DETROIT – Canada’s Taylor Pendrith could be on pace for his first ever PGA Tour title.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., native shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to match American Tony Finau at 21-under 195 with a round left in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

A stroke ahead entering the round, Pendrith birdied four of the last five holes for a 66.

Pendrith was the second-round leader after setting the tournament 36-hole record at 15-under 129.

The 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie missed nearly four months this year with a broken rib.

Finau, the 3M Open winner last week in Minnesota, is trying to become the first to win consecutive regular-season tournaments in three years.

Rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young (65) was four strokes back. He matched the Detroit Golf Club record with a 63 on Friday.

Stephan Jaeger was five shots back after a 65.

Patrick Cantlay, No. 4 in the world ranking, was six shots behind after a 66.

The duel in Detroit seemed like match play with Pendrith and Finau taking turns pulling and falling into ties and moving ahead.

Pendrith opened with six-foot birdie putt to take a two-shot lead. Finau pulled within a stroke on the next hole, making a 20-foot chip from the greenside rough for birdie.

“Stay hot, Tony!” a fan shouted.

Pendrith, who had his share of fans back home in Ontario, looked cool as calm as he bumped fists with two young boys as he walked to the third tee.

Finau pulled into the lead with a 15-foot putt at No. 3, then Pendrith pulled his three-foot putt to miss an opportunity to stay ahead.

Pendrith’s errant tee shot to the left on the par-5 631-yard fourth hole put him in the No. 6 greenside rough, leaving him behind several towering tees in his path to the green. He hit a shot 104 yards to the hole, an approach within 16 feet and made the putt to restore his one-stroke lead.

Pendrith took a two-stroke lead at No. 6, making a seven-foot putt that curled in the right side.

Finau equaled Pendrith at 18 under at the turn after making birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 while Pendrith missed a 1-foot putt and make bogey on the ninth hole.

Pendrith ended up behind a tree again at No. 13, forcing him to chip back onto the fairway and leading to a bogey that dropped him him into a second-place tie with Young.

Finau took a two-shot cushion with an eight-foot birdie putt at 14.

Pendrith, who won twice on PGA Tour Canada, bounced back from his second bogey with three straight birdies to pull back into a tie with two holes to play.

Finau went ahead at 17 with a birdie, and Pendrith tied it again with a birdie on the 54th hole.

If Finau can outlast the competition to win Sunday, he will be the first to win two straight regular-season events since since Brendon Todd in 2019.

IRVINE, Scotland – Canada’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc started and finished with birdies for a 66 on Saturday, which lifted her to a tie for third place after Day 3 of the Women’s Scottish Open.

Leblanc, a 33-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., is tied with Germany’s Leonie Harm on 14 under, one shot off the lead.

Lydia Ko was joined by Celine Boutier at the top of the leaderboard.

France’s Boutier shot a 5-under-par 67 – five birdies on the front nine – to make up four shots on the New Zealander, who could manage only a 1-under 71.

“I really like links golf and playing in windy conditions. I feel like my ball flight is pretty low and so I never really have trouble keeping it down which is an advantage here because the ball doesn’t get affected as much,” Boutier said. “And I had some good memories of playing well in the past so that’s always helpful.”

Ko offset three bogeys with a birdie finish at Dundonald Links.

“My irons were not as sharp so I don’t think I set myself up for as many easier kind of 15 feet and birdie opportunities,” she said. ”I know it wasn’t the best golf I’ve played, but I was able to scramble around. I don’t think it was as bad as I think, and I think because I had two really low rounds it makes me compare more to the past couple days.“

Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea (70) and Lilia Vu of the United States (71) were two off the lead going into the last round.

No. 1-ranked Jin Young Ko was at 1 under overall, and defending champion Ryann O’Toole at 4 under.

DETROIT – Taylor Pendrith grew up getting breaks from golf, putting the clubs away each winter in Canada.

That may have helped him when he had to miss nearly four months of competition due to a painful injury earlier this year.

Pendrith shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take a one-shot lead over Tony Finau into the weekend in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Pendrith and Finau shared the first-round lead at 8 under and will be in the final group Saturday, pairing a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie with a 32-year-old veteran coming off his third career victory.

Pendrith is playing in his third tournament after being unable to swing a club for 12 weeks due to a broken rib, a break that reminded him of his youth.

“We have a long offseason in Canada, so I didn’t touch a club all winter basically growing up so I guess I’m kind of used to it in a way,” he said.

Pendrith said matter of factly that he can compete with the best when he’s healthy and has showed that so far at Detroit Golf Club.

