OAKVILLE, Ont. – Representatives from Canada’s six National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) met Friday during tournament week of the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.

Each of the association’s presidents and staff leaders met onsite at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., including Golf Canada, the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, the Canadian Society of Club Managers, the PGA of Canada, the Canadian Golf Industry Association and the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association. Much of the discussion revolved around the positive impact of golf in Canada and an overall increase in rounds played over the past three years.

The Rounds Played Report, conducted monthly by the NGCOA Canada, confirms 2015 golf play to June 1 was up 14% compared to the national 3 year average and up 27‎% over 2014. Regionally, only the Maritime provinces were down, explained by unusually poor spring weather conditions, while the western provinces led the country with exceptional early season results.

Economic Impact of Golf in Canada:

Based on a Canadian golf economic impact study released in June of 2014, the sport of golf accounts for an estimated $14.3 billion of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Included in that economic impact are more than 300,000 jobs (direct, indirect and induced), $8.3 billion in household income, $1.4 billion in property and other indirect taxes, and $2.2 billion in income taxes.

The total direct economic activity (total direct sales, golf related travel, capital spending) resulting from the Canadian Golf Industry is estimated at $19.7 billion. Direct revenues generated directly by golf courses and their facilities, and stand-alone driving and practice ranges ($5.0 billion) rivals the revenues generated by all other participation sports and recreation facilities combined ($4.8 billion) in Canada.

“The evidence of golf’s popularity in Canada is not surprising to those aware of the sport’s economics, and the good stories don’t stop there,” added Elizabeth Di Chiara, Executive Director Canadian Society of Club Managers and NAGA’s incoming president. “From environmental benefits to the charitable impact and tourism revenues, there are many reasons for the Canadian golf industry to be encouraged.”

Additional benefits and impacts of golf in Canada include:

Golf Participation – approximately 60 million rounds of golf are played annually by more than 5.7 million golfers.

Environmental Benefits – Over 175,000 hectares of green space managed by approximately 2,308 golf course operators, including 30,000 hectares of unmanaged wildlife habitat under golf course stewardship.

Charitable Activity – In 2013 there were nearly 37,000 charitable events hosted at Canadian golf courses (25,000 were reported in 2009). Using conservative estimates, these events raise more than $533 million for charitable causes across Canada ($473 million in 2009 dollars).

Golf Tourism – In 2013 Canadian travellers spent $2.5 billion annually on golf-related travel within Canada (including on-course spending at courses visited). Foreign visiting golfers spent $1.6 billion on golf related travel and on-course spending (approximately $2 billion reported in the 2009 study).

Golf Facilities Report 2015:

Another report released in 2015 – Golf Facilities in Canada 2015 – revealed the following snapshot regarding golf facilities in Canada:

• Canada is home to 2,346 public and private golf facilities; ranking it third in the world in total supply.
• Seventy-seven per cent of the total golf supply is located in Canada’s four most populated provinces—Ontario, Québec, Alberta and British Columbia.

• While course construction has slowed during the past several years (a trend mirrored in many mature and developed golf nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom) golf remains extremely accessible in Canada. A little more than 90 per cent of the country’s supply is open to the public.

• Of the 2,126 public facilities in Canada, half are located in Ontario and Québec, which together account for 61 per cent of the country’s total population. Furthermore, the two provinces are also home to 73 per cent of Canada’s 220 private clubs.

• Nine-hole golf accounts for almost 37 per cent of Canada’s total supply, which outnumbers

18-hole supply in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan, 18-hole courses are outnumbered 3 to 1 by 9-hole courses.

• Canada features nine 12-hole facilities (six of which are in Ontario) and three 6-hole facilities.
• Resort golf, though a small segment of Canada’s overall supply, is a significant contributor to tourism in several provinces. Countrywide, 167 facilities (or approximately 7 per cent) of total supply are connected to a resort or a resort/real estate operation.

• Course construction peaked in the 1960s with the opening of more than 420 facilities. A second significant growth spurt occurred in the period between 1990 and 1999, when more than 310 courses—13 per cent of total supply —opened. The growth was highlighted by the opening of 257 facilities in the four largest provinces: Ontario, Québec, Alberta and British Columbia.

