If you were to create your perfect golfer from tee to green using only Canadian golfers, whose driving abilities would you take? Whose putting skills? Whose silky-smooth swing? Let’s break down what the ultimate golfer might look like when comprised of some of Canada’s very best.

Driving

When it comes to hitting off the tee, it’s not hard to find a few names. One that comes to mind is Taylor Pendrith. Pendrith is currently one of the heaviest hitters on the Korn Ferry Tour circuit. For the 2020-2021 season, his average driving distance is 319.9 yards. Currently ranked fourth in driving distance on the Korn Ferry Tour, he is just over 4 yards off the first-place number. Back in September of 2020, Pendrith made his major debut at the U.S. Open where he finished third in average driving distance among some of the best in the world.

A decade ago, Graham DeLaet was making similar impact on the PGA Tour. In his first season back in 2010, DeLaet ranked sixth in driving distance with a 305.7-yard average. Between 2012 and 2017, DeLaet routinely ranked inside the top 40 in the same statistic. In 2013, DeLaet had the fourth longest drive on the PGA Tour that season, hitting one drive 420 yards.

If we’re talking about driving excellence, Brooke Henderson’s name must be there. For the past five seasons, Henderson has ranked inside the top 25 on the LPGA Tour for driving distance. Last season, she matched her career high ranking of eighth, with an average driving distance of 266.784 yards. However, she doesn’t just bomb the ball – there’s something to be said about her accuracy as well – Henderson ranked 35th for driving accuracy last season. Currently, Henderson is ranked sixth for average driving distance at 278.654 yards.

One of the best Canadians to ever play the game, Stan Leonard won three times on the PGA Tour and eight PGA of Canada Championships.  At one point in the 1940’s, Leonard’s tee shots were already averaging 275-280 yards, according to a 1948 Maclean’s article.

Irons

On the LPGA Tour, Dawn Coe-Jones had enviable irons. Between 1992 and 2000, she almost routinely finished inside of the top 25 for greens in regulation percentage, and for the two seasons where she was outside, she was still in the top 60 on the LPGA Tour.

Over on the PGA Tour, Stephen Ames’s approach shots were also enviable. Between 2004 and 2008, Ames consistently finished inside the top 50 on the PGA Tour when it came to strokes gained: approaching the green. In 2004, he also finished 24th for greens in regulation.While on the PGA Tour Champions, between 2015 and 2019, Ames consistently finished inside the top 35 in greens in regulation. At his most recent win at the Principal Charity Classic on the Champions Tour on June 6, Ames led the field in greens in regulation with 87.04 per cent – nearly four per cent clear of Fred Couples in second.

Before Ames, there was Dave Barr. Between 1987 and 1994, Barr was consistently in the top 15 for greens in regulation percentage on the PGA Tour. In 1988, he ranked second with a 73.63 per cent average, and in both 1989 and 1992 he finished third.

One of Canada’s best current golfers, Alena Sharp has been playing on the LPGA Tour since the mid-2000’s and was a member of Team Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Over the course of her career, Sharp’s greens in regulation percentage have been impressive. Between 2007 and 2011, Sharp finished inside the top 50 on the LPGA in greens in regulation, and between 2007 and last season, she’s only ranked outside of the top 65 at the end of the season three times. She’s currently ranked 48th in the category this season.

Short Game

It wouldn’t be a list comprising of some of Canada’s best golfers if Mike Weir weren’t on it. Currently on the PGA Tour Champions, Weir has the best sand save percentage out of anyone with 67.44 and is ranked at 15th in scrambling at 61.70 per cent. Between 2005 and 2014, while playing on the PGA Tour, Weir was ranked in the top five of sand save percentage four times. Twice, Weir had the best strokes gained: around the green number on the PGA Tour – in 2005 with .521 average strokes gained, and again five years later with .559 average strokes gained.

With two wins on the PGA Tour, Nick Taylor is one of Canada’s best current male golfers. In 2017, Taylor was ranked 58th in strokes gained: around the green, 33rd in scrambling, and 16th in scrambling from the rough. In 2018, Taylor was ranked inside the top 30 in scrambling and sand save percentage, and just last season, he ranked 21st in scrambling from the fringe.

With four wins on the LPGA Tour, Lorie Kane is one of the best Canadians to play the game. Between 1997 and 2005, Kane had some of the best greens in regulation statistics on the LPGA Tour – never failing to fall outside of the top 25, including sixth in 2001. Accompanying that, between 1997 and 2011, Kane also had some incredible sand saves statistics, finishing inside the top 25 six times and in 2011 she was ranked second with a 63.33 percentage.

