Low scores on moving day have left four players tied atop the leaderboard of the 2015 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Riverside Country Club in Saskatoon, Sask.

Following a postponed first round, the third day of competition began with the conclusion of the second round. The subsequent third round of play finished with Eun-Jeong Seong, Lucia Gutierrez, Bethany Wu and Mariel Galdiano deadlocked for first at 2-under.

Seong climbed the leaderboard by 15 spots after carding a competitive course record of 6-under 66. Playing in her second round of the day, the 15-year-old strung together five birdies over her last seven holes to finish the back nine at 5-under par 30. Seong opened the tournament with rounds of 76 and even-par 72. The product of Korea ranks No. 18 on the World Amateur Golf rankings after capturing the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

Lucia Gutierrez played two strong rounds Thursday to move into contention. In her first round of the day, the Peruvian shot a bogey-free 4-under and followed with a third-round 71 to earn a share of the lead.

“I had a pretty simple plan, hit fairways, greens, and it doesn’t matter where on the green you are. I tell myself wherever you are, you can make a two-putt. I’m hitting the ball very well, so I’m very confident whenever I stand over the ball,” said the 19-year-old.

Gutierrez credits her Pan American Games experience – a tie for seventh – with her recent play and boost in confidence. “It really prepared me for this especially, and for all the tournaments I have coming up. It definitely got me in the groove of playing very competitive golf. It was great practice. I got to play against some of the best in the entire continent,” Gutierrez explained.

The No. 5-ranked Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar, Calif., added rounds of 72 and 69 on Thursday to advance two spots. Wu’s third round 3-under performance consisted of five birdies, highlighted by a pair across holes 11 and 12.

Pearl City, Haiwaii native Mariel Galdiano, 17, led the field after round one and is now back on top after carding a third-round 70. The No. 29-ranked player in the world rebounded from an early morning second-round 75 with a 2-under par performance on Thursday afternoon that included three birdies.

Not far behind the quartet are Cindy Ha (Demarest, N.J.), Lauren Greenlief (Reston, Va.) and Lakareber Abe (Angleton, Texas) who sit tied for fifth at even par.

Leading the way for the Canadian contingent is Team Canada National Amateur Squad member Jennifer Ha of Calgary owns a share of twelfth at 3-over par for the tournament. Teammate Maddie Szeryk is T15 at 4-over following a third-round 70.

Team Alberta emerged as the Inter-Provincial Women’s Champions. Counting towards the competition on the day were the team’s two best second-round scores– Jennifer Ha’s 1-under 71 and Team Canada Development Squad member Jaclyn Lee’s 1-over 73. The final member of the team, Sabrine Garrison, notched a 78. The trio of Calgarians finished 8-over 296 to capture the two-round competition.

Taylor Kim (Surrey, B.C.), Michelle Kim (Surrey, B.C.) and Gloria Usu Choi (Langley, B.C.) of Team British Columbia finished as runners-up with a two-day total of 303. Team Ontario rounded out the Top-3 with Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., Thornhill, Ont., native Elizabeth Tong and Grace St-Germain of Ottawa combining for 305.

Seventy-one players who shot 15-over par or better through the opening two rounds advanced to the third round of play. Round four tees off Friday at 7:30 a.m. CST. Tee times and full results are available here.

GAINESVILLE, Va. – Tiger Woods took a conservative 3-wood off the first hole at the Quicken Loans National when many players were hitting driver. No matter – he still pull-hooked it into the gallery, hit his second shot into a greenside bunker and lipped out a 5-footer for par before slamming his putter against his bag.

On the third hole, he missed the green well left and had to get up-and-down for bogey. A three-putt on No. 4 left him 3 over.

It was his final bogey of the day.

Woods got a fortunate deflection off a marshal left of the green on the par-5 fifth. He apologized, handed out an autographed glove and made his first birdie. Then he ran off five birdies in six holes around the turn for a 3-under 68. That left him five shots behind leaders Retief Goosen and Ryo Ishikawa at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Woods said it was the first time since the Masters in April that he’s turned a bad round into a good one.

“That’s what scoring is all about,” Woods said. “I made a lot of key putts today. I ran them by the hole but I made all the comebacks, and overall I felt like I hit the ball well enough to turn it around. It was nice to actually turn it around.”

