Snedeker leads Canadian Open
Jared du Toit is in position to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open in 62 years — and the first amateur to break through on the PGA Tour in 25 seasons.
Brandt Snedeker is in an even better position. And U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson is right there, too, in Oakville, Ontario.
“I think I’m going to be the most-hated man in Canada tomorrow, but it’s going to be a lot of fun trying to figure it out,” said Snedeker, who eagled the par-5 18th on Saturday for a 6-under-par 66 and a one-stroke lead over du Toit and Johnson.
Du Toit matched Snedeker with an eagle on 18, holing a 40-footer for a 70. On Friday, du Toit rebounded from a triple bogey and bogey with three straight birdies.
“I’ve never kind of been in this kind of pressure, this atmosphere before,” said du Toit, an Arizona State senior from Kimberley, British Columbia. “I’m here having fun and trying to go and play golf. It hasn’t set in so far, but loving every
minute of it.”
Pat Fletcher, born in England, was the last Canadian winner, in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver. Carl Keffer is the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Phil Mickelson was the last amateur winner on the tour in the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.
“I’m honestly just out here to have some fun and enjoy the atmosphere,” du Toit said. “Win or lose, I’m happy with the way this week’s gone.”
LPGA Tour: Charley Hull and surprising England grabbed the lead in the UL International Crown in Gurnee, Ill., and the United States advanced with a sweep against Japan.
Hull, who missed Friday’s four-ball session with a fever and trouble with her asthma, teamed with Melissa Reid for a 3-and-1 victory over sisters
Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand. Holly Clyburn and Jodi Ewart Shadoff routed Pornanong Phatlum and Porani Chutichai 7 and 5, helping seventh-seeded England to a Pool B-best nine points.
The U.S., which began the day with three points, turned in its best performance so far in the rare team event on the LPGA Tour. Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr posted their second straight win with a 4-and-2 victory over Ai Suzuki and Ayaka Watanabe, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller surged to a 3-and-1 win over Haru Nomara and Mika Miyazato.
The country with the most points at the end of the weekend wins a silver trophy, $100,000 and a crown for each of its four players.
Senior British Open: Miguel Angel Jimenez opened a fourstroke lead in the Senior British Open, missing matching the Carnoustie, Scotland, course record by a stroke with a 7under 65 for an 11-under 205 total. U.S. Junior Amateur: Australia’s Min Woo Lee, 17, waited out a 47-minute weather delay to hole the winning 31⁄2-foot birdie putt to beat American Noah Goodwin, 16, 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. U.S. Girls Junior: In Paramus, N.J., South Korea’s Eun Jeong Seong, 16, rallied to beat Andrea Lee, 17 — who will be a freshman at Stanford this fall — 4 and 2 to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Hollis Stacy in 1971. Seong was 5 down through 13 holes in the 36-hole match.