SYLVANIA, Ohio — South Korea’s Ha Na Jang birdied the par-5 18th for a 5-under 66 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic.

She chipped to 6 feet to set up the final birdie after hitting a 3-wood approach to the front edge.

“Just really good shot,” Jang said about the chip with a 52-degree wedge.

“I feel happy today because in the morning … I was very tired in my bed, so no practice today. I don’t think about the score, so really good play today.”

Winless in 23 career tour events, Jang birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine at Highland Meadows, dropped a stroke on the par-4 15th and rallied with the closing birdie.

“I like the course,” Jang said. “Very narrow fairways and small greens. Very close to Korean golf course, so I think it’s very easy for my feel. … Really good golf course.”

She took a simple approach on the course softened by a rainy month.

“Just always thinking about fairway and greens,” Jang said. “Very easy thinking.”

Sarah Kemp, Nannette Hill, Wei-Ling Hsu and Lee-Anne Pace were tied for second.

Kemp bogeyed her final hole, the par-4 ninth. The Australian has missed the cuts in seven of the 12 tournaments this season.

“My caddie and I were actually talking before I teed off that I had not had a 4 or 5 under in a while,” Kemp said. “That was the plan today, so it was nice to pull it off. It’s confidence. I’ve had an inconsistent year, some good and some bad. Hopefully, for the rest of the three days I can keep it up.”

Kemp’s approach on No. 9 landed in the rough to the left of the green. She hit to the fringe, but came back with a chip that hit the flagstick and she was able to make her putt for bogey.

“It was a funny lie,” Kemp said. “I had a bad lie for the first chip, where I shouldn’t have been in the first place.”

Hill had three straight birdies on Nos. 6-8 to reach 4 under and parred the final 10 holes.

“I feel really good,” Hill said. “All season I feel like I’ve been very consistent and building off good stuff. So, came to this course on Sunday and felt like it fit my eye really well.”

Top-ranked Inbee Park, a three-time winner this season, birdied her final hole for a 70.

“I hit a lot of greens, but not really close,” Park said. “Irons just weren’t as pure as I thought it would be. Missed couple putts here and there. Only two birdies and one bogey. Not a bad start.”

Defending champion Lydia Ko, ranked No. 2 in the world, opened with a 71.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis also had a 71.

Canadian Alena Sharp is T6 after an opening round of 68. Jennifer Kirby posted a score of 74, while Rebecca Lee-Bentham had a round of 80.

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Two weeks ago, Matt Marshall was on the verge of quitting professional golf. After Thursday’s opening round in Thunder Bay, he finds himself in a completely different place: co-leading the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

Thanks to some support from friends and family and a timely dream, the 30-year old from Portland, Oregon finds himself tied for the lead after shooting an 8-under 64 to share the first round lead with Burlington, Ontario’s Michael Gligic at the sixth event of the 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

“After Saskatoon, I almost quit. I almost left the game. So, to be here right now is kind of a big 180 for me,” said Marshall, who found himself questioning his role in the game following a missed cut at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel. After friends and family convinced him over the phone to stick it out for a while longer, the seven-year Mackenzie Tour veteran had a dream that appears to have changed his fortunes.

“I literally had a dream that I needed to switch to a Scotty Cameron putter, so I bought one the next day, and since then I’ve been making a lot of putts,” said Marshall, who made his first cut of the season last week at The Players Cup and finished T25. “I’ve been grinding out here for a while, and it all just kind of hit me in Saskatoon. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing. I called everyone in my family and everyone I’m close to for advice and stuff, and they told me to stick it out for a couple more weeks, and here I am.”

Marshall’s 64, which included nine birdies to offset just a single bogey, tied him with the 25-year old Gligic, who defeated Marshall in a playoff at the 2012 ATB Financial Classic, the only Mackenzie Tour win between the two players.

“I got off to a good start. The irons were great, and what’s been kind of holding me back lately is the putter, and it was nice to see everything going in today,” said Gligic. “There’s still 54 holes left with a heck of a lot of good players behind me, so I can’t let off the gas at all by any means. I need to keep going and keep making birdies tomorrow.”