• Since 2010, 29 facilities have opened in six different provinces. In recent years, Canada has seen only moderate growth, and currently has 31 18-hole equivalent facilities in various stages of development.
• Of those facilities in various stages of development, 17 have broken ground including seven in Alberta and four in Nova Scotia. Nearly 60 per cent of new projects are tied to a real estate development.
• In the past five to 10 years, 158 facilities have closed. One in five of those closures were located in Ontario, which is home to 35 per cent of the total supply of Canada’s facilities. Three of Canada’s 10 provinces have seen fewer than five facility closures during the past decade.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – David Hearn couldn’t beat 61 years of pressure, and he couldn’t beat Jason Day at the RBC Canadian Open.

Trying to be the first Canadian to win the event since Pat Fletcher in 1954, Hearn shot an even-par round and couldn’t keep up with the Aussie on Sunday. Day birdied the final three holes to win the RBC Canadian Open at 17 under, as Hearn finished two shots back in third place.

“It was one focused mind-set the whole day today to do something really special and win the tournament,” Hearn said. “It hasn’t been done in a long time, and I felt like I had the ability to do it today.

“I gave it my all. I didn’t quite have my best game.”

Hearn missed a handful of birdie putts so close that had the masses of fans lining Glen Abbey Golf Club letting out exasperated groans. Had he made even one of them, it would have changed his entire outlook on the 18th hole and given him a good chance.

The Brantford, Ont., native blamed not picking up enough birdies for falling short. During a weekend in which his tee shots were errant, Hearn’s putting got him to the final round but couldn’t get him over the hump.

“There was so many putts that he hit that should’ve fell in,” said playing partner Bubba Watson, who finished second at 16 under. “I don’t know how they stayed out.”

Day, who shot 4-under 68 Sunday, won the tournament with clutch birdie putts on his final three holes. Making his final putt from 21 feet on the 18th hole forced Hearn and Watson to need eagles just to tie for a playoff.

Day yelled so loud before the ball went in that he thought he threw his throat out. After tying for fourth at the British Open, the Aussie was beaming after his fourth PGA Tour victory.

“This must feel like what Tiger did for so many times, and it feels good,” Day said. “I’m going to try to do as much as I can and keep it the same and try and win.”

Part of his joy was the reception he received from Canadian fans, despite not being the home-country favourite.

“I’ve never felt so much at home, and I’m not even from Canada,” Day said. “I’m looking forward to coming back and defending the title here next year because I know that when I get here next year it’s going to be the same. It’s great to feel like a Canadian for a week.”

As Hearn left his post-tournament news conference, he quipped that next year will be the 62nd for questions about Fletcher, whose place in Canadian Open history is as the symbol of the nation’s homegrown drought.

Like Mike Weir in 2004, Hearn led going into the final round, and like Weir he didn’t get it done. Raving about the ovations he received all over the course, Hearn also conceded that the pressure was heavy on his shoulders.

“This one was pretty intense,” Hearn said. “I think every Canadian wants to see it so bad and we want to do it so bad that it does make it hard.”

Hearn birdied his first two holes before faltering with bogeys on holes 3 and 7. Missing putts by mere centimetres on 8 and 9 didn’t help.

After another bogey on 12, Hearn got a stroke back with a birdie on 13 but couldn’t make up any more.

Meanwhile, Day found some of his best golf of the week on the back nine. Watson birdied five of his final six holes to make a charge but couldn’t eagle 18.

Hearn finished third because of those shots by Day and his own mistakes. Maybe he wasn’t aggressive enough, he wondered, but he insisted he’ll remember “only good things” from this Canadian Open.

“I’m real proud of the way I played, and I’m really proud to be Canadian today,” Hearn said. “It was a pretty special day with all of the fans and the support that I had from beginning to finish.”

Hearn was not only gunning for history but his first PGA Tour victory. The 36-year-old lost in a playoff at the Greenbrier Classic in early July.

But he knew this was a special opportunity to go for it in Canada with so many fans watching on the course and at home.

“I never experienced anything like that before,” Hearn said. “I may never experience anything like that again. I hope I am, actually, in that situation again and I get that feeling again soon.”

Hearn believes a Canadian will win the Canadian Open at some point soon. Fourth-place finisher Jim Furyk agrees.

“It’s a matter of time,” said Furyk, who finished at 14 under. “There are so many good Canadian players. I feel bad Mike Weir never won this golf tournament. But Graham DeLaet, David, there are a bunch of fine young players, so I’m sure it’s going to happen.”

BELMONT, Mich. – Lexi Thompson made sure she didn’t beat herself – and ended up defeating everyone else.

