MEXICO CITY – Minjee Lee shot her second straight 3-under 69 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over four players in the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

The 19-year-old Australian player two-putted from 50 feet on the par-5 17th for the last of her six birdies at tree-lined Club de Golf Mexico. She won at Kingsmill in May for her first LPGA Tour title.

Second-ranked Inbee Park, defending champion Christina Kim, Angela Stanford and rookie of the year Sei Young Kim were tied for second in the 36-player event. Park, the first-round leader, had a 71. Christina Kim and Sei Young Kim each shot 66, and Stanford had a 70.

Park is making her first start since withdrawing in China two weeks ago because of a cyst on her left middle finger. The South Korean star has four victories this season, winning two of the five majors.

Sei Young Kim, also from South Korea, won the event in China for her third victory of the season.

Stanford is coming off playoff loss to Sun-Ju Ahn last week in the Asian Swing finale in Japan. The American won the inaugural tournament in 2008 in Guadalajara.

Last year, Christina Kim beat Shanshan Feng on the second hole off a playoff after losing a five-stroke lead in the final round.

Norway’s Suzann Pettersen was sixth at 4 under after a 71.

Canada’s Alena Sharp carded a 1 over 73 Friday and has a share of 31st at 5 over.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko is skipping the tournament to rest for her title defense next week in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.

Four Canadians finished inside the cut of T21 (plus ties) on Friday to advance to the final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School. The Canucks were in action at two separate 72-hole stroke-play events contested at different sites in the U.S.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., led the way at the Brocksville, Fla., event, closing at 17-under at the Southern Hills Plantation Club to finish as runner-up—four strokes back of medalist Doug Leston. Canadian Chris Ross—also of Dundas, Ont.—posted an 8-under to just squeeze inside the cut line with a T18 finish.

Across the way in Texas, Canadians Devin Carrey of Burnaby, B.C. and Cam Burke of New Hamburg, Ont., cracked the top-10 at the Clubs of Kingwood-Deerwood to punch their ticket to the final stage. Carrey came in at 8-under par to finish tied for fourth while Burke ended at 6-under to finish T10. American Anthony Broussard of Addison, Tex., took home medalist honours, finishing at 16-under, five-strokes clear of the runner-up.

There are two remaining stage II Qualifying events still to be conducted, both running next week from Nov. 17–20. There are 10 hopeful Canadians in the field at the remaining events, all looking for their chance to advance to the final stage contested from Dec. 10–13 at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.—see the list below:

Nov 17–20
Oak Valley Golf Club, Beaumont, Calif.

• Max Gilbert (Montreal)
• Ryan Williams (Surrey, B.C.)
• Matt McQuillan (Kingston, Ont.)
• Seann Harlingten (Vancouver)
• Ryan Yip (Calgary)
• Brad Clapp (Chilliwack, B.C.)

Nov 17–20
Plantation Preserve Golf Club, Plantation, Fla.

• Lucas Kim (Toronto)
• Jon Mills (Belleville, Ont.)
• Ben Silverman (Thornhill, Ont.)
• Matt Hill (Brights Grove, Ont.)

All players who make it to the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Q-School will earn at least conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2016.

Click here for scoring.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Team Canada’s duo of Eric Banks and Tony Gil posted a 7-over 149 in Friday’s first round of action at the Tailhade Cup to sit in a tie for seventh.

After play was suspended on Thursday due to thunderstorms, Nova Scotia’s Banks led the Canadian pair with an opening even-par 71—good for the day’s third-best score overall. Gil, a 17-year-old Vaughan, Ont., native, struggled on the day with a 7-over par 78.

Collectively, the Australians hold the outright lead after Friday’s first round, carding a 1-over 143. They are closely followed by host Argentina, who sit two-back at 145.

The second round of action will resume tomorrow at the Los Lagartos Country Club, with the final round to commence on Sunday.

Click here for live scoring.

When Jocelyne Bourassa arrived for the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, she thought she was in Hollywood.

There was a red carpet entrance, all the spotlights and a who’s who of Canadian sport attended the glitzy shindig.

