Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Macdonald prevails in playoff for first PGA Tour Canada win; Lauren Kim makes run to quarter-finals of U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship; Jackson Jacob top British Columbian at PNGA Men’s Amateur at Chambers Bay
Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
It’s turning into quite the summer for Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, who won the PGA Tour Canada’s Commissionaires Ottawa Open in a four-hole playoff.
The win is undoubtedly the highlight, so far, of Macdonald’s professional career. But the 28-year-old has an even bigger moment coming in about three week’s time.
Macdonald’s wife, Carly, is due to deliver the couple’s first child in mid-August.
Macdonald called his wife, whom he described as, “Very pregnant,” moments after he birdied the fourth playoff hole at Eagle Creek Golf Club to earn the win.
That win earned Macdonald $36,000 and moved him to sixth on the PGA Tour Canada Fortinet Cup points list. He’s now in great position to regain his Korn Ferry Tour status by finishing inside the top five at season’s end.
“To get my first PGA TOUR-sanctioned win, in Canada, is huge,” Macdonald said. “I’m really happy about it. I’m obviously thrilled to be standing here as the champion. It’s a long time coming. I felt like I’ve put myself in this spot a few times this year and haven’t got it done. It feels amazing to finally get it done.”
Macdonald got it done with a brilliant weekend as he closed the 72-hole tourney with rounds of 63 and 65 to finish at 19-under par in three-way tie with Americans Luke Schniederjans and Devon Bling. Schniederjans was eliminated on the first playoff hole and Macdonald finally prevailed on the fourth extra hole.
“It felt like for a time we were going to have to come back Monday morning,” Macdonald said of the lengthy playoff.
The Ottawa event was Macdonald’s second start of the PGA Tour Canada season. He headed north after competing quite well on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica circuit earlier this year. He played in eight of the 12 PGA Tour LA events and made the cut in all eight starts, while recording two top-six finishes.
He finished 20th on the PGA Tour LA points list, which earned him status on the new PGA Tour Americas circuit — the name given the upcoming merging of the Canadian and Latin American tours — in 2024. Macdonald, of course, hopes he never has to use that status and will have his sights set on securing a top-five position on the Fortinet Cup points list and heading back to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he has made 75 career starts.
Macdonald is in the field for this week’s PGA Tour Canada event, the Osprey Valley Open at TPC Toronto. That tournament is followed by the Windsor Championship, which goes Aug. 3-6. The tour then takes a break until late August, at which time Macdonald figures to be a new dad.
Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart and Jared du Toit of Kimberley both tied for 28th in Ottawa at nine-under par. Lawren Rowe of Victoria tied for 52nd and Jake Lane of Charlie Lake was 69th.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Surrey’s Lauren Kim made it all the way to the quarter-finals and three other British Columbians also advanced to match play at the 74th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo. Kim, who competed in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach earlier this month, won three straight matches before dropping her quarter-final match 3&1 to Kiara Romero of San Jose, Calif. Romero went on to win the championship, beating Rianne Maxli of the Philippines 1-up in their 36-hole final.
Kim advanced to the quarter-finals by winning her Round of 16 match against Reese McCauley of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., that was delayed by darkness. Kim and McCauley were tied through 16 holes when play was halted. When play resumed the next morning, Kim’s tee shot bounced off the pin at the par 3 17th hole at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course and she made a four-foot putt for birdie to go one-up.
Kim, who is heading to the University of Texas next month to begin her collegiate career, drained a 15-foot par putt on the 18th green to win the match. Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon earned headlines when she knocked off the No. 1 seed and defending champion Jana Wilson of Henderson, Nev., on the 20th hole of their Round of 32 match. Kwon was downed by Farah O’Keefe of Austin, Tex, in their Round of 16 match.
Coquitlam’s Martina Yu won her Round of 64 match, but lost a heartbreaker on the 20th hole to Mexico’s Clarisa Temelo in the Round of 32. Anna Huang of Vancouver earned the sixth seed after two rounds of stroke play, but lost her Round of 64 match to McCauley. Kwon will defend her title at this week’s Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Hampton Golf Club in Hampton, N.B. Huang and Yu are also in the field.
AMATEUR HOUR: Jackson Jacob of Langley advanced to the quarter-finals of the PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Jacob, who plays his collegiate golf at the University of the Fraser Valley, lost his quarter-final match 4&3 to Jack Cantlay of Los Angeles. Cantlay is the younger brother of multiple PGA Tour winner Patrick Cantlay. Three other British Columbians — Adam Niles of Kamloops and Jace Minni and John Morrow, both of Delta — made it through to the Round of 16. Joshua Koo of Cerritos, Calif., beat Ben Borgida of Shoreline, Wash., 1-up to win the championship.
EARLY EXIT: Nick Taylor’s first Open Championship experience ended with a birdie. Unfortunately, that birdie came on the 18th hole of the second round. The Abbotsford native fired rounds of 73 and 75 to miss the cut by three shots at Royal Liverpool. Corey Conners, the other Canadian in the field, tied for 52nd at four-over par, 17 shots behind runaway winner Brian Harman. Taylor is taking this week off, but fellow British Columbians Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Adam Svensson of Surrey are in the field for this week’s 3M Open in Blaine, Minn.
BACK TO WORK: After taking a week off, part of which was spent visiting family in Merritt, Roger Sloan returns to play in this week’s NV5 Invitational in Glenview, Ill., on the Korn Ferry Tour. Sloan has some work to do. He’s currently 111th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and a long way from cracking the top 30 and re-earning PGA TOUR status for next season.
TOPS FIELD: Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang topped the field with a four-under 68 at a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier in Salem, Wash. Zhang, who plays out of Marine Drive Golf Club, will join Surrey’s Lauren Kim at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The tournament goes Aug. 7-13 at Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
CHIP SHOTS: Nanaimo’s Matthew Wilson, Joshua Ince of Surrey and Louis Chun of Port Coquitlam are competing in this week’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. . .Elizabeth Labbé, a key member of UBC’s NAIA and Canadian championship women’s golf team, finished second at the Quebec Women’s Amateur Championship. . .Delta’s Mary Parsons tied for 10th at a Women’s All-Pro Tour event in Conway, Ark. . .Former longtime B.C. pro Phil Jonas, now based in Saskatoon, won the PGA of Saskatchewan Senior Championship.