Putting

Sandra Post is one of the most legendary golfers to come from Canada. Post was the first Canadian to play on the LPGA Tour, and won eight times. In an article from Maclean’s from 1968, Post herself says that putting is the best part of her game.

On the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes’s putting is top-notch. In 2020, Hughes finished eighth in strokes gained: putting with a .681 average and had the ninth best overall putting average at 1.566. In 2019, Hughes sunk the longest putt of the season when his putt from 85’8” out found the hole. The year before that, he had the 16th longest successful putt, and in 2020 he held the 20th spot. He’s currently ranked third in avoiding three-putts with only 19 occurrences in 70 rounds of golf.

Adam Hadwin is another name that comes to mind when talking about putting. Back in 2016, Hadwin had one of the hottest putters on the PGA Tour. He ranked 11th in strokes gained: putting, fifth in putting average, 25th in one-putt percentage, and 12th in three-putt avoidance. In 2017, he ranked 26th in strokes gained: putting, and 11th in one-putt percentage.

Accuracy

Moe Norman is a legend in the golf universe. Known for his incredible golf swing, Norman had enviable accuracy that is still talked about today – nearly 70 years after playing in his first PGA Tour event.

George Knudson is another golf legend, and he achieved an incredible eight wins on the PGA Tour. And, like Norman, Knudson was known for having an incredible swing – playing a huge role in his accuracy.

Currently, Corey Conners is one of the best Canadian golfers on the PGA Tour and a big part of his success is due to is his accuracy. In 2020, Conners placed 20th in driving accuracy percentage and sixth in greens in regulation percentage. In 2019, he ranked 42nd in driving accuracy percentage and first for greens in regulation percentage. That season, when he did miss, it wasn’t by much – he ranked fourth in distance from the edge of the fairway with an average of 19’8”. Currently, he’s ranked 10th in greens in regulation, with 69.71 per cent.

With two wins on the LPGA Tour, Gail Graham is one of Canada’s best. Winning in 1995 and 1997 – Graham’s driving accuracy was consistently enviable. Between 1992 and 1997, Graham routinely ranked inside the top 60 on the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy. In 1996, she even ranked 21st.

So, who would you choose to create your ultimate Canadian golfer?

Carlsbad, CA – This week at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship, Titleist takes another step forward in the design, technology and performance of its next generation T-Series irons and U-Series utility iron. Following a rigorous two-year development process, the new Titleist T100, T100-S and U505 utility iron are now available to PGA Tour players to use in competition, with the first opportunity available Thursday in Cromwell, Conn. The new T200 irons are expected join the family on tour in the coming weeks.

Based on initial tour player testing and feedback, the new iron lineup is poised to continue Titleist’s run as the most played iron on the PGA Tour for each of the last seven years and 16 of the last 17 seasons.  Titleist has captured the iron count at every PGA Tour event this season, averaging more than 28% of all sets in play each week. The T100 irons are the most played single model with more than 10% of all sets in play this season.

Gathering feedback from the game’s best players through every stage of the R&D process, and then earning their validation under the pressure of competition over the coming weeks and month across the worldwide professional tours, are critical elements in the development of all high-performance Titleist golf equipment. 

Titleist Golf Club R&D representatives are on site to work with players as they test the new products, determine the model that best fits their game, and gather additional feedback.

Stay tuned to Titleist.ca and Titleist’s social channels for updates as this process continues over the coming weeks across the worldwide professional tours.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Two career-changing putts for Jon Rahm brought two trophies Sunday.

He cradled his 3-month-old son, Kepa, as he walked off the 18th green at Torrey Pines on Father’s Day. And then he collected the silver U.S. Open trophy after a performance filled with passion and absent of blunders that wiped out everyone else.

Rahm made a bending 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to catch Louis Oosthuizen. He buried another curling, left-to-right birdie putt from 18 feet on the final hole for a 4-under 67 and a one-shot victory.

The 26-year-old Rahm became the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open, finally getting the major prize to go along with his enormous talent. His victory also returned him to No. 1 in the world.

On a back nine filled with double bogeys by so many contenders and a shocking meltdown by defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, Oosthuizen was the last to fall.

Trailing by one shot, Oosthuizen drove into the canyon left of the 17th fairway for a bogey that left him two shots behind, and then he missed the fairway on the par-5 18th that kept him from going for the green for a look at eagle to force a playoff.

He settled for a birdie and a 71. It was his second straight runner-up in a major, and his sixth silver medal since he won the British Open in 2010 at St. Andrews.

“Look, it’s frustrating. It’s disappointing,” Oosthuizen said .“I’m playing good golf, but winning a major championship is not just going to happen. You need to go out and play good golf. I played good today, but I didn’t play good enough.”

Only two weeks ago, Rahm was on the cusp of another big win. He had a six-shot lead at the Memorial after 54 holes, only to be notified as he walked off the 18th green at Muirfield Village that he had a positive COVID-19 test and had to withdraw.

Worse yet, his parents had flown in from Spain to see their new grandson, and Rahm was in self-isolation and couldn’t be there for a special moment.

Sunday made up for it. His parents were at Torrey Pines to witness a world-class performance capped off by one of the great finishes in U.S. Open history.

“It had to happen in a beautiful setting like this,” Rahm said. “Three generations of Rahms on this green. One of them doesn’t know what’s going on.”

For so much of the back nine, it was utter chaos with blunders that can define a U.S. Open.

DeChambeau, trying to become only the fourth player since World War II to win back-to-back in the U.S. Open, took the lead with an 8-iron that stopped inches away from a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth. He had gone 30 consecutive holes without a bogey.

And then his lack of accuracy off the tee cost him. A bogey on No. 11. A bogey from deep rough on No. 12. And then on the par-5 13th, DeChambeau went from deep rough to deep rough to bunker, blasting out of the sand over the green next to a beer box, making double bogey.

He took a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 17th hole with a shot in the canyon and a shank. He shot 44 on the back nine for a 77.

“I didn’t get off the rails at all. It’s golf,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve had plenty of times where I hit it way worse than today and I won. It’s just one of those things where I didn’t have the right breaks happen at the right time.”

Mackenzie Hughes, one shot behind going to the back nine, had his tee shot on the par-3 11th bounce off a cart path and get stuck in a tree, leading to a double bogey that ended his chances. Hughes finished off the weekend T15 and made history as the first Canadian since Mike Weir in 2003 to be in the final group on Sunday at a major.

Former PGA champion Collin Morikawa chopped his way down the 13th for double bogey that took him from one shot behind to out of the mix.

Rory McIlroy wasn’t immune, either. With a chance to end his seven-year drought in the majors, McIlroy made a careless three-putt for bogey on the 11th when he was one shot behind, and then caught a bad lie in the bunker that led to double bogey on No. 12.

Of the contenders, Rahm was the only player who didn’t drop a shot on the back nine.

Harris English finished with two birdies for a 68 to finish at 3-under 281, giving him third place.

Brooks Koepka got within one shot of the lead it was so close that 10 players were separated by one shot during one point in the final round until he made a pair of bogeys coming in for a 69. He tied for fourth with Morikawa (70) and Guido Migliozzi, who shot 68 in his major debut.

Rahm becomes the second player this year to capture his first major, joining with Hideki Matsuyama at the Masters.

What a perfect time, a first-time dad winning on Father’s Day, two weeks after a chance to win was taken away by COVID-19.

What a perfect place La Jolla, which reminds him of his home in the Basque region of Spain, the site of his first PGA Tour victory, where he proposed to his wife.

“I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew we were coming to a special place. Rahm continued,“I just felt like the stars were aligning, and I knew my best golf was to come.”

The eagle putts looked familiar for a Saturday at Torrey Pines in June, even with Tiger Woods nowhere in sight.

Mackenzie Hughes watched his 60-foot eagle putt from the back of the green to the front on the par-5 13th slide into the cup. Louis Oosthuizen could only hope his 50-foot eagle putt on the 18th found the center of the cup, and it kissed off the pin and disappeared.

Woods made eagle putts from one end of the green to the other on the 13th and 18th holes in 2008 that set the stage for a Sunday filled with anticipation.Suddenly, this U.S. Open has that familiar feel.

A major that for two days had the sleepy, chill vibe of San Diego now has an urgency for Oosthuizen and Rory McIlroy trying to end long droughts, hope for newcomers like Hughes and Russell Henley, a half-dozen other possibilities that include Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

“It’s a golf course where anything can happen,” said Oosthuizen, in the mix at a major for the second straight time. “It’s just a tough, old-fashioned golf course. You’re going to have nerves. You’re going to feel it. It’s about how you’re going to handle it.”

Hughes added a final birdie for a 3-under 68 and was the first to get to 5-under 208.

Oosthuizen made a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th and ended his round of 70 with the 50-foot eagle on the 18th to join him.