“Gosh, I felt like I was outside a Hollywood premier,” the 68-year-old Bourassa stated. “I didn’t know how big a deal this was.

“Most of my fellow inductees were past Olympians. They talked about their paths to success, the injuries they suffered and overcame. Now golf is part of the Olympics again.”

Bourassa’s story easily could be made into a Hollywood film. She went into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame as a builder, but her diligence in making sure young women professionals had a place to play in Canada is only part of her fascinating narrative.

She was the Brooke Henderson of the time. The Shawinigan, Quebec-raised dynamo reeled off amateur win after amateur win in Quebec, nationally and internationally.

The highlights were consecutive Quebec junior titles in 1963, 1964 and 1965, backed up by Canadian Women Amateur Championship titles in 1965 and 1971. She turned pro and promptly was named the 1972 LPGA rookie of the year.

But knee problems plagued Bourassa’s success, so much so that she was once called the Bobby Orr of women’s golf because of how many knee surgeries she required.

However, she battled through the pain for a week back in June of 1973. The LPGA finally had come to Canada at Montreal Municipal to contest La Canadienne, which became the du Maurier Classic, now known as the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

Bourassa was 26 and wondered how many good rounds she had left in her. A doctor had told her caddy, Mario Brisebois, that if she was a horse she would have been put out to pasture.

But Bourassa battled that week. She scrambled and made several clutch putts. On the 72nd hole, Bourassa walked over to the spectators and found her brother Gilles.

“I asked him what I needed to get into the playoff and he told me a birdie,” she recalled. “I went back inside the ropes and knew I was going to do it.

“I had a very long putt [30 feet] to make for birdie. People tell me I took forever to make the putt, but I knew the line. I knew the putt was going to go in.’’

It did go in and gave her a spot in the playoff against Judy Rankin and Sandra Haynie. Bourassa was extremely nervous beginning that playoff. She duck-hooked her drive on the opening hole, only to make a miraculous recovery shot from under a tree to the green. She outlasted Rankin and then, finally, Haynie.

“Sandra duck-hooked her drive into the water on the last hole,” Bourassa said. “The fans cheered, just like at a hockey game. I was embarrassed. I had to apologize to Sandra.

“But I still had work to do. I needed to make a two-foot putt to win. But I couldn’t draw the putter back. So I took a deep breath and hit it through. It just snuggled in.’’

Quebec went crazy. They had a new sporting hero. But Brisebois put some perspective on the massive win. The win inspired a generation of elite-level athletes in Quebec like diver Sylvie Bernier, biathlete Myriam Bedard and short-track speed skater Nathalie Lambert.

But not everyone was doing cartwheels after Bourassa’s win. Brisebois recalled that Bourassa was a guest on a popular sports radio show and that the host told her a woman should be home in the kitchen, raising kids and taking care of her husband.

“Jocelyne proved there was room for women in sports,” said Brisebois, who went on to become one of Canada’s top golf writers and still is going strong.

Bourassa retired a few years later from competitive golf and in 1979 became the executive director of the du Maurier. She dedicated her life to grow women’s professional golf in Canada.

She helped promising Canadian juniors find golf scholarships. Later, she would help them begin professional careers with a series of events across Canada, now known as the Canadian Women’s (golf) Tour.

She played a big part in why Canada had LPGA Tour winners like Dawn Coe, Lisa Walters, Jennifer Wyatt, Lorie Kane and now Henderson.

“Jocelyne has so many good qualities,” Brisebois said. “But if I had to pick one it would be her generosity. She’s very generous. She’s so likeable. You cannot find anyone who dislikes this lady.

“She deserves a lot of respect.”

SHANGHAI – Lucas Bjerregaard is learning how to deal with the pressure of playing from the front, and closing in on a maiden European Tour title, too.

The Dane heads into the weekend with a three-stroke lead at the BMW Masters after carding a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round.

Bjerregaard trailed overnight leader Sergio Garcia for much of the day before surging into the lead with three birdies in his last four holes to match his opening-round score. He’s now shot below 70 in 12 of his last 13 rounds since mid-October, going a combined 47 under.

