There is no longer a penalty for hitting the flagstick that is in the hole when you’ve played your stroke from off the putting green or if you’ve played your stroke from on the green.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

The term penalty area has been introduced and will replace areas previously known as water hazards.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

AURORA, Ont. – When she was just 10 years old, Brooke Henderson’s dad Dave took her to an LPGA event where she briefly met her idol Morgan Pressel. Pressel spoke to Henderson about her golf game, took a picture and autographed her shirt.

Weeks later, they met again at the CP Women’s– Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Pressel remembered Brooke Henderson’s name, a moment the young Canadian still treasures.

Now 21-years old, ranked No. 8 in the world, and with the most wins in Canadian pro golf history, Henderson sees it as her responsibility to create memories for her young fans like Pressel did for her.

“When I first met her, she spent that little bit of extra time with me, signed my shirt, took a picture with me, it was just a really incredible moment that I’ll remember forever,” said Henderson on Tuesday. “I think now I’m just trying to pay that forward to every little kid that I meet.”

Henderson will easily be the most popular player at the CP Women’s Open at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont., this August, and will have plenty of opportunities to interact with her fans, most of whom are children.

“It’s really special to see those young kids, when they want my autograph or they want a picture with me it’s sort of surreal but it’s really inspiring for me,” said a beaming Henderson. “I do think that the LPGA is very approachable. We love little kids and we love spending time with them.

“I think that’s kind of what separates our tour from a lot of other major sports.”

The CP Women’s Open has not been in the Greater Toronto Area since 2001, when Annika Sorenstam won at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont. Because of Henderson’s popularity among Canadian fans and its proximity to Canada’s largest city, it’s expected that it will be one of the best attended events on the LPGA Tour’s calendar this year.

Defending champ @BrookeHenderson leads a star-studded field of early commitments to the 2019 #CPWO ??⛳️#CloserToTheGame

➡️ https://t.co/w2G0RCHkrH pic.twitter.com/uMii5HFTVU

— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) July 2, 2019

Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane, who will be playing in her 29th CP Women’s Open, thinks the timing couldn’t be better for the popularity of the sport in Canada.

“It’s time that we came back to the GTA. It’s time for women’s golf to be elevated one more level in this country,” said Kane, raising her hands for emphasis. “We all know in this room that (Henderson) is changing the way people see women’s golf in our country.

“We’ve been trending in the right direction but why do we keep saying that? We’re in a really awesome place.”

Golf Canada, the LPGA, and Canadian Pacific railways – the event’s title sponsor – announced on Tuesday that the field at the US$2.25 million tournament will include 15 of the top 20 golfers on the LPGA’s money list, and 90 of the top 100.

Henderson, the first Canadian to win the national title in 45 years, is one of seven past CP Women’s Open champions confirmed for 2019. Sung Hyun Park (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), So Yeon Ryu (2014), Katherine Kirk (2008), Cristie Kerr (2006) and three-time winner Lydia Ko (2015, 2013, 2012) are the other past winners in the field.

Henderson welcomes the stiff competition.

“I love it. Being able to beat the best in the world is one of the best things about this sport,” said Henderson. “To tee it up and know that you are playing the best and that you have to play really, really, well and hit shots that you’ve never hit before and shoot low scores, make a ton of birdies, that’s really exciting.”

SANDWICH, England – A third Canadian has earned a spot in the British Open.

Canadian-American dual citizen Austin Connelly of Lake Doucette, N.S., shot 8-under 136 over two rounds on Tuesday at Prince’s Golf Club to earn the third and final spot in the golf major at the qualifier.

The 22-year-old, who grew up in Texas, finished one stroke behind Curtis Knipes and Callum Shinkwin.

Connelly, who has conditional status on the European Tour, will join Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., July 18-21 at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

Connelly, who is scheduled to represent Canada at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru later this summer, is in the British Open for the second time in three years. He finished tied for 14th at the tournament in 2017 after falling out of contention on the final day.

When taking “lateral relief” from a red penalty area, under a one-stroke penalty, estimate the point on the edge of the penalty area where your ball last crossed as it went in.

Click here to learn more about the modernized Rules of golf.

There is no longer a penalty for moving loose impediments when your ball lies in a bunker.

Click here to learn more about the modernized Rules of golf.

When you decide your ball in a bunker is unplayable, under the 2019 Rules you have an extra option that lets you drop “back-on-the-line” outside the bunker for total penalty of two strokes.

Click here to learn more about the Rules of golf.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Chez Reavie is a PGA Tour winner again after 11 years and 250 events.

Reavie won the Travelers Championship on Sunday, closing with a 1-under 69 for a four-stroke victory over Keegan Bradley and Zack Sucher.

The 37-year-old Reavie, whose first title came as a rookie at the 2008 Canadian Open, finished at 17-under 263 at TPC River Highlands a week after tying for third in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

“It means everything,” he said. “I went through some injuries, had some long years there in the middle. But it was great, because it gave good perseverance and good perspective of what life is and what golf is.”

The former Arizona State player took a six-stroke lead over Bradley and Sucher into the round after a shooting a 63 on Saturday. He had an understated celebration, pulling his ball out of the hole at 18 and saluting the crowd with it clenched in his fist.

It was the same calm he showed throughout the day, even as, Bradley, a New England native from nearby Vermont, chipped away to the cheers of the large galleries.

Bradley made back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to get within three shots, just missed a 13-foot birdie putt on the 12th, then made a 9-footer on 13 to get within two strokes. His 22 foot-birdie attempt at 14 stopped just at the hole.

He got within a stroke on the par-4 15th when he made a 7 1/2-foot birdie putt after Reavie missed an 11-footer.

“The crowd was just so behind me and so loud and so, it felt like a Ryder Cup to me,” Bradley said. “Man, I’ve dreamt of this ever since I’ve come here at 10 years old. It lived up to the hype – it was awesome.”

But Reavie put the tournament away on the par-4 17th, making a 14-foot birdie putt, while Bradley three-putted for a double bogey. Bradley and Sucher each shot 67, with Sucher playing the back nine in 5-under 30.

Sucher, coming of an injury that kept him away from golf for 13 months after the 2017 Travelers, had his best ever finish in a PGA Tour event.

“The back nine was unbelievable,” Sucher said. “I mean the whole thing was unbelievable with the huge crowds, it was quite an experience.”

He came into his fourth of six medical extension start needing to earn 347 FexEx Cup points to retain his Tour card. He came in with 25 points and picked up 245 with the second-place tie.

“It’s amazing, it’s life-changing to be honest,” Sucher said. “It changes the rest of our year, it changes our plans and we have a lot of work to do to figure what else we have to do now.”

Vaughn Taylor, who started nine strokes back, made a run of five birdies to finish his final-round of 65, shooting a 29 on the back nine. His 15-foot birdie putt on 18 put him at 12 under.

“I’ve never birdied the last five holes of a tournament that’s for sure,” Taylor said

Paul Casey, who blew a four-stroke lead during last year’s final round, started the day 10 strokes behind Reavie, his former college teammate. But he hit his tee shot on the par-4 15th inside 7 feet and made eagle, then finished with a birdie to go 11 under.

The Englishman said he was hoping to match the 28 Reavie put up on the back nine Saturday to put some pressure on him. But he couldn’t do it and spent the rest of the day rooting for his friend.

Reavie, who took home just under $1.3 million, has finished in the top 20 in five of his last six starts.

Defending champion Bubba Watson, who was hoping for a fourth title in Connecticut, shot a 71 to finish at 1 under, but said he wasn’t disappointed with his week.

“I know sometimes I look like I’m angry out there,” he said. “But most of the time, I’m pretty happy.”

Brooks Koepka made quick work of his final round, also shooting a 71 to finish the tournament at an even par. He and Russell Knox needed just under three hours to play their 18 holes in the first group of the day. Koepka says he has a couple of appearances in the next two days and then will get some much-needed rest.

“I’m not going to practice and take some time away from the game and just try to realize what’s going on,” he said. “”I don’t think I’m still over Bethpage, and with these majors they are so tightly bunched, it’s difficult. I didn’t really have a chance to soak that one in and then we are playing again, it’s just a continuation that keeps rolling on.“

CHASKA, Minn. – Hannah Green never felt more nervous than standing over a 5-foot par putt Sunday at Hazeltine National with a chance to win her first major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Neither did Karrie Webb, who won seven majors in her Hall of Fame career.

Webb watched from outside the ropes, her heart racing. It was 11 years ago in Minnesota that Webb started a scholarship program to bring young Australian amateurs to majors to spend a week with her and experience golf’s biggest events. Four years ago, Green was one of those scholarship winners.

And now she’s a major champion.

Green competed at the World Junior Girls Championship in 2014 and 2015. She finished in a tie for 14th place as an 18-year-old in 2015 at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa.

Hannah Green (right) competed at the 2015 World Junior Girls Championship in Ottawa. Four years later, she’s a major champion.

The Australian held her nerve to the end, hitting 8-iron to 15 feet for a pivotal birdie on the 16th hole, and getting up-and-down from a bunker ono the 18th hole for an even-par 72 and a one-shot victory over defending champion Sung Hyun Park.

“I can’t believe I’m in this position right now,” said Green, a 22-year-old in her second year on the LPGA Tour. “I’ve always wanted to win an event, and to win a major championship as my first is crazy.”

She became the first wire-to-wire winner of this major since Yani Tseng in 2011, and even more amazing is who she held off to claim the silver trophy. She started the final round with a one-shot lead over Ariya Jutanugarn, the most powerful player on tour and a two-time major champion. Jutanugarn didn’t make a birdie in her round of 77.

Then it was Park, another former No. 1 and two-time major winner, making an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 68 that left Green no margin for error.

Watching it all unfold was Webb, as clutch as there was in her prime, the only woman to capture the “Super Slam” of five different LPGA majors. She stayed with Green in a house all week, along with the two most recent scholarship winners – Becky Kay and Grace Kim – who were draped in Australian flags at Hazeltine.

“I feel like I won a golf tournament today I’m so excited for her,” Webb said. “You didn’t do it yourself, but you supported someone who realized that dream.”

They all charged the 18th green to celebrate with Green, spraying her with cans of beer in true Aussie fashion. It’s become a tradition on the LPGA Tour for friends to spray winners with water bottles, and Webb would not allow that to happen.

“It was Budweiser,” she said.

Green, who won three times on the Symetra Tour in 2017 to earn an LPGA Tour card, became the first Australian to win an LPGA Tour major since Webb won her last one in 2006 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

“I’m speechless,” Green said as she fought to get the words out through such strong emotions. “I was really nervous playing the last five holes.”

She finished at 9-under 279 and won $577,500.

It was hard work, even though Green never surrendered the lead on a cloudy day at Hazeltine with some light drops of rain at the end.

Green rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 seventh for a three-shot lead. With the group ahead still waiting to tee off, a 7-year-old girl handed her a blue sheet of paper. It was a poem she wrote to Green, along with the words, “You can win this.” Green, who had given Lily Kostner a golf ball at the ANA Inspiration this year, read the poem and hugged the girl, and then drilled another tee shot to birdie range.

“I had it in the back of my yardage book because I didn’t want it to get rained on,” Green said. “A couple times on the back nine when I was feeling nervous and had some time, I actually read it to myself.”

The nerves didn’t really leave, especially after making three bogeys in a four-hole stretch that dropped her to 8 under, a four-shot lead suddenly down to one.

Mel Reid closed with a 66 and posted at 6-under 282.

Nelly Korda was one behind until a soft bogey on the par-5 15th. Park birdied that hole to get to 7 under, and Green couldn’t afford any mistakes. It looked as if she had it wrapped up when she made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th, the signature hole at Hazeltine, followed by a par on the 17th.

Park wasn’t finished, however, and she hit her tee shot so hard on the 18th that it went through the corner of the rough into the fairway, setting up a tidy approach to the back pin position and one last birdie.

Green answered her final challenge with the bunker save, and the celebration was on with Webb and the two scholarship winners, Stacy Peters from Golf Australia and Jarryd Fenton, her boyfriend who plays on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

“I always wanted to win in front of an Aussie crowd,” Green said. “That’s what it was like today. I’m over the moon.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., closed with a 70 to finish 2-over while Hamilton’s Alena Sharp had a 72 to come in at 6-over.

Korda (71) and Reid tied for third, while Lizette Salas (72) and Danielle Kang (70) were four shots behind. The surprise was Jutanugarn, who started the final round one shot behind on a course that measured nearly 6,800 yards, perfect for her power. She tied for 10th.

Green becomes the 11th player to win the last 11 majors on the LPGA Tour, a sign of growing parity. She also is the third winner in the last five LPGA majors who had never won on the LPGA Tour….

CHASKA, Minn. – Hannah Green made it through her first taste of the big stage on the LPGA Tour by holding a lead on the weekend at a major championship and playing alongside powerful Ariya Jutanugarn, a two-time major champion and former No. 1 in the world.

She made it through just fine. She only wishes the one-shot lead could have been a little bigger.

Green matched pars and birdies with Jutanugarn for seven straight holes and was on the verge of building a four-shot lead when she stood over a 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. She missed the putt, and two holes later she walked off Hazeltine National with a 2-under 70 and a one-shot lead in the KPGA Women’s PGA Championship.

Jutanugarn birdied the 17th and Green three-putted from long range on the 18th for a bogey.

“Pretty disappointing to end with a three-putt. That’s my first one all week,” Green said. “Even the putt on 16, that could have been a big two-shot swing, as well. Overall, I think I have to be really happy playing with Ariya for the first time and trying to keep up with her. You want to hit it as hard and far as she does.”

Jutanugarn had six birdies in her round of 68, which was slowed by a bogey from the water on the 16th when she tried to drive the green from a forward tee.

But she had no worries.

She loved playing with the 22-year-old Australian, and she felt good about her chances, mainly because she wasn’t thinking about them at all. Jutanugarn, who swept all the big awards last year on the LPGA Tour, has yet to win this year and has shown no sense of urgency.

“I’m really happy about how I play last three days because like I feel so free,” she said. “I’m not thinking about outcome. I feel I have my own game. I just go out and want to feel free. I want to have good commitment, fight and I keep doing that until last hole and I did every shot I can today.”

Green was at 9-under 207 for her first 54-hole lead in an LPGA Tour event.

For so much of the third round, it felt like match play because no one else was within five shots of the lead. It might have looked like a mismatch. Green, a three-time winner on the Symetra Tour in 2017, is in her second full year on the LPGA Tour. Jutanugarn, a 23-year-old Thai and among the most powerful players in the game, already has 10 victories and two majors.

Green practically matched her shot-for-shot, making a slick, downhill birdie putt on the par-3 fourth when the Thai was in tight, making a 40-foot birdie putt on the next hole and matching birdies on the par-5 seventh – Jutanugarn with a 5-iron to the back collar for a two-putt, Green by laying up and making a 10-foot putt.

“I can’t put any pressure on her. She make every putt,” Jutanugarn said with a broad smile. “I made birdie, she made birdie. I hit closer, she made longer putt and I missed the short putt. So much fun. Really enjoyed the way she played. I love how she played golf.”

Now they might have company for the final round.

Lizette Salas (68) and Nelly Korda (69) were four shots behind at 5-under 211. Another shot back was Sei Young Kim, who had the low score of the round at 67, and defending champion Sung Hyun Park (71). Still in the game was Inbee Park (69) at six shots behind. Park won the last LPGA major in Minnesota at Interlachen for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open, her first major in a Hall of Fame career.

Brooke Henderson (71) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 46th at 4-over par and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (75) was tied for 60th at 6 over.

Green only felt the nerves when she had time to think, such as the long wait on the 15th and 16th tees. And when she missed the putts on the 16th for 18th holes, she wondered if it was nerves creeping in.

Green is staying this week with Karrie Webb, Australia’s most prolific major champion. Webb missed the cut but has stayed around with two amateurs who won her scholarship program, and she has been telling Green to embrace the moment.

“She just tells me … you need to take it while you can,” Green said. “And I know, yes, I have thought about the outcome tomorrow come the 18th hole. I think I just need to keep my cool and just have fun out there and embrace it. If it does come to me winning, I want to make sure I remember and have fun. I don’t want to be miserable during the round.”

It figures to be a slow round Sunday. Overnight rain was in the forecast, so the final round will be played in threesomes off both tees instead of twosomes starting before 7 a.m., when the rain was still likely.