BELMONT, Mass. – Jesper Parnevik took one look at the tree-lined, hilly Belmont Country Club this week and immediately found a favorite.

“This is very much a Bernhard Langer-type of golf course,” Parnevik said he remembered thinking.

Langer has proved him right, posting a second consecutive 6-under 65 Friday in what he called a “stressless” bogey-free round that gave him a four-shot lead halfway through the Senior Players Championship.

“Somebody said, `That’s pretty boring stuff: 65, 65,'” Langer said after hitting all but one green in regulation. “I don’t think it is. I’d like to do it every day.”

Russ Cochran’s slump-busting 65 left him alone in second, while Steve Pate set a course-record with a bogey-free 63. That put him in a three-way tie for third and six shots back with the weary Lee Janzen and Parnevik, the Champions Tour newcomer who shot 66.

All have plenty to do to catch Langer on the old-school Donald Ross layout hosting this tournament for the first time. Langer took command by sinking a 40-foot putt on 16 for his sixth birdie. His lone hiccup was a three-putt par from just off the 17th green.

“That German engineering,” Parnevik said of Langer. “He never breaks down. He’s tough to beat at a place like this. He’s so systematic.”

Langer is without a victory this year in which he’s been slowed by injuries. But this week he’s looked much like his 2014 self that won this event and four others.

The 57-year-old Langer is nearing a 24th Champions Tour title. He’d also be the first repeat winner of the Senior Players since Arnold Palmer in 1984-85.

And the wiry Langer’s fitness should help this weekend as the over-50 tour deals with another difficult walking course.

“French Lick was very tough, Des Moines was maybe even harder, and even Shoal Creek is a pretty good walk,” Langer said. “I just see it going into the fitness trailer, the physio truck at the end of the day. A couple guys get treated and they all fall asleep.”

Janzen is perhaps the most in need of a nap. He was the medalist in a 36-hole sectional Monday in Purchase, New York, that earned him a spot in next week’s U.S. Open. He sat at 7 under before a bogey-par-par finish left him at 69.

Without the wind from a day earlier and with the temperature in the 80s, the course yielded a record round.

A couple hours after Brad Faxon bested the previous course mark by a shot with a 64, Pate eclipsed him with a bogey-free, eight-birdie round with his distinctive yellow ball.

It was a relief for Pate, who entered the week with a 72.82 scoring average. He shot 73 Thursday.

“I was not doing anything really badly. I just haven’t been doing anything really well,” Pate said after his best Champions Tour round. “It’s a very fine line, and quite a bit of it is between the ears.”

Cochran nearly matched him with a seven-birdie round that broke with what’s been a difficult season that’s left him 35th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

“Where I am with my game, I felt like I needed a good round,” Cochran said.

Colin Montgomerie, who won last month’s Senior PGA Championship for his third major victory in six starts, shot 71 and was nine shots back.

Even with the daunting task of catching Langer, Parnevik was thrilled to be in the hunt in the 81-player field that had no 36-hole cut. Parnevik turned 50 in March.

“I’ve been so injured the last seven years,” Parnevik said. “I’m so happy the body feels OK and I can play again.”

INVERNESS, N.S. – Excitement for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf has been building for months.

The buzz comes to a head this Monday however with 64 of the PGA of Canada’s best players teeing it up at the famed Cabot Links, in Inverness N.S., all battling for the association’s most prestigious championship and historic P.D. Ross trophy.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out to Cabot Links for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada,” said Billy Walsh, the No. 1 player from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC. “I’ve heard nothing but incredible things from people who have been onsite at Cabot Links. It really looks to be a perfect spot for the PGA of Canada’s biggest and most prestigious championship.”

Cabot Links, which debuted at No. 2 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Ranking and is currently No. 42 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is located on the western shores of Cape Breton Island in Inverness, N.S.

Nestled between the rural community of Inverness and the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Rod Whitman-designed course Canada’s first authentic links layout. The natural and rugged Nova Scotia landscape—dramatic seaside, undulating terrain, sandy soil—dictates the layout of the course with every hole affording an ocean view and five holes playing adjacent to the beach.

“We are thrilled and honoured to host one of Canada’s most storied championships, the PGA Championship of Canada—an event dating back to 1912 with decorated winners such as George Knudson, Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer—that continues to produce exceptional champions,” said Cabot Links managing partner Ben Cowan-Dewar. “We look forward to watching the PGA of Canada’s top-ranked players battle it out in this compelling format—a format that greatly complements the links style of golf offered here at Cabot Links.”

Since re-launching in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada has been contested as a match play event with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy.

However, this year’s championship at Cabot Links, which takes place June 15-18, sees a format change, with 64 top-ranked players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC playing two rounds of stroke play. The top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event will fill out the four match play brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.

“The format change for this year’s PGA Championship of Canada is bound to be an exciting one,” said the PGA of Canada’s managing director of championships and events Adam LeBrun. “We feel the players who are playing the best will ultimately make it through to the match play portion of the event where the matches will be undoubtedly tight, tough and exciting affairs.”

For first round tee times, click here.

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Currently, Walsh sits No. 1 on the player rankings with 316 points, ahead of 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and 2013 winner Bryn Parry of North Vancouver.
The PGA of Canada is also pleased to announce a new host club exemption into the PGA Championship of Canada starting in 2015 and continuing for all future PGA Championships under the current format. This year, Cabot Links’ PGA head professional Ryan Hawley has accepted the exemption and will tee it up.

Levesque looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the championship since Knudson won in 1976 and 1977. In 2014, Levesque bested Walsh 2-up in the final match at Uxbridge, Ont.’s, Wyndance Golf Club to become the third winner from Quebec since 2011 to capture the championship. Vincent Dumouchel won in 2011 at Cottonwood Golf and Country Club in Calgary, while Laporte won the following year at Country Hills Golf Club, which is also in Calgary.

The players who don’t make the 36-hole cut will compete in the GolfNorth Skins Game Wednesday at the historic Cape Breton Highlands Links in Ingonish, N.S.

Attendance to the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during tournament play.

The 14th Canadian Women’s Tour continues with its second stop of the season heading to Smiths Falls, Ont. at the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club from June 15-17.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brooke Henderson – the highest ranked Canadian professional – and her older sister Brittany will headline the competition to be contested at their home club. The younger Henderson is the defending champion of the Canadian Women’s Tour’s Ontario stop, having won last year’s event as an amateur in Niagara Falls. The 17-year-old went on to claim the Tour’s finale at the 2014 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.

This year’s event will open with the sisters’ inaugural charity Pro-Am – the “Magenta Mortgage Pro-Am presented by Mike Fair Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac Ltd. in support of the Team Henderson 110% Club” on Monday, June 15 before a field of 86 Canadian and international professionals and amateurs tee off for the 36-hole competition on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The purse for the tournament is set at $60,000 with a $10,000 share awarded to the winner. The champion will also receive an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open taking place August 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C.

“Golf Canada is thrilled to bring the Ontario stop of the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour to Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club,” said Mary Beth McKenna, Tournament Director for the event. “We will have a strong and experienced field with a number of players looking to impress friends and family in attendance. With an exemption into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open for the taking, it should be a very exciting tournament on a beautiful course.”

The Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club will test the talented athletes with a variety of elevation changes, well-protected greens and a winding layout through sprawling forests of mature cedar, spruce and evergreens.

Among those in contention will be Corona, Calif., native Michelle Piyapattra, who won the Tour’s first stop earlier this month at Calgary’s Glencoe Golf & Country Club. It was the second consecutive year in which she emerged victorious on the Tour’s first leg. Piyapattra is currently in her rookie season on the Symetra Tour.

A number of former Canadian Women’s Tour champions will be joining Piyapattra and the Henderson sisters, including Jessica Boris née Shepley. The Oakville, Ont., product has registered multiple victories on the Tour and has claimed two PGA Women’s Championship of Canada titles. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., and Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C., will also set their sights on returning to the winners’ circle of the Canadian Women’s Tour.

