Gabriela Ruffels rallied late to win both of her matches Saturday and will play Rose Zhang for the US Women’s Amateur title on Sunday.
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HAMILTON, Ontario – It’s been 65 years since a Canadian last won the RBC Canadian Open, but the ghost of Pat Fletcher isn’t haunting Hamilton Golf and Country Club – at least through one round. Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, shot a 6-under-par 64 to lead the Canadian contingent, followed by Adam Hadwin (also of Abbotsford) at 5 under. David Hearn of nearby Brantford, Ontario, Drew Nesbitt of Shanty Bay, Ontario (a winner on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica this year), and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ontario, shot matching 4-under-par 66’s.  Taylor is just a shot back of the lead after the first round of the RBC Canadian Open – held by Keegan Bradley. He’s looking for his best finish on the PGA TOUR since his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2014. The 31-year-old admitted Thursday his less-than-stellar record at the RBC Canadian Open is likely because he’s put too much pressure on himself in the past. “I tried to come in this week, I knew I was playing pretty well, and just kind of see the shots and try and hit them. That’s what I been doing,â€� he said. Taylor is 111th on the FedExCup standings and knows a good week could do wonders for his season. Taylor shot a Sunday 63 at the Wyndham Championship last year to finish T-8 and 123rd on the FedExCup. Avoiding a repeat of having to contend in the final event of the season before the FedExCup Playoffs to regain full TOUR status is high on his priority list this year. Taylor was paired with countrymen Hearn and Mike Weir (playing in his 28th Canadian Open) in a fan-favorite group, and said some “little thingsâ€� had been costing him so far in 2019, like being misaligned off the tee. But he had some momentum Thursday – he made four birdies in a row after making the turn – and that helped his confidence. Related: Bradley’s schedule change pays off | Koepka ‘not too concerned’ with three-week layoff | McIlroy ‘excited’ to make Canadian Open debut | Conners on home turf in Canada | Canadian golf on PGA TOUR stronger than ever | DJ ready to defend title He’s missed his last two cuts on the PGA TOUR, but did qualify for the U.S. Open, so he said he knew he was playing well.   “I wouldn’t say I knew I was going to shoot 6 under today, but I knew my game was there,â€� said Taylor, “and if I got things going it was going to be a good day.â€� Hughes, meanwhile, had it to 6 under at one point as well before making a double bogey on the par-4 18th. He had fired up the already sizeable crowd at the par-3 13th hole – rebranded as ‘The Rink’ for this week, featuring hockey boards and volunteers dressed like referees – by throwing on a Kawhi Leonard Toronto Raptors jersey. The Raptors, who won in convincing fashion Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, have a huge following in Hamilton – just an hour west of Toronto. The crowd broke out into a ‘Let’s Go Raptors’ chant when Hughes put the jersey on. “Life is short, so whatever. I’m just going to have some fun. The crowd enjoys that stuff, so it’s fun for me to do. Fun for me to support Toronto sports teams in general,â€� said Hughes. “It was cool. I heard that going and I was hoping they would keep going and get loud.â€� He thought it was loud on 13, until he nearly made an ace on the par-3 16th. “I couldn’t get a feel for the crowd because they kind of cheered like it might have been a hole-in-one. I couldn’t quite tell,â€� said Hughes. “I’m like, ‘is that in? Is that in?’ It was just short.â€� Hughes sits 101st on the FedExCup this year but after a tough season in 2018 – he had just become a new father – he seems to have found his groove adjusting to his new normal. Hughes was T-2 at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in March, and T-8 two weeks ago at the Charles Schwab Challenge. His hometown of Dundas is a mere 10 minutes from Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and he’s played the course – constantly ranked as one of the best in Canada – more than anyone in the field – upwards of 50 times, he said. That experience paid dividends on Thursday, save for one bad hole, and he said the golf course now – although it went through a recent tree-removal project that took more than 1,000 trees off the course – doesn’t play much different than when he was growing up. “When you’re driving it well, which I did for most of the day, you give yourself a fair number of scoring opportunities,â€� he said. There were 26 Canadians in the field to start the week, the most in the modern era. Fifteen finished at even par or better on Thursday.
Round 2 of the Valspar Championship takes place Friday from Palm Harbor, Florida. The challenging Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort has invited a deep field including reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson and former FedExCup champion Justin Thomas. Paul Casey is aiming to win the event for the third consecutive time. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Justin Thomas/Dustin Johnson/Joaquin Niemann (tee times) Max Homa/Viktor Hovland/Sungjae Im (tee times) Patrick Reed/Kiradech Aphibarnrat/Phil Mickelson (tee times) Paul Casey/Gary Woodland/Jason Kokrak (tee times) MUST READS Keegan Bradley leads by two shots at Valspar Championship Cut prediction: Valspar Championship Kevin Kisner ditches armlock experiment for a new putter Insider: Doug Ghim making most of second chance Beyond the Ropes: Doc Redman does things the hard way Emotional Michael Visacki Monday Qualifies for the Valspar Championship CALL OF THE DAY
DALLAS – A year ago, in its debut as the host venue for the AT&T Byron Nelson, Trinity Forest yielded a winning score of 23 under to then-rookie Aaron Wise. No previous champ in the tournament’s 65-year history had ever reached that level, and only Sam Snead in 1957 made it to 20 under. That was at Glen Lakes Country Club, a defunct course once divided by a freeway. Among all PGA TOUR winners last season, only Michael Kim at the John Deere Classic went lower in relation to par, finishing at 27 under at TPC Deere Run. First impressions, then, is that Trinity Forest – a links-type layout, built on a landfill by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, that drew attention for being different than most TOUR venues — is a pushover, the world’s best golfers lighting up a course most had never previously seen. But Harrison Frazar, the retired PGA TOUR pro who helped bring Trinity Forest to life in 2016, was not surprised. Earlier this week, he was in the midst of explaining why Wise’s score was so low. As if on cue, the wind kicked up into his face. “What you’re feeling right now – this is the normal wind,â€� Frazar said. “This is here almost every day – 12 to 15 mph, just like that. “If you get this, the scores are naturally just going to go up.â€� Trinity Forest obviously didn’t get the wind much last year, an unusually quiet week by Texas standards. Add in course conditions that made the 7,380-yard layout play significantly shorter, and it’s no wonder players went low. “It was firm and fast last year. Tee balls were going a country mile,â€� said PGA TOUR agronomist Mike Crawford. “50, 60, 70 yards of roll – almost unheard of. I think there was at least one drive of 400 yards. “But this year, we’ll see the golf course play differently.â€� Year 2 of Trinity Forest will indeed have a different vibe. Record rainfall last fall – more than 28 inches of rain combined in September and October – along with a wet winter and spring has continued into this month. Last week, 2-1/2 inches of rain fell at Trinity Forest, and Wednesday’s thunderstorm left several areas of the course with standing water. More rain is expected, especially on Friday and Saturday. Related: Origin of arm-lock putting | Featured Groups, tee times | The Flyover | Koepka keeping focus on AT&T Byron Nelson | Tiger receives Medal of Freedom Directly above the landfill is a clay cap of several feet in depth that prevents moisture from infiltrating the landfill. To work as a sealant, the clay cap must stay intact, which means water can only evaporate through the topsoil. Miles of drainage above the clay cap have been installed, but Crawford recognizes that Trinity Forest’s grounds crew must “actively tackleâ€� drainage issues on “an ongoing basis probably forever.â€� So what’s this mean for this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson? Trinity Forest should play longer. Players who used wedges and short irons into some holes last year may find themselves using mid-irons this week. “Instead of a 3-wood and a wedge into a par 5,â€� added Crawford, “hopefully it’ll be driver, iron – and maybe another iron. Would be nice to see some 3-shot par 5s.â€� Also, the par-3 eighth and 12th holes will play longer, thanks to new tee areas. The eighth is now 160 yards; last year at 140 yards, it was the easiest par 3 among the 204 played in the entire 2017-18 PGA TOUR season, playing to a stroke average of 2.646. Players also are expecting some tees to be played back this year. Beau Hossler, a member of Trinity Forest, said after his practice round Tuesday that he hit 6-iron into the 18th green. A year ago, he used 9-iron. “Strategically, they set up the golf a little bit longer,â€� he noted. Of course, the wet weather may also make the greens more attackable, said the defending champ. “I know the scores were still low last year but it was a lot more layups and positioning off the tee,â€� said Wise, whose win at Trinity Forest fueled his Rookie of the Year campaign. “This year might be a lot more drivers being sent around the golf course.â€� But the real difference-maker at Trinity Forest is the wind. You can say that about most courses in Texas, but perhaps none moreso than this one, given that not only is it a flat surface on a landfill, but that few trees exist inside the course boundary to block the wind. “The cool thing with this piece of land – flat with no trees – is that it’s very susceptible to get wind,â€� said Hossler, who shot a final-round 64 last year with birdies on his last five holes. “That changes the golf course entirely. The direction of the wind also could make a big impact. The winds have been coming from the south early this week but are forecast to switch on Thursday to a north wind for the rest of the week. That means players will have to adjust their gameplans. Still, the winds aren’t forecast to be overly severe, outside of gusts to 20 mph during the first two days. While 23 under might not be needed to win this week, the scores could again be low if the winds don’t make their presence known. And maybe that’s OK. “When we were out here building it, Ben talked about how with the greatest links courses, the defense needs to be the wind and the turf,â€� Frazar said. “So if you have no wind and the best players in the world? They’re going to tear it up. “He wanted the golf course to be built that if there was no wind, then give the guys a chance to shoot 61, 62, 63. But if the wind blows? 71, 72 is going to be a good score.â€�
