Keefer, Brennan, Shipley lead at CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open
Published
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – John Keefer, Michael Brennan and Neal Shipley fired rounds of 9-under 63 in the first round of the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open and share the lead through Thursday. Daniel Hudson is 4th after an opening round 8-under 64, and five players are T5 at 7-under.
Keefer earned status for the North America Swing through PGA TOUR University after he finished 25th in the Class of 2024. Keefer jumped into the top-25 after a T11 finish at the NCAA National Championship.
In 141 career rounds at Baylor University, Keefer had a cumulative stroke average of 71.45, the best mark in program history. Keefer was also a two-time All-Big 12 selection in 2022 and 2024 and set the Baylor program record for lowest tournament score at the 2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, where he carded a 12-under 198 and finished T2.
Brennan earned status for the North America Swing after finishing 12th in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking. The Wake Forest alum turned in a 6-under 30 on the front nine and made two eagles in the first round.
Brennan became the first player since 2015-16 to earn back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) individual titles after earning co-medalist honors in 2024. The Leesburg, Virginia native is tied with Curtis Strange for the third most wins in Wake Forest history with eight.
After making five starts on the PGA TOUR, Neal Shipley made his second start on PGA TOUR Americas last week at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Lake Country Co-Op. After starting his round on No. 10, Shipley made birdie on No. 9 tie get to 9-under at Southwood Golf and Country Club.
First-round play was suspended at 8:28 p.m. CDT due to darkness with eight groups yet to finish. First-round play will resume at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, with second round tee times starting on time at 7:30 off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees.