Aaron Cockerill finishes T4 at the JoBurg Open... final scoreboard

 Joburg Open final scoreboard here 

(pga file photo)

 Aaron Cockerill wound up a very good first week on the South Africa swing with a -3 68 -13 total, good enough to T4 behind the eventual winner from Denmark, Joachim Hansen at -19 who won his first European Tour event.

Aaron began the week with a 64 on Thursday and he stayed amongst the leaders all week with a 68 and 71. He drove the ball better today than Saturday, his iron play is sharp and he made a lot of putts within 6 feet when he needed to. He only made one bogey at the 2nd, then had 4 birdies and all the rest pars the rest of the way.

He seems in great spirits with his fiancé Chelsea as his caddie, and he will move well up the world rankings from 481 as well as the Race to Dubai standings with this performance on top of his T4 in Cyprus.

Next week it's the Alfred Dunhill Championship at stunning Leopard Creek CC, a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg.

Bryan Angus

Saturday night wrap.. Live scoreboards.. Canadian stories..

Well we're being shutdown here in Toronto as of midnight tomorrow, the panic buying was in full force today, meanwhile for the pro golfers of the world who don't have to stand in line at Costco here's a summary of play today, except for Aaron Cockerill at the Joburg Open which I posted this morning.

 

LPGA Pelican Women's Championship leaderboard  here

South Korean Sei Young Kim 67 65 64 -14 is running away with the inaugural Pelican Women's Open,  5 shots clear heading into Sunday.

Brooke Henderson made a move 68 70 66 -6 T5 and will play with Lydia Ko and Austin Ernst at 11.04am on Sunday.

Alena Sharp is T19 68 71 71 E is off at 10.09 with In Gee Chun and American Megan Kang

PGA Tour RSM Classic Leaderboard  here

Once again Corey Connors  from Listowel, Ontario leads a sad showing by the Canadians into Sunday at the RSM Classic hard by the Atlantic Ocean in Georgia..

At 67 70 66 -9 he is T14..Roger Sloan is 67 69 71 -5 T41

How many know who Robert Strep is ? He's 33 from Oklahoma and is ranked 380th in the world with 1 career win, the 2015 McGladrey Classic but still has made nearly $10m on the PGA Tour.

Five Canucks David Hearn 74 68, Mac Hughes 73 69 , Nick Taylor 73, 69, Adam Hadwin 73,69, Michael Gligic 79,69 all missed the cut at -3..

Bryan Angus

Gritty Canadian, Cockerill 7th at JoBurg Open .. live scoreboard

 JoBurg Open Saturday leaderboard here 

On an overcast rainy Saturday at the JoBurg Open the Randpark GC was playing long despite the calm conditions.

While it was wet, it was warm compared to -8 in Winnipeg, near home to Aaron Cockerill. I just finished watching his 3rd round, and he was amongst the leaders all day, despite losing a little ground with two late bogey's.

The leader is 20 year old South African Wilco Nienaber who hits the ball every inch as far as Bryson DeChambeau without all the histionics, certainly none of the weights and shakes.

His -4 67 -16 total is a shot ahead of Denmark's Joachim Hansen  -7 64 -15.

Aaron was unlucky not to get more from his round, he putted beautifully, several long lags left him the easiest of tap ins, and when he got a case of the "rights" off the tee late in his round he scrambled very well from the trees. 

He was out in a bogey free -2 33, but bogey's at 10, 16, 17 with a birdie at the par 5 14th, that hung on the lip for an eagle, had him home in 38 for E 71 and 7th at -10. There are 4 players tied at -11 just a shot ahead of him and he does play the front nine well with 30 and 31 in rounds 1 and 2.

All attention will likely be on Nienaber and Joachim in the final pairing, both looking for their first European Tour wins, so a great chance for Cockerill to sort out his driver and hope some of those putts fall to post a good score in the clubhouse and see what happens.

Bryan Angus                        

(pga tour file photo)

Henderson, Sharp T5 Pelican Women's Championship.. Live leaderboard

 Pelican Women's Championship leaderboard  here

Alena Sharp and Brooke Henderson are off to a great start, -2 68 T5 four shots off the lead in Belleair, Florida at this inaugural Pelican Women's Championship. 

Alena had 4 birdies, 2 bogey's and Brooke had 3 birdies, one bogey all on her front nine, all pars coming in.

Alena is off at 12.32pm today, while Brooke and newly married sister Brittany are up early at 7.43am both off the 10th tee.

Sophia Popov is the best of the field after the first round with her -6 64, two shots clear.

Aaron Cockerill shares the clubhouse lead after 36 holes at the JoBurg Open.. live leaderboard

 JoBurg Open leaderboard Leaderboard

Aaron Cockerill is making the most of his European Tour adventure. After three weeks in the sun and sea of Cyprus, he and his fiancé/caddie have flown down to Johannesburg in South Africa trying to get into the top 60 of the Race to Dubai, and so far so good after two rounds of 64 68 -10 he has the clubhouse the lead at the JoBurg Open heading into the weekend.

Thursday's 64 featured 7 birdies with no bogey's, and this morning he added 5 more with nines of 31,37 on the Randpark GC.

His passport shows stops in Ireland, Scotland, Italy where he placed T22, then Cyprus where he T14 the first week. They plan on playing the Alfred Dunhill Championship at spectacular Leopard Creek adjacent to Kruger National Park next week, then a new Golf In Dubai Championship and perhaps the South African Open before they fly home to Winnipeg for Christmas. 

He is currently ranked #481 in the world.

The late wave of round two are currently on course.

Bryan Angus

Here are Canada's best Juniors named today to the National and Junior Teams from Golf Canada

 

