PGA TOUR

Nick Taylor chipped in from 60 feet out for eagle on the final hole in regulation and then made a three-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to defeat Nico Echavarria and win the Sony Open in Hawaii. It is his fifth career win with the last three all coming in a playoff including the memorable four-hole playoff to win the 2023 RBC Canadian Open when he made a 70-foot eagle putt. The five victories leaves him second all-time among Canadian men, behind only George Knudson (8) and Mike Weir (8). Taylor is the fifth player in the last six years to win the tournament coming from behind on the final day. Of greater importance, the win earns him an invitation to the Masters and extends his exemption on the PGA Tour through 2027. Taylor was two off the lead after missing back-to-back four-foot putts on Nos. 15 and 16 before his final hole heroics. His approach shot into the 18th green ended up against the grandstand and after getting relief, his 60-foot chip shot from just off the green found the centre of the hole. Taylor then made a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole and Echavarria matched him to force a second playoff hole. Playing from the fairway bunker on his approach, Taylor came up 46 yards short of the cup but his pitch was nearly perfect finishing three feet from the hole. Echavarria Stephan Jaeger and J.J. Spaun finished tied for third. Both looked to be in contention of the win until Jaeger bogeyed No. 16 and Spaun bogeyed No. 17. …Adam Svensson equalled his finish from a year ago at the Sony Open. …Corey Conners missed the cut for the first time since June 2023 (U.S. Open), ending his streak of 32 starts without missing a cut.

NEXT EVENT: The American Express (Jan 16)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Silverman, Adam Svensson, Nick Taylor

Edmonton’s Wil Bateman has learned to ride the waves of being a professional golfer in his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Bateman is one of three Canadians competing in this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the finale of the second-tier circuit’s season. He’s 54th on the tour’s points list with a card for next year all but assured.

He said that’s in large part to his steady approach to golf, seeing the larger picture of his career.

“I’m just trying to stay positive throughout the weeks and throughout the year,” said Bateman. “Just conserving my energy, especially in those really long stretches, I think I’ve done really good job at that.

“Just mentally staying positive and realizing that there’s still lots of opportunity in front of me. Obviously you want to get a tour card, you want to be on the PGA Tour, but everybody’s path is different.”

Bateman was the overall winner of the PGA Tour Canada — now PGA Tour Americas — in 2022, winning two events after making all 10 cuts on the third-tier circuit. That moved him up to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he finished 68th overall last year.

This year, Bateman’s more balanced approach, including taking some events off, has paid off.

Bateman tied for 62nd at this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club on June 2, his only PGA Tour event of the year. 

He made 12 of 20 cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour, with one runner-up, two top 10s and five top 25s. His best stretch was six consecutive cuts made — five on the Korn Ferry Tour and the Canadian Open result — from the Club Car Championship on April 7 to the Compliance Solutions Championship on June 23.

“I feel like the game’s close and I’m there. It’s just a matter of a little bit of momentum going my way and then putting it together for four rounds,” said Bateman. “Some of those tournaments where I’m making the cut five straight weeks and not having a top 25. 

“You’re playing good golf, and you’re super close, you’re just kind of not putting it all together.”

Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is the top-ranked Canadian on the Korn Ferry Tour at No. 41 on the points list. He’ll join Bateman and Etienne Papineau (No. 65) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., at French Lick Golf Resort’s Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind., for the championship tournament.

Bateman, in good shape to return to the Korn Ferry Tour next year, will continue his steady approach at this week’s event.

“I knew coming into this week that I have to finish first or second to get a PGA Tour card,” he said. “I don’t really have much to lose, because I’m going to definitely finish inside the top 60, so I’ll be able to have another opportunity to get my PGA Tour card at Q-School final stage if I don’t finish first or second this week.”

PGA TOUR — Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., returns to play just four days after competing in the elite Presidents Cup. He’s one of three Canadians in the field at this weeks Sanderson Farms Championship, which he won in 2022. Hughes is 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. He’ll be joined at the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Miss., by Adam Svensson (73rd) of Surrey, B.C., and Roger Sloan (168th) of Merritt, B.C.

