KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Angela Stanford shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to open a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA LOTTE Championship in breezy Hawaii.

Stanford is 13 under going into the final round Saturday, ahead of Hyo Joo Kim and Michelle Wie at 9 under.

Stanford, a five-time LPGA Tour winner, finished the day with six birdies and one bogey, one day after taking the tournament lead with a 64 in the second round.

“I kind of found something (here) and for some reason I just have a really good feel on these greens,” Stanford said. “It’s been a lot fun watching the ball go in.”

Stanford birdied two holes in a row on the front nine, getting to 10 under with a birdie on the par-5 fifth hole. She moved to 13 under with birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 13.

Wie shot 2 under in the third round and is tied with the 18-year-old Kim, who shot a 69 on Friday.

Wind gusts were up to 20 mph across the fairways at Ko Olina Golf Club, a resort area in west Oahu, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s hard,” Stanford said. “It’s hard for everyone – you just have to be patient.”

Wie, who played with Stanford, had bogeys on Nos. 7 and 18.

“It was kind of a like a head scratcher kind of day. A lot of putts didn’t end up where I thought they would,” Wie said.

Cristie Kerr shot a 70 to move to fourth at 8 under. Amy Anderson, top-ranked Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu were tied for fifth at 6 under. Anderson, an LPGA rookie, shot her best round yet with a 68.

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. is tied for 27th with nine others, including notables Lydia Ko and Morgan Pressell. She’s 1 over for the championship after a 76 Friday.

REUNION, Fla. –  Ryan Brehm of Grand Rapids, MI shot a 1-under 71 at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Reunion Resort on Friday to take the lead through three rounds at PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament. The 28-year old was the only player at even par or better through 54 holes and held a one shot lead over Dan McCarthy of Syracuse.

The third round was completed Friday following delays originally caused by thunderstorms on Tuesday. More storms caused a two-hour delay Friday. The fourth round began late Friday evening and will resume at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Eighteen players will earn conditional status on PGA Tour Canada for 2014, with the rest of the top 40 plus ties earning conditional status. Brehm, a Michigan State University grad, was the only player at even par or better through three rounds on the demanding Nicklaus course.

“I got off to a bit of a bad start with a bogey on the first hole, but I kept it together and was able to make enough birdies to keep myself in it,” said Brehm, who made birdie at the par-5 18^th to shoot a 1-under 71 and take the lead through 54 holes. “Anything under par on this course is pretty darn good. You’ve got to use your brain and really play some smart golf.”

The cut-off for exempt status through 54 holes sat at 6-over par, with five players tied for 17^th – a scenario that would produce a five players-for-two spots playoff. The number for conditional status sat at 10-over, with 42 players tied for 35^th or better heading into Saturday.

Toronto’s Christian Westhorpe and Vermillion Bay, Ont.’s Jordan Krantz were the top Canadians, tied for sixth at 4-over, while Baddeck, N.S.’s Peter Campbell was also in position to earn an exempt card. Other Canadians in the top 40 included Essex, Ont.’s David Byrne (T-26, +8) and Thornhill, Ont.’s Mark Hoffman (T-31, +9).

DULUTH, Ga. – Miguel Angel Jimenez’s first round on the Champions Tour went quite well.

After one eagle, five birdies and a tournament record, Jimenez proclaimed “I love it!” and then departed in search of a couple of his usual staples.

So far, life is good for the Spaniard on the 50-and-over tour.

Avoiding a post-Masters letdown, Jimenez shot a 65 on Friday to lead the cold, soggy Greater Gwinnett Championship by three strokes.

“Very good start,” Jimenez said.

“Now it’s time for a nice, warm shower, a nice fat cigar and a glass of Rioja. … I’m desperate to find one of my cigars and have a glass of wine.”

Jimenez, coming off a fourth-place finish in the Masters, was 6 under on his first nine holes, including an eagle on No. 18. He added another birdie on No. 2 and closed with seven straight pars at TPC Sugarloaf.

Bernhard Langer set the previous tournament record with a 66 while winning the 2013 inaugural championship.

Langer, Steve Pate and Kenny Perry are three strokes behind Jimenez.

Perry said he thought Jimenez might have a letdown after his strong finish in Augusta.

