Amateur Team Canada

Jennifer Ha boosts Kent State to runner up finish at SunTrust Gator

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Jennifer Ha (Golf Canada)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Team Canada National Team member and Kent State junior, Jennifer Ha, shot a 216 (74-69-73) to finish in a tie for fifth Sunday at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Invite.

Ha, a Calgary native, was one of four Golden Flashes to crack the top 20. She was joined by Natalie Goodson (+5), Erin Hawe (+9) and Wad Phaewchimplee (+10). The individual leader and medalist was Daniela Darquea of Miami University.

Collectively, Kent State finished just one stroke back of Arizona to sit second overall. The Arizona Wildcats carded a 5-over 285 on Sunday’s final round to come from behind for the win.

The Golden Flashes will tee-it-up again in two weeks at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tuscon, Ariz.

For full results, click here.

Champions Tour

Fred Couples wins Toshiba Classic

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Fred Couples (Getty Images)

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Fred Couples won the Toshiba Classic on Sunday for his 10th Champions Tour title, birdieing the final two holes for a one-stroke victory.

The 54-year-old Couples closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 15-under 198 at Newport Beach Country Club. Also the 2010 winner, he made a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th and holed another 4-footer on the par-5 18th.

Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Steve Pate tied for second. Langer had a chance to force a playoff, but missed a long birdie try on 18 and settled for a 70.

Montgomerie had a 62, the best round of the week, and Pate shot a 66.

St. Catharines, Ont. native Rod Spittle finished 5-under and tied for 45th. Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C. was 8-over and tied for 76th.

Richard T. Lee wins Asian Tour’s Solaire Open

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Richard T Lee (Asian Tour)

Canlubang, Manila – Canada’s Richard T. Lee claimed a sensational comeback victory Sunday at the Solaire Open.

Lee, a Toronto native, overcame a four-shot deficit in the final round thanks to a 2-under-par 69 at The Country Club. The 23-year old finished 7-under par and defeated Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol by a single shot to win his first Asian Tour title and a $54,000 (U.S.) winner’s cheque.

Overnight leader Angelo Que was on track to pick up his fourth Asian Tour win before disaster struck on the par-five second hole. He made  a 7-over-par 12 after hitting three out-of-bound tee shots.

Carlos Pigem of Spain shot a 69 and finished third at 5-under. Steve Lewton of England, Paul Peterson of the U.S. and Masahiro Kawamura of Japan tied for fourth at 4-under.

“This win means so much to me and it opens so many doors,” said Lee. “To be honest, I felt like I was in contention for the first three days. I shot under-par each day and I knew that if I could came out on the last day to play the way I did then I would have a chance to win. I’m glad I did just that.”

Lee, whose parents are Korean, was ecstatic with his maiden victory after enjoying a solid rookie season on the Asian Tour in 2013 where he finished 32nd on the Order of Merit.  However, there was a sense of disappointment as he had to watch his good friend Que walk away empty handed.

“It was a learning experience for me on the Asian Tour last year. I met some great people like Angelo Que, Unho Park and Lam Chih Bing. They are good players and I learned a lot from them. I wished Angelo luck yesterday and told him to play his best. It was unfortunate to see what happened to him,” added Lee.

PGA Tour

John Senden rallies late to win at Innisbrook

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
John Senden (Sam Greenwood/ Getty Images)

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – More than seven years without a victory. A trip to Augusta National riding on the outcome. A three-way tie for the lead going into a daunting three-hole closing stretch called “The Snake Pit” on the Copperhead course of Innisbrook.

John Senden was trying to keep his mind off all of that Sunday in the Valspar Championship.

The finish will be hard for him to forget.

Senden chipped in for birdie from 70 feet on the 16th hole, one of only two birdies in the final round at the toughest hole on the course. He followed that with a 20-foot birdie putt to build a two-shot lead, then made it tough for Kevin Na to catch him with perfect pace on a 40-foot putt on the 18th that left him only a tap-in for par.

Senden closed with a 1-under 70 and had enough strength left to hoist a trophy he said felt like 50 pounds.

“I didn’t turn my phone on because I know there’s going to be 4,000 messages,” Senden said. “It feels good to do it again after seven years. Lot of good things to come.”

One of them is next month – the Masters.

The 42-year-old Australian was No. 123 in the world and his only hope of returning to Augusta National for a third straight year was to win. That didn’t look likely after opening with rounds of 71-72, leaving him in the middle of the pack. He had a bogey-free 64 on Saturday to get back into contention, then closed it off on a wild and windy final round with Innisbrook as tough as it had been all week.

“If I could just stay in the moment, I knew I was swinging well enough to give it a shake,” Senden said.

