CALEDON, Ontario—Although cool and overcast all day, players at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Heathlands Course experienced very little wind, and the scores reflected that in the Canada Life Series’ season finale. Amateur Laurent Desmarchais fired an opening, 9-under 62 to take the lead, and five others were 65 or better during what turned out to be ideal scoring conditions in the first round. They include the 64 shooters Joey Savoie and Brendan Leonard and a trio at 65—amateur Jordan Crampton, Blair Bursey and Tanvir Kahlon.

Nobody, though, was better than Desmarchais on Wednesday. The member of Golf Canada’s Junior Boy’s Squad has played in all three previous Canada Life Series tournaments, making the cut each week. Desmarchais’ tie for 10th in the season-opener remains his best finish. His opening 68 that week was his best 18-hole score until he dismantled the Heathlands Course with his eight-birdie, one-eagle, one-bogey 62 in round one.

Desmarchais, currently the 314th-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, made things look easy.

“Honestly, I just didn’t miss a shot out there. I started with an eagle and got some momentum there, and just kept hitting good shots and making putts,” the Longueuil, Quebec, native explained after his round. “After I turned in 29, I thought maybe there was a chance to shoot 59, but I bogeyed 11. After that, I just focused on hitting a few more good shots and bounced back with a birdie on the next hole.”

The birdie barrage slowed down after that, with his final birdie of the day coming at the par-5 16th. No other mistakes gave him the dream start to fourth and final Canada Life Series tournament.

“I want to win,” Desmarchais said matter-of-factly. “Every time I play in an event, I want to try and win, and so hopefully I can keep playing well and give myself a chance to win this week.” He certainly did.

Desmarchais will have to hold off a contingent of 17 players within four shots of the lead with 36 holes to play.

One eagle. Eight birdies. One bogey.

All in a day's work for Laurent Desmarchais to take the #CanadaLifeSeries lead ? pic.twitter.com/vDxkxM97Li

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) September 9, 2020

Three players still have a shot at winning the overall points title, with Cao (first) and Pistorius (second) both distancing themselves from No. 3 Evan Holmes, who could only muster an even-par 71. Holmes is tied for 65th and will have to turn things around Thursday to make the cut. Cao and Pistorius both shot 67s and are tied for 19th. For Cao, it was a case of what might have been. He was 8-under through 16 holes after a birdie on the par-5. Cao gave back half of his gains for the day when he made consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 for a disappointing close to his day.

Getting off to a fast start is nothing new for Leonard. At last week’s Canada Life Series tournament, also at TPC Toronto, Leonard fired an opening 66 followed by a 2-under 69 that left him tied for the lead with Cao and Andrew J. Funk with a round to play. Leonard closed with a 75 that left him tied for ninth. He seemingly forgot about that frustrating final round, although it took him a while to get going. Playing the Heathlands Course’s back nine first, Leonard made two birdies and two bogeys to turn at even-par. He then turned it on, making four consecutive birdies—and seven total—over his final nine to shoot a 29, matching the low nine-hole score of the Series (Blair Bursey in the third round of the second Bear Mountain tournament).

“Funny enough, I switched my putting grip through six holes and kind of went off after that on the back nine,” said Leonard, who went with the claw grip for his final 12 holes. “It was perfect with no wind and easy to take advantage of it out there. I decided it was worth a change and it worked out.”

CALEDON, Ontario—Albert Pistorius made it look easy as he quickly broke away from the logjam of three other players tied atop the leaderboard when the final round of the Canada Life Series at TPC Toronto: Heathlands Course event began. Pistorius eagled his first hole of the day and birdied the third to quickly move to 10-under. As it turned out, Pistorius would need all those strokes.

The South Africa native who lives in Calgary was 4-over the rest of the way but that blazing start allowed him to win the third Canada Life Series tournament by a stroke over Andrew J. Funk, Callum Davison and Points List leader Yi Cao. The victory earned Pistorius 500 points, a $9,000 first-place payday and, most importantly, his first professional victory.