They were tied with Russell Henley, who had a two-shot lead early on the back nine and appeared to be hanging on for dear life at the end. He went from the bunker to the rough to the bunker on the easiest hole at Torrey Pines and had to make an 8-foot par putt for a 71.

McIlroy (67) and DeChambeau (68) were two shots behind.

McIlroy has gone seven years without a major, a drought accentuated by rarely even having decent chances. DeChambeau can get the last laugh in his beef with Brooks Koepka by joining him as a back-to-back U.S. Open champion.

“I thought like two 68s over the weekend from where I was after Friday was going to have a good chance,” said McIlroy, who started the third round six shots behind. “I’ve done the first part of that job. Now it’s up to me tomorrow to go out and try to play a similar round of golf.”

Woods is recovering from his February car crash that badly injured his legs and is not back at Torrey Pines. In his absence, the broadcast used every opportunity to relive memories of his two eagles that gave him the 54-hole lead.

It took two players to do that this time, but it was equally spectacular.

“The charge that goes through your body when the ball goes in the hole and the crowd erupts is why we play. It gives me goosebumps now thinking about it.” And he’ll have plenty of nerves Sunday playing in the final group with Oosthuizen, who has had five runner-up finishes in the majors — two in playoffs — since winning the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews.

Henley holed a bunker shot on the par-3 11th for birdie for a two-shot lead and made a great par save from the cabbage behind he 12th green. But he showed signs of cracking over the last hour, dropping shots on the 15th and having to escape with par on No. 18.

Thirteen players remained under par going into the final round. Eight players were separated by three shots on a tough course that might not be as accessible as it was Saturday, when all three par 5s were set up to be reachable in two.

McIlroy did his best work to save bogey. He ran off three birdies in four holes to start the back nine, only to pull his tee shot into a ravine. He took a penalty drop instead of going into the ravine — a smart decision considering television showed a large rattlesnake in the area — and limited the damage to a bogey.

A birdie on the 18th for a 67, matching the low score of the week, gave him a chance to win a major for the first time since the 2014 PGA Championship.

“This is the only tournament in the world where you fist-pump a bogey,” McIlroy said. “Only losing one there was a big deal, and getting it up-and-down out of the bunker on 16 and making that birdie on 18 just to get that shot back that I lost, really big.”DeChambeau played it big, too, going with driver just about everywhere and missing some fairways by such a wide margin that he had good lies in fan-trampled grass.

It led to his first time in 67 rounds at the majors without a bogey on his card, and his 68 gave him a chance to join Koepka and Curtis Strange as the only back-to-back Open winners in the last 50 years.

“You’ve got to be really patient out here at these majors,” DeChambeau said. “It’s something that is not easy to do. I feel like I’m starting to understand major championship golf and how to play it and how to go about managing my game, my attitude and just my patience level. If I can continue to do that tomorrow, I think I’ll have a good chance.”

Koepka, meanwhile, was among those who lost a good opportunity. He shot 71 and was only five shots behind, but with 13 players ahead of him.

Jon Rahm, slowed by a double bogey on No. 14 and not nearly enough birdies, had a 72 and was in the group at 2-under 211 along with Scottie Scheffler (70) and Matthew Wolff (73).

Dustin Johnson shot a 68 and was among those at 1-under 212, four behind and very much in the game in this major and on this golf course.

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Open prides itself on being the most open of all majors with some 9,000 players from all walks of golf having a chance to compete.

Open, indeed.

The weekend at Torrey Pines features major champions and major contenders, players who are unknown or unheralded, all of them still within reach of that U.S. Open trophy. Nine shots separated first from last.

It starts with Richard Bland, a 48-year-old from England who finally won on the European Tour last month in his 478th try. Bland had a 4-under 67 and walked off Torrey Pines with his name atop the leaderboard in only his fourth major. His first one was 23 years ago.

Russell Henley had a chance to build a two-shot lead Friday afternoon when he stood over an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth. He missed, and then watched his 2-foot par putt spin out of the cup. That gave him a 70 to join Bland 5-under 137.

They will be in the final group Saturday, with plenty of heavy hitters behind them and getting far more attention. Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Matthew Wolff (68), the U.S. Open runner-up last year at Winged Foot, were one shot behind.

Another shot back were two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (67) and Jon Rahm (70), a past winner at Torrey Pines and former world No. 1.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., vaulted up 53 spots into a tie for seventh at 2 under, three shots back of the leaders, with a second round of 4 under 67. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 1 over to sit at even par and is now sitting T13.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and his buddy, Brooks Koepka, were at also even par, only five shots behind. They were on the same score. They will not be in the same group.

Also at even-par 142 was Justin Thomas, who had a 68.

Henley doesn’t know much about Bland except that he pays a little attention to golf worldwide and recalled hearing about his British Masters win to end his long quest for a victory.

“I’m sure he knows nothing about me, too,” said Henley, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who has played 26 majors without a top 10.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., (72) and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. (73) missed the cut.

Bland’s victory in the British Masters made him the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history. That also was the start of a three-tournament series for the leading 10 players to get into the U.S. Open. Travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated the 36-hole qualifier in England.

This is only his fourth major _ twice at Royal Birkdale in 1998 and 2017, once at Bethpage Black for the U.S. Open in 2009 _ and he came in on a high note.

Oosthuizen, coming off a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship, finished with two pars in the morning to cap off a 67 to share the first-round lead with Henley. He didn’t get any lower in the second round and shot 71, but was right in the mix.

So was Wolff, a surprise only because he lost all joy playing golf after such a hot start out of Oklahoma State that he walked away from the game for two months, even missing a major at the PGA Championship. He returned to the toughest test in golf and shot 70-68, two-putting for eagle on the last hole.

“It’s awesome that I came out here and played well, but I think more importantly, I’m just getting closer to being more comfortable and being happy and enjoying it,” Wolff said. “I feel like I’ve done a very good job of enjoying it, but I’ve still got a long way to go to keep a level head. Like I said, I’ll probably be working on the same thing that I’m working on now for the rest of my career.”

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy were headed the wrong direction. Johnson, who missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship, dropped to 4 over until a late rally gave him a 73 and a spot in the weekend. He was seven behind. McIlroy had to birdie two holes down the stretch for a 73. He was six behind.

The 36-hole lead at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open was 3-under 139. The course is strong as ever with enough wind, though a marine layer has kept sunshine from baking out some of the greens. Then again, the weekend awaits.

The weekend will include Phil Mickelson, whose deft scrambling kept him inside the cut line and he finished with a birdie for a 69. He was seven shots behind in his quest to complete the career Grand Slam.

Bland will be a big part of the weekend, and that’s the charm of the U.S. Open.

“I love that about the game,” defending champion Bryson DeChambeau said after a 69 left him five shots behind. “Anybody, any age group, can play this great game and compete and contend. If you’re got the skill set to get the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots, you can be up there with the young guns.”

Bland is the classic journeyman, happy to be making a living at golf for more than two decades, disappointed to have not won until he broke through last month, not nearly surprised as most everyone else that he was tied for the U.S. Open.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Russell Henley’s visit to the rough-and-tumble South course at Torrey Pines went a lot better Thursday than the last time he played, especially under the circumstances.

Anything around par never hurts in a U.S. Open. He opened with a 4-under 67, finishing just as the wind off the Pacific was kicking into gear.

Henley got up-and-down by holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole for a one-shot lead over Francesco Molinari and Rafa Cabrera Bello among early starters.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, looking tough as ever in the strongest events, and San Diego native Xander Schauffele were at 69.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was part of a group of 12 golfers three shots off the pace at 1 under. Hadwin finished the day with 3 birdies.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot 2 and 4 over, respectively. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., had a later tee time.

A 90-minute fog delay before the opening tee shot meant the first round had no chance of being completed until Friday morning.

The difference between Torrey Pines for a PGA Tour stop in January and Torrey for the toughest test in golf? Henley couldn’t say. He has only played the Farmers Insurance Open one time, in 2014, and it was memorable for the wrong reasons. He holed a 40-foot shot on the 18th hole for birdie to break 80.

That’s about all he remembers except for “leaving the course feeling like I just got beat up.”

There was plenty of bruising going on Thursday in the U.S. Open.

Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson had to birdie the last hole to break 80. Max Homa four-putted from 20 feet for triple bogey on No. 12 and three-putted for double bogey on No. 14. That led to a 76.

PGA champion Phil Mickelson, who turned 51 on Wednesday, shot a 75 on Thursday. That’s not the start he hoped for in his bid to finally get a U.S. Open title for the career Grand Slam. What bothered him were two soft bogeys toward the end of his round.

“Look, it’s part of this tournament, and I was able to go without any doubles. I just didn’t make enough birdies to offset it,” Mickelson said.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm were among those playing in the afternoon.