Na recovered from an atrocious finish to his front nine – including a double bogey when he missed a 3-foot putt – to make it interesting. He nearly drove into the water on the 16th and escaped with par. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th to get within one shot. But his pitching wedge out of the first cut of rough on the 18th hole sailed long, and 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff never came close.

Na closed with a 72 and finished one shot behind.

“I knew coming into today that I felt like if I shot par I had a chance to win,” Na said. “If I break par, I felt like it was going to be a lock.”

He did neither, though his runner-up finish was his best PGA Tour result since he won in Las Vegas toward the end of the 2011 season. And there were no issues with pace of play that brought Na the wrong kind of attention – again – on Saturday.

Senden finished at 7-under 277, the third straight tournament on the Florida swing won with a single-digit score under par.

Scott Langley, hitting superb shots to account for the wind, didn’t hit a green over the final four holes and still managed to save par on three of them. The one bogey on the 16th hole, when he went long of the green from the middle of the fairway, proved costly.

Langley was the only player who shot par or better all four days. He closed with a 70 to finish alone in third.

Robert Garrigus started the final round with a one-shot lead, and that didn’t last long. His tee shot on the third hole bounced off a lawn chair and against a tree, leading to a double bogey. He made another double bogey on No. 6 and went out in 41. And he went 26 holes without a birdie. By the time he made a birdie, it was too late. Garrigus, now 0-4 with at least a share of the 54-hole lead, had a 75 to tie for fourth at 4 under.

“I know what I’m not going to be doing next year – fishing,” said Garrigus, who figures he caught three dozen large-mouth bass this week. “I’m going to bring a damn chain saw out to the place and cut a few trees down. I kept hitting it behind them all day. I just didn’t get any breaks.”

Will MacKenzie ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and closed with a 69. He tied for fourth with Luke Donald (70) and Garrigus.

Justin Rose had five bogeys over seven holes in the middle of his round and shot 74, a disappointing day for the world’s No. 7 player who had started the final round just three shots out of the lead. In a fitting end, he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on his last hole.

Senden last won a tournament at Royal Sydney at the end of 2006 in the Australian Open. Earlier that year, he picked up his first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic. He didn’t imagine going more than seven years until his next win.

“It’s something that makes you believe more than you can get it done again, rather than just once and thinking back then in `06, `Was it a flash in the pan?’ I don’t believe so,” Senden said. “But now it makes me feel (validated) from the John Deere.”

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. both had top-10 finishes. The pair finished tied for eighth at 2-under par 282. DeLaet jumped 30 spots up the leaderboard Sunday thanks to a 3-under 68. Sang-Moon Bae (67) was the only player with a better final round.

Stephen Ames of Calgary finished 7-over par and tied for 65th spot.

Jon Curran wins Web.com Tour’s Brazil Champions

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Jon Curran (Getty Images)

SAO PAULO – Jon Curran completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Web.com Tour’s Brazil Champions, closing with a 2-under 69 to beat Alex Cejka by four strokes.

Curran finished at 25-under 259 at Sao Paulo Golf Club and earned $144,000 for his first Web.com Tour title in only his fourth start. The 27-year-old former Vanderbilt player opened with a course-record 61 and added rounds of 64 and 65.

“I kept thinking to myself all day that I wasn’t nervous, I was just anxious,” said Curran, who led by four at the start of the day. “I said to myself that it was going to be OK if I wasn’t in the lead at some point, I just wanted to have a chance on the back nine.”

Cejka, the winner of the season-opening Colombia Championship last month, also shot a 69. He earned $86,400 to push his total to $221,400, more than enough to wrap a spot next season on the PGA Tour.

Ash Hall was another stroke back after a 70.

Curran, from Hopkinton, Mass., had a tour-record eight consecutive birdies in first round, had the second-lowest 36-hole score in tour history at 125, matched the lowest 54-hole mark at 190 and tied for fifth-best total.

“Somebody once said that you’re going to face something in the final round that you haven’t faced all week,” he said. “The guys who win deal with it and the guys that don’t, don’t win.”

Toronto’s Albin Choi lead the Canadians this week, finishing tied for 26th at 10-under 274.

Adam Hadwin followed up his first Web.Com Tour win last week with a tie for 65th this week. The Abbotsford, B.C. native finished with a 4-under 280.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. was a stroke back of Hadwin at 3-under 281. He finished tied for 68th.

DP World Tour

Canizares wins Trophee Hassan II title in Morocco

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Alejandro Canizares (Stuart Franklin/ Getty Images)

AGADIR, Morocco – Alejandro Canizares of Spain completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Trophee Hassan II by shooting a 2-under 70 in the final round Sunday for a five-stroke win.