“I was just trying to be patient,” Thompson said after rallying from four shots back to win the Meijer LPGA Classic by a stroke Sunday. “Really, the whole day I was just trying to play my own game,”

The 20-year-old Florida player closed with a 6-under 65 at Blythefield Country Club for her fifth LPGA Tour victory. She won for the first time since the then-Kraft Nabisco Championship last year.

Thompson finished at 18-under 266 and earned $300,000.

“I actually said when I was on 10 that my goal was to get to 20-under,” Thompson said. “I didn’t get it up to that, but I was just trying to focus on my own game, focus on my pre-shot routine and having fun in between shots. I think that’s what helped me.”

Lizette Salas, four strokes ahead after the third round, tied for second with Gerina Piller. Salas finished with a 70, and Piller had a 64.

Thompson birdied Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 7 to catch Salas. Piller made five birdies on the front nine, with her birdie at No. 8 briefly tying her for the lead with Thompson and Salas.

But Thompson, ranked seventh on the tour in average driving distance and greens in regulation, kept bombing drives, spinning wedge shots and making putts. A 6-footer for birdie off a wedge to the back pin on the 400-yard, par-4 16th put her three shots in front.

Thompson created some drama when she missed the green at No. 17 and rimmed a 4-foot par putt. She caught a good bounce off a tree down the right side of No. 18 on her tee shot, ripped a shot from the rough to the middle of the green and two-putted for a winning par.

“I called my caddie over and I told him to give me something to think about to get my mind off it,” she said about the first putt on 18. “He just said something so random, like, food. And I’m like, of course. But it kept me relaxed and got me laughing and it helped me go into that putt confident.”

Thompson worked in the offseason with John Denney, a Jupiter, Florida, performance coach who specializes in the mental side of golf.

“That has helped me tremendously just to relax and have fun instead of just grinding 24-7 on the golf course,” she said.

Piller had hit all 15 greens and was 7 under for the round when she missed the green at No. 16 with tree troubles on the left side of the par 4. She made bogey for the first time. A 7-footer for birdie at No. 18 left her one shot behind.

“I knew it was going to take a great day and I gave it a run,” said Piller, whose husband, Web.com Tour player Martin Piller, was in the gallery. “I just kind of stumbled with the tee shot (at No. 16) at the end. I couldn’t afford one mistake, and I made one.”

Salas had three birdies and three bogeys through 16 holes, and stayed in it with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 17. But she could manage only par at No. 18.

“I knew there would be some birdies out there and I knew I was capable of getting them,” she said. “I just hit some errant tee shots that caused some bogeys, but I didn’t give up. And, obviously, I can’t control what Lexi does, and she played an amazing day of golf.”

Canadian Alena Sharp finished T27 after a final 68.

SUNNINGDALE, England – American Marco Dawson held off the twin challenge of super stars Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie over the final nine holes to claim victory in a thrilling climax to the Senior British Open Championship on Sunday.

Dawson finished with a 16-under par total of 264 to claim his second title on the Senior Tour this year after more than 12 years without a victory.

“This is unbelievable,” said Florida-based Dawson, who played over 400 events on the PGA Tour without a win.

“Can’t tell you how many hours I’ve put in on the range. I’ve had two back surgeries to prove it and I know it has come later than most of the guys. But it came true.”

In a see-saw struggle, played out for the main part in intermittent rain and a fresh breeze, Dawson hit the front for the first time when he claimed his second eagle of the round at the long 14th, then sank a birdie putt from 25ft at the final hole to dash Langer’s hopes, the German being half that distance away with a chance to draw level.

The reigning champion holed his birdie putt to match Dawson’s closing 64, but it left him a shot shy of his sixth senior major.

“The three-wood I hit in the mist and rain at the 14th was probably one of the best I have ever hit and set up the eagle,” said Dawson.

“Marco played phenomenally,” said Langer. “Things went for him, he holed a bunker shot and had two eagles and leap-frogged both Monty and I. Then he made an amazing putt on 18 and I couldn’t tie him.”

Leading on ten under after completing the last nine holes of their third round in the morning, Montgomerie and Dawson and Langer, who was a stroke back, teed off in the afternoon for what turned out to be an epic contest.

All three parred the 15th, 16th and 17th, then when Dawson’s drive split the fairway at the final hole and he hit the green with his second and holed the putt, he clinched the title to add to his Tucson Open win back in March.

Among the rewards for Dawson is a place at Royal Troon in the Open Championship next year.

“Isn’t that nice. So I’ll be here for two weeks next year,” said Dawson. “It’s a lot of fun playing golf over here.”