One shot behind Marshall and Gligic was Ostego, Minnesota native Clayton Rask, who rebounded from an early triple bogey with 10 birdies for a 7-under 65. The start of round one was delayed for an hour due to lightning in the area.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) remembers watching videos in the early 2000’s of Jim McLean golf tips to learn how to play. Fast forward 14 years and Ardina has the lead at the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic after carding a 6-under 66 in the first-round at Brook-Lea Country Club on Thursday. Ardina would become just the second player from the Philippines to win on the Symetra Tour. The only player to win was Lynda Jensen, who won once in 1985 and twice in 1988.

A total of 49 players finished at even-par or better and the cut line stands at 2-over heading into second-round play.

The 21-year-old, who ranks 23rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, was on fire with the putter. She needed just 24 putts.

“It was a good start today, I made a 35-foot birdie putt on the first hole,” said Ardina. “I made a bogey on five and then I ran off five straight birdies from the sixth through the tenth holes. My goal was 2-under on the front and 2-under on the back, I definitely wasn’t expecting a six-under.”

Ardina was 4-under at the turn and then made her fifth straight birdie on 10 and then made birdie on the 13th hole. Ardina closed with five straight pars including a save on 18.

“I did some adjustments with my putting, my stroke and I’m trying to get my speed better,” said Ardina. “Before, my putting was everywhere – push, pull – so I watched some tips on the Golf Channel and searched putting drills and it worked.”

Ardina said she watches School of Golf with former Symetra Tour and LPGA Tour player Sara Brown and Martin Hall.

Her first round shouldn’t come as a surprise. She has finished inside the top 25 in three consecutive events including her career best finish, a tie for second at the Four Winds Invitational.

“I think I am more relaxed and since I changed my putting, I started playing really well,” said Ardina. “My mom is now my caddie and that really helps keep me calm and keep the pressure away.”

Ardina said part of the reason she played well today was the insider information she received from her pro-am partners on Wednesday, who are members of Brook-Lea Country Club.

“I only played once on the front side and twice on the back side so they told me where to hit the ball and where the good angles are,” said Ardina. “They really helped me a lot.”

MARKHAM, Ont. — The first day of golf at the Pan Am Games felt like any other tournament to Lorie Kane. That is, until she crossed paths with Austin Connelly between the first green and the second tee and the Canadian teammates shared a high-five.

“He’s on my team,” Kane said with some amazement. “I was like, ‘That’s different.'”

A year away from golf returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1904, the sport made its Pan Am debut Thursday at Angus Glen Golf Club. It was a rough start for two of the three Canadians in the field but a picture-perfect day to celebrate golf in international play.

“It was a cool experience and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said Canadian Garrett Rank, who shot a 7-over 79. “I still can play really well the next three days. It’s just a matter of soaking in the experience.”

Connelly, an 18-year-old dual citizen from Dallas with parental roots in Nova Scotia, shot a 2-under 70, while the 50-year-old Kane matched Rank’s 7-over 79.

Those scores notwithstanding, Canadians playing on home soil could appreciate the history they were a part of.

“I’m excited to be here, I’m proud to be here,” said Kane, the only Canadian woman in the Games after teenage phenom Brooke Henderson withdrew to focus on her professional career. “This is a new thing for golf. I think we’re going to learn some things, and I think it’s going to just get better.”

The sun-soaked day with temperatures in the 20s and light wind made for almost ideal golfing conditions.

“The weather is perfect,” said Alejandro Tosti of Argentina, the first-round men’s leader with a 7-under 65. “It’s a little windy, but the temperature is perfect and it’s perfect to play golf.”

The team element involved, taking the best men’s and women’s score in each round, took some getting used to. Players have much more on their shoulders than just their own expectations and results, more to play for than themselves and sponsors, even if medals replace prize money.

“It’s completely different, but you just have to roll with the punches and kind of adjust on the go,” said Paraguay’s Julieta Granada, the women’s leader at 4-under 68. “It’s going back to junior golf where we get to represent our countries a little bit more then. It makes carrying your country’s flag a little bit more special than every other LPGA event.”

Because Henderson withdrew without an injury after the June 15 deadline, Canada was unable to replace her and lost a spot. It means Kane’s score counts in every round, and her first-round 79 essentially eliminated Canada from team medal contention.

Rank, an NHL referee from Elmira, Ont., cost himself in the men’s individual competition with two triple bogies, including one on the eighth hole when he lost his ball in the woods. Connelly wasn’t necessarily pleased with his showing but goes into Friday’s second round tied for fourth, five shots off the lead.

It’s too early to say Connelly is in medal contention, but he has a chance.

“They say you can’t win on the first day, but you can certainly lose it,” Connelly said. “I don’t feel like I lost it.”

Kane and Rank lost it with their struggles, but they were encouraged because they still get to play three more days of Pan Am golf.

“I’ve been preparing too hard to let this bother me,” said Kane, a Charlottetown native. “If we had a cut here, I’d be probably gnawing my arm off.”

Gnawing isn’t necessary, but Kane is champing at the bit to play one more international tournament: the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. As of now, Henderson and Alena Sharp would represent Canada on the women’s side and PGA professionals Graham DeLaet and David Hearn on the men’s side.

Kane would love to improve her world ranking enough to qualify for the Olympics, especially after getting a taste of this kind of competition at the Pan Am Games.

“It only makes me want to get to Rio even more because if this is the Pan American Games, I can only imagine the feeling when it’s the Olympics,” she said. “I need to stop shooting 7-over par.”

There is absolutely no doubt that RBC Canadian Open Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin has a sense of humour. (For an up-close and personal view of McLaughlin, click here.)

But when he says, “This is not your parents’ RBC Canadian Open,” he is most definitely not kidding.

Just as golf in general is figuring out how to reach a younger audience, the RBC Canadian Open has tried to hit all the hot buttons when it takes place next week at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

The key buzzwords when speaking to McLaughlin about the Open include “family, innovation, engagement, interaction.” In summary, he says this year’s championship will be “a festival, a party, a celebration.”

“Bill Paul [previously the RBC Canadian Open’s Tournament Director for 22 years and now Golf Canada’s Chief Championships Officer] was at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and was impressed with the fan-friendly atmosphere,” says McLaughlin. “When he came back, we worked to create a similar atmosphere. We are proud that our Open is already considered among the PGA TOUR’s most fan-friendly events but we knew we could do much more to enhance that, to make it a must-see event for families and golf fans of all ages.”

The result of that determination is impressive.

As it hosts its record 27^th RBC Canadian Open, Glen Abbey remains among the best spectator golf courses in the world. Justifiably, this year’s field will feature some of the most exciting professionals in the world, including Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker, who won the 2013 RBC Canadian Open when last played at Glen Abbey. A Canadian contingent of 15 is headlined by Graham DeLaet, Mike Weir, David Hearn and Adam Hadwin.

And now, thanks to some remarkable innovations, the experience outside the ropes will equal that reputation.

While the competition gets serious when the first tee shot of the championship is hit on the morning of Thursday, July 23, much more festivity precedes that.

On Saturday, July 18, the top-performing juniors from the nationwide CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge will compete in the national championship. The next day, they will play in a Ryder Cup-style event on the tournament course. On the Monday of tournament week, they will have a chance to caddie in the Golf Canada Foundation Pro-Am and, on Wednesday, they can walk with a pro inside the ropes. (All kids under the age of 17 receive free admission to the RBC Canadian Open all week long.)

“Recognizing some of the best junior golfers in Canada is a great start to Open week,” says McLaughlin. “Then some players start arriving and the excitement builds from there.”

Giant HDTV screens make it easy for spectators to follow the TV broadcast. Fans in the Molson Canadian 67 19^th Hole can almost reach out and touch players. Getting spectators as close as possible to their golf icons is just one indication of the new innovations.Boston Pizza has come on board to provide food services as well as one of three food trucks on the premises.

“We want to entertain everyone who comes out,” says McLaughlin. “We also want to underline the historic importance of the Open and Glen Abbey. As well, we want them to know that Glen Abbey is the home of Golf Canada and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum.”

To emphasize that, the Canadian Golf Museum and Hall of Fame is hosting a beer garden, speaker series and phone-charging stations.

“We hope there is something for everyone at this year’s RBC Canadian Open. We’ve tried to accomplish that,” says McLaughlin. “And if we haven’t, we want to hear about it. Our goal is to make the RBC Canadian Open the best and most entertaining tournament on the PGA Tour.”

For a complete list of all the exciting activities at the 2015 RBC Canadian Open, click here.

To order tickets, click here.

The sun shone bright over Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B., as Calvin Ross and Allison Chandler secured the CN Future Links Atlantic titles to conclude the championship’s 2015 series.

Calvin Ross was locked in a four-way tie for the lead following the first day of competition before breaking through with a three stroke lead after day two. The Fredericton, N.B., product maintained momentum into the final round, posting a 1-under par 71 for a 215 total.

“Today started out well, I got off to a great start with a birdie and from there, I was just playing conservative and trying for a few more birdies. I was really just trying to hit greens and make some pars and continue on,” said Ross. He went on to string together eight pars to follow up his opening birdie for a 1-under on the front nine.

Ross claims the Atlantic title after having recently recorded runner-up finishes at the 2015 New Brunswick Junior Boys Championship and at the 2015 Kent Ford Motors Bouctouche East Coast Junior Championship. “It feels great to finally break through. I’ve been playing well all year, but I have just been coming up a little bit short, so it’s great to finally win one.”

Challenging Ross was Ryan Legault who opened the day with an impressive 6-under front nine before finishing with at 67 for the low round of the tournament. The early push from the Charlottetown, P.E.I., native earned him second place at 218. Finishing in third at 221 with a final round of 74 was five-time Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Boys Champion Blair Bursey of Gander, Nfld.

The 16-year-old Ross has earned an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Junior Boys Championship to gauge his skills against a field of top juniors. The five runner-up finishers in the Junior Boys division at the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship have also earned exemptions to compete in the national championship from August 2-6 at Summerlea Golf & Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.

Allison Chandler opened the third round with a three-stroke lead over Claire Konning of Indian Mountain, N.B., but it was Laura Jones of Moncton, N.B., who would challenge Chandler down the stretch. After hole 13, Jones had climbed within two of the lead, but Chandler maintained her focus to secure the win.

“I was more nervous than I thought I would be,” said Chandler on playing with the lead. “I tried not to think about it and instead tried to think of it as any other round.”

Chandler signed for a 3-over 75, matching her opening round for the lowest score in the Junior Girls division. The Chester, N.S., native concluded the competition with four birdies to finish at 227. The 17-year-old credits her tee shots for the victory. “I drove the ball really well and very consistently.”

Runner-up Laura Jones posted a round of 4-over 76 with three birdies to finish at 232. Third-place finisher Felixe Jacques of St-Gabriel de Valcartier, Que., shot a final round 79.

With the victory, Chandler has earned her place in the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Deer Park Golf Course in Yorkton, Sask., from August 3-7. Chandler looks to improve upon a T15 finish at the 2014 edition of the national championship hosted at Thornhill Golf & Country Club in Thornhill, Ont. She has also earned an exemption into a 2016 Canadian Women’s Tour event of her choice.

The five runners-up in the Junior Girls division of the CN Future Links Atlantic Championship have also earned their way into the field at the 2015 Canadian Junior Girls Championship.

The CN Future Links Atlantic Championship marks the final stop in a series of six tournaments presented by Golf Canada in partnership with CN. The 2015 series opened at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach, B.C., where Team Canada Development Squad members Trevor Ranton (Waterloo, Ont.) and Grace St-Germain (Ottawa, Ont.) found the podium at the championship’s Pacific edition. Ontarians Jack Simpson (Aurora, Ont.) and Alyssa Getty (Ruthven, Ont.) captured the titles in their home province at Pine Knot Golf & Country Club in Dorchester, Ont.

Joining the winners circle at the Prairie Championship were Alexander Smith (Calgary, Alta.) and Development Squad member Alisha Lau (Richmond, B.C.) at Cooke Municipal Golf Course in Prince Albert, Sask. At Golf Château-Bromont in Bromont, Que., Alyssa Getty claimed her second CN Future Links title of the season while Jason Chung (Thornhill, Ont.) took the Quebec Junior Boys title. Jason Martens (Edmonton, Alta.,) and Kenna Hughes (Calgary, Alta.,) captured the Western Championship at the Goose Hummock Golf Course in Gibbons, Alta.

For full results from the 2015 CN Future Links Atlantic Championship, please visit the tournament website here.

In just its second year, Team Canada’s Young Pro program is showing strong signs of progress in supporting Canada’s bright young professionals in their long journey to success in the professional golf ranks.

Brooke Henderson and Sue Kim both notched Symetra Tour victories in 2015, Adam Svensson won three of his first four professional events, Albin Choi won on the Mackenzie Tour in 2015—to name a few.

Launched in 2014, the Young Pro program was added to Golf Canada’s high performance program to fill the gap of support available for amateurs transitioning to professional golf. In just its second year, the program expanded from five to eight athletes to accommodate for the growing pool of elite Canadian talent.

Three of Canada’s Young Pro Squad men (Svensson, Pendrith, Conners) will look to make their mark on the PGA TOUR in the upcoming RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., from July 20–26.

Click here to learn more about the athletes and Team Canada

Click here to donate to the program through the Golf Canada Foundation

While most of the golf world went to sleep Wednesday dreaming of the third major championship of the year and Scottish greens, Austin Connelly, Garrett Rank, and Lorie Kane did not.

Instead, they were getting ready for the Pan American Games, and dreaming of gold, sliver and bronze.

The three aforementioned golfers will represent Canada when the golf portion of the 2015 games begins Thursday. It will wrap up Sunday afternoon.

Brooke Henderson was supposed to round out the foursome but withdrew June 29th to concentrate on her professional career.

However, on a conference call with Canadian media Wednesday, the conversation had shifted away from who wasn’t there to who were, and what they were trying to accomplish this week.

“It’s too bad for Brooke that she’s not here, but we’ve got a really strong team in myself and the two guys across the table from me. We do have an opportunity to still medal,” Kane said. “I understand Brooke’s situation and it’s a difficult one, but this is where we are.”

“I’m going to tee it up tomorrow as part of Team Canada and I’m going to do my best, as will the other two guys here, and we’ll see how it goes,” she continued.

Rank, Connelly and Kane will combine their scores for the team portion of the competition, while Rank and Connelly will try for a medal on the men’s side, and Kane will go for gold on the female side of the draw.

To get to this point, Derek Ingram – the men’s coach – said the process is something that has been in the works for several years.

“We’ve been preparing a lot of things behind the scenes for a long time – two years or more in some cases – so it’s nice that it’s finally arrived,” he said. “We’re down to crunch time and playing golf, which is what everyone loves to do.”

Tristan Mullally joins Ingram in the coach’s corner.

Mullally, Golf Canada’s women’s national team head coach, will concentrate on Kane over the four days of competition. He admitted there is much more happening now than at a regular golf event.

“We’re part of a team and that’s a great honour, but there are lots of great athletes around. There are people here who are sporting legends and heroes,” he explained. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure these guys can go play and that’s what they will do. And, they’ll do it well.”

Despite the excitement for the Pan Am Games, Connelly and Rank will both be making their debuts at the RBC Canadian Open next week. That said, they both are committed to focusing on one thing at a time.

“This is a great opportunity and a really cool environment to be a part of. Austin and I will probably not get a chance to play in something like this again, so it’s just a matter of staying focused and enjoying the opportunity,” explained Rank.

“It’s an honour to represent Canada,” continued Connelly. “While the PGA Tour event is really an honour to play in, it’s going to be a fun week this week.”

Despite the difference in ages – Kane is 50, while Rank is 27 and Connelly is 18 – the triumvirate is all working towards the same goal.

“We played a practice round together as a team and they kicked my butt to be honest,” said Kane with a laugh. “These two have lots of experience, it’s just a little different than my 19 years on the LPGA Tour. But, we’re all here doing the same thing – representing our country – and we’re all proud to do that.”

And for Rank – who works full-time for the National Hockey League as a referee – this week is particularly special.

“It’s the pinnacle of my golf career so far,” he said.

It might be time for some of those dreams to become a reality.

The Pan Am Games golf competition gets started at 8 a.m. Thursday from Angus Glen. The full schedule can be found here.     