Woods is the host of the Quicken Loans National, which he won in 2009 and 2012 at Congressional in Maryland. The last of his 79 PGA Tour victories was nearly two years ago, and he has plummeted to 266th in the world.

Woods got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-5 eighth. He made a 9-footer on 10 and a 7-footer on 11. He hit his approach to tap-in range on 12, the most difficult hole on the course, and ended the run with a 12-footer on 13. He two-putted for par on the final five holes.

The 68 was only his sixth round under 70 this year. He has had three scores of 80 or higher and has missed three cuts and withdrawn once in eight events.

In soft conditions with little wind, Woods’ 68 was only good for a tie for 27th. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls on the rain-softened fairways, and 81 of them managed to break par.

“We got the fresh greens tomorrow,” said Woods, who played in the afternoon after a 95-minute rain delay. “Hopefully, go out there and post a low one.”

RTJ is welcoming a regular PGA Tour event for the first time after hosting four Presidents Cups, most recently in 2005, and experience seemed to help. Goosen, who played in two of those events, had a bogey-free 63. Presidents Cup veterans Ernie Els and Justin Leonard were one shot back, along with Kevin Chappell.

Goosen, a 46-year-old two-time major champion, is finally feeling healthy after major back surgery in 2012. Always stoic on the course, he still has plenty of passion for the game, which he showed by qualifying for both the U.S. Open and the British Open.

“I’m lucky to be out here. Three, four years ago my career looked like it was at an end,” said Goosen, whose last victory was in 2009. “I’m just glad I’m still out there and playing. Yeah, I just wish I was 10 years younger again.”

Ishikawa, who started on the back nine, ran off six birdies in a row starting on the 14th hole. Then he made a hole-in-one on the 180-yard fourth, spinning an 8-iron 15 feet back into the cup for his first competitive ace in the United States.

At that point he was 8 under with five holes to go. He parred the last five.

“It took about two holes to make myself calm,” he said. “No. 5 was a par 5, like a birdie hole, but it was kind of difficult for me to make a par right there.”

Defending champion Justin Rose, the highest-ranked player in the field, was three shots back. So was Ollie Schneiderjans, making his second professional start.

Rickie Fowler also made an ace, kicking a 7-iron off the fringe and into the cup on the 184-yard ninth, his final hole of the day. He was four shots back after a 67 that could have been much better.

Fowler said his putter went cold after his victory at the Scottish Open, and on Thursday he missed four birdie putts from inside 15 feet in a five-hole stretch. Three of his four birdies were from inside 4 feet. Honoring a club golf tradition, he bought beer for the media to toast his hole-in-one.

“I hit a great shot. Get a little bit of a good kick. Hey, we’ll take it,” Fowler said. “Looking forward to getting back out tomorrow and see if we can get some putts to go.”

Canadian Adam Hadwin coming off a T7 finish at the RBC Canadian Open fires a 4-under 67 to sit T18 after today’s opening round, while Nick Taylor posts 68.

TURNBERRY, Scotland –Donald Trump’s show-stealing arrival at the Women’s British Open on Thursday upstaged another strong start to a major by South Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim.

Kim was midway through compiling a 7-under 65 in the first round when Trump, the American presidential candidate, landed in a private helicopter to begin a two-day visit at the tournament at his Turnberry resort in western Scotland.

The on-course action was initially a sideshow for Trump, who seized the attention by inviting the media to his hotel near the course to continue his presidential campaign. The Republican celebrity billionaire eventually watched some golf, although the leaderboard was virtually locked in by then.

The fourth-ranked Kim, who shot a first-round 61 in winning the Evian Championship on her major championship debut last year, was leading by one stroke from Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Cristie Kerr of the United States.

Ko, whose 66 was her lowest score in a major, is looking to become the youngest winner of a major. She’ll be 18 years, three months, nine days on Sunday, seven months younger than Morgan Pressel when the American won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007.

Top-ranked Inbee Park began her quest to complete a sweep of the majors by shooting 69 in what she described as “perfect conditions for golf,” with three of her five birdies coming in her last five holes.

Defending champion Mo Martin shot 70, and Michelle Wie, wearing a brace on her left ankle because of a bone spur, had a 76.

