NAPA, Calif. – Brendan Steele did just enough to keep the lead Saturday at the Frys.com Open, even though he missed a chance to do more.

As one player after another was piling up birdies on the closing three-hole stretch at Silverado, Steele managed three pars for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot lead over Andrew Loupe and Kevin Na.

Loupe had five straight birdies early and four straight birdies late for a 63 and was one shot behind. Na played the closing stretch in 3 under for a 64.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet sits at 12-under, 2-back of the lead, after a 69 Saturday.

The PGA Tour season opener is wide open going into the final round. Sixteen players were separated by only four shots.

Steele was at 14-under 202 as he tries to go wire-to-wire.

Rory McIlroy never got anything going and was eight shots behind.

SAN ANTONIO – Defending champion Michael Allen shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Scott McCarron in the Champions Tour’s San Antonio Championship.

“For the first time, instead of trying to defend my championship, I’m trying to just win the golf tournament,” Allen said. “Luckily, I’ve had the chance to defend a few times over the last few years, but trying to defend has never worked out too well for me, so I’m taking a new approach.”

McCarron also had a 69 to reach 6-under 138 on TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Canyons Course. The three-time PGA Tour winner is making his seventh start on the tour after turning 50 in July.

“This golf course is tough. It’s tricky,” McCarron said. “You have to hit the fairways. If you don’t hit the fairways, it’s very difficult.”

The 56-year-old Allen has seven senior victories after failing to win on the PGA Tour.

“The course was set up great. It was set up hard,” Allen said. “Every pin seemed to be in the back of the green. Breezy, but not too bad today. It was a challenging, but fun day. The greens were extremely fast, extremely tricky.”

Fred Couples was a stroke back along with Bernhard Langer, Scott Dunlap and first-round leader Wes Short Jr. Couples shot 69, Langer 68, Dunlap 71 and Short 72. Couples won the 2011 event, shooting 62-62-66 for a seven-stroke victory.

“I thought today’s pins were really, really, hard,” Couples said. “It was hard to get the ball close and it was hard to make a putt.”

Charles Schwab Cup leader Colin Montgomerie was tied for 11th at 3 under after a 70. He has a 39-point lead over Jeff Maggert with three events left in the season-long competition.

Maggert withdrew after nine holes because of a lingering left calf injury.

“I felt I could play this week but the calf tightened up on me yesterday and with the Toshiba Classic and Charles Schwab Cup Championship coming up, I didn’t want to risk it any further this week,” Maggert said.

Canada’s Stephen Ames had a share of second, but dropped into a tie for 15th thanks to a 74 Saturday.

Brandt Jobe was tied for 27th at 1 over in his Champions Tour debut. He shot 72.

INCHEON, South Korea – Lydia Ko and Sung Hyun Park rebounded to top the crowded leaderboard Saturday in the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship.

In position to take the top spot in the world, the second-ranked Ko overcame a double bogey with two late birdies in a 3-under 69. Park bounced back from a second-round 74 with a 67 to match Ko at 13 under 203 on Sky 72’s Ocean Course.

“You might not even get one day out of the 365 days in a year where you hit it perfect,” Ko said. “I always say I love golf, because there is no perfect.”

Ko made the double bogey on the par-4 14th, driving left into the water and missing a 4-foot putt. The 18-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander rallied, driving the short par-4 15th to set up a two-putt birdie and making a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.

“There’s still a long day ahead of me,” Ko said. “But if I am holding the trophy at the end, it will be very special. To win at your birthplace, it’s hard to do. To be able to win in front of the Korean fans and my family and relatives who have flown over from Jeju Island, I think it would be a very special moment.”

Park birdied three of the last four holes, also driving the 15th, holing a 20-footer on 17 and chipping to 2 feet on the par-5 18th. Making her first career LPGA Tour start, the 22-year-old South Korean player opened with a course-record 62. She would earn an LPGA Tour card with a victory.

“Actually, I had this conversation with my mom and we were just talking about it,” Park said. “I told her, ‘If I should win this championship, I still don’t think I’m ready for the LPGA Tour.’ And even if I don’t win tomorrow, I think I would be quite satisfied with the results of the championship so far.”

Ranked 54th, Park won the Korea LPGA’s Se Ri Pak Invitational two weeks ago for her third victory of the season. She won the Korea Women’s Open in June.

“To be really honest, I don’t think I ever really thought about winning, and so I wasn’t really confident coming into this week,” Park said. “I was more worried and nervous, but I’m quite proud of myself.”

Ko would take the No. 1 ranking from Inbee Park with a victory Sunday and also could move up with a second- or third-place finish depending on where her South Korean rival finishes. Inbee Park was tied for 18th at 5 under after a 70.

Ko tied for second last week in the LPGA Malaysia after winning her previous two starts in Canada and France, where she became the youngest major champion. Ko and Inbee Park, a two-time major winner this year, are tied for the tour victory lead with four.

American Lexi Thompson and South Korea’s Mirim Lee each birdied the 18th to pull within a stroke of the lead. Thompson had a 69, and Lee shot 67.

“I just know I need to make birdies, focus on myself and control my game,” Thompson said. “That’s all I can do. Lydia is playing great and she’s going to make birdies, we all know that. But it’s not just her.”

Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn and South Korea’s Yoon-Ji Cho were two strokes back at 11 under. Jutanugarn holed out from 110 yards for eagle on the par-5 fifth in a round of 67, and Cho had a 69.

Taiwan’s Yani Tseng (69) was 10 under, and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (68) was 9 under along with China’s Shanshan Feng (71). Pettersen won the event in 2007 and 2012.

VILAMOURA, Portugal – England’s Andy Sullivan shot a 4-under 67 in windy conditions to take a five-shot lead into Sunday’s final round at the Portugal Masters.

Sullivan had six birdies in the third round on Saturday, when tee times were moved forward because of severe weather.

The Englishman said his score was “awesome in that horrible weather.”

“I thought I handled myself well. I didn’t really feel like I’d done much wrong out there today,” Sullivan said. “I think every part of my game is in good touch, and I didn’t really ever leave myself too much to do.”

Sunday’s final round at the Oceanico Victoria course will also start earlier than scheduled because of weather.

“More of the same hopefully,” Sullivan said. “Just go out there and do my thing, and hopefully come in and sign for a good score again.”

Sullivan, who won the South African Open earlier this year, shot 64 on each of the first two days and is 18 under for the tournament.

Eduardo de la Riva of Spain is second after a 3-under 68 put him on 13 under.

“Five shots is a lot and he’s playing very, very well,” De la Riva said of Sullivan. “If the day is like this, it can be possible with a very low round.”

Spain’s Jorge Campillo and Chris Wood of England were tied for third at 11 under, seven shots back.

NAPA, Calif. – Brendan Steele felt no different about his game Friday than when he tied the course record with a 63 in his opening round at the Frys.com Open. The difference was seven shots. What didn’t change was his position on the leaderboard.

Steele had to settle for pars on the closing three holes at Silverado that tend to produce birdies, giving him a 2-under 70 on a course that was getting firmer and featured much stronger pin positions.

All that mattered was a two-shot lead going into the weekend.

“I expected today to be tough,” said Steele, who was at 11-under 133. “And it’s always tough to follow up a round like yesterday with anything even under par. I think we’ve seen guys over the years follow 63 up usually with something around par. If you can go lower than that, you probably have a pretty good-sized lead.”

He’ll take the two-shot margin over Canada’s Graham DeLaet (68) , Will Wilcox (67), Jhonattan Vegas (71) and Harold Varner III (70).

One thing didn’t change for Rory McIlroy. He can’t seem to make a putt.

McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the world, shot 71 and was six shots behind. Considering how many putts he missed, it felt like an even greater margin.

“Not to be able to break 70 today is quite disappointing,” McIlroy said.

His only two birdies were on par 5s where he missed putts for eagles. And he ended his round by missing a birdie putt from just outside 12 feet, a familiar sight for him over two days at Silverado.

“I think it’s more mental than anything else,” McIlroy said. “Whenever you don’t see anything go in, it makes it harder and harder each and every hole that goes by. … I don’t expect to hole everything, but I expect to hole more than I am at the moment.”

And with that, he signed a few autographs and headed straight for the practice green.

With tougher pins, Silverado played about one shot more difficult. It was just as tough to get some separation.

The cut was set at 2-under 142, and a 54-hole cut was in play for Saturday because 81 players advanced to the weekend. That group includes Brandt Snedeker, who birdied his last two holes to make it on the number.

Missing putts was a familiar sight for everyone.

“I actually felt like from tee-to-green, I played way better than yesterday, to be honest,” said Vegas, who followed his 64 with a 71. “I just couldn’t buy any putts.”

This is a big week for Vegas, who received a sponsor’s exemption after losing his card and needs to make the most of what limited tournaments he can play this year.

And it’s a big start for Varner, who joins Tiger Woods as the only players of black heritage on the PGA Tour this year. Varner made back-to-back birdies and was closing in on the lead when he had to settle for four straight pars at the end. It was nearly dark when Varner played his last hole, though he never considered coming back to finish Saturday morning.

“Six hours of sleep is way more important than one putt, I think,” Varner said. “I’m staying in American Canyon. It says it’s 25 minutes, but it’s yet to take me 25 minutes to get back. I’m going to get it tomorrow. I’m pretty excited.”

Steele opened his round with a birdie, which he thought might be a sign of another low score. He made two birdies in three holes to start his back nine and was thinking he might get a chance to pull away at 12 under, especially with a pair of par 5s and a short par 4 among the three closing holes.

Plus, he ended that side with five straight birdies Thursday. It just didn’t quite work out that way.

Steele missed the green on the par-5 16th with a wedge in his hand. His tee shot on the short 17th settled in a divot. And then on the par-5 18th hole, he drove left into the rough, laid up in the group and missed the green again.

“So those last three you think you can score on were kind of a struggle,” he said.

But he wasn’t alone. Justin Thomas, coming off a strong rookie season and a 66 to start the new season, caught Steele with a 20-foot birdie putt at the turn and had his hopes ruined by missing the green at No. 4 with a wedge, and then taking double bogey on No. 6. A birdie on the last hole for a 70 put him in the group at 8-under 136 that included Justin Rose (69), Russell Henley (69 and Martin Laird (71).

The Camosun Chargers men’s team and the Humber Hawks women’s squad have been crowned champions of Canadian collegiate golf.

The Chargers and the Hawks emerged victorious following Friday’s third and final round at the PING CCAA Golf National Championships, hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades at Chilliwack Golf Club.

The Chargers overhauled the Niagara Knights in the final round to earn the men’s team championship for the first time since 2000, when they won the inaugural CCAA tourney. The Knights took a three-stroke lead into the day, but top-ranked Camosun made a charge on the back nine to win by eight.

The Chargers – comprised of Brady Stead, Jeff Riches, Mac Keats, Grant Maskiewich and Matt Matheson – totalled 860 strokes as a team over three rounds. Niagara took silver with a cumulative score of 868.

The best team score of the day was posted by the host UFV Cascades, who combined for a two-under 286 to rally for the bronze medal. They began the day in seventh place, but ended up edging the Georgian Grizzlies by a stroke, 873 to 874.

Humber earned the program’s fourth CCAA women’s title, moving into a tie for most all-time with Champlain St. Lawrence. The team of Sonia Nagindas, Michaela DiMarcantonio and Sheila McKeen amassed 473 cumulative strokes, good for an eight-stroke margin over the runner-up UBC Okanagan Heat (481). The Georgian Grizzlies (491) took bronze.

In the men’s individual event, Étienne Papineau of the Champlain St. Lawrence Lions clawed his way to the top of a crowded leaderboard on the back nine. The Team Canada development squad member came into the day two strokes back of second-round leader Stephen Brown of the Lambton Lions, and he trailed Matt Lemay of the Georgian Grizzlies by two strokes with three holes to play.

But Lemay double-bogeyed both 16 and 17, leaving the door open for Papineau, who birdied 16 to get to -10 for the tournament. Brown (-8) won silver, while Lemay (-7) took bronze.

The women’s individual race was less dramatic – Carolyn Lee of UBC Okanagan took a five-stroke lead into the final round, and she pulled away from the field on Friday to win by eight. The All-Canadian finished at +13 for the tournament. Katie Griffiths (+21) of the Red Deer Queens earned silver, while Humber’s Nagindas (+22) took bronze.

This week marked the first time UFV had hosted the PING CCAA Golf National Championships. Next year’s tournament will be held at Holland College in Charlottetown, PEI.

• Tournament website
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• Results

SAN ANTONIO – Wes Short Jr. birdied three of the last four holes Friday for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s San Antonio Championship.

The 51-year-old former University of Texas player had seven birdies and two bogeys on TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Canyons Course. He won the Quebec Championship last year for his lone victory on the 50-and-over tour and also won the PGA Tour’s 2005 Las Vegas event.

Paul Goydos, Jeff Sluman, Canada’s Stephen Ames, Duffy Waldorf and Scott Dunlap were tied for second.

Defending champion Michael Allen had a 69. Fred Couples shot a 70. He won the 2011 event

Charles Schwab Cup leader Colin Montgomerie opened with a 71. He has a 39-point lead over Jeff Maggert with three events left in the season-long competition. Maggert had a 72. He has a tour-high four victories, winning majors in the Regions Tradition and U.S. Senior Open.

On October 8th, 2015, the AT&T Byron Nelson – a PGA TOUR stop in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area – issued a challenge to Golf Canada – organizers of the RBC Canadian Open.

The bet was that if the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB playoffs, Golf Canada staff would have to sing “Texas, Our Texas” – the official state song of the state of Texas. However, since the Toronto Blue Jays bet Texas, the organizers of the AT&T Byron Nelson had to sing “O’Canada”. Here is their rendition. Enjoy!

VILAMOURA, Portugal – England’s Andy Sullivan carded a 7-under 64 for a second straight day to take a three-shot lead at the Portugal Masters on Friday.

Sullivan, who shared the overnight lead with Nicolas Colsaerts, hit seven birdies in a flawless second round at the Oceanico Victoria course for a 14-under total of 128.

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters is second on 11 under, while Eduardo de la Riva of Spain and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria are four strokes behind Sullivan.

Play is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. local time Saturday due to a bad weather forecast. Last year’s edition was reduced to 36 holes.

INCHEON, South Korea – Lydia Ko took advantage of Sung Hyun Park’s struggles to take the lead Friday in the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship.

The second-ranked Ko made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke lead over Lexi Thompson. Park followed her course-record 62 with a 74 to drop two shots behind.

“I thought I played really solidly and made a lot of good putts,” Ko said. “When I was in trouble, I got a little fortunate, got a good lie in the rough.”

The South Korean-born New Zealander moved into position to regain the No. 1 spot in the world from South Korean star Inbee Park, one of her playing partners Friday. Ko would take the top spot with a victory and also could move up under other scenarios depending on where Inbee Park finishes. Inbee Park replaced Ko atop the list in June with the first of her two major victories this year.

“The closer we get or if there is a switch, the media is going to talk about it,” Ko said. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to try and ignore you guys. I think that’s the best way. Because when I’m out there, I’m just trying to hit a good shot and put myself in good position. If I thought about the rankings, the awards, it’s just way too much. It’s hard enough just trying to hit the ball straight out there.”

Ko had a 10-under 134 total on Sky 72’s Ocean Course. She tied for second last week in the LPGA Malaysia after winning her previous two starts in Canada and France, where she became the youngest major champion.

Inbee Park was tied for 25th at 3 under after a 72. She’s tied with Ko for the tour victory lead with four.

Thompson birdied three of the final four holes for a 67 on the course made more difficult by some tough pin positions.

“There were a few that were tucked on some ridges and that were just hard to get to,” the American said. “I think there’s going to be even harder ones tomorrow.”

Sung Hyun Park took a four-stroke lead into the round and was seven shots ahead of Ko.

“I think it would be a lie to say that I didn’t feel any pressure because of the record that I set yesterday,” Sung Hyun Park said.

Still four strokes in front after birdies on Nos. 4 and 5, she bogeyed the next three holes to drop into a tie for the lead with Ko. The 22-year-old South Korean player, making her first LPGA Tour start, missed a 3-foot putt on No. 6 for her first bogey of the week, had a 4-footer circle the cup and stay out on No. 7 and missed from 6 feet on No. 8. She birdied the 10th, but bogeyed the 12th and 18th.

“It was very difficult to read some of the putting lines,” she said. “I think I missed a couple of putts that I could have made. That’s kind of lingering on my mind at the moment.”

South Korea’s Yoon-Ji Cho also was 8 under after a 68. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng, the 2011 winner, and South Korea’s Mirim Lee were 7 under. Tseng shot 67, and Lee had a 69.

England’s Charley Hull, playing alongside Sung Hyun Park and U.S. Solheim Cup hero Gerina Piller in the final group, pulled within a stroke of the lead on the seventh hole, but dropped five strokes on the next six holes and finished with a 74 to drop into a tie for 19th at 4 under. Hull four-putted for a double bogey on No. 8, made a bogey on No. 10 and had another double bogey on the par-5 13th after hitting into the water.

Piller also was 4 under after a 74.

American Jessica Korda, the Malaysia winner, was 1 under along with Michelle Wie and U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inskter, the oldest player in the field at 55. They each shot 72.

Ko and Inbee Park attracted a large gallery.

“It’s great to play in front of big crowds,” Ko said. “I think they are as excited as us, even a little bit more. … Last year was the first time playing in Korea, and I’ve been noticing even more and more how much they love the LPGA and how much they love golf. I think the numbers are only going to go up. I think it’s going to be pretty crazy on the weekend.”