Two eagles help Stinson to four-stroke lead at PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf
Photos from the event can be found here
Content from the event can be found here
By: Brendan Stasiewich, PGA of Canada
Kevin Stinson continued his dominance in PGA of Canada national championships on Wednesday, shooting a second-round 68 during the second round of the PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf supported by G&G Brands.
Stinson, who began the day 3-strokes clear of second place, quickly extended his lead, chipping in for eagle – his first of two on the day - on the opening hole.
From there, he battled through the difficult front nine, bouncing back from bogeys on 2 and 6 with birdies on 10 and 13 before making eagle on 14.
“It’s a course you have to stay patient on, I did that on the front and then got it going on the back to shoot four under,” said Stinson. “I’m super happy to get off the course now with some wind up there.”
On the 16th green, Stinson’s group – along with the other 64 professionals from across the country – were pulled off the course due to adverse weather hitting Mission Inn resort in Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida.
“I tried to check out, when you’re sitting for a while it’s nice to hit a few balls before going back out, but it was nice only having two holes to go,” said the Cheam Mountain Head Teaching Professional. “If you have a bunch of holes left, it’s a lot tougher because you have to really get your brain back into it, but if you can’t focus for two holes you probably shouldn’t be out here.”
After a two-hour suspension of play, Stinson closed with pars on 17 and 18.
While Stinson’s lead reached eight strokes at one point in the day, G.W. King closed the gap with five-consecutive birdies from 11-15 to sign for a 67, pulling him within four of the lead.
“There is a long way to go,” said Stinson. “It’s 18 holes, you never know with weather and wind so I’m going to stay patient and keep playing just one swing at a time.”
Another King, Danny, will join the final group on Thursday, after shooting 71 to sit at 1-under.
The race for low Club Professional is tight between Eric Laporte, at 1-over, and Kevin Black at 2-over.
The InterZone competition wrapped up on Wednesday, with the squad from the PGA of Ontario comprised of G.W. King, Gord Burns, Danny King and Joseph D’Alfonso taking down the PGA of Alberta by 22 strokes. The Ontario pros will split $1,600 between them with the victory.
At each National Championship, a hole is deemed the E-Z-GO ‘It’s Good to Go’ Hole of the Week. This week, the par-5 14th is the selected hole. Any player to make eagle will be put into a draw for a $250 bonus prize. One player made eagle on 14 on Tuesday: Kyle Brodhagen, while our leader, Stinson, joined him with an eagle Wednesday.
In 2023, the PGA of Canada won the Four Nations Cup in South Africa – and now it is our turn to host in 2025, with venue TBD.
The winner of this week’s event will receive an invite to the 2025 event alongside the winner of the 2024 Assistants’ Championship and next year’s PGA Champion of Canada. They will be joined by the top player on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by ECCO Golf.
Final round tee times begin at 7:16 AM ET on Thursday with the final group set to tee off at 10:16 AM ET.
