By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf

"Even though a new set of guidelines have now been put into play for the game of golf, the rulebook still doesn’t address one major component found in every weekend warrior’s game — the mullligan or breakfast ball.

Despite that oversight, the new rules, the first in over six decades, will make the game’s regulations a bit easier for one and all to comprehend and abide by. At least that’s the word coming from Adam Helmer, the Director of Rules and Competitions for Golf Canada.

Canada's Mackenzie Hughes Got The Better Of Tiger Woods For At Least One Day At The Farmers Insurance Open At Torrey Pines - Image Credit Claus Anderson/Golf Canada

By Alfie Lau

“It’s never a bad day playing with Tiger.” 

How many people get to say this, not just once, but twice in the past year?

Ontario’s Mackenzie Hughes got to say this Saturday afternoon at Torrey Pines, after his third consecutive round of (-2) has him in the middle of the pack, T36 at (-6) in the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open.

But that’s the smallest part of the story, as Hughes fired the low round in his group, one shot better than Scott Stallings and Tiger Woods.

Abbotsford, BC's Nick Taylor Carded A Respectable 1-under 71 On The More Difficult South Course At Torrey Pines In Round One Of The Farmers Insurance Open - File Photo

By Alfie Lau

Is this the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open or the 5th round of the 60th Anniversary Desert Classic?

Torrey Pines North and South would presumably be tougher courses than the three courses in Palm Springs used for last week’s PGA Tour stop, but take a look at the first-round scores, particularly from the North Course, and you would be hard pressed to notice the difference.

While Phil Mickelson shot a 60 in his opening round last week, this week in San Diego, Jon Rahm shot 62, Justin Rose and Doug Ghim both shot 63, C.T. Pan shot 64 and Jordan Spieth shot 65, all on the North Course.

Torrey Pines North, traditionally three or four strokes easier than the brutish South Course, played to that on a Thursday where there was no wind, the greens and fairways were softened by torrential rains last week, and new rules allowing players to tap down spike marks and other damage provided the most optimal scoring conditions.

Kimberley, BC's Jared du Toit (R) Is One Of Two BC Players, Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald Is The Other, Joining The Likes Of Maddie Szeryk (L) On The 2019 Team Canada Young Pro Squad - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Via Golf Canada

OAKVILLE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 10 athletes—six female and four male—who have been selected to the 2019 Team Canada Young Pro Squad.

Comprising the 2019 Women’s Young Pro Squad is Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.) , Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City), Maddie Szeryk (London, Ont.) Augusta James (Bath, Ont.), Jennifer Ha (Calgary) and Jaclyn Lee (Calgary). Lee, 21, makes the transition from the Amateur Squad after turning professional in December.

The Men’s Young Pro Squad will be represented by Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.), Hugo Bernard (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.), Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver).

The latest edition of the Official PGA TOUR Essential Guide to Golf is now available.

By PGA OF AMERICA

Doug Ferguson, whose three decades with the Associated Press have made him the most-read golf journalist and one of the game’s most respected chroniclers of professional golfers, has been named the recipient of the 2019 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.

By BRENDAN STASIEWICH, PGATOUR.COM

Struggle. Is there a more appropriate word to describe life as a professional golfer attempting to reach his PGA TOUR dream?

Some of the new Rules of Golf appear to have confused people.

This may help, a video highlighting the main changes with the new 2019 Rules of Golf.

Abbotsford, BC's Adam Hadwin Has His Eyes On A Presidents Cup Spot This Year, Among Other Goals For The New PGA TOUR Season - Image Courtesy www.adamhadwin.com

By Adam Stanley/Courtesy Golf Canada

With the Presidents Cup in his sights and high hopes to return to major championship fields, Adam Hadwin knows a strong start to 2019 is essential.

The Abbotsford, B.C., golfer was in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii (where he finished T57) – the first full-field event of the 2019 portion of the PGA TOUR season – alongside fellow Canadians Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Silverman, Roger Sloan, Adam Svensson, Nick Taylor, and Corey Conners, (who qualified for the event late on Monday and parlayed that into a T3 finish after back-to-back weekend 64's).

Hadwin, who notched two top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR and represented Canada at the World Cup of Golf with Taylor (they tied for fourth) during the fall of 2018, said he’s excited to get back into the heat of competition again.

In this first 2019 version of The PGA TOUR's The Good, Bad & Unusual, Teryn Gregson recaps the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where Xander Schauffele’s clutch final round performance made him the first multiple-winner of the season.

Golfers shared their New Year’s Resolutions and tried to navigate the new rules changes with some pretty unusual moments.

In the Best of The Good, Bad & Unusual of 2018, PGA TOUR golf host Teryn Gregson recaps the most memorable, funny and weird moments of the year.