Garcia, meanwhile, ran into trouble on his back nine on a cold, blustery day at Lake Malaren Golf Club. He bogeyed No. 12 and hit into the water on No. 13 for a double-bogey, falling four strokes back.

The Spaniard recovered to shoot a 71 and tie for second place at 9 under with Thongchai Jaidee (68).

Bjerregaard has been in top form this autumn, posting four top-10 finishes on the European Tour and falling just short of capturing his first title at the Hong Kong Open three weeks ago. Playing in the final group, the 24-year-old Dane led Justin Rose by a stroke down the stretch before a double-bogey gave victory to the Englishman.

Still, it was a far better finish than the last time Bjerregaard played in the final group on a Sunday at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last December – he collapsed with a 17-over 89 in the final round.

“It was nice in Hong Kong to prove to myself and prove to everyone else that I can still compete up there, so hopefully I can do that again this week and just come up one place better than last time,” Bjerregaard said.

Ian Poulter (68), Paul Casey (69) and An Byeong-hun (71) were tied for fourth at 8 under on Friday, while Peter Uihlein (66) sank seven straight birdies to jump into a tie for seventh at 7 under with Ross Fisher (71).

Playing alongside Bjerregaard, Uihlein began his birdie spree on the par-5 15th hole and narrowly missed matching the European Tour record of eight consecutive birdies when his 20-foot putt on the par-3 fourth hole slid just to the right of the cup.

“I was cheering him on,” Bjerregaard said. “I was really hoping that would go in.”

Uihlein started the day in a tie for 48th place but is suddenly only five strokes off the pace going into the weekend.

“It was weird. I was level-par going into 15, 1 over for the day, and I felt like I played 24 holes really, really well,” the American said. “I felt like there was going to be a surge coming and I didn’t know it would be seven in a row, but I’m pleased it was.”

Garcia, who shot 64 on Thursday, made three birdies in a blemish-free front nine to get to 11 under before faltering on No. 12 and 13. His second shot on the par-5 15th found the bunker next to the green, but he made a nice recovery to birdie the hole and get a stroke back.

“If you didn’t hit the right shot at the right time you could pay. And I did a couple of times,” Garcia said. “It feels like it should have been a little bit better, but it is what it is.”

The BMW Masters is the third of four events in the European Tour’s Final Series, which ends next week at the DP World Tour Championships in Dubai. Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy is skipping this week’s tournament, giving Danny Willett a chance to pass him in the standings with a strong showing in Shanghai.

Willett shot a 69 to get to 3 under on Friday in a tie for 28th.

Golf is a game for all ages – from youngsters swinging a club for the first time with Golf in Schools equipment to seasoned veterans of the sport who are well into their greying years.

Golf – and all sports – carries its own set of challenges as players grow with the game. While it’s great to stay active and keep fit, players of any sport should always be mindful of the increased risk for injury as they age.

Osteoporosis Canada introduces us to Gary – an avid golfer in his 70s who suffers from the condition affecting the fragility of his bones due to low bone mass and the deterioration of bone tissue.

Those with osteoporosis can still play the game like Gary does, but here are a few exercises to help strengthen muscles and improve balance to lessen the risk of fracture and injury.

For more information from Osteoporosis Canada, please visit their website here.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Justin Leonard got off to a quick start in what he expects to be his shortest season, opening with a 6-under 65 on Thursday in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba to share the lead with Aaron Baddeley, Shawn Stefani and Derek Fathauer.

Leonard, who moved from Dallas to Colorado during the summer, said he plans to play only 12 events this season to spend more time with his wife and four children. The former British Open champion is using his one-time exemption for being top 50 on the PGA Tour’s career money list.

The 43-year-old Leonard played bogey-free at El Camaleon before the wind and rain arrived and stopped play for 1 hour, 14 minutes. The first round was suspended because of darkness, and 21 players did not finish.

Stefani was a runner-up last year at Mayakoba to Charley Hoffman.