Canada’s national teams will be well-represented at the competition. Joining Brooke Henderson from the Young Pro Squad will be Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont., who finished tied for fourth at both the 2011 and 2012 Tour stops in B.C. The four members of Canada’s National Amateur Team – Calgary native Jennifer Ha, Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and Allen, Tex. product Maddie Szeryk who is coming off a strong freshman year at Texas A&M – will also vie for the prized exemption into the 43rd playing of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

The final stop on the tour, the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, is scheduled for July 20-22 at Burlington Golf & Country Club in Burlington, Ont.

The champions of each Canadian Women’s Tour event will earn entry into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Also joining the field will be the top two competitors on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit who are not otherwise exempt, provided they play in at least two of the three events.

The five highest ranked players on the Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit will also be awarded direct entry into the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School.

For more information please visit the tournament’s official website.

ATZENBRUGG, Austria – Gregory Bourdy widened his lead at the Lyoness Open Friday by shooting a 5-under 67 to go four strokes clear of fellow Frenchman Gary Stal and Chris Wood of England.

Bourdy, seeking his fifth European Tour title, followed up his 65 from Thursday with five birdies on his front nine before dropping his first stroke of the week. He’s at 12-under 132 at the midway stage.

Stal carded five birdies on his way to a 68, while Woods had two bogeys on the front nine to go with five birdies for a 69.

Spanish pair Carlos Pigem and Rafa Cabrera-Bello shared fourth, another stroke off the lead.

Former champion Bernd Wiesberger, at No. 37 the highest-ranked player in the field, shot a 67 but missed the cut following his 79 from the first day.

NORTHERN IRELAND, U.K. – Team Canada’s Maddie Szeryk came up just shy in her comeback bid in the Ladies British Open Amateur quarter-final on Friday, falling 1 down to Olivia Mehaffey at the Portstewart Golf Club.

Szeryk, 18, held an early lead after winning the par-3 3^rd but Mehaffey quickly drew even two holes later. The two battled all match, remaining all-square through 13 until Ireland’s Mehaffey built up a 2-hole advantage with consecutive wins on the 14^th and 15^th.  Szeryk made it interesting with a win on the 16^th, but the Texas A&M sophomore could not complete the comeback in the final two holes despite carding a bogey-free round.

Team Canada teammates Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont. bowed out earlier in the morning’s round of 16. Marchand, 22, struggled against world No. 22 ranked Linnea Strom of Sweden, losing 5&3. Tong, a recent graduate of Indiana University, was defeated by Belgian Charlotte De Corte, 2&1.

Tomorrow’s semi-final will take place at 8:30 a.m. BST, followed by the 18-hole finale later that afternoon.

Click here for full scoring

CALGARY — Two of the young guns on the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour, Lee Janzen and Scott McCarron, will be focused on putting on the champion’s white cowboy hat when they tee it up in the Stampede City for the 2015 Shaw Charity Classic, August 5-9 at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.

Janzen and McCarron are no strangers to the winner’s circle. They bring 11 PGA TOUR titles with them to Canada, including Janzen’s two majors, where they will look to knock off the top players in the world 50-years old and over.

“One of the most compelling characteristics of the Champions Tour is we continue to welcome new, big names each year, who are still able to play on the PGA TOUR,” said Sean Van Kesteren, tournament director, Shaw Charity Classic. “This year is no different with another strong rookie class led by Lee and Scott. They still have a lot of game in them, and are great additions to the field.”

Janzen is an eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR including his two U.S. Open titles. Janzen recently qualified to make a return to the U.S. Open in 2015 after a six-year hiatus. A member of two U.S. Ryder Cup Teams, Janzen also won The Players Championship in 1995. After joining the Champions Tour full time this year, he recorded his first victory in February at the ACE Group Classic.

“I have played with pretty much everybody out here on the PGA TOUR so it is like a big fraternity on the Champions Tour,” said Janzen. “But you have to be ready to play. These guys can all still play at a very high level, and are still extremely competitive. We want to play well, and still love to win. Hopefully that happens for me in Calgary.”