It was a battle late in the round, as wind blew strong and often on a crisp late-summer day. With the final grouping of Pistorius, Cao and Funk all tied at 8-under through 15 holes and Davison playing ahead, also at 8-under, it came down to who could make a putt down the stretch. As it turned out, it was Pistorius, at the par-5 16th, when he made his final birdie of the day—from eight feet. Meanwhile, the other three players all had late bogeys coming in, giving Pistorius the cushion he needed to bogey No. 18 and still walk away with the title.

“There were a lot of thoughts out there just barging into your mind, and you just have to keep focused on what you’re trying to do,” Pistorius said of both the pressure and the elements, not necessarily in that order. “It’s exhausting. With the wind swirling, it wasn’t easy out there today. Some of it was like a three-club wind.”

The weather took its toll on the field, and the leaders were not exempt. Davison shot himself out after he made back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16. Funk bogeyed the par-3 17th to end his chances, and Cao bogeyed No. 16. After their bogeys, the trio could make nothing but pars.

“Today being such a difficult day, it’s extra sweet to be able to win. It was so tough to choose clubs. Some of the pins were tucked way back, and it was hard to get it close, especially on the back nine,” explained Pistorius, who put playing professional golf seven years ago. When his then-wife took a job in Calgary, Pistorius moved with her and began working at Pinebrook Golf and Country Club as a teaching pro. His decision to give tournament golf another try turned out to be a good one.

With a two-shot lead standing on the 18th tee, Pistorius split the fairway on his drive. On his full-wedge second shot, he caught the downslope on the green just in front of the cup, and the ball rolled away, leaving himself a 30-footer back up the hill. Pistorius misjudged the distance on his birdie effort and rolled his putt seven feet past the hole. With no scoreboards on the course, Pistorius was a little unsure where he stood against the field. He missed that putt, settling for bogey.

“On the last hole, I three-putted and thought I was going to be in a playoff,” Pistorius admitted. “It was just nice to know I didn’t have to go through that. I would have loved to show a little more emotion on 18, but I’m just glad that I got the win.

“This is my first win as a professional,” he added, “so I have to go home and think about this. It hasn’t really come to my mind that I’ve won. I’m pretty sure it will sink in a little later.

CALEDON, Ontario—Four players—Andrew J. Funk, Brendan Leonard, Canada Life Series Points Standings leader Yi Cao and Albert Pistorius—are jammed at the top of the leaderboard with one round left in the Canada Life Series tournament at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Heathlands Course. Lest you think the winner will come from that group, a bevy of other players are within shouting distance and will have plenty to say who lifts the trophy Friday afternoon.

Amateur Garrett Rank is only a stroke back, while the trio of Aaron Crawford, David Byrne and JJ Regan are two behind. Friday is shaping up as a battle as the Series completes its third of four tournaments.

Leonard wasn’t doing much with his round when he got things revved up.

Shifting from calling games to making birdies? No problem for NHL ref Garrett Rank.

He's one off the lead heading into the final round at the #CanadaLifeSeries. pic.twitter.com/2ocq6Y7jeu

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) September 4, 2020

“I made a nice eagle on No. 1. I had 217 (yards) to the pin and hit 5-iron, and I was right on it,” Leonard said of his quick start to his back nine that gave a jolt to his day. “I was 1-over going into that, so it flipped pretty quickly once I eagled there, and I hit it pretty close on the next.” Leonard followed that 3-under streak with another birdie at his 15th hole before closing with a disappointing bogey at the par-5 ninth, his 18th hole that, in retrospect, would have given him the outright lead. There’s nothing to hang his head about, though. The par-5 played .231 strokes over par Thursday as wind continued to wreak havoc on players’ strategy.

“It’s just staying patient, and that’s all I did out there,” Leonard added.