“It’s funny, you go from the PGA to the Champions, it’s so much more laid back and relaxed over here,” Perry said. “The atmosphere is different. I actually didn’t know what he’d do today. Honestly, I didn’t think he would shoot 65. I thought he’d be more the other way, after a fourth-place finish, it’d be a letdown this week.

“He’s amazing. He’s fun to watch. He’s a great player.”

The 65 came six days after Jimenez shot the low round of the Masters, a third-round 66.

Jimenez is focused on making the European Ryder Cup team and may have limited time on the Champions Tour this year. Perry, the 2013 player of the year, said Jimenez will be good for the tour.

“Yeah, we need guys like that out here,” Perry said. “I mean, he’s a huge fan favorite. He brings a lot of flair and class to golf and he just has a good time.”

Jimenez tried to sneak through the interview room as Perry was talking with reporters. Perry stopped to call out to Jimenez “Hope to see you tomorrow. Don’t beat us too bad, OK?”

After Jimenez mentioned wine and cigars in his reply, Perry laughed and said “That guy has too much fun.”

Asked if Jimenez might spark a Champions Tour trend with his well-known passions, Perry said: “If it works. If it’s not broke, don’t change it.”

Fred Couples shot a 69, including a double bogey on No. 9, his finishing hole. Jeff Sluman also shot a 69.

Though light rain began soon after the round began and became more intense in the afternoon, there was no delay.

“It was as cold and ugly as you can get,” Langer said. “It never stopped raining on us for two minutes.”

Jimenez said the weather was just a nuisance.

“It’s not easy because all day is wet,” Jimenez said. “Not hard rain but these little things coming and coming, sometimes quicker.”

Pate called his 68 “kind of unexpected” and a product of “smoke and mirrors.” He said he struggled more with the temperatures, which dropped to about 50 by the end of his round, than with the rain.

“At a certain point I just got cold and it was hard to move,” Pate said. “We’re old. We don’t like cold weather.

“This is really not my wheelhouse. I like it when it’s about 95 degrees and I’m sweating.”

Colin Montgomerie was part of a group of four at 70, which included Canada’s Rod Spittle.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – K.J. Choi’s early tee time and quick start moved him to the top of the rain-delayed RBC Heritage on Friday.

Choi shot a 67 to get to 5-under 137, one stroke ahead of Robert Allenby and two in front of a group led by former world No. 1 Luke Donald as the second round was suspended because of heavy storms.

Allenby was among 65 players still on the course when the rain hit Harbour Town Golf Links. Officials delayed the round shortly before 3 p.m. and then sent everyone home until Saturday morning after waiting through about 90 minutes of steady, heavy rain.

Allenby has 13 holes to finish when play resumes Saturday morning.

Donald shot a 69 and joined Billy Hurley III (69) and first-round tri-leader Scott Langley (73) in the clubhouse two shots behind Choi. Bo Van Pelt and Ben Martin were also at 3 under early in their rounds.

Masters contenders Matt Kuchar and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth faltered after their strong starts at Harbour Town.

Kuchar, who tied for fifth last week at the year’s first major, had a pair of double bogeys on his first six holes before the rains came and stood four shots behind Choi.

Spieth, a Masters rookie who tied for second at Augusta National, had a 74 and was at 1-over 143 – good enough to make the projected cut of 4 over, but well off his opening 69.

Choi was four shots back of first-round leaders Kuchar, Langley and William McGirt at the beginning of the day. Based on his recent play, he didn’t figure to make much of a dent in the cool, drizzly conditions.

But Choi had three birdies on the front nine, including one on the difficult, par-4 eighth hole, to get into contention. He caught Kuchar on No. 16, rolling in a 20-footer for birdie.

Choi’s usual schedule had him return home to South Korea after the Masters to help take care of his three children. However, after hearing for years how Harbour Town might suit his game, he decided to play the South Carolina course.

“If you just hit it beneath the trees, it’s a good course to play,” Choi said. “It has very small targets and this course is working well.”

Kuchar, the world’s sixth-ranked player, probably wished the storm had arrived sooner. His tee shot found water on the par-3 fourth hole for a double bogey. He sent his drive out of bounds on No. 6 to drop two more shots.

Kuchar opened with a steady performance – Thursday’s 66 was his lowest career round at Harbour Town – just a few days after contending in the Masters.

