Andre Zhu and Workforce Canada NextGen member Isaiah Ibit enter last spherical two and three photographs off the tempo
GATINEAU, Que. – Declan O’Donovan of Sydney, Australia fired a 6-under 64 on Wednesday to say the highest spot of the leaderboard on the one hundred and twentieth Canadian Males’s Newbie Championship, introduced by BDO. O’Donovan’s lead caps off a busy spherical of worldwide abilities hovering into competition at The Royal Ottawa Golf Membership in Gatineau, Que.
O’Donovan pulled in entrance of Jager Ache of Woodbridge, Ont. and Andre Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont. on the 14th gap, changing on his fifth birdie putt of the day because the 36-hole co-leaders dropped photographs.
An eagle on the scorable par-5 fifth electrified O’Donovan’s spherical on Wednesday, main to 6 extra birdies and serving to the Australian climb 4 locations to carry the outright lead on the Canadian Males’s Newbie Championship.
“It actually put a kick in my step which was very good,” commented O’Donovan of his early eagle to get the ball rolling on his spherical. “I went on a pleasant string of birdies on some powerful holes afterward,” he added.
The Australian – ranked no. 352 on the World Newbie Golf Rankings (WAGR) and one among 5 competing within the area – wasn’t the one worldwide participant to catch hearth and make a cost on transferring day. His 6-under 64 on Wednesday overtook Noa Auch-Roy of Lyon, France for the bottom rating of the day, with the latter negating a trio of bogeys with eagles on Nos. 1 and 5 earlier than enjoying his again 9 4-under par and rising 19 locations.
Auch-Roy will open Thursday’s last spherical 4 strokes off the tempo and in a tie for fourth alongside Calen Sanderson of Newtown, Pa. – who was in a position to claw his approach into competition. Ache rounds out the trio at 6-under after following up three birdies in his first 4 holes with a 3-over end on his again 9 to shut with a fair par 70 on Wednesday. Zhu, who co-led the event alongside Ache after 36 holes, will tee off on Thursday alongside O’Donovan within the last group. Zhu carded a well timed birdie on the par-4 sixteenth to assist get better from a double bogey on the pivotal 14th gap to maneuver into the ultimate grouping.
Workforce Canada NextGen member Isaiah Ibit of Orleans, Ont. led the Canadian cost all through the third spherical and can open his quest for the Earl Gray Cup on Thursday after firing his lowest spherical of the event. Ibit birdied Nos. 16 and 18 to get to 7-under for the event, ending his spherical at 3-under 67 to tug inside three photographs of O’Donovan.
O’Donovan, Zhu and Ibit will all tee off in Thursday’s last group at 10:10 a.m. EDT.
The Royal Ottawa Golf Membership performed practically two strokes simpler than Tuesday’s second spherical, prompting decrease scoring and expenses from varied gamers that began their spherical outdoors the primary web page of the leaderboard on Wednesday. Cloudy circumstances surrounded the Ottawa-Gatineau area all through the third spherical and is predicted to linger into Thursday.
As for the 54-hole chief, pleasure stands as the one emotion O’Donovan has felt since exiting the 18th inexperienced on Wednesday, with an opportunity to come back out victorious in lower than 24 hours at one among golf’s oldest beginner championships
“I like enjoying golf and enjoying in numerous nations, that is one other nice alternative,” commented the 22-year-old.
“There’s a whole lot of alternative forward of me however no matter what occurs tomorrow I’m nonetheless going to be enjoying golf the following day so so long as I follow that mindset and keep aggressive, I’ll be very pleased with regardless of the result’s.”
Thursday’s winner will obtain a direct exemption into a number of marquee occasions, together with a spot within the area on the 2026 RBC Canadian Open. Moreover, the Canadian Males’s Newbie champion will lock up a spot within the one hundred and twenty fifth U.S. Newbie Championship, set for August 11-17 on the Olympic Membership in San Francisco, Calif. and will probably be totally exempt from native qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Newbie and 2026 U.S. Open. The winner – in addition to the highest 20 finishers – will even be exempt into subsequent 12 months’s Canadian Males’s Newbie Championship and can have the ability to defend their title, if eligible.
To view the complete leaderboard after 54 holes, in addition to scheduled tee instances for Thursday’s last spherical of the Canadian Males’s Newbie Championship, introduced by BDO, please click on right here.