Cao, winner of the previous event at Bear Mountain and the first-round leader, found the going a bit more treacherous during his second tour of the Heathlands Course. Cao could never get out of neutral, playing the front nine in 1-under and the back nine in 1-over, with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 before he parred out. Like every other player, the British Columbia resident who is a native of China, battled the wind.

“I think the most-important thing about the wind out here is just how wide open it is, especially on the greens. The tee shots don’t bother me as much, but it makes the greens pretty tough to read. I was struggling a little bit on the greens.”

Even tied for the lead, Cao smiled at the prospect of going for two wins in a row.

“I just love playing out here, and I love the position that I’m in [Friday],” he added.

Pistorius had the round of the day, a 64 that moved him up 37 places on the leaderboard. His clean scorecard showed no bogeys and birdies on Nos. 1, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15 and 16. Funk only had one bogey to go with five birdies.

Rank is also more than satisfied with his position with 18 holes to play. “I got off to a nice start. The wind was kind of down for the first five or six holes. I hit some nice shots and made some nice putts,” Rank explained. “I didn’t finish as strong as I would have liked, but I’m in a good spot.”

CALEDON, Ontario—Two weeks ago, Yi Cao won the second Canada Life Series tournament in Langford, B.C., and in the process he moved to the top of the Canada Life Series Points Standings. He certainly likes his position and doesn’t seem to be interested in relinquishing his status as the Series’ top player. Wednesday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Heathlands Course, the native of China who moved to Canada during his teenage years, fired an opening-round, 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Tyson Turchanski. A quartet of players, Derek Gillespie, Brendan Leonard, Blair Bursey and JJ Regan are at 5-under with 36 holes to play.

Cao is still smiling not only about his solid first-round play and his win two weeks ago but the trajectory of his career and how quickly things changed once the Canada Life Series began.

“With little playing opportunities this year, I was thinking about quitting golf to pursue another career,” Cao said. “The Canada Life Series literally changed my life, and with four events I really can’t ask for anything more.”

Wednesday, under rainy, gloomy but warm conditions that gave way to sunshine later in the day, Cao began quickly on the Heathlands Course’s back nine. He birdied his first two holes of the day then remained in neutral the remainder of his opening nine, making seven consecutive pars. He got things going after the turn, with three consecutive birdies and four in five holes. Cao’s lone bogey of the day came at No. 7, but he atoned for that with closing birdies on his final two holes.

Even after one round, Cao, a winner on PGA TOUR China-Series in addition to his breakthrough Canada Life Series triumph, is not necessarily thinking ahead.

“I try not to think about the benefits of winning the Canada Life Series,” Cao said of what’s afforded the Points Standings champion—conditional 2021 Mackenzie Tour status and a start in the 2021 RBC Canadian Open. “The most important thing for me is to stay positive and accept the result.”

Turchanski had a clean scorecard Wednesday, with six birdies—three on each TPC Toronto nine. He couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start as he birdied the first three holes of the tournament. Turchanski also closed in style, making a pair of birdies at Nos. 17 and 18.

Bursey, a former Utah Valley University golfer, joined the group at 5-under but looked like he might even hold the lead the way things were going on his opening nine and as he made the turn. Yet after making birdies on his 10th, 11th and 12th holes of the day (TPC Toronto’s Nos. 1-3), Bursey made six consecutive pars as he stalled at 5-under.

“I think the biggest thing for me is my coach and I were working on some stuff that would help long-term, and I’m just trying to get comfortable with those changes,” said Bursey, who seemed plenty at ease in the opening round. “I want to see how it maybe changes my approach, mostly in terms of hitting it farther.”

LANGFORD, B.C.—Beginning the day with a five-shot lead, Yi Cao, a Delta, B.C., resident by way of China, let everybody in the field at Bear Mountain Golf & Tennis Resort Community’s Valley Course know he wouldn’t be taking his foot off the gas. Cao birdied his first hole of the final round, shot a closing 66 and was completely dominant for all 54 holes as he won the Canada Life Series at Bear Mountain: Valley Course event by a whopping eight strokes over Joey Savoie and Albert Pistorius. Cao was bogey-free Wednesday, with his 66 his best score of the week. The 29-year-old walked away with the $9,000 first-place check, and he also took over the lead on the Points List, picking up 500 points for the win.