Even though Garrett Rank has a full-time job, don’t call him a part-time golfer.

“It’s still serious, just not 12 months of the year like it used to be,” the 27-year-old says.

Rank, who will represent Canada in golf alongside 18-year-old Austin Connelly at the Pan American Games, doesn’t play as much competitively as he used to as a standout at the University of Waterloo and as a member of Golf Canada’s national team.

But the reason is a worthy one.

For more than eight months of the year, Rank works as a referee under contract with the National Hockey League.

The native of Elmira, Ont., worked nine NHL games this season, but spent most of the season with the American Hockey League. None of the nine NHL games were more memorable than his first.

“I settled in pretty well, but we had a video review on the first goal about five minutes in, and they reversed our call on the ice,” Rank said in an interview. “That was pretty funny. Looking back though, it helped settled me down.”

The players on the ice could not have been nicer, according to Rank, who had 250 friends and family in the stands.

“All the guys were first-class,” he said. “I got some signed jerseys from both teams, and a couple taps on the shin-pads from the guys. It was cool.”

Rank was offered an NHL contract in 2014. He couldn’t turn it down, especially after he put his goals on hold in 2011 to fight testicular cancer.

“As silly as it sounds, I never truly believed I had cancer,” said Rank. “I know I did, the test results showed that. But I thought to myself, ‘you’re a young athlete in great shape. You’re a good kid. You never did anything to deserve this.’ I always thought of it as a lie, or that it wasn’t actually true. That helped push me along.”

Now with a clean bill of health, Rank says he has “the best of both worlds” as he pursues his two passions.

“I love my job, but I love being able to come out here (the golf course) for four or five months and work on my game,” he said.

In 2014, Rank captured the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship to secure a spot in this summer’s RBC Canadian Open, which is scheduled the week after the Pan Am Games tournament. It will be his PGA Tour debut.

“I feel like I probably should have played a couple (Canadian Opens) before, but it just hasn’t worked out,” he said. “But I’m excited to get this opportunity, and I want to go there and do well. I want to see what professional golf at the highest level is about.”

Rank’s whirlwind summer began July 6, where he won a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur by six shots. If he makes it to the finals, which start Aug. 17, he’ll qualify for the Masters.

From there, he received a special exemption into The Players Cup, an event on Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.

Next up is the Pan Am Games, which begins Thursday at Angus Glen, the same course where Rank won the 2010 Ontario University Association Championship.

“It’s kind of a home game, and seeing some familiar faces in the crowd will definitely be an advantage,” he said.

Canadian coach Derek Ingram says Rank has some “wicked natural ability.”

“Garrett is a lot of fun, and he’s an unbelievable team guy,” said Ingram. “Regardless of the results next week, we’re going to have a great time.”

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – On a day for reminiscing at the home of golf, a team led by Arnold Palmer captured the Champion Golfers’ Challenge.

The four-hole exhibition on the eve of the British Open pitted squads comprised of past winners, with the best individual score on each hole going toward that team’s total.

The 85-year-old Palmer, who spawned an American invasion with his Open victories in 1961 and `62, hit the opening tee shot for his team Wednesday. He then turned things over to Paul Lawrie, who eagled the second hole and rolled in a long birdie putt on the 18th to give his team – which also included Darren Clarke and Bill Rogers – a 3-under total.

The squads captained by Tony Jacklin, Tom Weiskopf and Peter Thomson also were 3 under. But Palmer’s team won the top prize of >100,000 ($156,452), which will be donated to a charity of their choice, by having the highest average age.

Team Jacklin (which also included John Daly, Nick Faldo and Tom Lehman), Team Weiskopf (Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods) and Team Thomson (Ben Curtis, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson) all posted three birdies in four holes.

Tom Watson’s team (Ian Baker-Finch, Todd Hamilton and Louis Oosthuizen) finished at 2 under. Team Charles (Bob Charles, David Duval, Justin Leonard and Sandy Lyle) and Team Player (Gary Player, Stewart Cink, Mark Calcavecchia and Padraig Harrington) only managed to birdie the first hole.

No one seemed too concerned about the scores, however.

There were plenty of laughs and everyone paused for group pictures on the Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole.