Archives for September 2023

BRAINERD, Minnesota – Despite the doubts that tried to creep into his brain after three consecutive missed cuts and notwithstanding the persistent neck pain that bothered him all week, Yi Cao is finally a PGA TOUR Canada champion.

Cao began the final round of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens with a five-shot lead and never faltered. He turned in a 5-under 65 and finished at 22-under 258 at Cragun’s Dutch Legacy Championship Course, giving him an eight-stroke win, the largest margin of victory on PGA TOUR Canada this season.

“I can finally call myself the best player of the week,” Cao said. “I might not be the lowest of the day, but I’m the lowest of the whole week. I’m really proud of myself. Even though I wasn’t feeling great, I just kept hanging in there and making some putts and making sure I put myself in the right position.”

Cao, of Delta, British Columbia, did nothing to put his lead in danger. After making three birdies on the front nine, Cao played a steady round and never allowed the lead to get closer than four shots. He birdied two of the final three holes to finish strong and claim his first PGA TOUR Canada victory in 48 starts.

“There’s a lot of things going in my head the last couple weeks, so many doubts,” Cao said. “I just love golf. I don’t want to do anything else except play golf. I know I can play. I know I can compete.”

Cao finished eight shots ahead of Jeffrey Kang, who closed with a 4-under 66 and finished alone in second place at 14-under. Taking solo third was Sam Jean, who shot 69 and finished at 13-under. Tied for fourth at 12-under were Gavin Hall (66) and Blake Tomlinson (68). Bunched in a tie for sixth at 11-under were Taylor Funk, George Markham, Genki Okada, Davis Shore, Hayden Springer, Brendan MacDougall and Julián Etulain.

Cao got an encouraging text message before the round from his friend Haotong Li, who currently plays on the DP World Tour.  The two competed against each other while growing up in China and remain close. The words came at the right time.

“He was like, ‘Go get it, bro,’” Cao said. “At that point, I felt that’s right. The way I played in the last three days, there’s nothing wrong with it. I just had to fully trust myself. I have the capability to do whatever I want on the golf course, just aim at the target and be fully committed to it.”

The win moves Cao up to ninth in the Fortinet Cup standings. At age 32, it allows him to keep his dream alive of one day playing on the PGA TOUR, an aspiration that many of his contemporaries have abandoned.

“I love to play. I love to practice. I love the grind. I love to travel. I love everything,” Cao said. “I love to see all the boys every single week. I just don’t want to give up my dream to be honest. I want to keep pushing and see how good I can be in the future. If I give everything I could possibly give, there is no regret for the rest of my life.”

Kang, of Anaheim, California, put together three-straight birdies from No. 12-14, but bogeyed the par-5 16^th hole and settled for a 66. He moved up to No. 11 on the Fortinet Cup list after securing his third career runner-up finish in 48 PGA TOUR Canada events.

Jean, of Greenwood, Indiana, made an eagle on the 16^th hole to steady himself. He had four bogeys on his card and posted his best finish of the season. Jean moved up from No. 52 to No. 20 on the points list.

The round of the day, however, belonged to Funk, who shot a 10-under 60 and set the tournament course record. It was the second 60 on PGA TOUR Canada this year, joining Stuart Macdonald, who shot an 11-under 60 in the first round of the Windsor Championship.

Funk, of Ponte Vedra, Florida, made 11 birdies and one bogey. He shot 28 on the back nine and birdied the final three holes. Funk shot 28 on the same nine holes a year ago. The 60 was Funk’s career low score in a tournament and moved him up 43 spots on the leaderboard and into No. 43 on the Fortinet Cup Standings.

“It was an awesome experience just to have a chance at 59,” Funk said. “I started thinking about it way too early, even before it was really feasible, but to keep putting good swings on it and keeping hitting good putts was nice.”

The top-60 players in the season-long point race advanced to next week’s season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship at Country Hills Golf Club in Calgary, Alberta. The top-five players after that event will earn status on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour and be exempt into the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School. The top-25 finishers will be exempt into the second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

Key Information

Yi Cao managed to take a five-stroke lead in round two and never looked back. He is the first player this season to hold the outright lead (without ties) for three-straight rounds and his eight-stroke win ties the largest margin of victory in PGA TOUR Canada history.

PGA TOUR Canada Top Margins of Victory

 

Margin	Player	Tournament
8 strokes	Yi Cao	2023 CRMC Championship presented by Gertens
8 strokes	Parker Coody	2022 CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open
8 strokes	Taylor Pendrith	2019 Quebec Open
8 strokes	Lee McCoy	2017 Freedom 55 Financial Open
8 strokes	Hank Lebioda	2017 Quebec Open
7 strokes	Noah Goodwin	2022 Sotheby’s International Realty Canada Ontario Open
7 strokes	Dan McCarthy	2016 GolfBC Championship
7 strokes	Dan McCarthy	2016 CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open

 

Julián Etulain, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, made a hole-in-one on No. 17, the 126-yard par-3, with a 52-degree wedge. His last hole-in-one was during a practice round for the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. The ace turned out to be huge for Etulain, who shot 65 in the final round to move into a tie for sixth. As this was only his second event on PGA TOUR Canada, it moved him up to 64^th in the points standings, but he still missed qualifying for next week’s Fortinet Cup Championship.  Etulain finished 19^th on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, though, and is already exempt into second state of Q-School and PGA TOUR Americas.

John Pak fell out of the top five in the Fortinet Cup standings since his victory at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open, the second event of the season. Pak closed with 68-68 on the weekend to tie for 44^th, which dropped him from fifth to sixth in the points race.

Sam Choi and Davis Lamb remained one-two in the Fortinet Cup standings after they were among those tied for 34^th this week.  Etienne Papineau stayed in third place, despite missing the cut. Hayden Springer, who won last week in Manitoba, jumped into fourth place after he tied for sixth in Minnesota. Stuart Macdonald, who missed the cut, dropped from fourth to fifth place.

Fortinet Cup Standings

(Through CRMC Championship presented by Gertens)

 

Pos.	Player	Points	Rank Last Week
1	Sam Choi (United States)	1,228	1
2	Davis Lamb (United States)	1,134	2
3	Étienne Papineau (Canada)	944	3
4	Hayden Springer (United States)	711	7
5	Stuart Macdonald (Canada)	707	4
6	John Pak (United States)	700	5
7	Davis Shore (United States)	647	9
8	Devon Bling (United States)	639	6
9	Yi Cao (China)	633	55
10	Chris Korte (United States)	593	8

 

George Markham closed with a 7-under 63 and moved up 24 spots into a tie for sixth place in the final round of the CRMC Championship. He sits comfortably at 33^rd in the Fortinet Cup Points list.

J.T. Griffin tied for 13^th this week and moved from 75^th to 55th in the points list, while Ryan Davis shot a 3-under today to finish tied for 15^th. His finish this week moved him from 78^th to just inside the magic number at No. 59. Cooper Dossey shot even-par 70 today to hang on to the 60^th spot. Brian Carlson missed the cut and dropped to No. 61 and Johnny Travale slipped from No. 58 to 62 after shooting two rounds of 70 this weekend.

Cao dominates, secures first PGA TOUR Canada win at the CRMC Championship presented by GertensRead More

BRAINERD, Minnesota – Yi Cao didn’t take a glance at the scoreboard on Saturday. Not even a peek. And at the end of the day, when his final putt had fallen, he looked and learned that things hadn’t changed. His five-shot lead was still intact, and he was one round closer to his first victory on PGA TOUR Canada.

Cao shot a 5-under 65 on the Cragun’s Dutch Legacy Course and moved to 17-under after three rounds of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens. A win would move the Canadian resident all the way from No. 55 to No. 9 on the Fortinet Cup standings and give him momentum heading into next week’s Fortinet Cup Championship in Calgary, Alberta.

“I didn’t look at the leaderboard at all today, because you think I’d care and actually I don’t care,” Cao said. “It’s not like I don’t care whether I win the tournament or not, but I don’t really care whether the other players make a birdie or not. I just want to play my own golf game and I’ll see what happens.”

The strategy worked. Cao picked up birdies at No. 3 and 4, the added birdies at No. 16, 17 and 18. He did not have a bogey.

“I played really steady, really solid, just a couple of putts that wouldn’t drop, just turn at the edge or burn the edge a few times,” Cao said, “The (30-foot) birdie putt at 15, I wasn’t expecting. I thought I hit it a little too firm and when it was 3-4 feet to the hole I started worrying it was going to be 3-4 feet past the hole. Then all of a sudden it dropped. I’m like, I’ll take that.”

Cao, of Delta, British Columbia, continues to experience neck pain, but he played through the discomfort, just as he has done the first two days.

“Grateful to finish another 18 today, which is awesome,” he said. “It’s always there. It was there when I woke up this morning. But, it’s better when I’m focused on the course, especially after I take some medicine before a tee time. We’ll see what happens.”

Cao’s closest pursuer is Sam Jean, of Greenwood, Indiana, who shot 6-under 64, is five-strokes behind and sits alone in second place at 12-under. Jean had two eagles during his round. He holed out for eagle on the second hole and finished birdie-birdie-eagle on 16, 17 and 18.

“That was pretty exciting. I hadn’t holed out since my freshman year in my first tournament in college, so it’s been a long time,” Jean said. “I had like 75 yards and hit it a little hard honestly, hit it like in the back fringe and just watched it pull back and it’s one of those where you’re hoping it goes in, but normally runs past the hole and this time it just dropped.”

The eagle on 18 wasn’t as dramatic, but still elicited a big fist pump from Jean after the big breaker putt rolled in. A good final round could move Jean near the top 10 on the points list and give him an opportunity to grab one of the exemptions into the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour that goes to the top-five.

“Golf is such a brutal game,” Jean said. “One week you feel like you’re on top of the world, the next week it’s like you can’t find it. So, it’s always nice to enjoy the good times while it’s here. Hopefully, I can keep it going. Just trying to enjoy it and play free.”

Last week’s tournament winner, Hayden Springer, set a tournament record with his 9-under 61 today and moved up 22 spots into third place at 11-under.

Springer, of Trophy Club Texas, shot 31 on the front nine and followed with a 30 on the back, including birdies on five of the last six holes. He finished birdie-birdie-birdie and moved up 22 spots into third place.

“I did everything pretty solid,” Springer said. “I didn’t putt all that great the first few days and I finally had some go in in today. I drove it pretty nicely today. It was a solid, pretty simple round and I was making the putts I needed to make.”

Tied for fourth place at 10-under are Jeffrey Kang, who shot a third-round 63 to move up 12 spots, and Blake Tomlinson, who shot 66 to move up three.  Kang eagled two of the par-5s and birdied two of the par-3s. He finished his round birdie-birdie-eagle to shoot 31 on the final nine.

Five players were tied for sixth at 8-under: Travis Trace, Gavin Hall, Davis Shore, J.T. Griffin and Brendan MacDougall.

Key Information

Fortinet Cup Standings

(Through CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open)

 

Pos.	Player	Points	Third-Round Tournament Pos.	Projected Standings
1	Sam Choi (United States)	1,210	T15	1
2	Davis Lamb (United States)	1,117	T41	2
3	Étienne Papineau (Canada)	944	Cut	3
4	Stuart Macdonald (Canada)	707	Cut	5
5	John Pak (United States)	690	T44	6
6	Devon Bling (United States)	639	Cut	8
7	Hayden Springer (United States)	630	3	4
8	Chris Korte (United States)	593	Cut	10
9	Davis Shore (United States)	567	T6	7
10	David Kim (United States)	443	Cut	11

 

Fortinet Cup points leader Sam Choi recorded his second-straight 67 and moved into a tie for 15^th. Davis Lamb, No. 2 on the list, shot his second-straight 68 and moved into a tie for 41^st. John Pak, No. 5 on the points list, shot 68 and moved into a tie for 44^th.

Yi Cao’s five-stroke lead heading into the final round is once again the largest lead that any player has held after 54 holes this season. Davis Lamb and Eric Lilleboe were close when they held a four-stroke third-round lead at the ATB Classic in early July.  Lamb went on to win that event by three strokes and Lilleboe went on to finish tied for ninth.

A third-round leader has went on to win six of the eight PGA TOUR Canada events this season. The two events that saw different winners emerge from the pack were the Commissionaires Ottawa Open, in which there was a three-way playoff for the title between third-round leader Devon Bling, eventual winner Stuart Macdonald and Luke Schnierderjans, and the Windsor Championship, in which Sam Choi matched the low score of the day, a 7-under 64, to claim a three-shot victory.

Jeffrey Kang’s third round of 63 included a pair of eagles today. It was the second time he’s had two eagles in one round this season, the other coming in the third round of the Windsor Championship.

Reid Davenport began the third round tied for second place but started the day with a double-bogey and bogey to fall out of contention. He didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole and wound up shooting a 1-over 72 and dropped into a tie for 21st.

Players need to finish among the top 60 on the Fortinet Cup points list to earn a spot in next week’s Fortinet Cup Championship. That will be the area of interest for most players near the cut-off. The players projected to move into the top 60: J.T. Griffin (75th to 50^th), Brendan MacDougall (81^st to 51^st), Chris Crisologo (73^rd to 55^th), Luis Gagne (66^th to 56^th), and Ryan Davis (78^th to 59^th). Projected to move out of the top 60: Brian Carlson (54^th to 61^st), Taylor Funk (57^th to 62^nd), Johnny Travale (58^th to 64th), and Luis Gerardo Garza (59^th to 68^th).

Cao retains lead heading into final round of CRMC Championship presented by GertensRead More

BRAINERD, Minnesota – Yi Cao almost decided not to play this week because of a sore back. Now he finds himself in position to win his first PGA TOUR Canada event.

Cao shot an 8-under 62 on Friday, the low round of the tournament, thus far, at Cragun’s Dutch Legacy Course, and sits at 12-under-par 128 with a five-shot lead at the midway point of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens.

Cao began the week in 55^th place in the Fortinet Point standings and needed to make the cut to qualify for next week’s Fortinet Championship. Now that he’s checked that box, the Delta, British Columbia, resident could move into contention to climb near the top-five and earn the much-coveted status on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour.

“I came this close to not playing this week,” Cao said. “I was barely able to swing my club Thursday morning. I feel terrible. I’ve never had this feeling before.”

The five-way tie for second place at 7-under includes Reid Davenport, Drew Nesbitt, Davis Shore, Mason Glinski and Dylan Healey. Tied for seventh at 6-under are J.T. Griffin, Blake Tomlinson, Sam Jean, Corey Shaun. Brendan MacDougall, Gavin Hall and first-round leader Ryan Orr are tied for 11th at 5-under.

With the help of some Advil, Cao was able to get through the first round to shoot 66. And he began play on Friday with low expectations.

“My caddie asked me how I was feeling and I said, ‘I don’t know. I’ve never taken Advil before a round,” Cao said. “I had no expectations. I knew if I wasn’t playing well this week, I wouldn’t be able to play next week, too. At this point there was really nothing for me to lose.”

Cao, 32, started on the back nine and finished his first-nine holes by going birdie-birdie-eagle and turned in 30. He added three more birdies on his final nine.

This is his 48^th career start on PGA TOUR Canada. He won the 2020 Canada Life Series at Bear Mountain Valley Course.

Healey, of Tucson, Arizona, had eight birdies and one bogey on his card. He finished with birdies on the final three holes to shoot a 7-under 63.

“I’m just trying to trust myself,” Healey said. “I’ve been pretty consistent this year. I know I have it in me and my putter warmed up today and that was the difference.”

He birdied three of the four par-3 holes and said, “It always feels like you’re stealing when you make a two.”

Davenport, of Austin, Texas, a rookie who qualified via PGA TOUR University, shot a 66, despite a double-bogey on the par-3 15^th. Undeterred, he finished with three-consecutive birdies.

“It was a lot like the first round,” Davenport said. “It’s just stay patient. It’s an angles game really, so just taking the widest angles, let the wind kind of take it and hitting some shots into the wind, curving it, and then just telling yourself good things. It’s pretty hard to do that out here, but that’s what I’ve done.”

Nesbitt, of Toronto, Ontario, had seven birdies and one bogey in shooting his six-under 64. He started on the back nine and finished his round by making birdies on three of the last four holes.

“I tried to stay patient all day. That was the key, just understanding that it’s not easy out there,” Nesbitt said. “It was a little less breezy than yesterday, which is nice. I knew good shots were coming and I just stayed within myself and really trusted what I was doing and committed to all my golf shots.”

Glinski, of Oxnard, Calif., started on the back nine as well. He birdied No. 16-18 and shot 31.

“This week I’ve taken a step back and said I just have to play golf,” Glinski said. “There’s no sense in getting all worked up.”

 

Key Information

The cut came at even-par, the highest score of the season. There are 67 players who qualified for the weekend.

Fortinet Cup leader Sam Choi shot 67 and easily made the cut at 3-under. The others currently in the top five, which guarantees at least some status on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour, had mixed results No. 2 Davis Lamb rallied to shoot 2-under in the second round, finishing 1-under through 36 holes and is tied for 37^th, and No. 5 John Pak shot even par for the second day in a row to make the cut on the number. No. 3 Etienne Papineau and No. 4 Stuart Macdonald both missed the cut at 5-over.

Fortinet Cup Standings

(Through CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open)

 

Pos.	Player	Points
1	Sam Choi (United States)	1,210
2	Davis Lamb (United States)	1,117
3	Étienne Papineau (Canada)	944
4	Stuart Macdonald (Canada)	707
5	John Pak (United States)	690
6	Devon Bling (United States)	639
7	Hayden Springer (United States)	630
8	Chris Korte (United States)	593
9	Davis Shore (United States)	567
10	David Kim (United States)	443

 

Hayden Springer, winner of last week’s Manitoba Open, shot even par and stands at 2-under, tied for 25^th.

Yi Cao’s five-stroke lead in the second round is the largest lead that any player has held after 36 holes this year.  The last time a player was ahead by that margin mid-tournament was last year at the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open when Parker Coody led the competition by five strokes with a 17-under 127 at Southwood Golf & Country Club. Here is a list of the largest 36-hole leads in PGA TOUR Canada history.

36-Hole Lead	Player	Year, Event
5 strokes	Yi Cao	2023, CRMC Championship presented by Gertens
5 strokes	Parker Coody	2022, CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open
5 strokes	Zach Wright	2018, Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open
5 strokes	Tyler McCumber	2018, Osprey Valley Open
4 strokes	Will Gordon	2019, 1932byBateman Open
4 strokes	Hank Lebioda	2017, Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval
4 strokes	Aaron Wise	2016, Freedom 55 Financial Championship
4 strokes	Bryn Parry	2015, PC Financial Open

 

Dylan Healey, one of the players tied for second, almost quit the game during the winter. He was working as an assistant at Dove Mountain in Tucson, Arizona, and coaching kids. He was mostly playing with co-workers and friends, who encouraged him to return to professional golf. With a current standing of 32, he is already a shoo-in for next week’s Fortinet Championship and has a goal to finish in the top 25 of the points list.

Matt Boldy, a left winger for the NHL Minnesota Wild, shot 79-80 and finished last.

Quotables

“It’s been a bit of a process. It seems like every time you feel like you make progress mentally, then something brings you back down and you’re going through a bit of a spiral. That’s what I would call the last few weeks. I was able to talk with a sports psychologist and was able to put a plan together, so we’re still in the very early stages of seeing where it all goes, but so far, so good.” – Brendan MacDougall

“I just needed to make a cut. I haven’t been in good rhythm this year. I’ve been on and off and didn’t really play a completely full schedule. I’ve just had a hard time on the first couple of days, so it’s good to play good in the wind yesterday and it was nice to just play a round of golf today instead of having to really fight back for it.” – J.T. Griffin

“Going into this week, it was more or less having nothing to lose, really. I had been hitting the ball nicely the last two or three weeks and I knew that in the back of my mind. So I knew if I just kept my head down and did that, I’d be somewhere up toward the lead. I’m proud of myself going into the weekend, for sure.” – Reid Davenport

“Every event you’re always trying to do the best you can. I missed the cut the last two weeks but I felt my game was alright. There are little things that every golfer has to clean up and so far it’s been good. It’s a challenging course, which I like, and I’m glad I’ve done a good job so far.” – Corey Shaun

“I hit a horrible tee shot left of left and ended up in a bunker on the other golf course They deemed it wasn’t maintained properly. It had footprints and rake stuff everywhere, so I got relief and was able to hit it back into play on the actual hole and get up-and-down for birdie from 100 yards. I was very fortunate. It could easily have been a seven.”— Brendan MacDougall on his birdie at No. 16.

Second-Round Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 88°F (31°C.) Winds out of the SSW 9-12 mph (14-19 kph) and gusts reaching 23 mph (37 kph.)

Cao goes low, leads by 5-strokes at CRMC Championship presented by GertensRead More