Miguel Angel Jimenez finished alone in fourth place on 11-under 269 after a closing 67, bagging three birdies and an eagle at the long 14th when his second shot hit the pin and stopped just inches away.

CRANS MONTANA, Switzerland – Danny Willett won his third European Tour title after a one-shot victory over Matthew Fitzpatrick in the European Masters on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, who tied sixth at the British Open on Monday, shot a 5-under par 65 to finish on 17 under overall.

Willett made five birdies in a bogey-free final round unlike Fitzpatrick, who bogeyed the first and 11th holes.

Sergio Garcia finished seventh on 11 under after carding a six-under par 64 for his final round.

Elsewhere, Patrick Reed was 16th on six under. England’s Lee Westwood finished tied 37th on three-under after closing with a two-over 72 that included a 10 on the par-5 14th hole.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Australia’s Breanna Elliott won the Fuccillo Kia Championship by a stroke Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title.

Elliott closed with a 2-under 69 to finish at 13-under 200 at Capital Hills at Albany. She earned $15,000 and a 2015 Kia Optima LX.

“My new Kia, this is amazing,” said Elliott, sporting green hair and a nose ring. “I’ve been driving a rental all year and this car is definitely the cherry on top.”

She jumped from 78th to 23rd on the money list with $20,722. The top 10 at the end of the season will earn 2016 LPGA Tour cards.

“This is so sweet, I am so stocked and this is just unbelievable,” Elliott said. “I’m so happy right now, this is what I have been working for and this is huge for me. This is the first step in the right direction. This is for my family back home. I know they are going to be celebrating tonight.”

Elliott birdied the par-3 16th and closed with two pars.

“I felt really calm and I am normally a pretty relaxed person, but I thought when I was put into the moment that the nerves would creep in, but I felt this unbelievable calm,” Elliott said. “It was nice to hit a great shot on the last hole and then roll a good putt up there. Waiting to tap in the putt was just agony, but I am super pleased.”

France’s Fiona Puyo and Canada’s Augusta James tied for second. Puyo had a 65, and James shot 69.

Casey Grice, Lindy Duncan and Canada’s Sue Kim followed at 10 under. Grice and Duncan shot 67, and Kim had a 70.

Brooke Henderson finished T9 after a final round 1-under 70.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – David Hearn is 18 holes from history.

Hearn leads the RBC Canadian Open by two strokes through three rounds and is in position to be the first Canadian to win the tournament since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

“This is something you dream of,” Hearn said. “I feel like I’m ready to step up to the challenge.”

Hearn, from Brantford, Ont., had five birdies and just one bogey Saturday to jump into the lead at 15 under.

World No. 3 golfer Bubba Watson and No. 10 Jason Day are tied for second, two shots back. Watson had birdies on three par-5s on the back nine Saturday, including No. 18.

“I’m right where I want to be,” Watson said. “I just wish the leader was a little closer to us.”

Day rebounded from a bogey on the 10th hole and double-bogey to birdie six of his final seven. In a tournament sponsored by RBC, Day has a connection, but he understands what the crowd wants in the final round.

“Obviously it’d be great to see a Canadian win, but I’m going to do my best to try and spoil that,” Day said. “We’re all out here to try and win a golf tournament.”

Americans Michael Putnam and Brooks Koepka are three back at 12 under, and world No. 7 Jim Furyk and Camilo Villegas are four back of Hearn at 11 under.

Hearn and Watson will play in the final group Sunday at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Despite having the lead, Hearn sees himself as the underdog.

“Hopefully I can make some birdies and David can beat Goliath,” he said.

Watson called himself “half-Canadian” because his wife, Angie, is from Pickering, Ont. He doesn’t see himself as a spoiler.

“Truthfully, let’s be honest: We don’t think about where somebody’s from,” Watson said. “All we think about is there’s a guy in front of us. I’ve got a couple family members (here). They’re going to pull for me, too.”

Hearn is the first Canadian to have a 54-hole lead at the RBC Canadian Open since Mike Weir in 2004. Weir led by three shots but lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh.

ALBANY, N.Y. – She’s done it as an amateur, but never as a professional. Breanna Elliott (Yarrawonga, Australia) drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to grab sole possession of the 36-hole lead at the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills on Saturday. Elliott turned in a 5-under 66 to get to 11-under 131, one shot clear of rookie Augusta James (Bath, Ontario).

Saturday was another scoreable day as 44 players posted rounds in the 60’s.