Baddeley, a three-time winner, lost his card last season and failed to get it back through the Web.com Tour Finals. He is playing as a past champion, and got into the Mexico event through a top-10 finish last week. He tied for fourth in the rain-plagued Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

D.J. Trahan, another past champion, also got into Mayakoba through a top 10 in Mississippi. He was in a large group at 66 that included Charles Howell III and Patton Kizzire, who won the Web.com Tour money title last season.

Leonard is approaching two years since his last top 10 on the PGA Tour. He was born and raised in Dallas, so it was a big move to take the family to Aspen. But it’s part of a bigger plan to make the transition to full-time golf to being with his four children, ages 5 through 12.

“I’ve just been out here 21 or 22 years and my kids are growing up,” Leonard said. “And I get to do a lot of things, but I miss a lot of things, too. We just moved to Colorado in August, and I want to just play the tournaments that I’m excited to go play and see what I can do.”

He referenced Steve Stricker, who in 2013 decided to trim his schedule to be at home more often.

“So many decisions I’ve made over the last 25 years have been about golf,” Leonard said. “So when we started talking about moving, I said, ‘Let’s just take golf out of it. Where are going to be the happiest and most excited when we get on an airplane to go home?’ And we’re there.”

Matt Kuchar, at No. 16 in the world the highest-ranked player at Mayakoba, opened with a 72. He was in the same group as Mississippi winner Peter Malnati, who shot a 68, and HSBC Champions winner Russell Knox, who had a 70.

Knox is playing his fifth straight week, going from Napa, California, to Las Vegas to Malaysia to Shanghai and now Mexico.

Former PGA champions Keegan Bradley, whose world ranking has plunged to No. 65, was in the group at 67 that included Erik Compton, Patrick Rodgers and Graeme McDowell, who overcame a double bogey on his opening hole by making five straight birdies.

The best start belonged to Thomas Aiken of South Africa. Starting on the par-3 10th, he made a hole-in-one and then followed that with two straight birdies. But his round fell apart at the end with a quadruple-bogey 9 on the seventh hole that led to a 74.

David Hearn opened with a 68.

MEXICO CITY – Inbee Park made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead Thursday in the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

The second-ranked Park had seven birdies and three bogeys at tree-lined Club de Golf Mexico. She’s making her first start since withdrawing in China two weeks ago because of a cyst on her left middle finger. The South Korean star has four victories this season, winning two of the five majors.

“I was a little bit worried about not practicing for a few days, but I had a good day today, especially the front nine,” Park said. “It was a good putting day. … I felt really good about the putter. I putted really well today it was a good sign.”

Angela Stanford, Suzann Pettersen and Minjee Lee were tied for second.

Stanford is coming off playoff loss to Sun-Ju Ahn last week in the Asian Swing finale in Japan.

“Tuesday, I felt like I have been hit by a train,” Stanford said about her flight from Japan. “It’s been getting better each day.”

She won the inaugural tournament in 2008 in Guadalajara.

Pettersen was the only player in 36-woman field to have a bogey-free round. The Norwegian won in June in Canada for her 15th LPGA Tour victory. She’s coming off three straight top-eight finishes in Asia.

“It’s just nice to be back in contention and kind of be back where I should be,” Pettersen said. “I should be in contention every week when I feel my game is there. It was a good stretch there to give me some confidence and try to finish out strong.”

The 19-year-old Lee, from Australia, won at Kingsmill in May for her first LPGA Tour title. She took last week off after playing the first four events in Asia.

“I think I really needed that week off when I was in Asia,” Lee said. “I was well-rested and I came in yesterday and did my practice and I was ready to go.”

Mexican amateur Gaby Lopez was tied for fifth at 71 with So Yeon Ryu, Azahara Munoz, Jaye Marie Green, Sydnee Michaels, Pernilla Lindberg and Mariajo Uribe.

Lopez is a senior at the University of Arkansas senior. She was second this year in the NCAA tournament.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the moment,” Lopez said. “It’s amazing playing with the top 30 in the world at my home course with my family and the people around me.”

Fourth-ranked Lexi Thompson, the 20134 winner in Guadalajara, had a 73. The winner last month in South Korea for her second victory of the year, Thompson had six birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.