Janzen will be joined by Scott McCarron who has three PGA TOUR titles to his credit. The two Champions Tour rookies also share a memorable moment in PGA TOUR history. In August 1999, McCarron made a hole-in-one during the first round of the CVS Charity Classic, which was immediately followed by Janzen on the 17th hole at Rhode Island Country Club. McCarron is no stranger to the hole-in-one history books. His first two came seven holes apart when he was 28 years old, at Alameda Golf Club near Oakland. He made his first ace on the fourth hole, before chalking up another hole-in-one on the 11th.

“Scott McCarron’s name is synonymous with the hole-in-one club, and I think it is fitting we are having him with us this year in Calgary with the tournament running a big contest to recognize all new Canadians to the hole-in-one club in 2015,” added Van Kesteren. “The Shaw Charity Classic is giving one lucky fan who records a hole-in-one – and three friends – the chance to feel like a professional golfer and play with the pros for a day. It will be a contest that will run throughout the summer until tournament week, and hopefully that winner will have a chance to play, or at least meet, Mr. Hole-in-One, Scott McCarron.”

Any Canadian golfers who record a hole-in-one during the 2015 contest period must register through the tournament web site at www.shawcharityclassic.com for a chance to win the grand prize. All new members of the club will be invited to participate in a qualification closest-to-the-pin contest in July 24. The top-10 closest to the pin winners will then be invited to media day at Canyon Meadows, July 29, where the winner will be determined.

The hole-in-one must be attested by the golf facility’s general manager, chief operating officer, club president, head professional or director of golf. Participants between the ages of 13 and 18 must also have parental consent. The Shaw Charity Classic will aim to profile each hole-in-one on its social media platforms.

Some of the greatest names in the game will play for a purse of $2.35 million, an increase of $100,000, when they return to Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club from August 5-9. Tickets and corporate packages for the Shaw Charity Classic are available online at www.shawcharityclassic.com. Youth 17 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult.

If you need to know anything about Graham DeLaet and his generosity, look no further than one of his latest tweets.

DeLaet was in Chicago looking to attend game three of the Stanley Cup final with a friend of his from Saskatchewan. His friend couldn’t make it because of flight times, so while DeLaet was picking up his ticket, he saw a stranger with a sign saying, “I need 1 ticket. Get Stanley Cup finals off my bucket list.”

DeLaet invited “Lars” – the gentleman’s name, according to Twitter – to enjoy the game with him. Free of charge.

Stanley Cup Finals with my new bud Lars! Here we go! pic.twitter.com/cVCjgIyNkU

— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) June 8, 2015

“I was able to make a guy’s year,” DeLaet said. “He wanted to pay me for the ticket, I said ‘No,’ he could just come as my buddy for the night.”

That kind-hearted nature makes it no surprise the native of Weyburn, Sask. was announced Tuesday as an ambassador for Golf Canada’s successful Golf in Schools program.

The top-ranked Canadian in the Official World Golf Ranking, DeLaet will appear in Golf in Schools promotional materials, and, as part of his relationship with the program, he will raise money through the foundation he and his wife started – the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation – to adopt schools into the program in communities across the country.

“It’s something that makes total sense for Ruby and I,” he explained. “It’s not even about getting more players to the PGA Tour, it’s about getting the participation numbers up. I never had the opportunity to pick up a golf club in school, so I think that’s pretty cool.”

Launched in 2009, the program is conducted by Golf Canada in concert with the PGA of Canada and the provincial golf associations. Physical Health and Education Canada also endorses it.

“From our standpoint it’s a fantastic addition to what is already perceived as a great program,” said Golf Canada Chief Sport Officer Jeff Thompson. “Having someone like Graham on board, who is a hero in our sport, will do a lot to inspire children to pick up a golf club and get engaged in the game.”

The program is in more than 2,700 schools across Canada, and approximately 306,000 students are participating.

For DeLaet, he explained it was his parents who introduced him to golf at age three. He was inspired by athletes as well, and is excited to help give youngsters a comparable opportunity.

“If I was a kid and we were playing hockey in school and an NHLer came in, we’d ramp it up a little bit,” he explained. “Being around it (the program) rather than just putting my and Ruby’s name on it was important to us.”

The Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation began in September 2014. Focused on improving health and wellness of children, and supporting the development of junior golfers, DeLaet said giving back was just common sense.

The foundation that now bares his name is an extension of his and Ruby’s previous charitable efforts. Those efforts raised money for both Golf Saskatchewan and the Weyburn & District Hospital Foundation. In 2014, DeLaet hosted the inaugural ‘Graham Slam’ which raised approximately $380,000 towards the creation of the new Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan.

“I look at where I am in life and I wouldn’t be here without golf and all the people who helped me along the way,” he stated.

Despite DeLaet not having his best season on the course – he admitted 2014-15 has been “injury-riddled” and he’s been frustrated his body – he’s gained some confidence over the last three weeks, and will take the next two weeks off before a busy stretch of golf this summer.

Off the course, DeLaet continues to show his charitable side, no matter if it’s at the Stanley Cup finals or with young golfers across the country.

So why did he think giving back to Golf in Schools was important? Because golf is, according to the 33-year-old, “the greatest game in the world.”

“It teaches kids so many good values – honesty, integrity (and) sportsmanship,” he continued. “The more kids we can get playing golf, the better.”

With a name like ‘Augusta,’ you have to think that golf will play a part in that person’s life.

In the case of Augusta James, a former member of Golf Canada’s national team and now a member of the Symetra Tour, this is absolutely the case.

The 21-year-old from Bath, Ont. Enjoyed three-and-a-half years at North Carolina State before leaving school earlier in 2015 to turn professional.

She cashed her first professional cheque in mid-February, and here, she dishes on her brother Austin (the winner of the 2014 Canadian Junior Boys Championship), her proudest moments as an amateur and of course, her iconic name.

On her introduction to golf:

I started playing junior golf when I was about five. My brother and I would go out and play nine with my parents; either we’d play from the cart signs in and putt, or we’d be in the bunkers messing around. It was just a fun thing to do.

On the brother-sister dynamic:

We’ve always had a sibling rivalry, but more so, we’re huge support systems for each other. I could normally get him on the golf course when we were younger, but that’s not always the case anymore. [Now] he always has my best interest at heart, and he’s my number one fan.

On that 63 at the Canadian Women’s Amateur:

I was definitely in the zone. I like to consider myself a pretty decent putter, and that’s what happened that day: the putter was really working. Winning the Canadian Amateur was a highlight of my amateur career, along with going to World Amateurs in Turkey and Japan.

On staying in school:

I’m still working on graduating from N.C. State as soon as possible. I’m working with the office of international student affairs and my teachers on some correspondence classes to finish my degree.

On deciding to turn pro:

Given my work through Q-School, I had given myself an opportunity to play the full year on the Symetra Tour and get myself to the LPGA [Tour]. I just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity I created for myself and be 100 per cent committed to the decision I made.

On excitement versus nerves:

I’m certainly more excited for this year than nervous. There are some nerves – you’re moving to a different level and playing different tournaments – but everybody that I’ve met has been extremely nice. There’s nothing to be nervous about, you’ve just got to go play your game.

On idols:

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to play with Brittany Lincicome and Natalie Gulbis … that was fantastic. I learned a lot about how to approach things. I also really like what Stacey Lewis has done with her career. She’s definitely an inspiration.

On Canadian Girl Power:

Women’s golf in Canada is progressing every year. We have great players coming through the college ranks and the amateur ranks, and now, the pro ranks too. It’s just getting better every year.

On hometown support:

Seeing a bunch of girls (including Brooke Henderson and Grace St-Germain) from Eastern Ontario have success makes me really proud to be from that area. The support we get from that area is unbelievable.

