Canada’s west coast allows us to play golf year round, rain permitting of course and each spring we have the Freedom 55 Golf Championship visit us and continue to share the growth of the sport regardless of where they travel or play.

Now we are hearing that the most recent event is being held in London Ontario for only the third time in four events, Corey Pereira shot his second 65 and holds the lead on the Mackenzie Tour drawing even with Jonathan Garrick at the Freedom 55 Financial Championship.

He mentioned “It wasn’t really anything special until the last few holes and I felt like I left a few out there and made some mistakes, but that’s just how golf is sometimes, you make some mistakes, but stay in it, and I made birdie on the last two and turned a solid round into a really good round.”

Entering the event, the season could be split into two halves, with each half involving one of the top-2 players on the Mackenzie Tour Order with the first half being owned by Zach Wright, who became the first Mackenzie Tour player to ever open the season with six (6) consecutive top-10 finishes.

The second half of the season seemed to be defined by Tyler McCumber, who is the only player in Mackenzie Tour history winning back-to-back events after his victory at the Osprey Valley Open (win at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship) on Petroleum Golf Club, which was a course designed by his father.

Adding the Players Cup weeks later all but locked up Player of the Year honors the story-lines written were set with a win at the ATB Financial Classic.

This was followed by a playoff loss at the Mackenzie Investments Open last week on the circuit that has Corey Pereira quickly become a name not to forget.

With a win this week, Pereira would leapfrog George Cunningham and aforementioned Wright to finish the season at No. 2 on the year-end Order of Merit.

While the start of the season for Pereira allowed him to keep pace in the race for The Five, none of his finishes jumped off the page, but, beginning at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship, he has played his past 18 rounds on the Mackenzie Tour under par, earning $62,020 in that stretch.

Pereira’s 65 at Highland Country Club have come in unique but different ways, with the first a clean-carded five-birdie round and the second with seven birdies and a pair of bogeys.

Jonathan Garrick joins Pereira at the top of the leader board that saw Garrick close his second round with three birdies in his final four holes for a 67.

The race for both Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week and Canadian Player of the Year are led by Michael Gligic, who “grinded” his way to a second-round 69 to put himself one-stroke ahead of Taylor Pendrith.

Thanks to Brendan Stasiewich with the McKenzie Tour for the info.