THE NICK OF TIME
Canadian Nick Taylor leaves it to the last weekend to secure his tour card and a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
After shooting the round of his life to preserve his PGA Tour status, Canadian golfer Nick Taylor chose to mark the achievement with a modest celebration.
He and his wife, Andie went to Wendy’s for ice cream. A winner on the PGA Tour in 2014, Taylor was outside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings going into last week at the Wyndham Championship. His 7-under-par 63 Sunday (his low round of the year) helped move him to 119th. That allows him to pick and choose his schedule on the PGA Tour next year.
Taylor will now play The Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, the first FedEx Cup playoff event. Fellow Abbotsford, B.C., golfer Adam Hadwin, who was 70th in the FedEx Cup standings, is also in the field.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont.; Ben Silverman of Thornhill; and David Hearn of Brant- ford, finished outside the top 125 and will play the four-tournament Web.com Tour finals to try to improve on their PGA Tour status for next year.
Conners (130th), Silverman (136th), and Hearn (138th) will play out of the category for golfers 126-150 on the FedEx Cup standings with partial status.
Hearn was in that category this season and still played 21 tournaments.
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., finished185th on the FedEx Cup standings, but will start next year on a major medical exemption after having back surgery on Aug. 3.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, is fully exempt next year after his win at The RSM Classic in 2016.
Henderson heads home hot: It was a great time for Brooke Henderson’s best round of the year.
The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., fired a 9-under-par 63 Sunday at the Indy Women in Tech Championship on the LPGA Tour.
She finished tied for seventh, her eighth top-10 finish of the year.
Henderson has now earned $945,881 (U.S.) on the season.
She looks to become the first Canadian since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973 to win the CP Women’s Open on home soil when she tees it up this week at Wascana Country Club in Regina.
She finished tied for 12th a year ago in Ottawa, her best career result at the national championship.
James inching closer: Augusta James had her best result of her Symetra Tour career Sunday.
The native of Bath, Ont. fired a 6-under-par 66 Sunday at the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Michigan to finish runner-up. It was James’ second top-three result in three weeks.
She’s 28th on the money list of the Symtera Tour, the feeder circuit to the LPGA Tour. The top 10 on the money list at the end of the year earn LPGA Tour cards.
LPGA Q-school: There will be 15 Canadians in action at the CP Women’s Open this week, but the field won’t include two of Canada’s brightest collegiate golf stars.
Both Maddie Szeryk and Jaclyn Lee are teeing it up at First Stage of the LPGA Tour’s Qualifying School instead.
Szeryk had a solid final year at Texas A&M University, winning twice and notching a top-20 at the NCAA national championship.
Both Szeryk and Lee are longtime members of Golf Canada’s national team.