On “Augusta”:

My parents were big golfers and had been for a long time. I was born on the opening day of The Masters in 1993; they didn’t have a name for me yet, so, they went with Augusta.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Ryan Palmer, Brooks Koepka and Greg Owen each shot 6-under 64 Thursday for a three-way tie atop the leaderboard after the opening round of the St. Jude Classic.

Palmer, a three-time PGA Tour winner, turned in a bogey-free round with six birdies in the afternoon to join Koepka and Owen atop the leaderboard at TPC Southwind. Koepka, who won in Phoenix earlier this year, matched his low round of 2015 with eight birdies and two bogeys, while Owen shot his best round this year with no bogeys and six birdies.

Scott Brown, Steven Alker, Brian Davis and Richard Sterne each shot 65s. Defending champ Ben Crane tied four others with 66s.

Boo Weekley was tied with six others at 67, and Phil Mickelson was in a group of 11 at 68.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was the low Canadian, tied for 73rd. Hearn shot a 1-over 71, while Calgary’s Roger Sloan and Corey Conners both shot 5-over 75s. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., was 7-over 77.

Palmer had seven holes left after reaching 6 under, but he had to scramble down the stretch and needed to get up and down on his 18th hole, No. 9, to keep a piece of the lead. His last victory came in 2010 at the Sony Open, though he tied for second in Phoenix and tied for sixth at the Texas Open this year.

His key Thursday was his putter. He needed only 24 putts with his closest birdie putt at 6 feet with a couple 20 feet and longer.

“I’ve been trying to get comfortable with the putter,” Palmer said. “I finally found the position I had last year from the British Open through the playoffs when I putted some of my best I felt. And I get on the putting green this morning and found it. The ball position, the width of my stance, where my shoulders and feet were, and it paid off today.”

Koepka has had three Top 20 finishes since his win in February, but he also withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March before missing the cut at The Players Championship. Needing to play better before heading to Chambers Bay in Washington for the U.S. Open prompted him to add Memphis to his schedule. He said he was playing good golf but not scoring well enough. He gave himself a nice confidence boost, especially finishing with back-to-back birdies for a share of the lead.

“To me, it’s been expectations,” Koepka said. “My expectations have been a little too high. When you’re able to kind of put it in the center of the greens, give yourself uphill putts, that makes this golf course a lot easier, and being in the fairway helps a lot.”

Owen, an Englishman who now lives in Florida, has played 213 PGA Tour events since turning pro in 2005. He’s back on tour thanks to a Web.com Tour exemption. He topped the 66 that had been his low round this year back in April in New Orleans in the opening round where he wound up tied for 43rd. Owen said his game started coming around at the Byron Nelson where he shot in the 60s his final three rounds and tied for 46th.

“I’m healthy and fit and I’m putting well,” Owen said. “That’s a big bonus for me, confidence with the putt.”

Crane was the only player to get to 7 under as he rolled in seven birdies in nine holes. But he started hitting shots into the rough and wound up with bogeys on three of his final five holes.

“Obviously had it going pretty low there for a while, and all in all, I feel like my game is going in the right direction,” Crane said. “Feel very comfortable on this golf course. I love this place.”

Mickelson was at 4 under after a quick start with four birdies over his first seven holes starting on the back nine. A couple bogeys on the par 3s on the front nine dropped him to 2 under.

“I had a couple of opportunities coming in that would have really made the round a few more shots lower, but they didn’t quite fall,” Mickelson said. “That happens. But I made a bunch on the front. Made some good putts on the front, so it’s going to come down to … you got to get some putts to fall because it’s not a course you can overpower. It’s a course if you hit some poor shots will bite you.”

Divots: Dustin Johnson, the highest-ranked player in this event at No. 7 in the world and the 2012 champ here, withdrew after nine holes. Johnson opened with three bogeys and had six pars. Crane played with Johnson, who told him he wasn’t going to make it on the ninth hole. “Clearly, he wasn’t feeling good,” Crane said.

HARRISON, N.Y – South Korean Jenny Shin kept moving up the leaderboard, chasing Hall-of-Famer Karrie Webb.

