Olympic experience at this week’s Canadian Olympic Committee symposium at a downtown Toronto hotel. Watching promotional videos of fellow Canadians winning medals and hearing the national anthem has her counting down the days until the 2016 Games.

“Every time I watch those videos, I get goose bumps. My blood runs crazy,” Henderson said Thursday. “It’s an amazing opportunity that I have just to play in the Olympics and to play on the LPGA Tour.

“They’re both dreams that I’ve had since I was young and now this year is the first year that I can achieve both of those.”

Henderson, a former top-ranked amateur, showed this past season that she was the real deal. She finished third at the Swinging Skirts LPGA stop last April before picking up fifth-place ties at the Women’s PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.

Her statement performance came in August at the Cambia Portland Classic, when she blew away the field with a whopping eight-stroke victory.

Henderson was about three weeks shy of her 18th birthday at the time. She was granted immediate LPGA Tour membership by commissioner Mike Whan after the win.

The teenager from Smiths Falls, Ont., has since climbed to No. 18 on the Tour’s ranking list. Henderson is planning a full schedule in 2016 and plans to treat the Games like the sixth major of the season.

“The Olympics is a dream that I had as a little girl,” she said. “I didn’t know what sport or what I was going to do or how I was going to get there. But I wanted to be in the Olympics and I wanted to share the same passion as all these other athletes that I watched on TV in the Winter and Summer Games.

“So Rio is in August, it’s going to be a long summer and it’s going to be a long season. But it’s definitely something that I want to peak for and I want to represent Canada as best as I can.”

Sixty golfers will compete in the four-round women’s stroke play competition at the Aug. 5-21 Games. Golf was last played at the Olympics in 1904.

“I’ve won on the LPGA Tour, I’ve competed against the best in the world, I know (Olympic success) is possible,” Henderson said. “Hopefully if I can move my ranking up a little bit more, I’ll be seen as a contender in Rio.”

Official player nominations aren’t expected to be made until July, but Henderson is a virtual lock for the Canadian team. She’s looking forward to the pressure and the high expectations.

“It’s fun to have because you’re expected to do great things,” she said. “I’m really excited to go and represent my country and be the best that I can be.”

NAPLES, Fla. -Matt Kuchar and Harris English made a run at the record in the first round of the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

They’re in the lead with a 14-under 58 at the Tiburon Golf Club. Billy Horschel-Hunter Mahan and Graeme McDowell-Gary Woodland are tied for second with 59s.

Kuchar and English opened with an eagle on No. 1 and followed with three straight birdies. They had two birdies from Nos. 5-9 and three straight birdies from Nos. 13-15 on the back nine. They finished with an eagle on No. 17 and birdie on No. 18.

“Having Kooch as a backup guy is pretty good,” English said. “I know if I mess up or I miss a putt, I wouldn’t want anybody else hitting a shot or putting behind me.”

Second-ranked Jason Day, who won last year’s event with Cameron Tringale, withdrew last week. Kuchar and English got close to the tournament record of 55, set by Day and Tringale last year.

“Having a partner lets you be a little bit more aggressive, lets you be a little more free-swinging,” Kuchar said. “We’ve just formed a good partnership and get in a pretty good groove out there.”

Since being paired in 2013, Kuchar and English have gone 79 under in their seven rounds. That’s an average of a little better than 11 under per round.

Horschel-Mahan birdied their first three holes and went birdie-eagle-birdie to end their day. They also eagled No. 14.

The format Friday will be modified alternate shot. Horschel said they’d be pleased to go 13 under again.

“I think we’re going to come in here with some pretty big smiles on our face,” he said.

Canada’s Mike Weir and former RBC Canadian Open champion, Sean O’Hair, are T11th at -7 with Steve Stricker and and Kenny Perry.

CHONBURI, Thailand – Jamie Donaldson of Wales enjoyed a sizzling opening round of 9-under-par 63 to take a three-stroke lead over three players including 2013 winner Sergio Garcia in the Thailand Championship on Thursday.