Cao has been the best player through the Series’ first two weeks, never shooting an over-par round during his six tours around Bear Mountain’s two courses, with a win and a tie for third in two weeks’ work. He was a combined 17-under in the two tournaments.

“The biggest event I’ve won was on PGA TOUR (Series)-China, but I have never won going into the final round with a lead. On PGA TOUR China, I started eight shots back, so this was a new and fun experience,” said Cao, recalling the final-round 63 he shot to win the 2018 Chongqing Championship.

The key to victory for the native of Beijing was his ability to conquer the Valley Course’s four par-5s. He played them in 9-under for the week. He gave a first-round signal that the par-5s was where he would do his damage, making birdie on all four par-5s. He birdied the 12th hole all three days, and, naturally, he put a bow on his triumph by making a birdie at the tournament’s closing hole, the par-5 18th.

“My strategy on the par-5s was to just keep my ball in play the first tee shot, and then if I have a good chance to reach the green I’ll go for it. Otherwise I would stay back and play for the green in three shots,” Cao added. “Luckily my putter worked.”

Although Savoie was never in contention, he helped himself considerably with his closing 64 that was, like Cao’s round, bogey-free. Savoie, making his Canada Life Series debut after skipping last week’s tournament, began the day tied for 17th and, like Pistorius, earned 245 points and $3,375 with his runner-up performance.

“It feels good. I didn’t shoot under-par until today. I felt like I made all my birdies and all my good swings during one round for the week,” Savoie said.

“It felt like I made all my birdies and good swings during one round this week”

Solid round of 7-under par, 64 and new official @BearMountain Valley Course record for @joeysavoie_. #CanadaLifeSeries pic.twitter.com/WmPy6YTvCl

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) August 20, 2020

The next tournament, at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Heathlands Course, will be a Wednesday-through-Friday affair, beginning September 2. The players will enjoy a 14-day layoff as they make their way across the country to the Toronto suburb of Caledon.

Did you know Joey Savoie was a member of Team Canada and didn’t turn pro until this season? He has played in five previous Mackenzie Tour tournaments, all as an amateur, making two cuts, a tie for 30th at the 2019 Osprey Valley Open his top outing.

LANGFORD, B.C.—China’s Yi Cao appears to be playing a different course than everybody else this week. After shooting a 67 in the opening round of the Canada Life Series at Bear Mountain: Valley Course event, Cao matched that score Tuesday as he opened a five-shot lead with one round remaining in this 54-hole event. At 8-under, he’s five strokes ahead of Canadians Michael Blair and Russell Budd. Sebastian Szirmak is alone in fourth, six shots behind Cao.

It’s been an impressive performance by the 29-year-old Cao, who lives in the Vancouver suburb of Delta. The former PGA TOUR Series-China winner and Mackenzie Tour player has made only two bogeys and has easily been the best player for the first 36 holes.

With a one-shot lead when the day began, Cao made a par at No. 1 and a bogey at the second. His scorecard with clean after that. While he made only one more birdie on the front nine, at No. 9, he added four additional birdies in five holes, starting at No. 11 to extend his lead. The only hole he didn’t birdie during that stretch was the 13th.

“I have no idea what to expect for [Wednesday]. I do believe there are certain players who can really shoot low scores, so I better just keep the same game I played today and [Monday],” Cao said.

He did mention his escape with a par on his final hole of the day as being somewhat key to keeping his big cushion. After a poor tee shot, he faced a 260-yard second shot on the par-5. He laid up with a 2-iron, with 50 yards to the pin. However, he missed the green with his approach shot, bladed his fourth into the bunker and then holed his shot from the sand. “I had an adventure on 18,” he joked afterward.