There were a few cheers for “Bryson” directed at Koepka as fans tried to keep their feud going, though Koepka didn’t appear to be the least bit distracted. This is a major, and he showed why he’s called “Big Game Brooks” when the biggest tournaments roll around.

For so much of the day, Koepka made it look easy by keeping it in the short grass, off the tee and on the green. He was bogey-free and 4 under through 11 holes when he missed the green on the par-3 third and made bogey, and he dropped another shot from on the sixth, which has been converted to a par 4 for the U.S. Open.

Even so, it was a solid start for Koepka, a four-time major champion coming off a runner-up finish to Mickelson at the PGA Championship. It wasn’t easy. He made it sound that way.

“It’s pretty simple. It’s a lot simpler than what guys make it,” Koepka said. “I think a lot of guys make it more difficult than it needs to be. Just got to understand where the flag is, what you’re doing and where to miss it.”

The surprise might have been Molinari, the former British Open champion who has not been the same since losing a two-shot lead on the back nine at the Masters two years ago that paved the way for Tiger Woods slipping on another green jacket.

The Italian had to pull out of the PGA Championship with a sore back. He mentioned other nagging injuries. He’s had three top 10s this year. He also has missed the cut in three of the last four tournaments he played. But he was solid at Torrey, and two birdies over his last three allowed him to match his best start in a U.S. Open.

Henley was among three players from the early draw who reached 4 under at some point, and the only player who stayed there thanks to his birdie at the end.

Koepka played his final seven holes with two bogeys, no birdies and no complaints. Patrick Rodgers was 4 under with five holes to play until he dropped three shots coming in. That didn’t rattle him too much, either.

“I really felt like I played decently coming in, but just playing a U.S. Open, you’re sometimes a bounce away or a lip-out away from a tough hole or a tough situation,” Rodgers said. “That’s just part of this event.”

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) – Dustin Johnson got off to a fast start Thursday at Congaree in his home-state Palmetto Championship, shooting a 6-under 65 that left him a shot behind leader Wes Roach.

Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player and a South Carolina native, hadn’t played since missing the cut the last time he teed it up in the Palmetto State at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island last month.

Johnson appeared he might hold a share of the lead before Roach, a 32-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour victory, rolled in a 19-footer for a go-ahead birdie on the 16th hole.

Still, Johnson had a smooth, bogey-free round in the field’s first try at the Congaree Golf Club as the replacement tournament for the canceled RBC Canadian Open, called off a second straight season due to COVID-19 concerns.

Roach, splitting time on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours this season, shot his lowest PGA Tour round since November 2019. He was a stroke in front of Johnson, Doc Redman, Chesson Hadley and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen.

Canadians Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan both shot 4-under 67’s and are tied for seventh. Fellow Canadians David Hearn and Michael Gligic both shot 73.

Roach eagled the par-5 fourth, holing out from 105 yards on the 633-yard hole.

Johnson was headed in the wrong direction at the Ocean Course three weeks ago, missing a major cut for the second time in as many months. But if anyone doubted his readiness for next week’s U.S. Open, Johnson easily brushed that aside with his stellar play over the firm fairways and curvy greens at the 4-year-old Tom Fazio course.

At Congaree, he had four birdies in a seven-hole stretch, all on putts 10 feet or less including a two-putt birdie on the drivable, 370-yard third. Johnson chipped in from 82 feet away for his final birdie on No. 9 to tie Redman for the lead among the morning starters.

Johnson was only thinking of a par save when he hit the shot and was overjoyed – well, about as overjoyed as the cool, calm Johnson can get – when it disappeared in the cup for his lowest round since shooting 65 in the second round of the Tournament of Champions last January.

Redman was the first to reach 6 under with a run of four birdies over five holes on his back nine.

Hadley’s approach on his next-to-last hole, the eighth, was 2 feet from the cup for his tying birdie.

Van Rooyen was at 7 under through 14 holes. He made bogey on the sixth hole to fall back.

Van Rooyen followed up his successful U.S. Open qualifying in Ohio earlier this week with a strong showing at Congaree. He had missed his last four cuts including the PGA Championship. He spent the past three weeks thinking about his performance and working his game. van Rooyen like what he saw Thursday.

“I think I’m just sort of going forward,” he said.

Brooks Koepka, playing for the first time since finishing second to Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, opened with a 72 and was seven shots behind the leaders. Koepka is the only other top-10 player in this field, the last before the season’s third major.

Koepka’s start wasn’t a good sign: the last four times he began a tournament over-par, he went on to miss the cut.

A short time after Johnson finished, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. Henry McMaster on the club grounds.