Australia’s Karrie Webb, the last champion at Turnberry in 2002, shot 80 and was joint 141st in the 144-woman field.

Trump’s grand arrival at 10:30 a.m. certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the early starters on the Ailsa Course. Ko, who went out in the second group after waking up at 3:30 a.m., was on the 16th hole when the real-estate mogul’s helicopter twice circled the Ayrshire links.

“I was like, `Man, that’s a really nice helicopter,'” Ko said. “I would love one.”

The world No. 2 already was 6 under par by then, with a run of four straight birdies from No. 2 giving her momentum. On No. 5, she gripped a 5-wood from 179 yards to inside 2 feet.

Ko is trying not to think about the history she could create this weekend.

“My goal is to have one major in my career,” Ko said, “but it doesn’t need to be now.”

Ko held the clubhouse lead for barely an hour before being overtaken by Kim, who rolled in five birdies and an eagle putt from 10 inches at the par-5 14th in her first round in a British Open.

This is only her fifth major championship – and she already has a victory as well as ninth and 11th-place finishes.

“I kept playing good today,” said Kim, who donned earmuffs to combat the early morning chill. She was one of three players in the field to be bogey-free in her first round.

Canada is represented in the field this week by Alena Sharp with an opening-round of even-par and Brooke Henderson with a score of 1-over 73.

The Trump circus is scheduled to leave Turnberry on Friday, allowing the players to take center stage at the fourth major of the year.

SANTO DA SERRA, Madeira Islands – Antonio Hortal of Spain carded a 9-under 63 to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the Madeira Islands Open on Thursday.

Hortal had a bogey on the second hole but made it up by hitting an eagle and eight birdies, including one on the 17th, to overtake countryman Nacho Elvira, whose 64 featured eight birdies.

Ryan Fox of New Zealand and Sebastian Gros of France tied for third on 65.

Scott Henry of Scotland, runner-up last year to Daniel Brooks of England in a playoff, was in a group of eight tied for fifth on 66.

ABERDEEN, Scotland – Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie advanced to the last 32 of the European Tour match play event he is hosting in northern Scotland with a 5-and-4 victory over Romain Wattel on Thursday.

The most comprehensive win in the first round of the inaugural Paul Lawrie Match Play in Aberdeen belonged to Spain’s Alejandro Canizares, who was a 7-and-6 winner over Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark.

James Morrison, the top seed from England, beat Pelle Edberg 2 and 1 to progress from the last 64.

The second round is on Friday.

CALGARY – Jupiter, Florida’s Olin Browne, Jr. and Antibes, France’s Julien Brun carded a pair of 7-under 63s on Thursday at The Links of GlenEagles to share the first round lead at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s ATB Financial Classic.

Browne, the son of three-time PGA TOUR winner Olin Browne, carded seven birdies, an eagle and two bogeys while Brun, a three-time first team All-American at Texas Christian University in his first season as a pro, was bogey-free with seven birdies.

“I got off to a good start. I had my putter working really well and hit some good shots,” said Browne, who birdied the difficult par-4 10^th to start the day. “Right out of the box. It was a nice start. I had about 15-feet down the hill and it happened to go in.”

The 27-year old finds himself in Calgary one week before his dad Olin Sr. is set to compete at the Shaw Charity Classic on the Champions Tour, and said he’d love to stick around town if not for the opportunity to spend time at home during next week’s off week with his young family.

“He’s playing next week. He wanted me to caddie for him, but I have a six-month old at home and have to get home to the wife and baby,” said Brown, who admitted it was tempting to stay around in Calgary. “I went fishing in the bow river on Monday and had a great time. It’s a wonderful town and the weather’s perfect.”

Brun, who earned medalist honours at the California Q-School earlier this year, said he was pleased with his 63, the lowest round of his promising young pro career.

“Overall it was a really good round. I played well and I’m satisfied. Today I drove the ball really well and was in the fairway most of the time,” said Brun, who has posted finishes of T11, T8 and T14 in his last three starts.

The 23-year old said he’s becoming more comfortable as the summer goes on in his first season as a pro, and that the transition from team golf to playing for a living has taken some time to adjust to.

“It’s a little different for sure. In team golf, if you shoot even par every round you’re going to help the team and might finish Top-20 or -30. Out here, you don’t do anything. The cuts are super low. You need to play well to win, but the cuts are definitely a big difference,” said Brun.

One shot back of the lead through Thursday’s play was a group of six players at 6-under 64, including 2012 ATB Financial Classic champion Michael Gligic and Alberta native Danny Sahl along with Jeff Rein, Joey Garber, Cameron Peck and Daniel Miernicki.

SASKATOON, Sask. – The second round of the 2015 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship concluded Thursday afternoon at Riverside Country Club with Team Alberta emerging as the Inter-Provincial Women’s Champions.

Day three of competition started with half of the players teeing off in their second round after play was suspended on Tuesday.

The team was led by Team Canada National Amateur Squad member Jennifer Ha who shot a 1-under 71 to contribute to her team’s even score on the day. The second to count towards the standings came from Team Canada Development Squad member Jaclyn Lee who shot 1-over par.

The final member of the team, Sabrine Garrison, notched a 78. The trio of Calgarians finished 8-over 296 for the two-round competition.

Taylor Kim (Surrey, B.C.), Michelle Kim (Surrey, B.C.) and Gloria Usu Choi (Langley, B.C.) of Team British Columbia finished as the runners-up with a two day total 303. The third place finishers were Team Ontario comprised of Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., Thornhill, Ont., native Elizabeth Tong and Grace St-Germain of Ottawa.

In the individual contest, Lakareber Abe of Angleton, Texas and benefited from late rounds Wednesday night to take a share of the lead. Also sharing the lead is Peru’s Lucia Gutierrez who fired a 68 in her second round on Thursday. At 1-under par for the tournament, both players sit one shot clear of Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii who finished her second round Thursday afternoon at 3-over par.

Seventy-one players who shot 15-over par or better through the opening two rounds have advanced to the third round of play. For more information including third round tee-times and live-scoring click here.

Ten years ago, Golf Canada began their partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society to support breast cancer research and support programs while increasing women’s participation in the sport. Since then, Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru has raised more than $4 million toward the Society’s mission work. The Canadian Cancer Society thanks Golf Canada, program sponsor – Subaru, every site coordinator, participant and donor who has invested in Golf Fore the Cure these past 10 years.

To get involved, or run a program at your club, please visit golfforethecure.ca

YORKTON, Sask. – The nation’s top junior female golfing talents will be on display at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, August 3-7, at Deer Park Golf Course in Yorkton, Sask.

The 61^st edition of the championship will showcase over 100 of Canada’s top juniors.

“There is so much anticipation for this year’s Canadian Junior Girls Championship,” said Tournament Director Dan Hyatt. “The field is strong and it will make for a very exciting four days of action. Deer Park is in very good shape and we are looking forward to having Canada’s best compete for this prestigious title.”

Defending her 2014 Canadian Junior Girls title will be Team Canada Development Squad member Grace St-Germain. The 17-year-old captured last year’s championship by seven strokes. The Ottawa native has seen early success to start the season, capturing the CN Future Links Pacific Championship and carding a runner-up finish at the Québec Women’s Amateur Championship.

Development Squad member Michelle Kim of Surrey, B.C., who finished 6^th in last year’s event, will look to add to an already impressive 2015. The 18-year-old claimed the Flumerfelt Cup as 2015 B.C. Women’s Amateur Champion and also took the B.C. Junior Girls Championship title, finishing nine strokes clear of her nearest competitor.

Also in attendance as provincial champions will be Alberta’s Katy Rutherford, Veronica Vetesnik of Manitoba, Chloe Currie who claimed the Ontario crown, and New Brunswick champion Laura Jones. Playing in their home province will be Saskatchewan Junior Girls co-medalists Brooke Hobson and Kayla Sawchuk.

A number of CN Future Links champions are hoping to add a national title to their seasons. Allison Chandler of Chester, N.S., claimed the Nova Scotia Junior Girls title and the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship. Alyssa Getty of Ruthven, Ont., who claimed the Ontario and Québec CN Future Links titles, will be in the field alongside Calgary native Kenna Hughes who took the Western title and Team Canada Development Squad member Alisha Lau of Richmond, B.C., who was crowned at the championship’s Prairie edition.

The remaining members of the National Team’s junior contingent will also convene at Deer Park Golf Course. Victoria, B.C., native Naomi Ko, who finished tied for runner-up at the 2015 Ontario Women’s Amateur, will be joined by Jaclyn Lee of Calgary who claimed victory at the 2014 Alberta Ladies Amateur and the 2014 Alberta Girls Championships.

This year’s Canadian Junior Girls Champion will receive an exemption into the 2016 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, as well as, each of the 2016 Canadian Women’s Tour events.

Practice rounds will be held Monday, August 3, while championship play will begin Tuesday, August 4 before concluding on Friday, August 7 with 18 holes of stroke play each day.

The Juvenile Championship, which is open to female amateurs 16-years-old and under, will be played concurrently with the Junior Girls Championship. An inter-provincial team championship will take place in conjunction with the first two rounds of stroke play; Team Quebec enters the tournament as the defending champion.

More information on the tournament, including the full field and tee-times, is available here.

For my money, it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Mike Weir and Lorie Kane being named to the Order of Canada and right alongside Marlene Streit’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.  Unique about the honour amid the aforementioned group is Thompson’s resume: the Canadian design legend crafted courses, he didn’t play them.

For this ‘builder’ —whose landmark career favourably compares to Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie, Harry Colt, A.W. Tillinghast, C.B. MacDonald, Seth Raynor or even his former partner Robert Trent Jones Sr.  —having the spotlight shine his esteemed body of work is an occasion to celebrate.  It also impacts the sport on multiple levels.

Any time golf crosses over from its often tucked away corner of the sporting mainstream the game wins.  Those moments happen all too infrequently within the riveted confines of a hockey-centric, baseball and basketball infused nation so expect the Toronto native’s posthumous entrance into the national sporting shrine in Calgary to hopefully garner meaningful attention for the game and on Thompson’s illustrious golf architecture career.

What a career it was.  From 1921 up to his untimely passing in 1953 Thompson put his signature on 117 Canadian courses. They traverse the nation from Capilano, Banff and Jasper Park in the west to St. George’s, Westmount, St. Thomas and Cataraqui in Ontario; then they make their way east to Quebec’s Beaconsfield and on to his crowned jewel – in my opinion – Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s Highlands Links. One mustn’t overlook what Thompson accomplished outside Canadian borders either.  He fashioned 20 courses in the United States and eight more in Central and South America.

For all the polish he put on this golfing nation Thompson was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.  In 2005 he was named, ‘a person of national historic significance’ by the federal government.

Today, his legacy for this and future generations is being preserved by the Stanley Thompson Society which formed in 1998.  I’m happy to say I’m a proud new member of that society.

What one can also hope for with the grand master’s national sports hall of fame induction is a measure of heightened awareness to trickle-down to the talented, esteemed design group that has followed in his footsteps.

Canadian golf is truly blessed with great architects.  From Thompson understudies Robbie Robinson, Howard Watson, Geoffrey Cornish and Bob Moote the baton was passed to a present day visionary group of Doug Carrick, Tom McBroom, Graham Cooke, Les Furber, Ian Andrew, Daryl Huxum, Rod Whitman and now, by extension, is moving along to the likes of Jeff Mingay, Riley Johns, Gary Browning, Wade Horrocks and even 2003 Masters champion, Mike Weir, the next generation of aspiring Thompson’s.  Wonderful it would be to see all of them recognized more for the work they’ve done.

In Jim Barclay’s book The Toronto Terror, this Cornish excerpt nicely frames the kind of influence Thompson had, not only on his stable of associates, but on the game across Canada and beyond.

“(Thompson) made an exceptional contribution to golf, what with his handsome memorials coast-to-coast, his yearning for beauty that manifests itself even in his most modest creations, his international reputation, his dedication to educating those who worked for him, and his goal of creating an energetic society of golf course architects,” Cornish wrote.

Stanley Thompson changed the paradigm of golf course architecture in this country.  His concept of risk-reward playability continues to be a bedrock principle of modern course architecture. It’s a concept that has made the game more thoughtful, engaging and has helped put our inventory of courses across the country on a pedestal with the best anywhere.

Of his forthcoming induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary Thompson aficionados everywhere will agree: it merely adds another exclamation point to a storied, celebrated career that has had so many.