He’ll see if he can find that game once play resumes. His bad start didn’t seem to bother him much. He smiled after hitting his provisional drive on the sixth hole, and then talked about the good time he and his family were having at Hilton Head.

“Chasing my youngest around the beach, so had some fun this morning,” Kuchar said. “It’s going to be lots of games and some movies maybe the next couple of days.”

Allenby jumped into second after birdies on the first and second holes and was glad to get out of the inclement weather.

“It’s not fun when it’s blowing 20 miles an hour every different direction and it’s raining at the same time,” he said. “So it was nice get out of there.”

Donald is coming off a disheartening Masters (he shot 79-70 to miss the cut), but he generally plays well at the RBC Heritage. He’s had four top threes in his past five appearances and, with his 69, broke par for the 17th time in his last 22 rounds here.

“It’s a good course for me and my results have certainly showed that in the last few years,” Donald said.

David Hearn was thru 11 holes of his second round and is sitting on the projected cut line of 4-over.

Mike Weir completed his second round – a 74 -and was at 5-over 147.

Stephen Ames only got four holes in on Friday. He’s sitting at 5-over 147 but has plenty of holes left to get below the cut line.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Lee Westwood jumped out to a four-shot lead and Pablo Larrazabal jumped into a water hazard to escape hornets during the Malaysian Open second round on Friday.

Westwood moved closer to ending a two-year winless drought in adding a 6-under-par 66 to his opening round of 65 at Kuala Lumpur Country Club.

However, the action was overshadowed by Larrazabal needing on-course medical attention after being attacked by hornets at the 14th hole, the fifth of his round.

“They were three times the size of bees,” he said. “They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn’t know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I start running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there, so the other players told me to jump in the lake.

“I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off my shoes and jumped in the water. It was the scariest moment of my career, for sure. I’ve never been so scared.”

Larrazabal received medical treatment, including injections, for multiple stings. Then, in putting his shirt back on, the hornets also returned, so he played his last five holes in a borrowed shirt.

Incredibly, he birdied the 14th hole en route to a round of 68 and a share of 25th place on 2 under.

“It looks like I’ll be playing the weekend, so tomorrow it will be very, very scary to play that hole,” Larrazabal said.

In January, he defeated Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy to capture the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Former No. 1 Westwood picked up eight birdies with his only error being a double bogey when he found water guarding the green at the par-three 11th hole.

“On the front nine I shot 5 under for my second day running, and the longest putt I holed was from four feet on the first. It was solid stuff.

“I got a little unlucky at 11, it was one of the best shots I hit all day, and the wind just gusted on me and it came up short in the water. But I rallied after that.”

Antonio Lascuna from the Philippines carded 65 to hold the lead at 9 under before being overtaken by Westwood.

Lascuna has won twice on the Asian Tour, and he shares second place with Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, who has scored 66-69.

Defending champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand was tied with Larrazabal after a pair of 71s.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Angela Stanford shot an 8-under 64 on a wind-swept course to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship on Thursday.

Stanford took the lead early with five birdies in a row on the front nine and finished the day with eight birdies. The best round of the tournament so far left the five-time LPGA Tour winner at 8-under 136.

Stanford said she was just trying to make it through the day.

“Finally, I got comfortable on these greens and it felt great. I mean, to see the ball go in that much is a lot of fun,” the 36-year-old said. “It was nice to see. I needed a round like that.”

Just like the first round, the contenders played day 2 at Ko Olina Golf Club with gusty winds – up to 18 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

“I think it’s more about putting. I hate to admit this, but I don’t always control my trajectory on purpose. It just kind of happens,” Stanford said. “When I get into the wind, and I’ve talked about this with my instructor, for some reason my body just starts moving into the ball more and I tend to keep it lower.”

Hawaii favourite Michelle Wie was one stroke back after a 67 that included five birdies.

Wie hit a birdie on the par-5 13th hole that helped her maintain momentum.

“That putt was really, really, really fast. It was downwind, down grain, downhill and I just barely touched it and I think the crowd rolled that one in for sure,” Wie said. “I thought it lipped out for sure, and it just kind of went around then, and so it was awesome.”