Johnson said he was boosted by the strong crowd following him, not just here but at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head and the PGA Championship this season.

“I get a lot of support here in South Carolina, being a South Carolina native,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s been great” to play so much there.

“Hopefully, I can keep it rolling for the rest of the week,” he said.

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) – Collin Morikawa had another favorable result at Muirfield Village on a golf course that looked and sounded a lot different from when he won last year.

Morikawa felt good vibes from an old putter and posted a 6-under 66 in rain-softened conditions Thursday morning at the Memorial. That gave him a one-shot lead over Adam Long among early starters, with Xander Schauffele in the group two shots behind.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 4-under 68 to put him two shots back of the lead. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford both shot a 74. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 77.

The weather was bad enough that the first round was suspended twice, with only half the field finishing the round.

For Morikawa, the name of the tournament is different, too. He won a playoff at Muirfield Village last year in the Workday Charity Open, a one-time event to replace the pandemic-canceled John Deere Classic.

But there’s a comfort level at the course Jack Nicklaus built, no matter how much it has been renovated and reshaped. And it was noisy Thursday as the tournament has let at least 25% capacity of fans on the course.

Jon Rahm is the defending champion at the Memorial and faced a far stronger test. Nicklaus knew he was going to be redoing the fairways and greens, so he let them go for the Memorial and conditions were as tough as a U.S. Open.

Rahm did OK in the soft conditions with a 69, tied with British Open champion Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who needs a runner-up finish to move into the top 60 in the world ranking and avoid U.S. Open qualifying on Monday.

Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy didn’t make it past a couple of holes before the weather stopped everything. They were to return Friday morning to finish the first round, and then right back out for the second round.

The forecast was better for the rest of the week, and darkness doesn’t set in until about 9 p.m.

What made Schauffele’s round interesting is that he used the controversial arm-lock method to putt. It’s a putter he’s only had for about a week. He’s among the best statistically putting. And he things the putting style should be banned.

It’s the method used by DeChambeau, Matt Kuchar and Will Zalatoris, among others. Most players believe it is no different from anchoring the long putter against the sternum, a style the R&A and USGA outlawed.

But if the rules makers are allowing it, Schauffele figures he might as well do the same.

Kuchar, meanwhile, withdrew when he was 9 over after 14 holes for what the PGA Tour described as a left forearm injury.

1 June 2021, St Andrews, Scotland – The R&A has announced the countdown to The 150th Open which kicks off today with the launch of a special commemorative brand and the introduction of a ticket ballot to ensure the most equitable ticket sales process possible. 

First played in 1860, The Open has been graced by golf’s greatest champions including Tom Morris, the grandfather of golf, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, and will mark its 150th playing with a true celebration of the sport at the Home of Golf from 10-17 July 2022. 

With the extremely high levels of demand to attend this historic championship, the introduction of a ballot for tickets is deemed the fairest and most equitable way of ensuring golf fans from around the world have the chance to secure their place at the world-renowned Old Course next July. Hospitality for the event has been on sale since last year, with 85% of packages already sold. 

The ticket ballot will run from Thursday, 1 July 2021 to Monday, 4 October 2021 giving as many fans as possible the opportunity to register for tickets. A balance of allocations will ensure every generation of fan, from all over the world, as well as throughout the UK and the local area, will be able to attend the celebrations in St Andrews next July. 

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “This is a momentous occasion for golf as well as The Open and one which sports fans everywhere are looking forward to enormously. The 150th Open will give fans the opportunity to be part of a unique and unparalleled celebration at the birthplace of the game in St Andrews. 

The new 150th commemorative brand will be displayed across a campaign of content and activations that will run throughout the next 14 months until the conclusion of next year’s Championship at St Andrews. The focus of the campaign will be the remarkable journey of The Open and its enduring impact on players, fans and the sport of golf itself since it was first staged back in 1860. 

The 150th logo is made up of individual threads that each represent the millions of journeys connected to the Championship. From the greats of the game, to the hundreds of millions of golfers who have played the game since 1860, to the vast array of championships that take place in the global golfing calendar, the journey of our sport is intimately linked to the pioneers who started The Open to identify the Champion Golfer of the Year more than a century-and-a-half ago. The threads will be prominently used in imagery throughout the build-up to The 150th Open, emphasising the campaign’s central message that ‘everything has led to this’ as we count down to what promises to be a truly unforgettable occasion. 

Ticket prices for The 150th Open will be £95 for an adult on Championship days and will range from £20 to £50 on practice days. The R&A is fully committed to encouraging more children and young people to attend The Open and free tickets will be available to children through the successful and long-running “Kids go Free” programme, while half-price youth tickets are available for 16-24 year-olds. In order to give as many people as possible the chance to attend the Championship, weekly tickets are being discontinued. 

The ticket ballot will be available exclusively to members of The One Club, the free-to-join membership programme. Fans can sign up to The One Club any time at www.TheOpen.com and will be among the first to be notified when the ballot is open. 

Origins Hospitality, a range of fully inclusive experiences, is available to purchase now and is the only way fans can guarantee their place at the Championship. Visit www.TheOpen.com/hospitality2022 for further information. 

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jason Kokrak played in 233 PGA Tour events before getting his first victory. The big hitter didn’t have to wait nearly as long to win again, though this one may have been harder because he had to overcame a local favorite at Colonial.

Kokrak shot an even-par 70 in a final-group showdown Sunday with resurgent Jordan Spieth, winning the Charles Schwab Challenge at 14-under 266. He was two strokes better than Spieth, who hit his approach from the rough at No. 18 over the green and into the water.

“You stay in the moment and it’s a golf course. You’re playing the golf course, you’re playing yourself. You’re not really playing Jordan,” Kokrak said. “But for where we got to in comparison to some of the other players, I knew it was going to be a boxing match and see who was going to come out on top.”

There were five bogeys and five birdies for Kokrak, who twice needed two shots to get out of bunkers. There were also back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16 before a key par-saving 7-foot putt after his approach missed the 17th green.

But when he struck his round-ending 4-footer, he followed the ball to the cup and finally broke into a smile when celebrating with caddie David Robinson.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for eighth at 6-under. Fellow Canadians Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford finished in ties for 20th and 62nd, respectfully.

A huge crowd followed the only contending group all day, most of them waiting to erupt for Dallas-native Spieth, who began the round with a one-stroke lead before a bogey-filled 73. Kokrak said he heard some negative comments and knew he “definitely was not the favorite,” but did have a high school buddy and a cousin’s friend supporting him on the course.

Kokrak, playing in his 16th tournament since winning the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in October, joined Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink as the only players with two wins on the PGA Tour this season.

Spieth, the 2016 winner at Colonial, was a runner-up there for the third time after leading each of the first three rounds.

“I didn’t play well at all, quite simply. I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament, but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it,” Spieth said. “I was just really off with my golf swing. I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.”

It was still his eighth top-10 finish in his last 11 starts this year, one more top 10 than he had the previous two seasons combined.

Along with the $1.35 million winner’s check and plaid jacket, Kokrak got a customized restored 1946 Schwab Power Wagon, a truck with 40-inch tires and a model date matching the first year of Colonial, the longest-running PGA event at the same venue.

Charley Hoffman had a closing 65 to finish in a four-way third at 10 under. He also had a tournament-best 62 on Friday, but that was sandwiched by a pair of over-par rounds (71 on Thursday and 72 on Saturday). Patton Kizzire (67), Sebastian Munoz (68) and Ian Poulter (68) were also at 10-under 270. Troy Merritt was alone in seventh at 7 under.

Sergio Garcia was in third place at 10 under to start the final round, but the 41-year-old Spaniard, who got the first of his 11 PGA Tour wins 20 years ago at Colonial, bogeyed the opening par 5, then had had a three-putt for double bogey at No. 3. He shot a 76 and tied for 20th at 276.

Kokrak took the lead for good with birdies at the longest and shortest holes, making a 13-foot putt at the 629-yard 11th hole, an then a 17-footer off the fringe at the 170-yard 13th after a tee shot the came close to going into the water fronting the par 3. Spieth only had two birdies, the last with an approach to less than 2 feet on No. 9 that matched them at 14 under going to the back nine.

After going into a greenside bunker at the 551-yard opening hole, Kokrak didn’t get the ball out of there on the first try and the bogey quickly put him two strokes behind.

But Spieth, who had only two bogeys in the first 55 holes, then bogeyed three holes in a row – and had two more on the back nine. He went in the right rough and then over the green on both Nos. 2 and 3, then hit into a bunker fronting the difficult 241-yard, par-3 fourth. He blasted to six feet, but his par attempt curled around the edge of the cup and he had to tap in for bogey.

Kokrak led for the first time after a 23-foot birdie putt at the fifth, but his other bunker trouble came at No. 7, where he bogeyed while Spieth made par after a wayward tee shot hit a tree and ricocheted into the fairway.