TORONTO – Golf Canada and title sponsor RBC have confirmed that the membership of St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto have strongly supported the hosting of the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, with nearby Islington Golf Club serving as the official practice facility for the tournament.

St. George’s and Islington re-committing their involvement for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open follows two years of cancellations due to international travel and government restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 RBC Canadian Open was scheduled to be held June 7-13.

“I am so pleased that the membership of St. George’s Golf and Country Club as well as Islington Golf Club will join us in hosting the 2022 RBC Canadian Open,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “We are already looking forward to the return of the PGA TOUR  to Canada and so grateful that both clubs including their respective membership and our host volunteer committee continue to work towards the celebrated return of the RBC Canadian Open.”

“RBC is proud to be title sponsor of Canada’s National Open Championship, one of the oldest events on the PGA TOUR schedule with a strong history of celebrating the importance of golf to Canadians,” said Mary DePaoli, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, RBC. “We are looking forward to welcoming back defending champion Rory McIlroy, our Team RBC golfers, and inspiring the next generation of golf talent at the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.”

St. George’s Golf and Country Club has previously hosted the RBC Canadian Open on five occasions, dating as far back as 1933 and most recently in 2010.

“We are proud to continue along the path that we dedicated the club and our membership to for 2020,” said RBC Canadian Open Tournament Chair Mark Teskey. “With more than 200 volunteer members having devoted countless hours and many others lending their support in a meaningful way, we are excited to continue with those efforts to make the 111^th RBC Canadian Open a great success.” 

“Islington Golf Club is very happy to be partnering with Golf Canada and St. George’s to deliver a fantastic experience for players, volunteers and Canadian golf fans at the RBC Canadian Open,” said Tournament Co-Chair Chris Tortorice. “We are very excited to welcome the PGA TOUR back to Toronto in 2022.” 

Part of the FedExCup Regular Season and conducted by Golf Canada for more than a century, the RBC Canadian Open provides an opportunity for Canada’s top talents to compete against the world’s best golfers while also creating a positive impact in the event’s host community. Established in 1904, Canada’s national open golf championship is the third-oldest national open golf championship worldwide next to the British Open and the U.S. Open. The RBC Canadian Open is proudly sponsored by RBC, Audi, Acushnet, Steam Whistle, Hilton, Levelwear, Sargent Farms, Coca-Cola and the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada. The RBC Canadian Open is proud to support the Golf Canada Foundation as the event’s official charity partner.

Canada’s top two professional golfers are returning to tournaments this week where they were atop the leaderboard the last time they played in the event.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., won the Valero Texas Open in 2019 and, because the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is considered the reigning champion. As a result, every room key at the players’ hotel for the PGA Tour event this week has his picture on it.

Conners said that although his photo is everywhere at the event in San Antonio, he still enjoyed some anonymity when checking in with a hotel clerk thanks to the mask he was wearing upon arrival.

“She had no idea who I was, but I made a funny comment about it being embarrassing for the guy who’s got to look at himself on the room key every day for the whole week,” Conners said this week.

“I obviously had my mask on and a hat and I think a sweatshirt, so she probably didn’t put two and two together.”

Conners won in 2019 after entering the field as a Monday qualifier. He’s ranked 41st in the world this week after a hot start to the season.

He believes he’ll be a different player when he tees off on Thursday compared to the man who won the Texas Open in 2019.

“I think my game’s gotten a little more polished over the last few years, a little more consistent,” said Conners.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., tees off on Thursday at the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the LPGA Tour season. It was last held in September 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Henderson was tied for first with American Nelly Korda and South Korea’s Mirim Lee at 15-under after four rounds at last year’s ANA Inspiration. Lee won the tournament with a birdie on the first playoff hole.

The 23-year-old Henderson, who has the most professional tournament wins in Canadian golf history, said she has learned from that playoff defeat.

“I think it’s really important to take away the positives from that week because I played really well and there’s a lot of good things that happened,” said Henderson. “Unfortunately I didn’t lift the trophy but I was tied for the lead when we finished 72 holes. So that’s a lot of confidence and that’s a great feeling.”

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., as well as Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., are the other Canadians in the field at the Texas Open.

The winner, if not already qualified, gets a spot in the Masters, the first major of the men’s season, next week in Augusta, Ga.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the only other Canadian in the field at the ANA Inspiration.

Canada is coming off a big week on the PGA and LPGA feeder circuits.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., won the Korn Ferry Tour event last week, while Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., tied for second at the Symetra Tour tournament.

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Joel Dahmen won the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory, avoiding a playoff when the wind pushed playing partner Rafael Campos’ final birdie try to the left.

Dahmen closed with a 2-under 70 on the windswept seaside course. The American started fast with birdies on three of the first four holes and added another on the par-5 seventh, then played the last 11 in 2 over with bogeys on par-3 11th and par-5 14th and a series have hard-earned pars.

The 33-year-old Dahmen finished at 12-under 276. He didn’t get into the Masters with the victory because the tournament was played opposite the WGC Match Play event in Texas, but did wrap up a PGA Championship berth and a spot at Kapalua in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Campos, the Puerto Rican player whose family has long had a home in the Dominican, had a 71. Winless on the tour, he bogeyed the par-3 17th to drop out of a tie for the lead and watched the wind move his 15-footer off-line in the last few inches on the par-4 18th. His only birdies came on the two front-nine par 5s.

Sam Ryder had a 67 to tie for second with Campos.

Graeme McDowell, the 2019 winner, and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., tied for fourth at 10 under. McDowell closed with a 69, and Gligic shot 71.

It was a career-best finish for Gligic, who was in the mix until two late bogeys took him out of contention.

The 31 year old said he made some mistakes on day one, but played “pretty solid all around.”

It’s an experience Gligic hopes to build off of as he continues on the PGA Tour.

“I can definitely use this next time and hopefully I can finish a little stronger. Those finishing holes are pretty tough,” he said.

Defending champion Hudson Swafford (70) and Emiliano Grillo (71) were 9 under.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – When Matt Jones won his first PGA Tour title seven years ago, he needed a 45-foot birdie putt just to get into a playoff and then a 40-yard chip-in to take the victory.

This win was far less dramatic, yet just as meaningful.

It got him back to the Masters.

Jones won the Honda Classic by five shots Sunday, a final round of 2-under 68 good enough to finish the week at 12-under 268 at PGA National. The margin matched the largest in tournament history, tying the mark set by Jack Nicklaus in 1977 and matched by Camilo Villegas in 2010.

“It’s been seven years. It’s been a tough seven years,” Jones said. “I’ve had ups and I’ve had downs, as all golfers have, but it gets me into a lot of big tournaments now.”

The 40-year-old Australian earned $1.26 million and, this time, he’ll have more than a day to prepare for the trip to Augusta National. His win at the Houston Open in 2014 – and his Masters invite – came just one day before he had to go to Augusta, making it a scramble to get family and friends together to share in the experience.

The Masters starts April 8, so he’s got much more time to plan this one.

“It’s going to be nice,” Jones said. “I can go prep for the Masters this time. Last time it was an absolute blur. I can’t remember a thing about it, so I’m going to do some prep this time before.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. finished in a five-way tie for eighth place at 5-under par. Fellow Canadian Roger Sloan finished in a tie for 25th at 2-under par, while Mackenzie Hughes ended his tournament in a tie for 36th at 1-over par.

Jones started the week with a course-record-tying round of 9-under 61. He was three shots behind Aaron Wise after 36 holes after a second-round 70, and his round of 69 on Saturday was good enough to put him up by three entering Sunday.

Brandon Hagy (66) finished 7 under and alone in second on his 30th birthday, his chance at winning doomed by a third-round 76. Chase Seiffert (64), Brendan Steele (65), C.T. Pan (70), Denny McCarthy (67) and Russell Henley (68) tied for third at 6 under.

“There’s a lot of tough holes out there and there’s big stakes for sure, but I’ve been working on some good stuff and it’s nice to see some of that pan out,” Hagy said.

The only stretch where Jones’ grip on the lead seemed in peril was midway through the round; Wise, who once led by six shots during the third round, had four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front and got within one of the lead.

Wise’s chances ended at the par-4 10th. He hit his second into a bunker, then four-putted from 25 feet for triple-bogey. Jones’ lead went to four, and he avoided trouble the rest of the way, while Wise finished with a 73 and tied for 13th at 4 under.

J.B. Holmes was in the final group with Jones, three shots back to start the day, and his chances were gone very quickly. He ended up with a costly final-round 79 for Holmes; second place, where he started the day, paid Hagy $763,000 while the tied-for-46th finish paid Holmes $19,070.

Holmes knocked his shot from a greenside bunker off the green and made bogey on the opening hole, then sent his tee shot way right on the par-4 second and needed about 10 minutes to find the ball – it was nestled among palm fronds – and decide how to proceed.

He went on to make double bogey there, and when Jones birdied the par-5 third Holmes’ deficit had gone from three to eight shots in about 45 minutes.

At that point, only a few had a realistic chance at catching Jones. Before long, the outcome was obvious.

“You can’t get a tougher golf course to win on than this one, in these conditions,” Jones said. “To be able to do that on this golf course is amazing and something I can build on for the future, hopefully.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. _ Justin Thomas found the right time for a near-perfect performance to put a rough start to the year behind him, rallying from three shots behind with bold play to close with a 4-under 68 and win The Players Championship on Sunday.

Thomas becomes only the fourth player to win a major, The Players Championship, the FedEx Cup and a World Golf Championship, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

He called it as good as he has ever played tee-to-green, and he needed it to outlast Lee Westwood, a hard-luck runner-up for the second straight week. Westwood birdied the final hole for a 72 to finish one shot behind.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was among four golfers who shot a 6-under 66 in the final round, the lowest single-round score of the day. Conners finished the tournament in seventh place at 10-under 278.

Abbotsford, B.C. natives Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor both finished within the top-50. Hadwin finished in a tie for 29th place at 4-under par. Taylor finished in a tie for 48th place at 1-under par.

Thomas began the year with a barely audible anti-gay slur under his breath after missing a short putt. That led to one corporate sponsor dropping him and another giving him a public reprimand. The one time he had a chance to win, he learned his grandfather died before the final round of the Phoenix Open.

He was shaken until Sunday at the TPC Sawgrass, where he took on every shot and delivered a gem.

Thomas went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie around the turn, and put away Westwood for good with a pair of lag putts from 50 feet _ one for birdie on the par-5 16th to take the lead, another on the island-green 17th for a par.

Thomas still had one more shot before he was in the clear. He took on the water framing the left side of the 18th fairway, the ball moving right-to-left and bouncing straight off the crown of the first cut, safely in the fairway.

His approach landed on the fringe _ the first green he missed all day _ leaving a simple two-putt for par and the 14th victory of his PGA Tour career. He returns to No. 2 in the world.

“I fought so hard today,” Thomas said. “It’s probably one of the best rounds of my life tee-to-green. I’ve seen some crazy stuff happen on TV in the past, and I’m glad to be on this side of it.”

All the crazy stuff came early.

Bryson DeChambeau, coming off a win last week at Bay Hill, topped an iron off the tee on the par-4 fourth hole that went only about 140 yards until it plunked into the water. From 237 yards on a forward tee to a green protected by water, he hit a slice with a 5-iron some 40 yards right of the green.

“Dude! I don’t know what happened!” he said to his caddie. “I’ve never done that before.”

DeChambeau made double bogey and was scratching the rest of the way to stay in the game. He still had a chance with an eagle on the 16th hole to get within two, but when Thomas made par on the 17th, his chances were about over. DeChambeau shot 71 and tied for third with Brian Harman, who had a 69 and played the final 12 holes without a bogey.

The 47-year-old Westwood hit his tee shot into the water on the fourth hole and had to make an 8-footer to save bogey. He hit his approach out of the pine straw that clipped two branches and found water on the par-5 second hole to make bogey.

He was never far away from the lead, and Westwood regained a share of the lead with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 14th.

His chances began to slip away with his second shot into the par-5 16th. It hit a big oak and dropped into the sand, and his third shot found a bunker in front of the green. Instead of matching birdies with Thomas, who was in the group ahead, Westwood had to scramble for par to stay one behind.

And on the 17th, his long birdie attempt rolled 7 feet by the hole. He faced another crucial par putt, and he finally missed.

Thomas was outside the cut line after nine holes on Friday. He followed that with a 64 on Saturday to get in the mix, and he finished off in style to pick up $2.7 million with a win against the strongest and deepest field in golf.

It wrapped up a year in which the PGA Tour shut down after one round of The Players a year ago. Thomas was among those serving on the Player Advisory Council that was a part in getting golf back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He looked at the gold trophy with Commissioner Jay Monahan to soak in how far golf had come in a year. For Thomas, he came a long way in three months.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. _ Lee Westwood isn’t interested in comparing himself with the player who rose to No. 1 in the world a decade ago. All he knows is he’s playing some of his best golf, and he gets another chance to see if it can hold up against the best field.

Westwood had all the shots Friday in a bogey-free round at The Players Championship, with two birdies at the start and a nifty pitch to a troublesome pin on the par-5 ninth to close with a another birdie and a 6-under 66.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick (68) going into the weekend on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass, with U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau not too far behind.

Westwood, who turns 48 next month, played well enough to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week at Bay Hill except that DeChambeau was one shot better in a fascinating duel of generations on a course that favours power.

Sawgrass favours no particular style, and it produced an eclectic mix of contenders at the halfway point.

“I think to compete in any of these tournaments against the best players in the world, you can’t have any weaknesses in your game,” Westwood said. “I wouldn’t be able to say I’m doing this better or that better. There’s not a shot out there I’m afraid of. There’s not a shot out there I’ll walk up to and think, `I haven’t got this one.’

“I’m comfortable out there with everything.”

He was at 9-under 135 and will be part of the All-England final pairing Saturday.

Sergio Garcia was another shot back after a 72 that looked like it was a lot worse with so many putts the Spaniard missed, including a 23-inch par putt on the 15th hole that followed a 5-foot par putt he missed on the 14th.

Still, the 2008 champion showed plenty of game _ and enough par putts that went in _ to stay in the hunt. He drilled his approach to inches away on the par-5 11th for his third eagle of the week, which a already ties the tournament record.

And he finished in style with an approach that danced around the flag and settled 5 feet away for birdie on the 18th.

“It was a beautiful roller coaster,” Garcia said. “There were a lot of good things. Unfortunately, a lot of bad things. But more than anything there was a lot of fighting, and that’s one of the things that I’m most proud of because when things are not really happening and you miss a couple putts here and there, it’s easy to kind of let the round get away from you.”

When the second round was suspended by darkness, 16 players were within five shots of the lead.

DeChambeau was in the group three shots behind after a 69 that began with a double bogey from the trees and a muffed chip out of the rough from behind the green. He was bogey-free the rest of the way on a course that doesn’t let him swing for the fences because of water and cross bunkers and other brands of trouble.

“I’m happy with the fact that I’ve still been able to keep myself in it and score well,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve been pretty lucky, for the most part. I don’t think that’ll happen this weekend. I’ve got to make sure that my game is good off the tee, so I don’t have those issues occurring and I don’t have to rely on luck for the most part. I have to get it in the fairway.”

Kirk holed out from the first fairway for eagle and closed with back-to-back birdies for a 65. Starting with a chip-in for birdie on the 15th, he played six straight holes in 6 under.

Sungjae Im tied the tournament record with six straight birdies, a streak that ended when he missed the green to the left on the par-3 third, and even then he nearly chipped in. He had to settle for a 66 and was three shots behind.

Dustin Johnson wasted a good start and shot 70, leaving him eight shots behind. Jordan Spieth made his first double bogey in 411 holes _ the longest streak of his career _ and shot 74 to make the cut on the number.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is the top Canadian, firing a 72 to stay at 4 under after opening with a 68.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., (69) is 1 under, fellow Abbotsford native Nick Taylor (74) is even, while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., (72) is 3 over and expected to miss the weekend cut.

The weekend is as much about who’s missing.

Rory McIlroy, who opened with a 79, wasn’t much better Friday. He made another double bogey on the 10th hole and shot 75. His 36-hole total of 154 was his highest ever in his 11 appearance at The Players Championship. He is the first defending champion to miss the cut since Rickie Fowler in 2016.

Four players from the top 10 in the world missed the cut _ Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton and Webb Simpson, whose hopes ended with one of 13 balls in the water at the island-green 17th.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Canada’s Corey Conners is tied for second after the morning wave of the first round of the Players Championship.

Conners, from Listowel, Ont., shot a 4-under 68 today. He’s tied with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, three shots back of leader Sergio Garcia of Spain.

Conners holed out for eagle from 154 yards out on the par-4 14th (he started on No. 9) before making a 22-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to get to 3 under.

The Canadian’s lone bogey came at No. 1, with birdies following at Nos. 2 and 7.

Conners is coming off a third-place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I took a lot of positives from last week,” he said. “I had a solid week, was playing well all four days and just tried to keep the same mindset, keep the same sort of game plan that I had last week and just picking my spots to be aggressive. Just playing with a lot of confidence.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 2 under today.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., had afternoon tee times.

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The long ball helped Bryson DeChambeau outlast Lee Westwood on Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, only the key shots were as much with his putter as his driver.

DeChambeau holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the front nine and a 50-foot par putt early on the back nine. He closed it out with a nervy 5-foot par putt for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot victory over the 47-year-old Westwood.

It matched the low score of the day, one of only three rounds under par in the toughest final round at Bay Hill in 41 years.

DeChambeau and Westwood were never separated by more than one shot over the final 15 holes, a fascinating duel of generations that came down to the last shot.

DeChambeau took a one-shot lead to the par-4 18th and hit his most important drive of the day – in the fairway. Westwood’s tee shot settled in a divot, and he did well to get it on the green and two-putt from 65 feet. DeChambeau’s birdie putt slid by some 5 feet and he shook his arms in celebration when the par putt dropped.

Westwood closed with a 73, not a bad score considering the average of 75.49 was the highest for a final round since 1980.

Corey Conners was third at 8 under after a 74.

DeChambeau said he received a text Sunday morning from Tiger Woods, who is recovering from serious leg injuries from his car crash in Los Angeles. He said Woods, an eight-time Bay Hill winner, told him to “keep fighting.” He also considered the words from Arnold Palmer to “play boldly.”

DeChambeau rose to No. 6 in the world with his ninth PGA Tour victory, and he became the first player this season with multiple victories, to go along with his U.S. Open title in September. It matched the longest it took for a multiple winner on the PGA Tour since 1969. Nick Price won his second title in the 21st week of the season in 1994.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Lee Westwood made a pair of 30-foot putts over the final three holes Saturday, one for eagle and the other a closing birdie, for a 7-under 65 that gave England’s ageless wonder a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Westwood turns 48 next month and is feeling younger by the years, coming off a third European Tour title and still easily among the top 50 in the world.

Now he goes up against U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, whose 68 included a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole in which he cut off so much of the water he had only 70 yards for his second shot on the 531-yard hole.

Corey Conners of Canada, who started with a one-shot lead, could only manage a 71 on a cool, breezy day at Bay Hill with only a few drops of rain. He also was one shot behind.

“It’s nice to still be playing in these tournaments,” Westwood said. “You’ve got to be top 50 in the world and if you would have said to me 20 years ago will you still be top 50 in the world at 48 I might have been slightly skeptical. And it just shows that I’m still capable of playing well in these tournaments with all the good young players around me and obviously contending, because that’s what I’m doing this week.”

Sunday was shaping up as another thriller at Bay Hill.

Jordan Spieth opened with a birdie and a hole-in-one, took the lead by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 seventh, saved par after a tee shot into the water and shot 68 with the kind of round he’d rather do without. Spieth prefers boring golf, and this was anything but that.

He was two shots behind, along with former PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who had the low score of the week at 64.

Spieth didn’t have the only ace. Jazz Janewattananond made on on the 14th hole that thrust him into the ix with a 69, leaving him four shots behind in a group that included Rory McIlroy, who bogeyed the last for a 72. Despite such a pedestrian round, McIlroy was very much in contention.

They will be chasing Westwood, who first played the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 1998. He was at 11-under 205.

Westwood posted his lowest score ever at Bay Hill and made only six pars. He had eight birdies and the eagle on the 16th hole, along with a pair of three-putt bogeys.

Westwood has five victories since turning 40, including last year in Abu Dhabi, among the strongest fields on the European Tour. He rallied to win the Race to Dubai late last year, his third time finishing the year as Europe’s No. 1.

So this didn’t surprise him, especially on a course that fits his eye, even though he has only one finish in the top 10.

“I haven’t lost any of my length and I haven’t lost any of my enthusiasm to go and work and work in the gym,” Westwood said. “My nerves are still intact, I still get into contention and enjoy it rather than kind of back off.”

Spieth is getting used to being in contention, too. He had chances in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, and he was in the peripheral of contention at Riviera.

Starting four shots behind, he made up ground quickly with an 18-foot birdie on the first hole and then hit a 5-iron that rolled up the right side of the green, turned toward the cup and dropped for an ace.

“That was obviously a really cool moment,” Spieth said.

He will play Sunday with Tommy Fleetwood, who had a 68 and was three behind. Spieth had to play as a single most of Saturday when Justin Rose, who made a 9 on the third hole, withdrew soon thereafter citing back spasms.

DeChambeau got one of the loudest cheers of the day by hitting into the rough. The biggest gallery lingered behind the sixth tee to see if he would go for the green. He aimed well to the right, but it still was a thrill to them to see DeChambeau grab driver and blast away.

The fans packed behind the ropes on the other side of the water let out a huge cheer when his ball descended and tumbled into the rough, 70 yards from the pin.

“Oh, man, I felt like a kid again, for sure,” DeChambeau said. “It was exciting, especially when you pull it off. It was almost like winning a tournament. It’s kind of the feeling I had. It was like, `Oh, I did it.’ I got the same chills and feeling when I saw it clear and there was no splash. I gave the fans what they wanted.”

The tournament isn’t decided until Sunday, and with hardly any rain, the greens are unlikely to lose their speed and firmness. McIlroy likes his position. Westwood likes his even more.