HOYLAKE, England  — Mark O’Meara has withdrawn from the British Open because of an ailing elbow.

O’Meara won The Open in 1998 at Royal Birkdale to become the first player since Ben Hogan to win two majors in one year in his 40s. He also won the Masters.

His agent, Peter Malik, said in an email that O’Meara’s elbow has been hurting on and off since the Masters in April. He had another MRI last week and doctors recommended rest. O’Meara decided instead to play the U.S. Senior Open this week at Oak Tree in Oklahoma.

O’Meara was concerned that the firm turf of a links course at Royal Liverpool could do more damage.

He was replaced in the field by Ross Fisher. Canada’s David Hearn now becomes the first alternate.

SILVIS, Ill. – Jordan Spieth felt great Thursday on the first tee of the John Deere Classic. He heard not only his name, but, for the first time, the phrase “defending champion.”

A par followed. Then another, and another after that. And then a bogey.

The playoff winner from 2013 was suddenly reeling.

“It was a struggle,” Spieth said of the round, an even-par 71 he salvaged with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. “I need to go find something on the range because I just wasn’t comfortable over the ball today.”

Spieth was eight strokes behind Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini and Brian Harman, whose 8-under-par 63s shared the lead after the opening round.

Then again, Spieth was six strokes behind the leaders entering last year’s final round, and rallied to win, beating Johnson and David Hearn in a sudden-death playoff.

“It’s going to take some incredible golf,” said Spieth, sixth on the PGA Tour money list. “But I’m putting well, so when I find my swing, I can maybe take it deep.”

That’s where the leaders were.

Johnson and Sabbatini played bogey-free golf, while Harman had nine birdies and one bogey on the par-71 TPC Deere Run – even though his regular caddie had to drop out.

They led 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton, Australian Steven Bowditch and William McGirt, the best afternoon finisher, by a stroke. Brendon de Jonge, Kevin Tway, David Toms and Robert Streb are two back at 6-under 65.

Harman, who bettered his best round of the year by two strokes, was 2 under through six holes when his caddie, Scott Tway, took ill. Jay Hatch of Davenport, Iowa, a high school basketball coach, volunteered from the gallery, and carried Harman’s bag the last 12 holes, which Harman played in 6 under.

Harman didn’t miss a beat when his caddie took ill.

“I called a medic over and Scottie said he was going to have to sit out at least a couple holes,” Harman said. “Jay was standing there and said, `I’ll do it. I’ll keep up.’ ”

Checking his own yardages, Harman birdied seven of his last 12 holes, and nine overall.

“If you go out and birdie half of the golf course, you feel you’ve done fairly well,” Harman said.

Johnson, who won the Deere in 2012, birdied four of his first five holes and was 6 under on his opening nine. He won the Tournament of Champions in January, but described his recent golf as “going through the motions too much.” He hasn’t finished in the top 10 since a tie for sixth in the Texas Open in March.

“I was a little spent,” Johnson explained. “I played too much and I was anxious for results. I got ahead of myself.”

His start on familiar territory was a return to form, an early birdie binge including a 22-footer on the par-3 12th and a 32-footer on the par-4 14th. At 8-under through 11 holes, the vision of a 59 crept into his thoughts.

“Very briefly,” Johnson said. “If you’re going to do it, you still have to hit it solid. Maybe I mis-clubbed on 6, but I could have birdied 8. I hit only one really bad shot, and that was the second shot at 9.”

Johnson parred his last seven holes.

“I’d rather have 59 wins than shoot 59,” Johnson said.

Sabbatini scored his best round of the year, closing with birdies on three of the last four holes.

Birdies are a must at Deere Run. Through 18 holes, 80 players were under par and another 20, including amateur Jordan Niebrugge, at even-par 71.

Hamilton’s 64 came in his first round of the season on the PGA Tour. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, the 48-year-old native of nearby Galesburg, Illinois, has been on the Web.com Tour in recent years.

Bowditch was 8 under after a birdie at the 17th, but bogeyed the 18th. McGirt birdied the first three holes on the back nine to jump into contention and parred the last four.

Three-time Deere winner Steve Stricker fired a 68, with six birdies and three bogeys.

Sabbatini, whose best finish this season is a tie for eighth at the Wells Fargo Classic, closed strongly on the hilly Deere Run layout.

“I like this course and how it plays,” Sabbatini said. “It’s fun for spectators because there are a lot of fireworks, and fun for us players, too. This golf course requires the basics: hit the fairway, hit the green, make some putts.”

Four of Sabbatini’s eight birdies were from 17 feet or longer, the longest a 22-footer on No. 4. He ran in birdies on the second, third and fourth holes of his back nine, and another on his 16th, the par-3 seventh.

Hamilton, a decade removed from his British Open victory at Royal Troon, birdied his first two holes and was off on an improbable round of 64.

“I haven’t been playing well,” Hamilton said. “It seems if I play well, I shoot 71 or 70. Everyone else when they play well, they shoot 65 or 64. It’s a big discrepancy.”

Two Canadians are in the field this week. Brad Fitsch opened with a 1-under 70, while David Hearn was a shot back at even-par.

SOUTHPORT, England – Paul Azinger said Thursday that a quest by Tiger Woods to make his swing better has backfired on him.

Woods has gone through four swing changes with three coaches during his career, each time saying the objective was to get better.

In a conference call for ESPN, Azinger said that in his quest to get better, “I think he’s actually gotten a little bit worse.”

Azinger is a former PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain – and a partner with Woods in one Ryder Cup – who now works as an analyst for ESPN. He will be in the booth next week at the British Open, where Woods is playing a major for the first time this year because of back surgery.

Woods has been stuck on 14 majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. The question on the ESPN call was whether the swing or injuries would be the greater factor if Woods does not catch Jack Nicklaus and his record 18 majors.

“I think one of the big differences that’s very rarely articulated is the fact that while Tiger in his dominance always – for whatever reason – was in this quest to get better, I don’t remember Jack ever saying that,” Azinger said.

“Jack might have made some tweaks and twerks here and there … but Tiger has made astronomical changes in a quest to get better. And as a result, Tiger has actually got a little bit worse. I think we can all pretty much see that.”

Azinger said several golfers have made a mistake changing the swing, but that Nicklaus was not one of them.

“Jack understood that if he could stay the same, he would still dominate,” he said. “Tiger didn’t need to get better. He just didn’t need to get worse. He needed to stay the same and he could still dominate, and in his quest to get better, it’s kind of backfired on him.”

Azinger also questioned why Woods would entrust his swing to two coaches who never competed at a high level.

Woods was with Butch Harmon, who played briefly on the PGA Tour, before turning pro and during his most dominant days in golf from 1996 through 2003. Woods overhauled his swing with Hank Haney and had a two-year stretch when he won 18 times in 34 tournaments, including four majors. He switched to Sean Foley in 2011.

Azinger said that Woods has remained successful is a testament to his greatness as a player.

“I think he’s the only guy who has dramatically changed the way his swing looks and has still been able to play at an extremely high level,” Azinger said.

“When he went from Butch to Hank, even a lay golfer could tell that Tiger’s swing had changed, and he won five or six major doing that. … I don’t know of anybody who’s changed the way they look more than Tiger Woods with respect to his golf swing and still played great. Most people just go away. They disappear trying to do what he’s done.

“It just is a real example of what a great player he has been.”

Azinger just doesn’t understand why Woods changed so much. He suggested reasons as boredom or because of four surgeries on his left knee.

“He may look back and have regrets,” Azinger said. “I know that he’s only worked with one guy that’s played golf at a really high level, and that’s Butch Harmon. And for him to just turn it all over to two guys that have never played on a high level is a bit of a mystery considering how great Tiger was when he did it. I’m not trying to be harsh, I’m just trying to be … I guess it’s more blunt than harsh.”

Azinger has been open with his opinions about Woods in the past. He said at the Masters this year that a difference between Nicklaus and Woods is that players no longer want to copy Woods’ swing. He later that Woods used to be an artistic golfer who now is trying to become an engineer.

Woods missed the cut at Congressional three weeks ago in his return from back surgery. His next tournament is the British Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Liverpool.

“I hope he plays great,” Azinger said. “I mean, I hope he’s recovered from injury. Sometimes you make these changes and it creates injury, as well.”

SOUTHPORT, England – Paul Azinger said Thursday that a quest by Tiger Woods to make his swing better has backfired on him.

Woods has gone through four swing changes with three coaches during his career, each time saying the objective was to get better.

In a conference call for ESPN, Azinger said that in his quest to get better, “I think he’s actually gotten a little bit worse.”

Azinger is a former PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain – and a partner with Woods in one Ryder Cup – who now works as an analyst for ESPN. He will be in the booth next week at the British Open, where Woods is playing a major for the first time this year because of back surgery.

Woods has been stuck on 14 majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. The question on the ESPN call was whether the swing or injuries would be the greater factor if Woods does not catch Jack Nicklaus and his record 18 majors.

“I think one of the big differences that’s very rarely articulated is the fact that while Tiger in his dominance always – for whatever reason – was in this quest to get better, I don’t remember Jack ever saying that,” Azinger said.

“Jack might have made some tweaks and twerks here and there … but Tiger has made astronomical changes in a quest to get better. And as a result, Tiger has actually got a little bit worse. I think we can all pretty much see that.”

Azinger said several golfers have made a mistake changing the swing, but that Nicklaus was not one of them.

“Jack understood that if he could stay the same, he would still dominate,” he said. “Tiger didn’t need to get better. He just didn’t need to get worse. He needed to stay the same and he could still dominate, and in his quest to get better, it’s kind of backfired on him.”

Azinger also questioned why Woods would entrust his swing to two coaches who never competed at a high level.

Woods was with Butch Harmon, who played briefly on the PGA Tour, before turning pro and during his most dominant days in golf from 1996 through 2003. Woods overhauled his swing with Hank Haney and had a two-year stretch when he won 18 times in 34 tournaments, including four majors. He switched to Sean Foley in 2011.

Azinger said that Woods has remained successful is a testament to his greatness as a player.

“I think he’s the only guy who has dramatically changed the way his swing looks and has still been able to play at an extremely high level,” Azinger said.

“When he went from Butch to Hank, even a lay golfer could tell that Tiger’s swing had changed, and he won five or six major doing that. … I don’t know of anybody who’s changed the way they look more than Tiger Woods with respect to his golf swing and still played great. Most people just go away. They disappear trying to do what he’s done.

“It just is a real example of what a great player he has been.”

Azinger just doesn’t understand why Woods changed so much. He suggested reasons as boredom or because of four surgeries on his left knee.

“He may look back and have regrets,” Azinger said. “I know that he’s only worked with one guy that’s played golf at a really high level, and that’s Butch Harmon. And for him to just turn it all over to two guys that have never played on a high level is a bit of a mystery considering how great Tiger was when he did it. I’m not trying to be harsh, I’m just trying to be … I guess it’s more blunt than harsh.”

Azinger has been open with his opinions about Woods in the past. He said at the Masters this year that a difference between Nicklaus and Woods is that players no longer want to copy Woods’ swing. He later that Woods used to be an artistic golfer who now is trying to become an engineer.

Woods missed the cut at Congressional three weeks ago in his return from back surgery. His next tournament is the British Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Liverpool.

“I hope he plays great,” Azinger said. “I mean, I hope he’s recovered from injury. Sometimes you make these changes and it creates injury, as well.”

ABERDEEN, Scotland – From Darren Clarke in 2011 to Phil Mickelson in 2013, the last three winners of the British Open have honed their links-course game at the Scottish Open a week earlier.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that trend has lured many top players to the northern tip of Scotland, not just for a tilt at the $850,000 top prize but also for some practice of the type of shots that will be required at the year’s third major at Hoylake.

Mickelson is a Scottish Open regular who won the tournament last year before going on to capture the claret jug at Muirfield.

He will face competition this year from the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Luke Donald and fellow Americans Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler when the tournament gets underway at Royal Aberdeen on Thursday.

The Scottish Open has regained its luster after a couple of lean years with weak fields, which comes as no surprise to Mickelson.

“I think it’s a common-sense thing,” he said in an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph published Wednesday.

“To win the (Scottish Open) gave me a lot of momentum. It was such a big factor because it allowed me to work on the short shots around the green, in the firm conditions. My short game was very sharp in Open week – a lot of that was due to the week before.”

After three years at Castle Stuart in Inverness, the Scottish Open has relocated even further north to the par-71 Royal Aberdeen, founded in 1780. It’s the world’s sixth-oldest golf course.

Mickelson is a big fan of the old Scottish courses – and of Scotland in general. And he has learned to embrace the quirky challenges that characterize links golf, such as playing in fierce winds and dealing with the unpredictable bounce on undulating fairways, which is some feat given his Californian roots.

He mastered it in that stunning two-week stretch last summer, culminating in a 6-under 66 on the final day at Muirfield that allowed him to pip Lee Westwood for victory at a third different major.

“It requires a lot more precision and great flight of the ball, as well as control on the ground and touch around the green. It is just the complete test,” said Mickelson, who has yet to win a tournament in 2014.

McIlroy has had mixed success in Europe this season, winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – the European Tour’s flagship event – but then missing the cut at his home Irish Open a month later. He hasn’t played at the Scottish Open since 2009.

Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open winner, ended a yearlong title drought with a victory at the Quicken Loans National on the PGA Tour two weeks ago.

Former top-ranked Donald won the Scottish Open in 2011 and will partner with Mickelson in the first two rounds this year.

Nick Faldo, a six-time major winner, is also in the field. He will be playing his first regular European Tour event since 2010.

All is set for The Royal Montreal Golf Club to again stage one of the most successful editions of the RBC Canadian Open.

Tournament chair Tom Quinn says everything is ready for the return of the world’s third oldest national open golf championship to the Montreal area for the first time since 2001 and the 10^th time overall on the Canadian Open’s 110^th anniversary.

The only Canadian stop on the PGA Tour is July 24-27 on Royal Montreal’s 7,153-yard, par-70 Blue Course. It has a total purse of $5,700,000 U.S. with $1,026,000 to the winner.

“At this stage we’ve got over 1,200 volunteers, so we will be able to deal with all the issues we have in the different committees,” Quinn said this week of preparations for the 105^th edition of the tournament.

“It would be nice if we had another hundred volunteers or so, but we’re okay to do what we have to do.

Everything is basically organized from player transportation all the way through to the hospitality end of it, so that’s very positive.

“In addition all the corporate properties are gone, with the exception of one or two clubhouse tables that are left,” said Quinn. “But they’ll move this week so that’s a positive, too.”

Royal Montreal was the first permanent golf club in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1873, and staged the first Canadian Open in 1904 won by John H. Oke of England who earned $60.

This year marks the third time in two decades the championship is at Royal Montreal after previously being played in 1997 and 2001.

The 2001 edition won by PGA Tour veteran Scott Verplank of the United States is remembered as the most successful in the history of the tournament. Upward of 110,000 spectators attended the entire week, including more than 25,000 for final round and the championship recorded an unprecedented response from the corporate community.

While it remains to be seen if that level of interest and response can be surpassed or at least duplicated this time around, Quinn is confident the table is set for Royal Montreal to once again shine.

Quinn said the response from the club’s membership has been steadfast from the time it first considered the prospect of holding another Canadian Open, and seven years after having played host to a hugely successful event in the Presidents Cup (the biennial match play between the International and U.S. teams). He’s extremely grateful for that because support is a key to success.

“That (support) was one of the really fortunate things because when I walked in to do this (position) there was already a base of people who had gone through it two or three times,” said Quinn, who succeeded Mike Richards as tournament chair. “So getting the core committees together and that, everyone stepped up right away. It was really good.”

As for the next step is the days left before many of the best golfers in the world descend on Royal Montreal, Quinn said the task is crystal clear.

“The focus now is trying to ensure we get enough spectators come out and get the opportunity to see these great players. The course can support up to 25,000 people per day, so I think if we end up throughout the course of the week with as much as we’ve done in past opens, it will be fine. It will be a good event.

“And I’m doing all I can to try to make sure we don’t get any rain,” he added.

SOUTHPORT, England – Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson says that Tiger Woods will be on the U.S. team if he’s healthy and playing well.

But what if he’s healthy and not playing at all?

Woods is at No. 209 in the FedEx Cup and needs to get to No. 125 to qualify for the playoffs. This next month of three tournaments – the British Open, Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship – ultimately will decide if he’s in Gleneagles for the Ryder Cup the last weekend in September.

“He’ll be considered less of a pick then if he didn’t have a track record going into the Ryder Cup,” Watson said last week. “He’d be the first to tell you, `I haven’t been playing.’ How he’s been playing and if he’s healthy, those are the two factors that I’ll weigh in choosing him. That’s just common sense, in my opinion.”

Here’s a common-sense way to look at the next month:

-If Woods qualifies for the FedEx Cup playoffs, he’s on the team. He’ll have played good golf to get there.

-Even if he comes close to the playoffs, Watson might consider that reasonable form to be one of three picks.

-If he doesn’t feature in any of the three tournaments, and doesn’t come close to making the playoffs, Woods will have two weeks out of golf (unless he chooses to play a Web.com Tour event) before Watson has to make his picks.

“I’ll be watching Tiger as he plays,” Watson said. “He’ll be playing at The Open Championship. Hope to get together with him there and tell him my feelings. … Right now, he’s way down the list as far as points. But who wouldn’t pick Tiger Woods to be on your Ryder Cup team? That is the question to everybody. Who wouldn’t pick him?”

Fred Couples reached that conclusion three years ago for the Presidents Cup, except the timetable was different. Woods missed two majors in 2011 because of injuries and didn’t qualifying for the playoffs. Couples declared him to be on the team a month before making his picks.

“There is no reason for me to wait,” Couples said. “He’s the best player in the world forever.”

Those matches, however, were not played until November. Watson might not have that luxury.

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STACY’S MEMENTO: Stacy Lewis keeps most of her old golf clubs in the garage at home in Florida, except for three special clubs that are upstairs in a Solheim Cup bag.

One is her 5-iron that she hit into the 17th hole at St. Andrews last year, the signature shot of her victory in the Ricoh Women’s British Open. The other two are putters that produced wins – except one of those putters wasn’t meant to be there.

The first putter is what she used to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship for her first major, and then she eventually changed putters.

As for the other?

“And then the one I had most my wins – all of my wins – in 2012, I decided to bend,” she said. “I was able to bend it back, but it was not quite right.”

The smile suggested there was more to the story, and there was.

The putter was not bent for technical reasons.

“This was an `accident’ bend,” she said.

Toward the end of last year at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, Lewis was going through a spell of mediocre putting when she walked off the fourth green and slammed her putter against the bag.

On the next hole, she noticed it was bent and she could no longer use a damaged club. She went to a sand wedge to putt with the leading edge, eventually switched to a pitching wedge and even made a couple of 20-footers. She went to a pro shop and found an Odyssey putter – the Callaway staff estimated it to be 8 years old – and had it prepared to her specifications. Lewis went on to tie for second.

She learned to putt with a wedge in an emergency. She has not slammed her putter against the bag since. And while she was sentimental toward that bent putter, the new one is working out OK. Lewis already has won three times this year and is No. 1 in the world.

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OPEN PRIZE MONEY: The British Open will have the largest purse in major championship history, a record that will last for all of three weeks.

Part of that is because of a strong exchange rate in the UK, which currently is about $1.71 per British sterling.

The Open has increased its prize fund to 5.4 million pounds, which is about $9.24 million and nearly $250,000 higher than the U.S. Open and Masters this year ($9 million each). That will be topped at the PGA Championship, which this year features a $10 million purse.

The winner of The Open will receive 975,000, or about $1.67 million.

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RYO IN THE CLUTCH: Ryo Ishikawa won last week on the Japan Golf Tour for the first time in 20 months, and timing could not have been better.

By defeating Koumei Oda in a playoff, Ishikawa moved up to No. 76 in the world ranking.

The ranking this week is used as the alternate list for the British Open, and when Steve Stricker withdrew Tuesday, Ishikawa took his spot at Royal Liverpool.

Ross Fisher is the next alternate, followed by David Hearn of Canada, Daniel Summerhays and Seung-yul Noh of South Korea.

—

LEHMAN & SONS: Tom Lehman has played the British Open every year since winning in 1996 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. That streak ends this year so Lehman can spend time with his family – specifically his two sons, and he’ll be plenty involved with golf.

Lehman’s two sons, Thomas and Sean, are both playing competitive golf this summer and have two tournaments during the British Open at Hoylake and the Senior British Open in Wales. Lehman has withdrawn from both championships to support his sons in their tournaments.

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DIVOTS: Baltusrol has been selected to host the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2018, the 16th time the New Jersey course will have staged a USGA championship. That matches the second-highest number of USGA championships by any club. Merion has hosted 18 USGA events. Baltusrol, The Country Club and Oakmont are next at 16. Oakmont gets its 16th when its hosts the U.S. Open in 2016. … The R&A has appointed Mark Lawrie as its director in Latin America, where he will be involved with the Latin America Amateur Championship. He previously was head of the Argentina Golf Association. The Latin America Amateur is run by the R&A, Augusta National and the USGA. … Brendon Todd has five top 10s in his last six tournaments, starting with his win at the Bryon Nelson Championship. The exception was a tie for 17th in the U.S. Open.

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STAT OF THE WEEK: The last three British Open champions played in the Scottish Open the previous week.

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FINAL WORD: “I felt like a doughnut fresh out of the fryer, rolling around in the sugar.” – Michelle Wie, on winning the U.S. Women’s Open.

Oakville, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Dave Levesque of Montreal and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C. have been extended exemptions into the 2014 RBC Canadian Open being contested July 21-27, 2014 at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Île Bizard, Que.

Levesque recently won the PGA of Canada’s PGA Championship of Canada contested at Wyndance Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ont. With the win, he climbed into the No. 2 spot on the PGA of Canada’s Player Rankings presented by RBC.

Levesque will join fellow PGA of Canada professional Billy Walsh of Markham, Ont. in the field for the 2014 RBC Canadian Open. Walsh, who lost to Levesque in the match play final of the PGA Championship of Canada, earned his own exemption into the 2014 RBC Canadian Open by topping the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC following the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada.

Levesque, who teaches the game at Pure Golf Experience, also captured the Quebec Open this past weekend. The 40-year-old picked up his second prestigious professional golf title in just two weeks at Golf de La Faune in Charlesbourg, Que. The 2014 RBC Canadian Open will be Levesque’s second PGA TOUR appearance (missed cut in 2000), an experience made even more special being contested in his home province.

Levesque wasn’t the only Canadian to pick up a winners’ cheque over the weekend and punch a ticket into Canada’s National Open Championship.

Roger Sloan earned his first Web.com Tour title with a playoff victory at the inaugural Nova Scotia Open in Halifax, N.S. The 27-year-old former Texas-El Paso player topped the field at Ashburn Golf Club’s New Course to move from No. 80 to No. 14 on the Tour’s money list through 14 of 21 regular season events.

The exemption into this year’s championship will mark Sloan’s third RBC Canadian Open appearance. In 2013 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. he tied for 52^nd at 2-under 286 after missing the cut in 2011 at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

“Together with our partners at RBC we are pleased to welcome Dave Levesque and Roger Sloan into the field for the 105^th playing of Canada’s National Open Championship,” said RBC Canadian Open Tournament Director Bill Paul. “Both of these talented players are riding the momentum of tremendous results and are deserving of an exemption to compete for Canada’s National Open title.”

Levesque and Sloan join a slew of other Canadians already confirmed into the 2014 RBC Canadian Open field. They are Graham DeLaet, David Hearn, Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Brad Fritsch and Adam Hadwin; regional qualifiers Michael Gligic and Beon Yeong Lee; PGA of Canada Player Rankings leader Billy Walsh; and two-time Canadian Mid-Amateur champion Kevin Carrigan.

The Canucks will join a field that includes PGA TOUR stars such as Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els, Charl Swartzel, Chris Kirk and recent French Open champion Graeme McDowell as well as defending RBC Canadian Open champion Brandt Snedeker.

Additional player announcements for the 2014 RBC Canadian Open will be made in the coming weeks.

For a full listing of players confirmed for the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, click here.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Angel Cabrera won the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday for his first non-major victory on the PGA Tour, closing with his second straight 6-under 64 for a two-stroke victory over George McNeill.

Cabrera, the 44-year-old Argentine whose only other PGA Tour victories came in the 2007 U.S. Open and 2009 Masters, built a three-shot lead before making things interesting with a pair of late bogeys. He finished at 16-under 264.

McNeill shot a season-best 61 for his fourth top-10 of the season and first since mid-March.

Webb Simpson had a 63 to finish third at 10 under.

Third-round leader Billy Hurley III bogeyed four of the first six holes to fall out of contention. He shot 73 and finished in a seven-way tie for fourth at 9 under.

No third-round leader has hung on to win the Greenbrier Classic in its five-year existence.

McNeill was the clubhouse leader at 14 under well ahead of Cabrera, who still had the back nine to play.

Cabrera had no top 10-finishes this season entering the tournament, but had everything working Sunday, hammering drives and approach shots with precision and coming up with clutch putts, especially on the back nine.

Cabrera overtook McNeill with birdie putts of 17 and 7 feet on the 11th and 12th holes, then gave a fist pump after moving to 17 under by holing a 176-yard 8-iron up the hill for eagle on the par-4 13th, the hardest hole at Old White TPC.

By then his lead was three strokes, but he bogeyed the 14th after his approach shot spun off the front of the green and bogeyed the par-3 15th after hitting into the rough on his tee shot.

Cabrera smashed a 330-yard drive over the lake on the par-4 16th and made par, then drilled a 336-yard drive on the 616-yard 17th and two-putted for birdie. He closed out with par on the par-3 18th.

Cabrera won $1.2 million and is projected to improve from 158th to 54th in the FedEx Cup standings. McNeill would move from 60th to 29th.

Joining Hurley at 9 under were Bud Cauley (64), Keagan Bradley (66), Brendon Todd (66), Chris Stroud (69), Cameron Tringale (69) and Will Wilcox (69).

The leading four players among the top 12 not already exempt for the British Open earned spots in the July 17-20 tournament at Royal Liverpool. Those spots went to McNeill, Stroud, Tringale and Hurley.

Cauley’s final shot of the day was a hole-in-one on the 18th, which triggered a $100 prize from the tournament to paying customers in the stands. But Cauley missed out this week on a British Open nod, whose qualifying tiebreaker uses the world ranking. Cauley entered the week at No. 295. Another spot will be handed out next weekend at the John Deere Classic.

Stephen Ames finished at 2-under 278 and tied for 52nd. David Hearn tied for 64th at even par 280.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -Billy Hurley III doesn’t plan to lose much rest sitting on a third-round lead for the first time on the PGA Tour.

The former U.S. Navy officer shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday to extend his advantage to two strokes over Angel Cabrera entering the final round of the Greenbrier Classic.

“I’ve been working for a long time to win on the PGA Tour,” Hurley said. “I figure if I shoot the lowest score tomorrow, I can’t lose.”

Hurley never relinquished the lead he has held since midway through the second round at Old White TPC. He birdied the par-5 12th and par-4 13th before dropping a stroke on the par-3 15th.

He had a 12-under 198 total. No third-round leader has won the Greenbrier Classic, now in its fifth year. Playoffs have decided the tournament twice.

Cabrera shot 64. He’s looking for his first non-major win on the PGA Tour.

Kevin Chappell was third at 9 under after a 69. Steve Stricker had a 68 to top the group at 8 under.

There will be more than a trophy to raise and a $1.2 million winner’s check available Sunday. The four best finishers not previously eligible for the British Open among the top 12 on the final leaderboard will earn spots in the July 17-20 tournament at Royal Liverpool.

Hurley finished his five-year Navy service in 2009 and would still be a naval officer if golf wasn’t keeping him busy. He returned to the PGA Tour this year after playing on the Web.com Tour in 2013.

He said nerves won’t play a part in how he gets ready for what could be a memorable Sunday.

“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I just want to put my mind in position so that I can play well. I slept fine last night. The benefit of the Navy if you learn how to sleep anywhere. I think I’ll sleep fine tonight, too.”

Cabrera wore an Argentine blue shirt in the third round and is riding his country’s momentum in the World Cup, including Saturday’s 1-0 win over Belgium to advance to the semifinal round.

“I was very happy when I found out they won,” Cabrera said, adding that he was equally as giddy when he started his round with four birdies on the first six holes.

Old White sets up nicely for Cabrera’s long drives and he made four birdie putts of 19 feet or longer.

“I was able to get the speed of the greens, and that was the big difference,” Cabrera said.

At the Wells Fargo Championship in May, Cabrera was the second-round leader but closed with a pair of 75s.

Another under-par round Sunday would mark the first time that he has had four rounds in the 60s since the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship.

Chappell barely got anything going until making a 12-foot putt for birdie on the par-5 17th.

“I don’t think I’ve had my best ball-striking day yet,” he said. “Hopefully, my putter gets hot and (it) should be fun.”

Joining Stricker in the group at 8 under were Michael Thompson (64), Cameron Tringale (64), Will Wilcox (65), Joe Durant (66), Camilo Villegas (67) and Chris Stroud (70).

Stricker, in his eighth tour event this year, will compete next week at John Deere and is leaning against going to the British Open unless he has one or more high finishes before then.

The highlight of Stricker’s third round was a bending 42-foot putt for birdie on the first hole. He was 1 over on his round at the turn before making three birdies the rest of the day.

“Anything can happen and that’s the truth,” Stricker said. “There are not a lot of guys in between me and the lead … but there are a ton of guys right behind us. So anybody can come out of the pack here.”

David Hearn has played three very consistent rounds of 68 to put him at 6 under, while Stephen Ames sits 2 under after shooting 71 in round 3.