Chesson Hadley atones with 81-foot eagle on No. 17 one day after water-putt fiasco

Four players shared the early first-round lead after 4-under 68s with more than half of the 120 starters having completed their rounds at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the Sheshan International Golf Club on Thursday.

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In the final round of the 2017 RBC Canadian Open, Jhonattan Vegas shoots 65 and birdies the par-5 18th hole in a sudden-death playoff to dispatch Charley Hoffman. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Venezuelan-turned-Texan Vegas became the fourth man to successfully defend a title on the PGA TOUR this season, notching his third win overall. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1 Vegas had missed five straight cuts coming to Glen Abbey. His victory recalls, most recently, Billy Horschel at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where the former FedExCup champion was trying to break a streak of four straight MCs and — seemingly out of nowhere — won the tournament. “Just being the defending champion was something really positive,â€� Vegas said. “Having the fans really support me through the whole week, seeing the enthusiasm when I got here, everyone was like: ‘You know what, you’re going to repeat again and you’re going to win for us.’ The positive energy really helped me to play good golf.â€� What happened in Canada only reinforces the truism that any player can win in any given week. Vegas moves from 87th to 28th in the FedExCup standings, and is looking to improve on his career-best 29th-place finish last year, when he was T24 at the TOUR Championship.    2 Just three South American countries have been represented in The Presidents Cup: Argentina (Angel Cabrera, four times), Colombia (Camilo Villegas, once) and Paraguay (Carlos Franco, twice). With the win at Glen Abbey, Venezuela’s Vegas moved from 17th to ninth on the International team’s points list. He said he would relish the opportunity to take on the powerhouse U.S. squad at this year’s Presidents Cup at Liberty National Sept. 26-Oct. 1. How would he do in match play? If form holds, pretty well. Vegas is 2-0 in sudden-death playoffs on TOUR, and he went 2-1-0 at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play earlier this season. Vegas notched 3-and-1 victories over Thomas Pieters and Scott Piercy but lost 1 up to Bubba Watson, who won the group to advance to the round of 16.  3 Sam Saunders was briefly the feel-good story of the week as he went for his first TOUR win at the same tournament where his late grandfather Arnold Palmer got his, way back in 1955. Things were looking good as Saunders went out in 3-under 32 Sunday, but he made five bogeys on the back nine, including two on his last two holes, to shoot 72 and finish 19th. Had he succumbed to nerves? Saunders, who turned 30 on Sunday, admitted he probably had. “I’ve been at this for long enough now,â€� he said. “I’ve got a lot of scar tissue, you know. And that’s okay. Most guys struggle before they break through. I’m not doing that bad. My third full year on the PGA TOUR, it could be a lot worse. “There are so many great players out there that never even make it to this level. So, I’m glad that I’m here, and it will feel that much sweeter when eventually I do get that first win.â€� Steve Flesch at the 2004 DEAN & DELUCA Invitational is the last man to win on his birthday. 4 Starting the week at 71st in the Official World Golf Ranking, Ian Poulter would’ve needed a win in Canada to make it to this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Although he didn’t quite get there, he shot a final-round 64 to finish solo third at Glen Abbey, continuing a career revival that began with his runner-up finish at THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this season. Poulter led the field in strokes gained: putting at the RBC on Sunday, making more than 128 feet of putts. And a week after he finished T14 at The Open Championship, his third-place finish vaulted him from 77nd to 43rd in the FedExCup race. Oh, he’s also up to 62nd in the OWGR. All in all, he’s not doing too bad for a guy who was just hoping to hang onto his TOUR card this year. “It’s amazing how things change,â€� he said. The one flaw in his final round, he said, was his failure to birdie two of the three back-nine par 5s. He finished a shot out of the playoff. 5 Third-round leader Charley Hoffman could manage only a 4-under 68 Sunday and remained winless this season. After making a birdie at the par-5 18th to force extra holes, Hoffman got out of position in the sudden death on the same hole, losing when he failed to match Vegas’ birdie. “Didn’t make that many putts of any significance at all on the back nine, unfortunately,â€� Hoffman said. Sunday marked the 17th time that Hoffman has had the lead or co-lead after any round on TOUR (six first-round, seven second-round and four third-round leads/co-leads). A four-time winner, he has nevertheless failed to convert any of those leads to victory. The silver lining: He moved from 24th to 12th in the FedExCup, and from 16th to 10th in Presidents Cup points. FIVE INSIGHTS 1 Vegas putted better than most, finishing 14th in strokes gained: putting (.837) for the week. But he was red-hot when it mattered most Sunday, rolling in better than 142 feet of putts, his best performance on the greens all season and the fourth best day of his career. Vegas had averaged just 66 feet of made putts for his first three rounds at Glen Abbey. 2 Gary Woodland (solo fourth, 19 under) tied Vegas with 27 birdies for the week, tops in the field. The two figured prominently in Vegas’ first win as well, at the 2011 CareerBuilder Challenge, where Vegas beat Woodland and Bill Haas in a sudden-death playoff. 3 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 in the FedExCup and No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, said he was encouraged with his game after finishing T8 at the RBC, as well he should be. Johnson led the field in greens in regulation (57/72) as he heads to this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he is the defending champion. 4 Keegan Bradley, who fired a final-round 65 to finish T14, led the field with a gaudy 6.508 in strokes gained: off the tee on Sunday, and leads the TOUR in total driving this season. 5 Sean O’Hair, who also shot a final-round 65 and finished T10, birdied all four par-3s Sunday. It was the first time in his career that he has birdied all four par-3s in a single round. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. We wonder how many people have attempted this shot since 2000? 2. Half man. Half amazing. Nothing but cup. 3. These guys are good.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – News and notes from Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship where Kevin Kisner owns the early lead at 8 under after shooting his second straight 67. For more coverage from Quail Hollow, see the Daily Wrap-up. KISNER KEEPS UP Kisner hasn’t strayed far from his roots. He was born and raised in Aiken, S.C., and when it came time to strike out on his own, Kisner decided the heart – and the pocketbook – was home. “I was playing the mini-tours, and I was broke,â€� he recalled. “That’s the only place I could afford to buy a house.â€� Truth be told, though, it was more than financial considerations that kept Kisner in Aiken. He feels comfortable there, and his friends are his friends regardless of what he shoots. They like to get out of cell phone range and relax, fishing and hunting and taking target practice. “I love my core group of friends at home that they don’t ask me why I made bogey on the last hole that cost me 20 grand or anything like that,â€� Kisner said. “That’s why I hang out with them.â€� And Kisner also has ties to Charlotte, which is about two hours north of Aiken. His parents grew up here and his 93-year-old grandmother still lives on her own in the Queen City. “I’ve spent every Thanksgiving and Christmas in Charlotte from childhood to marriage,â€� Kisner said. Quail Hollow figures into the family equation, too. His brother-in-law’s father is a founding member of the exclusive club that not only is hosting the PGA this week but also is slated as the venue for the 2021 Presidents Cup. So, it’s pretty cool that Kisner is leading the PGA after his second straight 67. And you can bet the guys he calls “good dudesâ€� will show up in force this weekend. Kisner really likes the golf course, and he came up to check out the changes about a month ago. The rainy, wet conditions that day left him wary. Kisner’s a shotmaker, not a bomber, after all. “I said, man, this place is going to be so long; I don’t know how they are going to compete,â€� he said. “But it’s been drying out and my tee balls are getting some roll and I’m hitting a lot less irons into the greens than I expected. If I can get a 6- or 7-iron in my hand, I like my chances around here.â€� Kisner won the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational earlier this year, grabbing the 36-hole lead, as he did Friday, and gutting out his second PGA TOUR win. This is Kisner’s 12th major championship, and his best finish is a tie for 12th at the 2015 U.S. Open. “I’ve been upset with how I’ve played in the majors so far in my career,â€� Kisner said. “I feel like I have the game to compete in majors and tons of 30th to 40th, 50th-place finishes. That’s kind of been our goal for the year. We haven’t played well in them yet this year but every year you learn more about the majors and how to approach them.

“… This is probably the easiest one I’ve had to prep for because I know the golf course so well and I’ve been up here a lot. I feel real comfortable here and I really like the golf course.â€� MCILROY FEELING COMFORTABLE Many people expected Rory McIlroy to be in the hunt at the PGA Championship, which counts for two of the Northern Irishman’s four majors and 13 total PGA TOUR wins. After all, McIlroy already has two victories at Quail Hollow. He appears finally recovered from some niggling injuries and is coming off a tie for fourth at The Open Championship and joint fifth at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, too. But the 28-year-old fired his second straight 72 on Friday – and McIlroy had to birdie the last two holes after four front-nine bogeys to get there. He’s 2 over for the tournament, which is a distant 10 strokes behind Kisner, but he still signed his scorecard with positive vibes. “As everyone says, there’s no winning post there,â€� McIlroy said. “There’s still 36 holes to go and a lot of golf to be played. As I said, I still feel I’m right there in the tournament.â€� McIlroy owns the course record of 61 at Quail Hollow. He shot that in the third round of his 2015 victory. McIlroy also closed with a 62 in 2010 when he made the cut on the number and went on to win his first PGA TOUR event. “I guess a low round used to be a 61 or a 62,â€� McIlroy said. “A low round now is a 66 or a 67. You’re playing your ass off to get that. “I’d say, if I shoot two 67s over the weekend, I’m going to have a really good chance.â€�

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