Defending champion Christina Kim also had a 73.

Canada’s Alena Sharp carded a 76.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko is skipping the tournament to rest for her title defense next week in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.

The caddies for Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar will carry a lighter load on the PGA Tour next week – microphones instead of golf bags.

Golf Channel has hired Jim “Bones” Mackay and John Wood as part of its broadcast team for two days next week during the RSM Classic at Sea Island in Georgia. Mackay has been Mickelson’s only caddie on the PGA Tour. Wood spent nine years with Hunter Mahan until leaving to work for Kuchar in 2016.

“What’s going to be pretty cool is hearing their point of view on what’s going on,” Tommy Roy, the golf producer for NBC Sports and Golf Channel, said Thursday. “We hear so many players refer to “we” and it’s clear it’s a team getting this done on the course. So this will be the perspective from the other half of the team.”

Mackay and Woods will be on-course reporters for key groups during Friday and Saturday rounds at Sea Island.

NBC televised the “Kiwi Challenge” in 2008 when Steve Williams, still the caddie for Tiger Woods, worked as an on-course reporter in his native New Zealand.

Roy said he has been working on this project for more than a year. He identified Mackay and Wood as prime candidates because of their communication skills and “that’s the No. 1 attribute you look for in a television announcer.”

Over the past year, Roy said he has brought the two caddies into the truck to see the operational side of a television broadcast, and he had them wear headsets to adjust to hearing Roy’s commands and how announcers are to respond.

He said Roger Maltbie would be helping them with where to stand – not next to the player, in this case – and other issues. They will have a rehearsal Thursday morning from Sea Island before going live in the second round.

“I really appreciate the chance,” Mackay said. “I think it’s going to be cool. I’m fascinated by the whole TV side of it. Tommy had us out to the truck a couple of times. We had a chance to appreciate the amazing amount of hard work and attention to detail. It’s an honor and it will be a lot of fun. I’m excited about it, but I also want to make Tommy happy to have us out there.”

The last time Mackay was a PGA Tour event without caddying was the 1993 Ryder Cup, and he wound up working as a caddie assistant.

Whether this becomes a regular part of future Golf Channel and NBC broadcast is to be determined. Roy long has been fascinated by the conversation between caddies and players, which can be a compelling part of the broadcast when it involves a big decision.

Mackay and Mickelson seem to be constantly discussing shots. Wood received notoriety in 2007 at the Travelers Championship when he stepped in as Mahan was about to play his approach to the 18th and had him start over with a sharp focus. Mahan made birdie and wound up winning a playoff for his first PGA Tour victory.

“In television, you try to come up with new things to attract viewers and enhance the experience for viewers,” Roy said. “We’ll see where it goes from here.”

For an industry recently inundated by gloomy short- and long-term forecasts, a welcome ray of sunshine has been delivered via just-released data from the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada.

Having weathered an inevitable market correction, there are signs the skies are clearing for the Canadian golf industry.

The NGCOA’s year-end Rounds Played and Weather Reporting data show a 9.79-per-cent increase nationally in rounds played over 2014, with an average for 18-hole equivalent facilities of 25,199.

Rounds played in Alberta were up 13.28 per cent, followed by Saskatchewan/Manitoba at 8.36, British Columbia at 6.45, Ontario at 5.95 and Quebec at 5.02.

The lone decrease was in Atlantic Canada, where rounds played were down 11.62 per cent. But there is an obvious explanation for that solitary cloud.

“We started to track weather this year, rather than relying on anecdotal information,” says Nathalie Lavallee, the NGCOA’s Chief Operating Officer. “On a monthly basis, our members would input not only their rounds played, but they would post their specific ‘weather score’, on a scale from one to 10. We saw a lot of sixes and sevens, with the exception of Atlantic Canada, which suffered from a bad winter and spring from which it was difficult to recover.”

Next week’s NGCOA national conference in Toronto will be “a celebration of a really good season,” says Lavallee.

“The better weather generally across the country, plus the improving economy, gives our industry increased optimism going into 2016.”