Christie Kerr, a 16-time tour winner, shot a 66 and was tied for third in a group of four at 138. Among them was top-ranked Inbee Park, who shot a 68.

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. got into the red Thursday thanks to a 3-under 69. The University of Alabama grad’s best finish on tour this year was a tie for 36th at the JTBC Founders Cup last month.

Anna Nordqvist, going for her third win of 2014, and 2012 LOTTE champion Ai Miyazato both missed the cut. Canada’s Lorie Kane (+6, 78-72–150), Alena Sharp (+7, 78-73–151), Sue Kim (+8, 78-74–152) and Rebecca Lee-Bentham (+17, 76-85–161) also failed to advance past the 36-hole cut line made at four-over par.

REUNION, Fla. – Baltimore’s Brad Miller and Clark Klaasen of Grand Rapids, MI were the only two players at even par or better when the third round play was suspended due to darkness at PGA Tour Canada’s Florida Qualifying Tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Reunion Resort on Thursday.

Thursday’s play saw the completion of round 2, which was pushed back due to thunderstorms that halted play on Tuesday, and the start of round three in the Qualifying Tournament, which will see 18 players earn exempt status on PGA Tour Canada for 2014, with the rest of the top 40 plus ties earning conditional status.

Once again, windy conditions made the Nicklaus Course a tough test, with just four players – Miller, Dan McCarthy, Evan Beirne and Bruce Woodall, who all shot 1-under 71 – breaking par for the round.

“Anything under par on that course is pretty good regardless of the conditions, so when it’s windy like it has been, it’s really tough out there,” said Miller, a University of Richmond grad. “Even when you had a downwind hole, it was hard to hold the green, let alone get it close to the hole.”

The demanding conditions were reflected in the scores of the field, which averaged 78.07 over the first two days. Zero players have broken 70 for the week, with the cut-off number for exempt status sitting at 4-over and conditional status at 8-over through 36 holes.

Third round play is set to resume Friday at 8 a.m., with Klaasen, Miller and Ryan Brehm set to go off in the final group at 11:49 a.m.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – There were no major letdowns for Masters contenders Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.

Kuchar, who tied for fifth at Augusta National, shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to share the first-round lead with Scott Langley and William McGirt.

The 20-year-old Spieth tied for second behind Bubba Watson last Sunday and continued his strong play with a 69, part of a large group tied for fifth at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Kuchar and Spieth both spent much of Sunday in the pressure cooker that is the Masters’ final round. But neither player allowed any lingering disappointment or fatigue from a grueling week to slow them down here.

“I was anxious to get back out and play another competitive round,” Spieth said. “So today was going to be kind of therapy, in a sense, from last week.”

Langley and McGirt each had five birdies on the front nine to match Kuchar.

Harris English was two shots behind after a 68 before Spieth topped a group of 15 another stroke back. In all, 54 competitors shot par or better despite the gusts of 20 mph that swept through the course much of the round.

Spieth, who tied with fellow Masters rookie Jonas Blixt for second last week, didn’t consider withdrawing at Harbour Town, convinced of the benefits of quickly getting back to work.

It was also a get-to-know-you session for Spieth, who was paired with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson and 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III.

“It was unbelievable just to be playing with them,” Spieth said.

For Kuchar, playing was a no-brainer considering the strong run he’s been on the past month or so.

He tied for fourth at the Texas Open three weeks ago and lost in a playoff at the Houston Open a week later right before the Masters.

And Kuchar understands being focused at the Masters can mean being zoned in at Harbour Town.

“You’re going to see a lot of guys, if they’re not too run down from a major championship, come out and play some pretty good golf the week following.”

Kuchar played with confidence and precision, avoiding the winds when possible and playing to the meatiest parts of the smallish greens.

After starting on the back nine, Kuchar birdied both the par 5 holes on the front side before finishing with a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, to shoot in the 60s for the sixth time in his past 11 rounds here.

“It was some awfully steady golf,” he said.

Langley, with his early birdie run, looked as if he might finish on top alone after a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th moved him to 6 under. But Langley wound up in the scrub along the 18th green and took bogey to fall into the three-way tie for first.

Langley has missed seven cuts this season, including his past two tournaments. But he felt confident in his game and took motivation from his friend Spieth’s run at a green jacket last week.