DP WORLD TOUR — Toronto’s Richard T. Lee is the only Canadian in the field at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the storied Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. He’s unranked on the European-based DP World Tour, having played most of his golf on the Asian Tour this season. He’s 12th on the Asian Tour’s order of merit.

EPSON TOUR — Vancouver’s Leah John is the top-ranked Canadian heading into this week’s Epson Tour Championship in Indian Wells, Calif. She’s 55th on the second-tier women’s circuit. She’ll be joined at Indian Wells Golf Resort — Players Course by Maddie Szeryk (83rd) of London, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault (119th) of Rosemere, Que.

As Ellie Szeryk lined up her final putt to seal the win at the B.C. Women’s Open, she spied longtime friend Brooke Rivers lurking around the green with a bottle of water.

Sure enough, when Szeryk made the putt, the chase was on with Rivers trying to douse her with water.

“I ran as far as I could, but she still got me quite good,” Szeryk said with a laugh. “But it was fun. In golf you usually do that to your really good friends when they win. 

“So it was really sweet that she did that. It’s like an unspoken honour.”

Szeryk beat Rivers by four strokes at Pitt Meadows Golf Club on Sunday in their professional debuts. Both golfers also earned berths at the CPKC Women’s Open, July 25-28 at Calgary’s Earl Grey Golf Club.

“It was just really nice to be able to have followed through on something that I had been thinking about,” said Szeryk. “It’s not always easy to golf. It’s just three rounds and you have no idea what the course is like and how it’s going to play.”

Earning their way into the national women’s championship, rather than relying on a sponsor’s exemption, was a relief to both players.

“I knew that there’d be a good opportunity for that,” said Szeryk, from London, Ont. “It’s been on my mind the last couple of months, like since I signed up. 

“I knew I needed to make sure I had my game right so I could take advantage of it because I knew that they weren’t going to be a lot of sponsored exemptions for this Canadian Open.”

Rivers agreed.

“It does feel really good to earn the exemption spot on my own through good play,” said Rivers, from Brampton, Ont. “It also feels a little more rewarding while being there because you feel like you had done everything in order to put yourself there.”

Rivers added with a laugh: “It’s a little bit easier when booking travel that you don’t have to do it the week before.”

Both Szeryk and Rivers turned pro after the conclusion of the NCAA golf season. They’re both spending time with family and practising before the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada tees off at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont., on July 2.

“I’m really excited to turn pro, and it’s something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” said Rivers, who played one season at Wake Forest University. “It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole life. 

“I just felt that I was in a position where I was ready to turn pro and I was ready to start competing.”

Golf Canada announced the early commitments to the 50th playing of the Women’s Open on Monday, with eight of the current top-10 and 83 of the top-100 players on the Race to the CME Globe Standings entered in the national women’s championship.

The 156-player field will be competing at Earl Grey Golf Club for the first time in tournament history. It will be the seventh time that Alberta hosts the Women’s Open and first time since 2016.

LPGA TOUR — Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is in the Dow Championship three days after making Canada’s Olympic golf team for a third time. Maddie Szeryk, Ellie’s older sister, just missed out on beating Sharp to the Olympics by 1.41 points in the women’s world golf rankings. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., No. 14 in the world, is also in the field at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich. They will be joined by Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., and amateur Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto.

EPSON TOUR — Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., is the top-ranked Canadian playing in the Dream First Bank Charity Classic. She’s 120th on the second-tier Epson Tour’s points list. She’ll be joined at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan., by Vancouver’s Leah John (160th), as well as Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Kate Johnston of Ayr, Ont., who are unranked.

PGA TOUR — Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is the top ranked Canadian at No. 30 on the FedEx Cup standings. He will be in the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, where he finished tied for second in 2022. Adam Svensson (76th) of Surrey, B.C., Ben Silverman (113th) of Thornhill, Ont., and Roger Sloan (194th) of Merritt, B.C., are also in the field.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is No. 23 on the Tour’s points list heading into the Memorial Health Championship. Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (33rd), Etienne Papineau (50th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., Sudarshan Yellamaraju (100th) of Mississauga, Ont., and Jared du Toit (118th) of Kimberley, B.C., are also in the field at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames leads the Canadian contingent into the U.S. Senior Open Championship. He’s No. 1 on the Charles Schwab Cup money list with two victories so far this year. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., is 25th on the list and also in the field at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I. David Morland IV of Aurora, Ont., is also playing the event.

AMERICAS TOUR — Matthew Anderson of Mississauga, Ont., remains the atop the points list of the third-tier Americas Tour heading into this week’s ATB Classic. He’s one of 18 Canadians playing Northern Bear Golf Club in Strathcona County, Alta.

Canadians Etienne Papineau and Myles Creighton have already noticed that the fields on the Korn Ferry Tour are deeper than the events they’re used to playing. But they’re hanging in there two tournaments into the second-tier circuit’s season.

Papineau and Creighton are in the Korn Ferry Tour’s top 30 entering The Panama Championship this week, after earning their way onto the circuit from the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada. 

Papineau, who is 25th on the points list, said although there are great players on the third tier of men’s professional golf, it’s apparent that everyone is an excellent player on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I feel like any player can win at any time, to be honest,” said Papineau from Club de Golf de Panama in Panama City on Wednesday. “Every player is really good. I mean, they’re all here for the same reason: to get their PGA Tour card.”

Creighton won the PGA Tour Latinoamerica’s Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Colombia last season and finished second overall in that circuit’s order of merit to move up to the Korn Ferry Tour. He agreed with Papineau that the Latinoamerica and Canada Tours — now merged into the PGA Tour Americas starting this year — had solid players at the top of their rankings but were more inconsistent down the standings.

“I think if you ran a PGA Tour Americas event on the courses that we played in the last two weeks, I think the winning score would be very similar,” said Creighton. “It’s just maybe to finish 20th or 25th is like a couple shots better, or to make a cut, it’s very marginally different. 

“You grow with it, as well. You don’t tend to notice that the competition is a little tougher, because you’re becoming a better player and you’re adapting to that.”

Papineau, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., tied for 44th at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on Jan. 17 to start the year and followed that up with a tie for 14th at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on Jan. 24.

Creighton, from Digby, N.S., tied for 25th at the Great Exuma Classic and followed that up with a tie for 27th at the Great Abaco Classic. 

Although the way he plays his game remains the same, Papineau said he’s changing his approach off the course.

“I would say in my preparation, I think I’ll be able to be more careful with that,” he said. “It’s a longer season than PGA Tour Canada. We have 25 events during the season. 

“It starts much earlier so I’m going to be playing pretty much all year up until October.”

Both Canadians are on the Korn Ferry Tour with limited status that only guarantees them spots in the first eight events of the year. There will be a reshuffle after the first four tournaments and, if they’re high enough in the standings, they’ll have their membership extended. 

If they’re still in the top 30 at the end of the year they’ll earn cards on the PGA Tour, the top men’s golf circuit in the world.

“It’s so important to get off to a good start right from the beginning,” said Creighton. “You want to play well early and put yourself in a good position early to then build off that. You don’t want to be playing from behind in that sense. 

“It just gives you a little comfort knowing that you’ve made a cut, you’ve accumulate a couple of points, and you’re in a good spot to start the year.”

Papineau and Creighton will be joined at Club de Golf de Panama by Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., Edmonton’s Wil Bateman and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. Yellamaraju is tied for 95th on the Korn Ferry Tour rankings, while Gligic and Bateman have yet to play on the second-tier circuit this season.

Three Canadians have earned 2024 Korn Ferry Tour membership following the final round of the PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry on Monday in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont. finished T14 at 4-under. Étienne Papineau of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. finished T38 at 1-under, and Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S. finished T45 at even par. They will join fellow Canadian Wil Bateman on the Korn Ferry Tour to start the 2024 season.

Yellamaraju recorded rounds of 71-69-68-68-276 to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for next season after successfully making his way through both second stage and final stage of Q-School.

Papineau previously earned 2024 Korn Ferry Tour membership by finishing fourth overall in the 2023 Fortinet Cup standings on the PGA TOUR Canada (now PGA TOUR Americas). Papineau’s T38 finish at Q-School with rounds of 74-67-68-70-279 improves his Korn Ferry Tour status for the coming season.

Creighton also previously earned his 2024 membership by finishing second on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (now PGA TOUR Americas) season point rankings. Creighton shot rounds of 70-68-72-70-280 to finish inside the cut line of players who are awarded Korn Ferry Tour cards through Q-school and improve his status for 2024 as well.

Three other Canadians were competing in Ponte Vedra at final stage including, Stuart Macdonald who finished at 7-over, Thomas Giroux at 9-over and Jared Du Toit at 10-over. They will have conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2024.

Harrison Endycott of Australia finished atop the leaderboard at 15-under, Americans Trace Cowe (11-under) and Brian Hale Jr. (9-under) finished second and third, while Raul Pereda of Mexico and Hayden Springer of the United States finished tied for fourth at 8-under to earn their 2024 PGA TOUR cards.

The top five players and ties earned their full status for 2024 on the PGA TOUR. The next 40 finishers and ties earned exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, with the first 25 finishers and ties being subject to the third reshuffle (12 guaranteed starts), and any remaining finishers within the category being subject to the second reshuffle (eight guaranteed starts).

This marked the first time since 2012 that PGA TOUR cards were awarded during the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School. The field of 168-players played two rounds at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and two rounds at Sawgrass Country Club. The final round was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed due to heavy rain in northern Florida.

Calgary, Alta. – Étienne Papineau finishes his PGA Tour Canada season with a Korn Ferry status card for the first time in his career. He finished 4^th in the Fortinet Cup rankings.

Papineau has been a Team Canada member for six years. Native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu just outside of Montreal and alumni of West Virginia University.

He started off his season strong when he won the season opener the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist. He finished runner-up at the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open. He also finished 4 times in the top 5.

Étienne will receive conditional status on the Korn Ferry tour. The top five finishers are also exempt into the final stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School. Since he is the top Canadian finisher in the standings he will receive an exemption into the 2024 RBC Canadian Open.

“If I just keep doing what I’m doing … There are some little details that I need to work on and get better at, but golf game-wise, I think I’m trending in the right direction. So just adjust those little details and the stuff that I would like to work on, and I think we’ll be there one day.” Said Papineau when asked about his future on the PGA Tour.

Etienne Papineau is in the home stretch.

There are two events left on the PGA Tour Canada schedule and Papineau sits third in the Fortinet Cup standings, the top-ranked Canadian on the third-tier tour.

If he can hold on to his spot, he’ll be promoted to the Korn Ferry Tour. If Papineau can move up to the top spot, he’ll also earn an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open.

“It’s part of my goals to move up,” Papineau said Wednesday from Brainerd, Minn. “Obviously, I want to get to the PGA Tour, but if I can get on the Korn Ferry Tour next year, that will be a definitely a big step up.

“I’ve been working for that for a long time. It would definitely mean a lot and it would be definitely a big step in my career.”

Papineau, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., is one of several Canadians in the field for this week’s CRMC Championship at Craguns Legacy Course in Minnesota.

Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is fourth on the PGA Tour Canada’s standings and also in a strong position to advance his career.

The tour’s season wraps up next week at the Fortinet Cup Championship on the Talons course at Calgary’s Country Hills Golf Club.

Papineau has earned 944 points this season, thanks to two top-10 finishes including a win at the Royal Beach Victoria Open on June 18.

He’s 266 points behind American Sam Choi, the overall points leader on the PGA Tour Canada.

“I think just being really consistent over the summer has been great for me,” said Papineau. “I think that’s why I’ve had good performances.

“We’re just trying to keep it going.”

Surprisingly, Papineau also credits a couple of off-season injuries for his success. He took several months off to heal his foot and his knee before returning to play in March.

He said that the forced rest was helpful for him with the grind of a professional golf season.

“I think that helped me reset back to zero and start all over again,” said Papineau, who works with Golf Canada’s men’s coach Derek Ingram and University of Montreal coach Pierre Dugas. “When I got back to it, we created a good game plan with my coaches, and I’ve been following it.”

GRANT THORNTON INVITAITONAL – Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners will be partners at the Grant Thornton Invitational, a unique event that will have players from the LPGA and PGA Tours compete together in a co-sanctioned tournament for equal prize money of US$4 million. They both represented Canada at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Grant Thornton Invitational is Dec. 4-10 in Naples, Fla.