Elliott, whose best finish this year is a tie for 24th last week in Rochester, will look to be the first Aussie to win on the Symetra Tour since Julia Boland won the 2012 Four Winds Invitational.

“Yes, a win would be huge, obviously it would be awesome to get a win under the belt,” said Elliott, who has been smiling from ear-to-ear the entire week. “Especially since I’m playing away from home, it would mean a lot to show people that I am taking my game to the next level.”

Elliott stepped on the 18th tee box in a share of the lead and landed her tee shot on the par-3 pin high and inches from the fringe.

“I wasn’t pulling the trigger today and I was leaving putts short so I gave that last putt a little extra,” said Elliott. “That was a nice way to finish and I think I needed that one.”

There is no doubt Elliott has elevated her game this week. She has 12 birdies against just one bogey through 36 holes. Her length off the tee has really helped. She is averaging 267 yards with the driver and has hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation.

“My whole season has kind of led up to the last couple of weeks,” said Elliott, who ranks 78th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. “I’ve been hitting the ball well all season and to finally be up there on the leaderboard is something I was hoping would happen. One good week can really turn your year around and last week was a good confidence booster for me.”

Elliott also got a boost of confidence two weeks ago when she played in the U.S. Women’s Open and played practice rounds with Karrie Webb, Michelle Wie and Stacey Lewis.

“From watching them play, I definitely saw that they were all aggressive,” noted Elliott of the top players in the world. “I feel like my game is there and I need to go for it instead of playing defensive golf like I have in the past. Players like Karrie that just go for the pins is really inspiring.”

The 23-year-old enjoyed a successful amateur career that included seven wins in 2012. Her best finish on the Symetra Tour is a tie for 12th at the 2014 Four Winds Invitational.

A win could move Elliott as high as 21st on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and put her in striking distance of the top 10 with eight events remaining.

The winner of the Fuccillo Kia Championship will also drive away in a 2015 Snow White Pearl Kia Optima LX courtesy of Fuccillo Kia of Schenectady.

JAMES AIMS FOR WIN NUMBER TWO: Augusta James is potentially one big finish away from locking up an LPGA Tour card. She has the chance to do that Sunday after carding a 4-under 67 to get to 10-under 132 at the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills.

James, who started on the back nine, finished with back-to-back birdies on holes eight and nine to put an exclamation point on her day.

“It was definitely important to end with birdies because I wanted to finish strong and I felt like there was more in my round than what I was at after hole six which was just 2-under,” said James, who curled in a 20-footer to end the day. “It was a little bit outside regular range, but you have to hit a few of those to shoot low numbers.”

The 22-year-old has made just two bogeys through 36-holes and has hit 23 of 26 fairways. She has needed only 52 putts so far.

“I’m happy with the spot I put myself in for tomorrow,” said James, who was followed by a large group of friends and family again on Saturday. “I have really great hometown support and a great community that I live in. They are very special and for them to come down here means a lot.”

James won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial earlier this season and could become the first player to win two official events this season. She currently ranks ninth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, but is just $1,495 in front of number 11 on the money list (Casey Grice).

“Of course you look at the money list, but then you have to give your head a shake and stop,” said James. “As cheesy as this sounds, it really is about one shot at a time and one moment at a time. If you get ahead of yourself, it is really game over.”

Every player that has won at least twice in a single-season has earned their LPGA Tour card.

In her win earlier this season, James entered the final round one shot off the lead and carded a 5-under 67 to win by four shots. She’ll be one shot back on Sunday.

BROOKE HENDERSON ‘EXCITED FOR SUNDAY’: Brooke Henderson has played in four Symetra Tour events this year. She is a combined 16-under on Sunday in those four events. Last week, she carded a 6-under 66 in Rochester to finish in a tie for seventh. On Saturday, Henderson posted a 5-under 66 to give herself a chance at her second Symetra Tour win.

“I made a lot of putts, which is always nice,” said Henderson. “I’m now very comfortable around this golf course and I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Henderson has finished in the top 10 in all four Symetra Tour starts including a win at the Four Winds Invitational. She currently ranks 39th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Henderson was asked if she plans on being aggressive early to make up the deficit.

“Generally, I am an aggressive player from the get go so I’ll just stick to that plan,” said Henderson. “I’m going to try and push early to put a little pressure on the leaders.”

SUNNINGDALE, England – Colin Montgomerie shares the clubhouse lead with little-known American Marco Dawson on 10-under par, with nine holes of their third round still to play in the Senior British Open on Saturday.