“Seeing Jordan do so well, almost win the Masters, inspired me a little bit,” Langley said.

McGirt played in the same group with Langley and matched his partner with five front-nine birdies. He chipped in on the par-3 17th to move up into the tie for first.

“Scott and I were both making birdies left and right,” McGirt said. “It was easy to feed off each other.”

On the Canadian front, Stephen Ames and Mike Weir opened with 2-over-par 73s to share 77th spot, while David Hearn carded a 76.

Carlsbad, Calif. – The adidas Group has appointed TaylorMade-adidas Golf CEO Mark King as President of adidas Group North America effective June 1, 2014. In his new role, King will be in charge of all adidas and Reebok operations in the North American market.  Together with adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer, King will continue overseeing the TaylorMade-adidas Golf business and will serve on an Advisory Board for the company.  Ben Sharpe, currently Executive Vice President of adidas Golf and Ashworth, will become the new CEO of TaylorMade–adidas Golf, reporting into Herbert Hainer.

“Mark King’s appointment underlines our clear commitment to the North American market-place”, says Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group. “Mark has a proven track record of success and leadership excellence. In turn, TaylorMade-adidas Golf is in best hands with Ben Sharpe who has been part of the successful TaylorMade leadership team since 2006. I am convinced that Ben will lead our golf business into the next era of growth.”

King started at TaylorMade in the early 1980s as sales representative. Under his leadership TaylorMade–adidas Golf has become the largest and most profitable golf company in the world, when King was appointed President in 1999 the business was $349 million (€327million) and has seen significant growth to $1.7 billion (€1.3 billion) in 2013. King has been named the industry executive of the year, former chairman of the National Golf Foundation, Founder of Hack Golf and most recently appointed to the PGA of America task force.  King will continue his involvement in Hack Golf and remain on the PGA of America task force.

Ben Sharpe (40) currently holds the position of Executive Vice President of adidas Golf and Ashworth. Prior to that role, Sharpe spent six years as TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s Managing Director in Europe, where his work doubled the company’s business and made it the largest and most successful golf company in the region. Sharpe is also an acclaimed athlete, having represented Great Britain at the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games as a member of the country’s field hockey team.

“Ben’s business savvy, vision, charisma and competitive drive make him the right man to lead TaylorMade-adidas Golf into the future,” said King. “My role on the board will allow me to stay connected with the golf business while focusing my efforts on ensuring adidas Group reaches its full potential in North America.”

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – South Korea’s Se Ri Pak, Hyo Joo Kim and So Yeon Ryu each shot a 4-under 68 on Wednesday for a three-way tie atop the leaderboard after a breezy first round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship.

Winless in 2013, Pak played the back nine in 2-under 34 in her afternoon round. She had birdies on the par-5 13th and par-4 17th, to go along with an eagle on the par-5 5th.

Kim, the 2012 China Ladies Open champion, had five birdies. She had her only bogey on her final hole of the day on the par-4 9th.

“Except for the very final hole here, the putting in general was really good for the day, so I was really happy,” Kim said.

Ryu, the 2012 LPGA Rookie of the Year, got off to a nice start in her morning round. She birdied three of the first five holes, teeing off from the front nine into the wind. She finished with five birdies and one bogey.

Ryu said she was able to clear her mind with a week off after a bad result at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, where she tied for 46th.

“I really don’t think about score or my performance. I just focus on the present, not worry about any (potentially) difficult holes,” Ryu said.

Japan’s Ayako Uehara was one stroke back.

The field of 144 starters contended with winds gusting about 20 mph throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service.

Top-ranked Inbee Park shot a 2-under 70 and was tied for fifth.

“I got off to a really good start today. Obviously, the wind wasn’t blowing as hard for my first five holes,” Park said. “The greens seem a little bit more slippery and I had troubles on the back nine controlling the distance. You have to have perfect contact to ride the wind.”

Local favorite Michelle Wie had a 70 after carding a bogey on her first hole.

“It was quite windy out there today,” Wie said. “Just started off with bogey, but just kind of hung in there. I just was patient all day today. It felt good.”

Wie returns to her hometown after a runner-up finish at the first major championship of the season, the Kraft Nabisco at Mission Hills.

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. got off to a great start Wednesday, opening with an even-par 72 to sit tied for 14th.