No one, though, has been better than Finau lately.

The Salt Lake City native with Tongan-Samoan heritage is 32 under over his last 107 holes, including rallying from a five-shot deficit last Sunday in Minnesota to win the 3M Open by three shots.

Pendrith tried to pull away in the second round in Detroit, opening with four straight birdies and six in his first 10 holes. He had two birdies and a bogey over the final five holes to finish Friday alone in first.

Finau, meanwhile, started slow with only one birdie on the front nine before carding five birdies on the back. He has a shot be the first PGA Tour player to win two straight regular season tournaments since Brendon Todd in 2019.

“Anytime you win, you breed confidence,” Finau said. “I was just happy to carry that confidence from last week right into this week.”

Pendrith and Finau had a bit of a cushion.

Rookie Lee Hodges (66) was three shots back.

PGA Tour rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young tied a Detroit Golf Club record with a 63 for a share of fourth place – five shots back – with Russell Henley (65) and Stewart Cink (66).

Rookie Sahith Theegala (67) was another shot back in a pack that includes defending FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, who bounced back from an opening-round 70 with a 65.

Davis Love III, the 58-year-old U.S. Presidents Cup captain, was in Detroit in part to play and more importantly to get to know players better on and off the course that may represent the country in September at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina.

Love missed the cut at 5-over 149, but made the most of an opportunity to have dinner with some President Cup candidates and to play two rounds with with Young and Will Zalatoris.

Young and Zalatoris, teammates at Wake Forest and close friends, may be paired together again in two months.

“If they make the team, they’re a natural,” Love said.

Zalatoris, No. 13 in the world ranking, perhaps felt pressure playing with Love because he barely made the cut. He had to birdie his 36th hole to get to 3 under, the cut line, with a pair of lackluster rounds.

If Young does not earn an automatic spot on the American team, he might be a captain’s pick.

“Cameron is trending up,” Love said. “Go back to Jordan Spieth. Nobody heard of him and next thing you know in one year he’s on the Presidents Cup team, and Cam’s headed that way, too. No one ever heard of him on the Korn Ferry and here he is, he almost won a major.”

Young had a runner-up finish at the British Open and at the PGA Championship, he missed a playoff by a shot. He has four second-place finishes, was third in two tournaments. And in Detroit, Young showed Love up close what he can do.

“I would hope that I made some kind of case,” he said.

DETROIT (AP) – Tony Finau sent an approach from 250 yards soaring over trees and onto the seventh green at Detroit Golf Club, going for the reward and ignoring the risk with a difficult shot.

The way he has been playing over the last week, it made a lot of sense.

Finau, coming off his third career victory on the PGA Tour, and Canadian Taylor Pendrith shared the first-round lead at 8-under 64 on Thursday in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

The pivotal shot on Finau’s 16th hole, a 560-yard par 5, set up a two-putt from 43 feet for one of his eight birdies.

“I had to get all of it to get it to the hole and hit it right in the middle of the green,” he said.

The leaderboard was filled with players who took advantage of favorable scoring conditions with morning tee times. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and the scores did as well.

Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson, Cameron Champ, Lee Hodges and Matt Wallace were two shots back.

Si Woo Kim and Kurt Kitayama, both ranked among the top 70 in the world, were in the pack at 67.

Finau, who rallied from a five-shot deficit with 11 holes left to win the 3M Open by three shots Sunday in Minnesota, opened with a birdie and had five birdies on his front nine.

After cooling off with four straight pars, Finau closed with his seventh and eighth birdies in a bogey-free round. He hit all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in 728 PGA Tour stroke-play rounds.

“Do the math, I missed 10 putts,” he said. “Obviously, 64?s a very good round, but this is a golf course where a lot of guys are going to make birdies.”

On the par-4 eighth hole, he made a 41-foot putt downhill with a slight break from right to left for another birdie and a three-shot lead.

“It was nice to just get a bonus birdie on 8 after a poor wedge shot, but that’s why we call our putter the equalizer,” Finau said.

Pendrith, a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie, surged into a share of the lead with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his back nine.

Toward the end of his round, the relatively anonymous player in the world noticed the `h’ in his last name was missing on the leaderboard.

Alas, the 8 under next to his misspelled name was correct.

“That’s all that matters,” he said with a grin.

Pendrith, of Richmond Hill, Ont., is atop a leaderboard for the first time on the PGA Tour following an opening round. The Canadian did have the third-round lead by three shots last October at the Bermuda Championship before closing with a 76 and finishing a career-high fifth.

In March, he was 13th at the Players Championship and came away with a career-best $327,222 _ and a broken rib.

The injury prevented him from competing for nearly four months, leading to him being ranked No. 237. He has bounced back with ties for 11th and 13th at tournaments earlier this month.

“When I’m healthy, I can compete with the best,” Pendrith said.

Surrey, B.C., native Adam Svensson sits at 3 under, while Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Calgary, both finished the day at 2 under.

Fellow Canadians Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes sit further down the standings at 1 under and 2 over par, respectively.

Nate Lashley, who won his first and only PGA Tour title in Detroit four years ago, shot a 68 after getting an anti-inflammatory shot in his right foot.

“I’m having surgery next week,” he said, adding he will need four to six weeks to recover.

Mark Hubbard was also four shots off the lead after a topsy-turvy round with four birdies, two bogeys and an ace on the par-3, 216-yard 11th hole.

Hubbard dropped his club and his head after hitting his tee shot.

“That’s embarrassing,” he said while the ball was in flight.

The ball landed on the front of the green and rolled toward the cup before going around it and dropping in.

“That’s probably going to end up being one of my favorite hole-in-ones,” said Hubbard, who has nine career aces.

The field includes five players in the top 20, doubling last week’s total in Minnesota, and Finau was the only one of them to fare well in the first round.

Defending FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, ranked No. 4 in the world, and 13th-ranked Will Zalatoris both 70. Cameron Young, ranked 19th, was another shot back and 20th-ranked Max Homa had a 72.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) – Brooke Henderson stood over a birdie putt from three feet at the 18th green, a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Evian Championship seemingly at her mercy.

For the first time on Saturday – maybe all week, given her dominance of the fourth women’s major of the year – her putting stroke let her down.

Henderson missed it left, to gasps from spectators around the green at Evian Resort Golf Club. The Canadian couldn’t believe it. Probably those hoping to chase her down on Sunday, too.

Seeking her second major title after the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, Henderson had to settle for a 3-under 68 in the third round and a two-shot lead on 17-under par – two off the 54-hole record for the tournament.

She is still in a position of strength after opening with two straight 64s, but that missed putt at No. 18 might prove costly.

The closest challengers to Henderson are a former No. 1 and a player breaking new personal ground at a major.

So Yeon Ryu, a two-time major winner from South Korea, shot 65 after three birdies on her last four holes and was alone in second place. The top-ranked player in 2017, when she won the ANA Inspiration for her second major, she hasn’t been in contention this deep into one of women’s golf’s biggest five tournaments for three years.

Two strokes further back on 13 under was Sophia Schubert, ranked No. 283 and without a top-50 finish in a major. The American birdied her last four holes for a 66 and was in new territory alone in third place in just her fifth appearance in a major.

Olympic champion Nelly Korda started the third round in second place, three strokes behind Henderson, but could shoot only even-par 71 _ the worst score of the current top 20 on a warm and still day when only a few tough pin placements kept very low scores off cards.

Korda was on 11 under overall, six shots off the lead and in a five-way tie for sixth with, among others, top-ranked Jin Young Ko (67).

Above them in a tie for fourth place, five behind Henderson, were Carlota Ciganda (67) and Sei Young Kim (68).

If the end to the 2021 tournament is anything to go by, there’s plenty to play for on Sunday.

Minjee Lee made up a seven-shot deficit to third-round leader Lee Jeong-eun in the final round last year and beat her in a playoff.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) – Brooke Henderson is setting the pace in record-breaking style at the Evian Championship.

The Canadian shot a second straight 7-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the fourth major of the year on Friday.

She is the first player in the history of the U.S. LPGA to begin a major with two rounds of 64 or lower.

And Henderson, who is 14 under for the tournament, thinks there’s a reason for her fast start.

“I’ve been having a lot of crepes in France,” she said, smiling. “To keep the momentum going, I’d better have some more.”

Nelly Korda is the only player in the 132-woman field within four shots of Henderson.

The Olympic champion and former No. 1 was three back, having finished birdie-eagle at the picturesque Evian Resort Golf Club to shoot 67.

It is Korda’s fifth event since returning to competitive action after more than four months out because of surgery on a blood clot on her arm.

South Korean players Sei Young Kim (65) and So Yeon Ryu (66) were tied for third place on 9 under, five shots adrift of Henderson. Among the bunch of six players on 8-under par was a Frenchwoman, Perrine Delacour, after her round of 68.

Henderson, who won her only major title at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, started her afternoon round four shots behind Korda – who was part of the morning wave – and birdied her first two holes.

There was a bogey at No. 3 and a birdie at No. 9, before Henderson went on a roll over the back nine. She had back-to-back birdies from No. 11 and then made putts from 15 feet, 8 feet and 10 feet for birdies on the final three holes.

“It feels really nice to get off to a fast start in a major championship,” Henderson said.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. To get it this far under par is really awesome and I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well, which is nice, and making some putts.”

The highlight of Korda’s round was her second shot at the par-5 18th, a high fade which landed in the middle of the green and rolled to inside 3 feet from the cup. She made no mistake with the putt for eagle.

Korda said she has been suffering from jet lag and barely slept ahead of the early start to her second round, which opened with what she described as 10 “stress-free” pars.

Like Henderson, Korda has won one major championship – last year’s PGA Championship – and was No. 1 in the world when she stopped playing in February.

Now she is No. 3 and is coming off three top-10 finishes in that little stretch since her return.

First-round leader Ayaka Furue shot 72, nine strokes worse than Thursday, and was in a five-strong group on 7 under.

Two back-to-back wins has Sarah-Eve Rheaume’s confidence at an all-time high.

The amateur golfer from Quebec City won the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary on June 18 with a tournament-best 65 in the third and final round. Rheaume then almost duplicated the feat on July 1, firing a tournament-best 66 on the final day of the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.

That victory earned Rheaume a berth into the CP Women’s Open, Canada’s national women’s golf championship. It will be her first-ever LPGA Tour event.

“I just had a lot of confidence heading into the final day (of the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada),” said the 22-year-old Rheaume. “I’ve been confident over most of the shots, I’m chipping well around the greens.

“Last round of the Glencoe I played really well to get that going, just seeing the putts rolling in.”

Rheaume finished the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada at 12-under 207, three shots ahead of Min-G Kim and eight shots better than Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Markham, Ont., who finished third.

The 22-year-old Rheaume said Wednesday that she wasn’t intimidated by some of the big names at the event.

“There’s a bunch of good players everywhere, so I just kind of stay focused on my game plan and do my thing and then see how it goes at the end,” said Rheaume.

She intends to play in the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship on July 12 and then the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship the week after that.

(BROMONT, QC) – On Friday morning, ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada at Bromont co-leaders Sarah-Eve Rhéaume, a 22-year-old amateur from Quebec City, and Min-G Kim, an Epson Tour veteran with nearly $120,000 in career earnings, battled back-and-forth with hopes of lifting the Lorie Kane trophy and assuring themselves a spot in August’s CP Women’s Open. 

By late Friday afternoon, Rhéaume pulled away – making nine birdies over the course of her final 14 holes, including four in her last five holes – to win by three strokes with a tournament-best final-round 66. The winning margin would have been higher had Kim not dropped a 60-footer on the last hole for her second eagle of the day. 

Shortly after Kim got the large Golf Chateau Bromont crowd warmed up, Rhéaume tapped in a short birdie look to set the crowd ablaze, with her mom waiting greenside to be the first one to give her daughter a bear hug. 

“It feels great, I had a great day, and it feels good to get the win,” said Rhéaume. “I had a good birdie putt on 5 and had a good look at eagle on 6 but just tapped in for birdie. Then I birdied three in and row and back nine shot 31, that was solid.”

“My mom coming down was nice and fun, my friend Matt caddied for me this week, this was the second time we’ve worked together and both times we’ve won, so we have a pretty good thing going,” said Rhéaume.

The first event they won together was the Glencoe Invitational – also comprised of both amateurs and professionals. Today she bested Kim, who ended up going home with the low professional cheque, while the first time it was Caroline Ciot, who ended this week in a tie for fifth and earned low PGA of Canada member honours. 

Somebody else holding the big cheque at Chateau Bromont didn’t bother Rhéaume, likely because she will make her LPGA debut in August in Ottawa alongside Brooke Henderson – the last amateur prior to Rhéaume to win the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship.

“Any time you can be compared to Brooke it’s a good thing,” said Rhéaume. “She has accomplished so many great things. I’m just lucky to have my name along with hers on this trophy.”

Members of the Golf Canada Amateur Squad, including Rhéaume, put on quite the show on Friday. In addition to Rhéaume’s 7-under par 66, Brooke Rivers shot 69 and Celeste Doa shot 68 – which would have been the low-round of the tournament if not for her teammate’s spectacular day. 

Following Rhéaume’s LPGA debut in Ottawa, she says the plan is to return to Furham University for her fifth and final season. 

The next PGA of Canada National Championship is the GOLFTEC Senior Men’s Championship of Canada, set for August 23-26 at Connaught Golf Club in Medicine Hat, AB. 

TSU, Japan – Canada Day is still a week away but there was reason to celebrate early for Team Canada’s National Junior Squad in Japan on Friday.

The Canadian Junior Boys team – made up of Félix Bouchard (Otterburn Park, Que.), Ethan Wilson (St. Albert, Alta.), Cooper Humphreys (Vernon, B.C.) and Eric Zhao (North York, Ont.) – captured the 2022 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup with a two-stroke victory over Japan in the seven-team competition.

Canada’s team victory at the World Cup is its first in the 28-year history of the event. Rob McMillan (1994) and Corey Conners (2009) have previously been crowned individual champions of the tournament representing the Maple Leaf.

Consistency was the key to success for the Boys team, who each recorded top-10 results or better in the individual competition. Bouchard and Humphreys spearheaded the Canadians, the pair finishing at eight-under par for T5, while Wilson closed the tournament at seven-under par for T8 and Zhao wrapped up his World Cup in T10 at six-under par.

None of the members of four-man squad carded a score higher than 73 over the course of the three-day event at the Hakusan Village Golf Club in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Bouchard earned the low score of the week amongst the Canucks, firing a six-under par 66 in the second round of the international competition.

Team Canada’s Junior Girls – made up of Nicole Gal (Oakville, Ont.), Michelle Liu (Vancouver, B.C.), and Yeji Kwon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) – secured a well-deserved top-3 finish of their own. Gal’s T4 result in the individual competition charged the Canadians to a podium finish, totalling an eight-under par score as a team, just one stroke shy of the Japanese in second place.

Kwon’s opening round three-under par 69 was matched by her teammate Gal the following day, and stood as the low scores of the week for the Canadian girls.

Canada’s third place finish matches their best result (T3 in 2018) since the Girls division was added to the global golf tournament in 2014.

Spain ran away with the Junior Girls division, winning by seven strokes over Japan. The Spaniards were lead by Andrea Revuelta, Cayetana Goicoechea and Fernández Garcia-Poggio, who finished tied atop the individual female leaderboard at seven-under par.

Conners, Adam Hadwin, Adam Svensson and Nick Taylor are other names to have previously represented the red and white at the marquee international event. Master’s champions Scottie Scheffler (USA) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), along with John Rahm (Spain) and Cam Smith (Australia), have also sported their countries colours at the World Cup since it began 1992.

2022 marked the 28^th playing of the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup and the first since 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top-5 Junior Boys – Team

Top-5 Junior Girls – Team

For full results click here.

For photos of the 2022 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup click here.

Myles Creighton has always wanted to wear the Maple Leaf on his golf gear. Now that he can as a member of Golf Canada’s young pro squad, he’s having a career season.

The product of Digby, N.S., was named to the national sports organization’s roster in mid-March and has proudly represented Canada on the PGA Tour _ Latinoamerica since. He’s the highest ranked Canadian heading into the third-tier tour’s championship tour this week and the highest ranked golfer from the Maritimes on any tour.

“I take huge pride in representing that part of the country and Canada in general,” said the 26-year-old Creighton. “I’ve always wanted to be on Team Canada’s growing up and I was just shy in junior golf and just left off the team in amateur golf.

Creighton is 32nd in the TotalPlay Cup rankings, dropping two spots after taking two weeks off Latinoamerica for the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto and a week of vacation. That ranking makes him the only Canadian in the field this week at the Bupa Tour Championship at PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico.

“I love this golf course. I’ve been looking forward to playing it all year,” said Creighton, who noted that the fairway. “I’m just going to try and play my best but I feel like this is a great course for me.”

He’s had two top-10 finishes on tour this season, tying for ninth at the JHSF Aberto do Brasil on May 24 and then tying for third at the Jalisco Open on May 29. He also tied for 19th twice this season.

“I know that I can win on this tour,” said Creighton, who is targeting a card on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I would love to win this event it would do a lot for me because it’s an increased amount of points and 600 points. It could get me in the top 10.”

Creighton’s season won’t end at the Bupa Tour Championship, as he intends to return to the Maritimes and compete in the Prince Edward Island Open on the PGA Tour Canada. That event begins on June 30 at Dundarave Golf Club in Cardigan, P.E.I.

“I was really looking forward to it because my family is going to come up and I was going to get the chance to see them,” said Creighton. “I was able to see them at the Canadian Open, which was great, but they’re still going to come out so it’ll be a great week.’