LPGA TOUR – Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., and Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., are in the field at this week’s Portland Classic. Henderson tied for 13th at the CPKC Women’s Open in Vancouver on Sunday to move her up to eighth in the LPGA Tour’s rankings. Szeryk missed the cut in Vancouver, dropping to 91st in the standings.

FARMINGTON, Utah – Canadian Roger Sloan capped a final-round 5-under 66 with birdies at Oakridge Country Club’s par-4 17th and 18th, hitting back-to-back approaches inside 10 feet, including a near hole-out to set up the winning putt, en route to victory at the Utah Championship. Sloan’s closing birdies moved him to 24-under par for the tournament, one stroke ahead of runner-up finisher Christopher Petefish, who did not make a bogey all week.

The win snaps a winless drought of just over nine years for Sloan, who earned his only previous Korn Ferry Tour win at the 2014 Nova Scotia Open in his native Canada.

“It feels great,” Sloan said. “To (win) here is special just because this place reminds me so much of being back home. I love Salt Lake City. It’s a great place. Anytime you win, though, is very special. This one, my family was here. To see my kids run onto the green and hug them, that’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Sloan began Sunday’s final round one stroke behind outright 54-hole leader Kevin Dougherty at 20-under par. An eagle at the par-5 seventh and back-to-back birdies at the par-4 eighth and ninth moved Sloan into the outright lead at 23-under par. Sloan fell back to the pack after bogeys at the par-3 11th and par-4 13th, and Petefish jumped in front at 23-under par with an eagle at the par-5 15th.

Petefish eventually made a miraculous par save at No. 18, rebounding from a second shot which hit a tree. Petefish signed for a bogey-free 5-under 66 and became the first player since Brandon Crick at the 2021 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS to finish a 72-hole event without a bogey. Every other player in the field made at least three bogeys (or worse) this week.

Once Sloan stuffed his approach inside of 3 feet on the 72nd hole, Petefish ceased playoff preparations and settled for a career-high finish and third top-10 in his 34th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I knew I was tied for the lead,” Sloand said. “I knew once I had that (birdie) putt on No. 17. When I hit a really good putt on No. 17, I had a feeling we might be able to do something on No. 18. I just had a perfect number, hit a 56-degree wedge, and I hit it 95 (yards). Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Sloan previously graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour at the conclusion of the 2014 and 2018 seasons. Sloan played four consecutive seasons on the PGA TOUR, until a No. 160 finish on the 2021-22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List relegated him to the Korn Forn Ferry Tour for 2023.

The win moves Sloan inside the top 30 of the Korn Ferry Tour Points List and into contention for a return to the PGA TOUR.

“I haven’t had the greatest of years results-wise, but it’s because I’ve been having to work on my game more than I have lately,” said Sloan, who entered the week without a top-10 in 14 starts this season. “I really just got to keep chipping away at what I’ve been doing all year, stay committed to that. The goal is for me to be the best player I could be, hopefully get back to the PGA TOUR soon, but I’m just taking it one day at a time.

“While this is great and we’re going to enjoy it, it’s back to the grindstone next week.”

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Ben Kohles became the first two-time winner of the Korn Ferry Tour season on Sunday when he seized on Ben Silverman’s mistake on the final hole of regulation and beat him with a birdie in the playoff in the HomeTown Lenders Championship.

Kohles, from Texas, who won in Chile at the start of the month, closed with a 3-under 67. It looked like it would come up short until Silverman took double bogey on the 18th hole and to fall into a playoff.

Silverman, from Thornhill, Ont., was also looking for his second win of the year.

Kohles and Silverman now are Nos. 1 and 2 on the points list and assured of finishing in the top 30 to earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

Kohles won for the fourth time on the Korn Ferry Tour. His previous two wins were more than a decade ago.

Canada’s Ben Silverman fired a final round, three-under 68 to tie for third, just one shot out of a sudden death playoff on Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic.

Silverman, who already has a win this season at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, finished the event at 20-under par.

Wil Bateman tied for 18th at 14-under after a 69 on Sunday, while Roger Sloan finished with a 74 to tie for 36th at 10-under.