Leading after all four rounds, Canizares made six birdies and dropped four shots for a 19-under 269 total.

“Golf is such a special game because I came here a little depressed about my game,” Canizares told the European Tour website. “It wasn’t on. I wasn’t hitting the ball well, I wasn’t putting well. And after 10 minutes practicing with my coach and 30 minutes practicing with a putting coach, it just clicked and it just felt so natural, so easy. I felt like the golf course was easy for me.”

Andy Sullivan was second after shooting the lowest score of the day. The Englishman had 10 birdies and a bogey for a 63.

Magnus Carlsson of Sweden carded a 68 to share third place with Seve Benson of England (71) at 276.

Canizares won the Russian Open in 2006 and tied for fifth place at the Qatar Masters in January.

“It’s been a long time since the last win,” Canizares said. “It felt like it was never coming but this week I played great, some of the best golf of my career. I hit good shot after good shot and kept my focus.”

Canizares went into the final round with a six-stroke lead. He birdied the 12th hole to extend his lead to eight strokes. The Spaniard had a such a comfortable cushion that he could even afford a double bogey on the final hole.

“I was very accurate and solid with my irons,” Canizares said. “I left myself lots of chances and although I did not make all of them, the first day was the key. I putted great the first day, shot 10 under and just kept pushing on.”

Sullivan started the final round in 15th place. But he holed seven birdies on the back nine for his best result this season since a fifth-place finish at the Joburg Open in February.

Champions Tour

Langer takes lead into final round of Toshiba Classic

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Bernhard Langer

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Bernhard Langer maintained a two-stroke lead Saturday in the Champions Tour’s Toshiba Classic, making four birdies in a late five-hole stretch for a 5-under 66.

Langer, the 2008 winner, had a 13-under 129 total at Newport Beach Country Club. The 56-year-old German won the season-opening event in Hawaii in January for his 19th victory on the 50-and-over tour.

Kenny Perry and Chien Soon Lu were tied for second. Perry made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th for a 65, and Lu shot 66.

Fred Couples, Scott Dunlap, Esteban Toledo and Jeff Hart were 10 under.

Langer opened with a birdie, then made his first bogey of the tournament on his next hole. He added two more birdies on the front nine but also had another bogey.

On the back nine, Langer birdied Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 17. One of his birdies came after he hit son Jason in the gallery on his approach shot. Langer then chipped to 10 feet and made the birdie putt.

Perry also had a strange incident. On No. 9, he tried to cut the corner on the dogleg right and caught a palm tree about 37 yards from the tee box. Fortunately, the ball fell to the side of the tree. Perry hit a 4-iron layup, followed by a 9-iron to 4 feet and made the putt for par.

Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson made a 30-foot eagle putt on the final hole for 63, tied for the best round of the day. It was the first time on the Champions Tour the 64-year-old Watson has bettered his age on the tour. He was tied for 12th at 8 under.

Rod Spittle is tied for 37th at 4-under, while Jim Rutledge is 81st at 11-over.

PGA Tour

Garrigus lead down to 1 shot at Innisbrook

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Robert Garrigus (Sam Greenwood /Getty Images)

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Robert Garrigus missed two short putts on the back nine and had to settle for a 1-under 70 and a one-shot lead Saturday in the Valspar Championship.

Garrigus opened with back-to-back birdies and stretched his lead to four shots through five holes. But he missed a 4-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and ended his round by missing a 3-foot par putt on the 18th.

He was at 8-under 205, one shot ahead of Kevin Na.

Na received a bad time on the 13th tee, and was so deliberate that the final group was two holes behind along the back nine.

John Senden shot a 64 and moved up 32 spots into third, only two behind. Justin Rose had a 69 and was three behind.

Canada’s David Hearn (71-70-70) is 2-under and is tied for 11th heading into the final round.

Graham DeLaet is tied for 38th (75-68-71) at 1-over with 10 players including Stephen Ames (72-70-72).

DP World Tour

Canizares fires 69 for 6-shot lead in Morocco

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Alejandro Canizares (Stuart Franklin/ Getty Images)

AGADIR, Morocco – Alejandro Canizares of Spain extended his lead to six strokes in the third round of the Trophee Hassan II after shooting a 3-under 69 on Saturday.

Leading since the first round, Canizares made four birdies and a bogey. He’s at 17-under 199 heading into the final round.

Seve Benson of England remained in second place despite carding a 74. He holed four birdies to offset three bogeys and a triple bogey.

Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands climbed to third, one stroke behind Benson, by firing a bogey-free 67.

“It was tough today, especially on the front nine. The pins were difficult to get close to and some even difficult to two-putt,” Canizares said. “My idea was to get to 20 under, that was my focus. I was trying to look forward all the time, not behind me.”

Canizares won his only European Tour title at the Russian Open in 2006. He tied for fifth at the Qatar Masters in January.

Benson dropped three shots on the 12th hole by finding a bunker off the tee before sending his recovery shot into the water.

“I struggled just to get the ball pin-high,” Benson said. “I was happy with the way I came back with five or six holes to go, so there are positives going into tomorrow.”

The 2011 winner David Horsey of England (72) shared fourth at 208 with compatriot Paul Waring (67), Shiv Kapur of India (67), Robert Karlsson (70) and Magnus Carlsson (72) of Sweden.

PGA Tour

Garrigus builds a 3 shot lead at Innisbrook

temp fix empty alt images for attachment
Robert Garrigus (Sam Greenwood /Getty Images)

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Robert Garrigus can’t recall a better performance going into the weekend. And his golf has been pretty good, too.

Garrigus spent most of the practice days fishing in the lakes of Innisbrook, catching nearly three dozen bass. As for his day job, he bagged 10 birdies over two days and delivered the best score of the tournament, a 5-under 66 on Friday, to build a three-shot lead in the Valspar Championship.

His only other PGA Tour victory was a little more than an hour away at Disney, and Garrigus offered a simple explanation.

“It’s the fishing,” he said.

Garrigus didn’t play a single practice round the year he won Disney. He arrived at Innisbrook on Monday and fished that evening, most of Tuesday and then for about five hours Wednesday without ever looking at the Copperhead course.

“I think that puts me in a good frame of mind because I’m clear and not thinking about anything, just going out and having some fun,” he said.

His golf has been plenty fun.

Garrigus, one of the longest hitters in golf, has made birdie on all of the par 5s both rounds. That has contributed mightily to being at 7-under 135, three shots clear of Kevin Na going into a weekend with a Masters spot potentially up for grabs.

Only five of the top 22 on the leaderboard already are eligible for the Masters.

Na had a 68, while the group four shots behind included Pat Perez (71), Matteo Manassero (70) and Justin Rose (68), who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7. Matt Every shot a 71 in the afternoon and joined them at 3-under 139.

The three-shot lead is the largest through 36 holes in the 14-year history of this tournament.

Garrigus is about the only player who has made it look easy, even though he felt as stressed as anyone on the Copperhead course, regarded by many as perhaps the best tournament course in Florida.

Even though the weather was close to perfect _ only a breeze in warm sunshine _ only 17 players broke 70.

John Daly was not among them. He was struggling with what he called the yips with his putter when he got to the 16th hole. Daly put three shots in the water, shanked a 7-iron, duffed a chip into the bunker and made a 12. With a double bogey on the last hole, he shot a 90, the highest score of his PGA Tour career.

David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., sat in a tie for 12th at 1-under par, while Calgary’s Stephen Ames (70) was in a group at 22nd at even par.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 68 to improve on his first-round score of 75 to jump into a tie for 35th at 1 over. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., did not make the cut.

For all his birdies, Garrigus was especially satisfied with one par.

He pulled his tee shot well left on the 16th hole, the most dangerous tee shot at Innisbrook. The ball went deep into the pines, and Garrigus decided to take on a tiny gap in the trees with a 5-iron.

“I probably hit one of the top-five shots of my life there on 16 out of the trees,” he said. “Hit a low, cut 5-iron, then rose it up over the pine tree and cut it 40 yards and hit to 10 feet. That’s just one of those shots that when you’re playing good and everything is rolling, you kind of expect it. It was a lot of fun to try it, and to pull it off was even better. I’ve spent half my life in the trees. I’ve had a lot of practice.”

He missed the putt, but was more than happy with par.

As for the rest of the golf course, he picked up another birdie on the par-3 15th with a long putt, and one on the par-4 ninth with a 20-foot birdie down the hill.

Rose feels as if his shoulder injury is in the past, except for answering questions about it. He loves the Florida swing because the courses demand so many different shots, and Innisbrook might require the most.

The U.S. Open champion was struggling in the first round until he finished birdie-birdie to salvage a 71. He carried that momentum into the second round, and despite a bogey on No. 6 from being out of position off the tee, and a soft bogey on the par-3 eighth, he felt much better ending with a birdie.

“I got some momentum going today,” Rose said. “I worked my way into the tournament early. To finish strong with my round yesterday I think helped give me some momentum into day. … It’s exactly how I needed to flow into the tournament.”

Perez was the first player to reach 5 under for the tournament until he missed two drives well to the left. One was in the trees at No. 6, the other went out of bounds on No. 7. Both led to double bogeys, though Perez didn’t get down on himself.

“Just move on and keep going,” he said.