Budd wasn’t able to birdie the par-5 18th hole, while Blair was, and that deadlocked the two in second place. Blair’s biggest mistake of the second round came at No. 15 when he double bogeyed the par-5.

Szirmak began his second round quickly, getting to 4-under through five holes on the back of his opening, even-par 71. He made the turn at 4-under and moved to 5-under with a birdie at the par-4 11th before coming in at 2-over. Back-to-back double bogeys starting at No. 12 were his undoing.

LANGFORD, B.C.—China’s Yi Cao rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th hole Monday, and Scott Kerr matched him on that hole about an hour later, and those two putts were enough to give Cao and Kerr the opening-round lead at the Canada Life Series at Bear Mountain: Valley Course. The duo shot 4-under 67s and lead Andrew Harrison and Michael Blair by a shot. Mackenzie Tour member James Allenby leads a group of five players at 2-under—all very much in contention after day one of the Series’ second event.

Cao (pronounced Chow) had an indifferent front nine, with the native of Beijing making seven pars after a birdie on No. 1 to open his day. His lone bogey of the afternoon came on the fourth. He picked up the pace on the back nine, with birdies on Nos. 11, 12, 15 and his birdie at the last.

“The greens were softer than last week compared to the Mountain Course, but I was able to take a little bit of advantage of that,” said, Cao, who had been a regular Mackenzie Tour player since 2016 before losing his card following the 2019 season. His career-best finish, however, came in one of his two 2015 starts, tying for 19th. “I was trying to hit it closer to the flag and make a few more putts. Luckily I got a few in.”

Kerr had six birdies and two bogeys on his first tour around the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, but his most memorable hole was a par at the 13th.

“I think I made the best par of my life today. I had a bit of a wait and I didn’t do a great job resetting after the wait, so I blasted [my tee shot] into the bush and had to re-tee, obviously (because) right’s just absolutely dead,” said Kerr, the former Simon Fraser golfer. “But I hit a good second one down the fairway, had 185 yards and holed out from there with an 8-iron and walked off with a pretty crazy 4.”

LANGFORD, B.C.—The good thing about shooting a 63 in the opening round is it gives you a cushion for the rest of the tournament. Evan Holmes can definitely relate.

Despite playing the final 36 holes in only even-par, Holmes rode his 8-under start to victory in the Canada Life Series’ first tournament at Bear Mountain’s Mountain Course. Holmes defeated Zach Anderson by two shots to take the early lead on the Points List with three tournaments remaining. Canadians Raoul Ménard and Derek Gillespie and China’s Yi Cao tied for third, at 4-under.

Since Monday when Holmes made three consecutive birdies to begin this inaugural Canada Life Series event, he has maintained his advantage even as Anderson chipped away each day. Anderson moved from five strokes behind after 18 holes to three shots back when the final round began. Anderson shot a Wednesday 71 but bogeyed three of his final four holes after getting to 9-under with a birdie at No. 13. Following a par at the 14th, Anderson made bogeys at 15, 17 and 18. Holmes also struggled coming in on a difficult scoring day. The former University of British Columbia golfer moved to 10-under through 13 but played his final five holes in 2-over. In the end, he benefited from Anderson’s stumbles and his strong beginning to the tournament paid dividends.

“The highlight of the week is for sure the first-round 63. It was nice to get off to that good start,” Holmes explained. “It feels really good. You probably have to win at least one of them to be No. 1 (at the end of the Series), so I couldn’t have asked for a better start, and I’m looking forward to the other three.”

“Chasing Evan all day was good, and getting off to a good start definitely helped,” said Anderson. “I think everyone in the group was tied at minus-8 through three and then Lawren fell off and me and Evan were battling it out pretty good on the back nine. Then we both stumbled coming in.”

Lawren Rowe, who began the final round a stroke behind Holmes, struggled to a 5-over 76 to fall into sixth place, at 3-under.   Holmes was philosophical about what turned out to be the toughest day of the 54-hole tournament.