Poor light suspended play, five hours after the delayed start to the round. The second round, suspended on Friday because of rain, wasn’t completed until Saturday mid-afternoon.

At that stage, Dawson led on 8 under, a shot clear of defending champion Bernhard Langer. Montgomerie was on 6 under alongside Fred Couples, Jeff Sluman, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Peter Fowler.

The late start to the third round, and with 83 players making the cut, meant play began on the first and 10th tees at Sunningdale Old Course.

Montgomerie showed he meant business right from the start, birdieing the first three holes. Then he missed birdie chance after birdie chance before picking up his fourth at the ninth, when play was halted in the gathering gloom.

“I had a great start, and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” said the Scot, who wants to add his home senior major to the three he has won in America so far.

Dawson also birdied the first, then parred all the way to the ninth, where he also picked up a shot.

“This is just a survival test now,” Dawson said. “It was a long day, and it’s going to be long again tomorrow.”

The third member of the last group, Langer, also birdied the first, dropped a stroke at the fourth, and missed a birdie chance from two feet at the ninth to stay in a four-way for fifth on 7 under.

Couples, the champion at Turnberry in 2012, was at 8 under and in a share of third place with Ireland’s Philip Walton.

Walton raced to the turn in 30 with five birdies. He dropped a shot at the 10th but picked up his sixth and seventh birdies to reach 8 under par, having started at 2 under, with one hole to play.

Tom Watson was five off the pace at 5 under after carding 66. With him was Jeff Maggert, bidding for his third senior major of the year. Maggert still had three more holes to play.

More rain was forecast on Sunday.

BELMONT, Mich. – Lizette Salas thinks things are finally going her way and the results on the golf course are starting to match the work she has put in her game.

Without a top-10 finish this year, Salas shot a 7-under 64 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic, putting her in position for her second tour title.

“A lot has happened since I turned pro four years ago, and I have struggled this year but also kept working,” Salas said. “Finally, I’m playing the golf I’ve been working so hard to find. I’m really happy. Now I just want to focus on each shot and focus on keeping calm.”

The 26-year-old former University of Southern California player won the 2014 Kingsmill Championship and played on the 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup team.

She stayed calm in the third round, birdieing Nos. 14-16 and closing her bogey-free round with two pars. She had a 16-under 197 total at Blythefield Country Club.

“I think the putter really, really came in today,” she said. “I just kept it in the fairway and kept knocking them close. I don’t know what’s going on. Everything’s been going my way and I’ve been staying positive and just really focusing on my shots. I’m, really, really happy.”

Birdies on three of the first four holes and another at the par-4 ninth hole allowed Salas to pull in front of the field. After saving par with a 25-foot putt at 13, she hit a shot inside 2 feet at the par-3 14th for birdie and followed with a 6-footer at 15 and a 30-footer at 16.

Lexi Thompson and Michigan native Kris Tamulis were tied for second. Tamulis, whose family still summers in Northern Michigan, shot 67. Thompson had a 68.

Tamulis, a former Michigan Women’s Open winner and Symetra Tour graduate, said winning for the first time on the LPGA Tour in her home state would be a dream come true.

“I played all my junior golf here and my parents still live here in the summer, so it would be very special,” Tamulis said. “I can’t get ahead of myself though. I’ve had low expectations all week. I’ve played long enough to know there is a long way to go and great competition.”

Thompson, tied for the second-round lead with Salas and Alison Lee, missed a 4-foot putt and made bogey at 16, but birdied the par-4 18th with a 3-footer.

Thompson was disappointed with her putter most of the day.

“I missed a good amount of short putts,” she said. “But I’m going into tomorrow with a positive attitude. I’m going to go hit a few putts. The last stroke I made was really good, so I’m just going to go into tomorrow with a positive attitude.”

Lee had a 70 to drop into a tie for fourth at 6 under with Brittany Lincicome (65), Caroline Masson (65), So Yeon Ryu (65), Katie Burnett (66) and Gerina Piller (69).

Lee said little mistakes cost her, but that watching Salas go low inspired her.

“She was on a roll today,” Lee said. “It just shows it’s possible to shoot that low of a round, so I’ll take what I can from that and play well tomorrow.”

Top-ranked Inbee Park, a three-time winner this year, had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and finished with a 66 to move into a tie for 10th at 5 under. She said it was great to be near the lead in preparation for next week’s Women’s British Open.

“It’s a lot more fun, sure, but you want to be competing in contention and obviously want to try a few things under the pressure,” she said.