Shin eventually caught her, shooting a bogey-free, 7-under 66 Thursday for a one-stroke lead after the opening round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the second major of the season.

“I was chasing the leaderboard all day, and I was surprised that Webby was at 6 under at one point,” said the 22-year-old Shin. “I got there and was like `Maybe I can get one more on the 18th hole,’ and I did.”

Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson had a three-putt bogey on her final hole at the ninth to drop a shot back after Shin birdied No. 18 at the Westchester Country Club.

“I hit it well all day, I’m disappointed with the finish on the last hole,” said the 17-year-old Henderson, who was playing on a sponsor exemption.

Webb birdied three of the first four holes and finished at 68. The 40-year-old Webb started her round in hazy conditions at No. 10 and shot a 4-under 33 on the opening nine. She had a bogey-free round until she dropped a shot on the seventh when she missed the fairway left and hit the front bunker.

“I hit a wedge to a foot and a half on 10 and that settled me in,” Webb said. “Hit the green in two on 12 and had about a 15-footer for eagle. I really put some very solid swings on it early on.”

Shin had five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th. She spoke to her sports psychologist on Wednesday night to help calm her nerves.

“I was freaking out for this round, so I tried to play as comfortable as I can, just like any other tournament,” Shin said. “I tried not to think of it as a major and it turned out great. I had a couple of bogey-free rounds last week, so I think I’m on a good run.”

Americans Brittany Lincicome, Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr and Stacy Lewis were in a large group that finished four strokes back at 70 in steamy temperatures that reached the mid-80s. Lincicome, the winner of the first major at the ANA Inspiration in April, eagled the par-5 15th and followed with a birdie on 16.

Two-time defending champion Inbee Park shot a 71. Top-ranked teenager Lydia Ko was another stroke back, and Suzann Pettersen, coming off a win in Canada, finished at 74. Michelle Wie, bothered by a hip injury, shot 75.

Shin, who is seeking her first major, had three birdies on the front nine to gain on Webb, a seven-time major winner.

Henderson, who turned pro in December, is below the LPGA Tour’s age requirement of 18. But she made the most of her sponsor exemption.

Henderson birdied No. 10, her opening hole, and added birdies at Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 15. For her eagle on the par-5, 274 yard 12th hole, she hit a 7-wood 204 yards and the ball landed three feet from the cup.

Then came the three-putt on her final hole, where she “tried to hit it a little too hard and had an 8-footer to save par.”

The 29-year-old Lincicome, who is seeking her third major, is one of the longest hitters on the tour. She used a 4-iron from 203 yards out and got within 30 feet for her eagle on the par-5, 497-yard 15th.

“The putt, if I hadn’t hit the hole, it probably would have gone off the green,” she said. “(My caddie) asked if I had dented the cup.”

Park finished with a birdie on 18, one of five on the day along with a bogey. The South Korean has won five majors, including three straight in 2013.

Kerr had a bogey on the par-5, 551-yard fifth hole and four birdies on the West Course that she often plays when in New York. She’s familiar with the sloping greens at the longtime home of the PGA Tour event now called The Barclays.

“The front nine, I had a bunch of chances and a couple putts lipped out,” Kerr said. “I just tried to stay patient and got off to a great start on the back nine.”

Alena Sharp carded a 1-under 72, while fellow Canadians Sue Kim and Rebecca Lee-Bentham both posted rounds of 78.

BIRDIES: Annika Sorenstam, a winner of 10 majors and three Women PGA Championships, said she walked the course. “It’s a tough course, the greens and some blind holes where you really have to commit yourself. The scores are not that low, not many birdies. It will be a typical grinder week.” … Lincicome ran into Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza at the Mets game on Tuesday night and got a picture with him. … Playing with Kerr and Jessica Korda, Lincicome bet $5 for every birdie after a slow start. “Korda birdied the last, so we were tied, unfortunately,” Lincicome said. “We just kind of needed something to motivate us to get back in it. We didn’t let Kerr in because she was already making too many.”