“It was long and tiring. The same as [Tuesday], swirling winds all day and a little bit stronger,” Holmes said of the final round. “It was tough to hit a lot of good shots out there, but it was nice to grind it out.  “Conditions were pretty tough,” he continued, noting the dryness of the course because of the wind. “It got a little baked out again and a lot of wind. It was very tough to commit to clubs.

LANGFORD, B.C.—Evan Holmes was not as crisp as he was Monday when he opened the Canada Life Series at Bear Mountain: Mountain Course event with a sterling 63. On a day where he only managed three birdies and two bogeys, shooting a 1-under 70, it was still enough to get him to 9-under and good for a one-shot advantage over Lawren Rowe heading into the final round Wednesday. Zach Anderson is alone in third, three shots behind, while Golf Canada team member Laurent Desmarchais and Albert Pistorius are at 5-under and four back.

“It was a little tricky all day. I didn’t really get off to a good start. The wind was swirling so it was tough to commit to some clubs out there,” said Holmes, the former University of British Columbia standout. He opened his day with three pars and a bogey, at the par-3 fourth, not exactly breaking quickly out of the gate. Holmes got that stroke right back with a birdie at the fifth before parring out, making the turn at even-par.

“Conditions were a lot tougher today. The pins were a little bit harder, and there was a lot more wind, a lot more swirling. The back nine was tough.”

Even so, Holmes made a textbook birdie at No. 10, hitting his tee shot to the island green to about a foot. His final birdie of the day came at the 13th, with a bogey at No. 11 squeezed in. From there, he parred out.

Rowe began the day three shots behind Holmes but narrowed the gap with his 68, on the strength of five birdies.

“My round was pretty similar to [Monday] actually. I started off a bit slow and just got through the front nine at even. I hit the back nine and was able to make a few birdies from there. I made a few putts finally.”

Rowe’s most-memorable hole of the day was his birdie on the par-3 14th. Although he wasn’t going directly at the pin, his tee shot landed 15 feet from the hole. He rolled that putt in during what was the middle of a four-birdies-in-six-hole stretch.

WINNIPEG – Canada Life is proud to announce they will support charitable causes at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada-affiliated Canada Life Series. Canada Life will donate $5 to charity for every birdie made and $20 for every eagle made over the course of this four-event golf series.

“We’re proud to support Canadian golfers through the Canada Life Series. Adding a charitable component to the events made sense and is another way we can help Canadians,” said Jeff Macoun, President and Chief Operating Officer, Canada, Canada Life. “This program will also add another element of competition to the tournaments, which is always fun. We’re eager to see how many birdies and eagles are made.”

The Mackenzie Tour created the Canada Life Series to give Canadian-based players the opportunity to continue pursuing their goals in a season where international events have been suspended. The series features two 54-hole events at Bear Mountain Golf & Tennis Resort Community in Langford, BC and two more at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, ON.

In B.C., donations from the Canada Life Birdies for Kids program will go to Canucks Autism Network (CAN). CAN was founded in 2008 by Vancouver Canucks co-owners, Paolo and Clara Aquilini, whose son has autism. CAN provides programs to individuals with autism and their families and works to promote acceptance and inclusion through community engagement and training initiatives in BC and beyond.

In Ontario, donations will go to Start2Finish. Start2Finish’s mission is to break the cycle of child poverty by providing ongoing educational support to at-risk children in Canada during their school years. Since its inception 20 years ago, Start2Finish has equipped over 100,000 children with vital opportunities and skills to help them build a cycle of success.  

“Charity is at the core of everything we do at the PGA TOUR and the charitable impact our events have in Canada is central to what we do week in and week out. This program is going to have a significant impact in these communities and provides a platform for players to give back in a unique way,” said Scott Pritchard, Mackenzie Tour Executive Director. “We are very familiar with Canucks Autism Network and Start2Finish. Both do amazing work, and we were only too happy to associate with these great organizations.”