JUST LIKE MAC
Max Dobie of R.A. Riddell Elementary School hits onto the green of his second-last hole of the nine-hole Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Middle School Championship at Flamborough Hills Golf and Country Club in Copetown. Forty-nine players ages 11-13 from five Hamilton middle schools participated in the tournament. Ethan Irvine and Brie Allen, both from Ancaster Senior Public School, were the boys and girls winners. The tournament’s first winner, in 2004, was Mackenzie Hughes. Hughes is competing in this weekend’s Players Championship. For more on his second round,
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. — As conditions toughened, Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley played even better. Each posted a 6-under 66 to share the lead at The Players Championship, making it even more difficult for the top two players in the world to catch them.
Oosthuizen and his sweet swing were a good fit in any conditions at the TPC Sawgrass, and he managed to play bogey-free and finish with a birdie on the par-5 ninth. Stanley had eight birdies as the wind increased and the firm putting surfaces became crusty.
They were at 9-under 135, two shots ahead of J.B. Holmes, who fell out of a tie with bogeys on his last two holes for a 69.
David Hearn of Brantford is the top Canadian through two rounds. He shot a 69 and is 5 under.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas began the day as the co-leader with William McGirt at 5 under, but shot a 3-over 75 and fell to 2 under. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 72 and is 1 under while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., missed the cut with back-toback 74s.
Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy scrapped it around Friday morning, Johnson making only one birdie for a 73 and McIlroy managing through nagging back pain for a 71. They were at even par and not too bothered. They were only five behind when they finished, and they could sense that because of steamy weather and swaying pines that nobody was going to get too far away from him.
“I definitely feel like I got the most that I could have out of that round,” Stanley said.
Johnson and McIlroy at least are still in the game.
Jordan Spieth was headed home after missing the cut for the third straight year, yet he didn’t sound terribly upset. He chalked that up to not being able to handle this strand of grass when it gets firm and crusty. Spieth’s last hope ended with a tee shot that bounced at the back of the island-green 17th and into the water.
Equally surprising was Vijay Singh, the 54year-old Fijian who was making putts from everywhere until a three-putt bogey on the 18th. He still shot 68 and goes into the weekend only three shots out of the lead.