McIlroy tied for the lead at RBC Canadian Open after bogey-free 64

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – No matter what happens in his promising career, Barclay Brown will be able to say he held the clubhouse lead at The 150th Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews. The 21-year-old amateur from Sheffield, England, took advantage of playing in the second group of the morning in relatively calm conditions to post a very tidy 4-under 68. Here are five things to know about the surprise standout at the Home of Golf. 1. The Fitzpatrick connection Brown is a member of Hallamshire Golf Club, where he is joined by recent U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, and Fitzpatrick’s brother Alex with whom he partnered on the 2021 Walker Cup team. He gained his place in the field with a dominant performance at Final Qualifying at Hollinwell, gaining medalist honors by three strokes, before saying it was Fitzpatrick’s success at Brookline that helped inspire his performance. “Matt was unbelievable (at the U.S. Open) and it was incredible to watch him. He’s texted me to say congratulations, which is really nice of him, and hopefully I can play with him early in the week at St. Andrews,” Brown said at the time. 2. Amateur records Brown is currently ranked 46th in the world amateur golf ranking. He had a 1-2-1 record in the 2021 Walker Cup, partnering with Fitzpatrick in team play. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2020 Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale in England and shot 70-65 to be the co-medalist in stroke-play at the 2022 Amateur at Royal Lytham but was knocked out in the first round of match play by Gustav Frimodt (4 and 3). He was the 2018 Carris Trophy winner (English Boys’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship). 3. Cardinal at college He plays college golf at Stanford in California where he studies economics and has two years remaining to finish his degree. Recently posted runner up efforts at the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Stockton Regional. He won the 2021 Cowboy Classic, finishing at 14-under, one of eight top 10s in his time at Stanford where his scoring average is 71.71. Honors so far include All-Pac-12 Second Team (2022), PING All-Region Team (2021), All-Pac-12 First Team (2021), All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team (2021), Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar (2021), Two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2021, 2022). He is also teammates with Michael Thorbjornsen, who recently made a splash as an amateur by finishing 4th at Travelers. 4. Sporting all-rounder Attended the Birkdale School (high school) where he not only played golf, but also was an accomplished badminton, soccer and tennis player. Brown enjoys music, finding good food and working out as his hobbies. 5. New experience at Old Course His only previous experience at the Old Course was a round with his parents when he was a wee lad. “I played when I was probably 9 or 10, but other than that is was my first time,” Brown said. “They used to do a thing in like January or February where you could play the Old Course so we came up as a family and played. I don’t really remember playing it at all … I probably shot in the millions. (Today) I was unbelievably nervous at the start and once I got through the first couple of holes it was nice to calm down a little bit and just get into it. I want to play the best I can and I want to win the Silver Medal (low amateur).”

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Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods shot a combined 15 under on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Championship. They had to be happy, right? Well, no.

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JACKSON, Miss. – Notes and observations from the first round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson. LEADING LIGHTS Cameron Champ is just one start into his rookie season, but he already appears on the cover of this month’s Golf Digest. Fans are enamored with the long ball, and Champ feeds that fascination. Champ, 23, set the Web.com Tour driving distance record this year (343.7 yards) but also proved that he’s more than just a one-man long-drive contest. He finished sixth on the money list, including a win at the Utah Championship, to earn a PGA TOUR card less than a year after turning pro. His strong play has continued into the PGA TOUR season. He holds the first-round lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship after finishing T25 in his debut at the Safeway Open. Champ made eight birdies and one bogey in a 65 Thursday at the Country Club of Jackson. He closed the round with a birdie at 18 that was set up by a 347-yard drive, the longest of the day on that hole. He shot a back-nine 31 after hitting six of his seven tee shots over 300 yards. He also drove it over the green on the 315-yard, par-4 15th hole. After he finished his round, he led the field in driving distance on all tee shots (304.5 yards), Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+2.14). He hit 9 of 14 fairways, including five of seven on the back nine, and missed just two greens. “I know the rough here is pretty brutal in some areas, but today I drove very well off the tee,â€� he said. OBSERVATIONS ANOTHER CAMERON: Until Champ’s birdie at the final hole, there were two Camerons, Champ and Tringale, tied for the lead. Tringale, playing in the day’s first group, shot 66. The 31-year-old has played on TOUR ever since turning pro out of Georgia Tech in 2009; the Sanderson Farms Championship is his 245th start. His impressive streak almost came to an end, though. After missing the cut in 19 of 26 starts last season, he regained his card with a T3 at the Web.com Tour Championship. He finished fifth at the same event last year to regain his playing privileges. “I drove it really poorly last (season) and it was hard to play golf short and crooked,â€� he said. “I’ve been driving it a lot better since the Web.com Tour Finals. … (I’m) trying to see my shot more clearly and hit the shot I’m trying to play instead of thinking about the shot I don’t want to have happen. When you hit a lot of bad ones, it’s a lot harder than it sounds to get those out of your mind.â€� OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: The Sanderson Farms Championship is an opportunity for nonmembers to get a TOUR start, and two players who fit in that category are off to a strong start. Chad Ramey, a Monday qualifier from Mississippi, shot 67 on Thursday. Scottie Scheffler fired 68. Ramey, a Mississippi State alum, survived a 10-for-3 playoff to make the field. He finished 80th on the Web.com Tour money list in 2018. Scheffler turned pro earlier this year; he was teammates with Champ on last year’s Walker Cup team. Scheffler recently advanced out of the first stage of Web.com Tour Q-School. Last year, Monday qualifier Scott Strohmeyer finished T4 at this event.

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