Media Release
For Immediate Release | November 19, 2020

GOLF CANADA ANNOUNCES 2021 NATIONAL AMATEUR AND JUNIOR SQUADS - Team Canada program expands roster to include 29 athletes - - Junior Squads will resume centralized training at Golf Canada’s National Training Centre at Bear Mountain Golf Resort - OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of the 29 athletes, male and female, who have been selected to represent Team Canada as part of the 2021 National Amateur and Junior Squads. Fifteen athletes will compete on Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, consisting of eight players on the men’s squad and seven on the women’s squad. The announcement marks a significant increase in roster size, adding six athletes to the previous year’s team. The roster expansion is due in large part to a restructuring of team resources in addition to increased funding support from the Golf Canada Foundation’s network of Trustee partners. “We are very pleased to extend the reach of the Team Canada program to support more of the country’s top athletes,” said Derek Ingram, Head Coach of the National Men’s Squads. “The new program structure allows our coaching staff to focus more resources on training and sport science with each athlete’s individual results used to determine their respective competitive schedule.” Team Canada’s 2021 Squad members have all competed and achieved impressive results at regional, national and international competitions, including medals at the Pan-Am Games, NCAA tournament wins and victories at prestigious amateur competitions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all athletes from the 2020 Squad were able to return in 2021, provided they met team eligibility criteria. “We are very excited with the athletes selected – they represent a mix of returning team members as well as talented up-and-coming athletes,” said Tristan Mullally, Head Coach of the National Women’s Squads. “It is a new chapter for amateur golf in Canada and we have a tremendous group of ambassadors representing our country.” The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Amateur Squad: WOMEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD Taylor Kehoe | Strathroy, Ont. – West Haven Golf & Country Club Alisha Lau | Richmond, B.C. – Marine Drive Golf Club  Noémie Paré | Victoriaville, Qué. – Club de golf de Victoriaville Mary Parsons | Delta, B.C. – Mayfair Lakes Golf Club Sarah-Ève Rhéaume | Québec, Qué. – Club de golf Royal Québec Brigitte Thibault | Rosemère, Qué. – Club de golf de Rosemère Brooke Rivers | Brampton, Ont. – Brampton Golf Club MEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD Matthew Anderson | Mississauga, Ont. – Credit Valley Golf & Country Club Cougar Collins | Caledon, Ont. – TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley Laurent Desmarchais | Longueuil, Qué. – Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu Noah Steele | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club Henry Lee | Coquitlam, B.C. – Public Player Brendan MacDougall | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf and Country Club Étienne Papineau | St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué. – Club de golf Pinegrove Johnny Travale | Hamilton, Ont. – Glendale Golf & Country Club Click here to read full player bios. National Junior Squads The National Junior Squad—a U19 program—features fourteen athletes (seven girls and seven boys). In September, Golf Canada hosted a selection camp at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C., to evaluate Canada’s top juniors. In partnership with the Provincial Golf Associations, all golfers were run through a series of testing modules followed by a 54-hole competition. From March through early June, the Junior Squad will practice out of Golf Canada’s National Training Centre at Bear Mountain—the fourth year that the program has provided centralized training, accommodation and education for athletes during the second semester of their school year. Team members will be immersed in a focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics and nutrition.  The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Junior Squad: JUNIOR GIRLS SQUAD Angela Arora | Surrey, B.C. – Beach Grove Golf Club Katie Cranston | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club Nicole Gal | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club Jennifer Gu | West Vancouver, B.C. - Seymour Golf & Country Club Lauren Kim | Surrey, B.C. –  Morgan Creek Golf Club Michelle Liu | Vancouver, B.C. – Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club Emily Zhu | Richmond Hill, Ont. – National Pines Golf Club JUNIOR BOYS SQUAD Willy Bishop | Victoria, B.C. – Victoria Golf Club Félix Bouchard | Otterburn Park, Que. –  Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu Malik Dao | Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Qué. – Summerlea Golf & Country Club Ashton McCulloch | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club Owen Mullen | Shortts Lake, N.S. – Truro Golf Club JP Parr | St-Célestin, Qué. – Club de golf Ki-8-eb Golf Hunter Thomson | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf & Country Club Click here to read full player bios.   Team Canada Coaching Staff Announced Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 2021 Team Canada coaching staff that will support both the National Amateur and Junior Squads. For the amateur squads, Derek Ingram of Winnipeg returns as men’s head coach with support from assistant coach Andrew Parr of London, Ont. On the women’s side, Tristan Mullally of Dundas, Ont., returns as head coach. On the junior side, Robert Ratcliffe of Comox, B.C., will lead the centralized Junior Squads at the National Training Centre in Bear Mountain for the fourth year. He will receive support from newly named coach Jennifer Greggain, also of Comox, B.C.  Players will have access to Team Canada’s sport science staff, which includes physiotherapist Greg Redman and Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood supporting the men’s team with physiotherapist Andrea Kosa and mental performance consultant Christie Gialloreto supporting the women. The Junior Squads will continue to receive sport science support from the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific in the areas of strength & conditioning, physiotherapy, mental performance and nutrition.  “Team Canada has shown tremendous success and the coaching staff is well-positioned to lead the increased roster of athletes along with the centralized training program at Bear Mountain,” said Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada Chief Executive Officer. “Along with every area of the business, we will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 to ensure the health and well-being of the athletes and coaches. We now look ahead to helping shape the bright futures of Canada’s top up-and-coming athletes looking to follow in the footsteps of graduates such as Brooke Henderson, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.” Mullally, Ingram, Ratcliffe, Greggain and Parr are all PGA of Canada members. Golf Canada will announce the selection of the 2021 Team Canada Young Pro Squad in January.

Henderson back in action at Pelican Women's Championship.. Live scoreboard

 Pelican Women's Championship leaderboard  here

Brooke Henderson returns to play this week at the inaugural Pelican Women's Championship in Belleair, Florida. Belleair is a nice little residential community north of St Petersburg and south of Clearwater on the Gulf Coast. it's population of 4000 has a large seniors sector. 

The LPGA season has 3 events after this week including the US Open Dec 10th-13th then the CME Group Tour Championship Dec 17-20.

In this strange COVID season Brooke seems to have spent more time at her Florida home in Miromar Lakes than she has on tour, in fact the world #1 player on the LPGA tour Jin Young Ko has been home in South Korea all year and is making her 2020 debut this week.

She plays at 11.59am with Lydia Ko and Japan's Nasa Hataoka.

Alena Sharp played early and is T2 -2 late in her round.

It's a typically strong field as many are chasing CME Globe points, and prepare for the US Open in two weeks.

Round one is under way and you can follow all the action by clicking on my link above.

Bryan Angus