Donaldson, who hasn’t won in 16 months, birdied his first four holes and the last two at Amata Spring Country Club, and said, “I couldn’t really do things wrong.

“I never really missed any fairways. The good par save on nine was the key to keep the momentum going after pushing the tee shot a little bit. I got up and down there from about 20 feet.”

Garcia, who lifted his 23rd career title in Vietnam last weekend, and locals Chinnarat Phadungsilp and Chanat Sakulpolphaisan were at 6 under.

Garcia was on par after his second bogey on the 10th hole, then reeled off six birdies over the last eight holes.

“It was a wonderful back nine,” he said.

Chinnarat spoiled his round with a double bogey on the 15th hole, while Chanat bogeyed the 16th.

Martin Kaymer, who lost to Lee Westwood by one shot 12 months ago, shot a bogey-free 68 to lie five behind Donaldson, while Westwood began with a 1-under 71, as did Bubba Waston, who won the World Challenge in the Bahamas last weekend.

Nathan Holman, who won his home Australian PGA title last week, carded a par 72.

Richard T Lee of Toronto opened at even-par to hold a share of 46th place. B.C.-raised Lindsay Renolds, a former Team Canada National Squad member, is one-stroke back of his fellow Canadian.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, members of Golf Canada’s staff rallied their holiday cheer to surprise a local Brampton school with a Christmas miracle. As proud partners of WestJet, Golf Canada adopted a Brampton school into the Golf in Schools program by gifting the full elementary kit, equipped with the teacher-friendly Learning Resource.

For our #WestJetChristmas miracle we gave #GolfinSchools to 750 kids in Brampton. @WestJet for a terrific program. https://t.co/8R236oBxVX

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) December 9, 2015

Golf Canada’s miracle is part of WestJet’s global campaign this year that is spreading the holiday spirit through 12,000 miracles—the number of WestJet employees. Today’s miracle also marks the 161^st Golf in Schools adoption so far this year, which is the primary avenue for schools to receive the program.

Golf in Schools introduced a brand new curriculum this year, incorporating a Life Skills component that carefully integrates the eight skills throughout all lesson plans. Also new this year, Golf in Schools welcomed Canadian PGA TOUR star Graham DeLaet as an ambassador of the program, which is now available to elementary, intermediate and high schools across the country.

Click here to adopt a school in your community.

Click here to learn more about the #WestJetChristmas campaign.

Final Qualifying for the 2016 Web.Com Tour begins Thursday, December 10th at the Champion and Fazio courses at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, where 15 Canadians will attempt to gain or improve their playing rights for the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit.

Wil Bateman of Edmonton, Cam Burke of New Hamburg, Ont., Devin Carrey of Burnaby, B.C., Albin Choi of Toronto, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Lucas Kim of Toronto, Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Chris Ross of Dundas, Ont., Justin Shin of Maple Ridge, B.C., Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., Kevin Spooner of Vancouver, Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., Eugene Wong of North Vancouver, B.C., and Ryan Yip of Calgary will all get their chance to determine their priority ranking for the Web.Com Tour’s 2015-16 season.

The medalist and ties receives full status. The top 10 and ties earn exempt status through the Tour’s third reshuffle. The top 45 and ties earn exempt status through the second reshuffle. And, players finishing 46th and higher earn conditional status.

Taylor Pendrith and Eugene Wong have already exempt through the first reshuffle by virtue of top-5 finishes on Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour China respectively.

The event has been reduced to 72 holes for the first occasion.

On the final hole of the fourth round of the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club, Jason Day sank an unbelievable 22-foot birdie putt which helped him capture his fourth career victory on the PGA TOUR.

That putt comes in at No. 5 on the PGA TOUR’s 10 Best Shots of 2015 list.

For those who weren’t there to witness it live, or missed the telecast, you can watch it below. Congrats Jason!