 Highlights include Tiger Woods’ comeback season, his mob of fans, Phil Mickelson’s dance phase, gators on the course and Ian Poulter’s hilarious audible.

Michael Gligic Was One Of Three Canadians To Earn Guaranteed Starts For The Web.com Tour Regular Season - Image Credit Claus Anderson/PGA TOUR Canada

With files from PGATOUR.com

The final round of Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament wrapped up Sunday afternoon at Whirlwind Golf Club (The Cattail and Devil’s Claw), outside Phoenix, Arizona, with recent University of Virginia graduate Danny Walker capturing medalist honors with a 27-under total for 72 holes.

Along with Walker, finishers from second through to 40th place and ties received guaranteed starts to kick off the 2019 Web.com Tour season, with Canadians Brad Fritsch, Michael Gligic and Albin Choi in that mix. Vancouver's Sean Harlingten was also in the field and earned conditional status finishing T74 with a very respectable 14-under par total, just 4 shots out of the top 40.

Brian McDonald claimed his first national title at the PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy Thursday as he closed with a 5-under-par 67 for a five-shot victory.

The Director of Golf and General Manager at Fairview Mountain in Oliver, B.C., featured five birdies in his final round at The Gold Course at Wigwam Golf Club, coming from behind to raise a PGA of Canada national championship trophy for the first time in his career.

Vancouver's Seann Harlingten Is One Of Four Canadians Vying For Web.com Tour Status In The Final Stage Of Q-School This Week - File Photo

Courtesy Golf Canada

The final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament gets underway Thursday at the Whirlwind Golf Club (The Cattail and Devil’s Claw) in Chandler, Ariz., where four Canadians will look to secure or improve their status for 2019.

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada is busy preparing for another strong season, announcing on Thursday the dates and sites for its six 2019 Qualifying Tournaments, events that determine the membership of the Mackenzie Tour.

The six sites will be: TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, TX (February 25-March 1), Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howie-In-The-Hills, FL (March 4-8), Carlton Oaks Golf Club in Santee, CA (March 25-29), Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, AZ (April 1-5), TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (April 22-26) and Crown Isle Resort & Golf Club in Courtenay, BC (April 29-May 3).

Each event is a 72-hole, no-cut qualifying tournament, with fields of 120 players.

Okay, most golfers have heard the phrase, "It's not how...it's how many," or "There's no pictures on the scorecard," when it comes to getting a result in a game of golf despite what may be less than exemplary methods. 

South Korean golf professional Ho-Sung Choi has created a new standard. His incredibly unique 'golf swing' has just enabled him to capture the Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour. It's actually his 2nd win on the tour but now people are starting to notice. Choi needs to be in a major...soon.

Just watch.

A group of Canadian hopefuls has been looking to advance through one of five Web.com Tour qualifying events across the United States from Oct. 30 – Nov. 9.

Field sizes at each event are approximately 75 players with no cut. The number of applicants advancing from each site will be on a pro rata basis (i.e., approximately the same percentage from each site will advance), and such number will be announced during the Second Qualifying Stage.

All applicants tying for the last qualifying position at the conclusion of play at each site will advance.

As The PGA TOUR has quickly teed off on its new season, we note that two of Canada's top 3 ranked Male Professionals hail from Abbotsford, BC. Fitting also that Adam Hadwin (No.1) and Nick Taylor (No.3), will be partnering up to represent Canada at the upcoming World Cup of Golf in Melbourne next month.

Meanwhile, BC continues to see its fair share of players in both the Men's and Women's amateur and professional categories holding prominent positions in the Weekly Top Ten Powered by RBC Canadian Rankings.

The GOLFTV Brand Will Underpin The First-Of-Its-Kind International Golf Streaming Service Launching On January 1st, 2019

For Immediate Release

NEW YORK – Discovery and the PGA TOUR have today revealed GOLFTV, powered by the PGA TOUR, the distinctive brand for the destination that will unite the community of golf fans around the world. The brand will underpin the new live and on-demand international video streaming service, which will launch globally outside the United States* on 1st January 2019.

GOLFTV will offer fans a one-stop destination to access the widest range of golf content. With a growing portfolio of content, it will feature many of the sport’s most exciting moments, superstar players and tournaments on every screen and device.

B.C.'s Kaleb Gorbahn Of Smithers (Shown Here) Is One Of Ten Canadians Who Are Moving On To The Second Stage Of The 2018 Web.com Tour Qualifying School As Play Concluded Friday (Oct. 12.) At Events Taking Place Across The United States - Image Credit Chuck Russell/Golf Canada

Written by Terry Lenyk/Golf Canada

Kaleb Gorbahn of Smithers, B.C., finished runner up at 8-under, while Hugo Bernard of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., tied for 17th after finishing 2-under at the Dayton Valley, Nev., qualifying event, where the top 22 positions and tied advanced.

Click here for the leaderboard.