HAINAN ISLAND, China – Two golfers from Thailand and one Canadian were at the top of the leaderboard after Wednesday’s first round of the Blue Bay LPGA tournament.

Thidapa Suwannapura shot a 4-under 68 to lead the tournament by one shot from her compatriot Ariya Jutanugarn and Alena Sharp of Canada.

“Nice to get a good round under your belt to start the week. I love coming here,” said Sharp. “I’ve played well here before. The first year I was here I think I had a Top 5.”

Sharp battled the windy conditions to post a 3-under-par 69 in Thursday’s opener and is building on a positive outlook for the future after admitting she wasn’t very pleased with this past season.

“I’m trying to gain more distance,” said Sharp, who is teeing up this week for the first time since the Evian Championship in mid-September. “That’s my overall goal with the driver. I’m not working on that right this second. That’s kind of after this tournament. Work into that and get in the gym more and get some more speed that way.”

Sharp did compete in a Cactus Tour event last week, emerging victorious and adding a pep to her step as she came to China. A good finish this week could earn her a spot in next week’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, but that’s not immediately on Sharp’s mind. She just wants to feel good about her game.

“There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Finishing off on a good note and getting ready for next year is my main goal for this week,” said Sharp. “I didn’t really have a lot of expectations coming in. I’m not thinking about CME. It would be nice to play next week, but if that happens that’s just a bonus.”

Six other players, including three other Thai players, were two shots back and five others were three off the lead in the 72-hole tournament, which concludes the LPGA’s Tour’s Asian swing.

“It’s getting better every year,” Suwannapura said of women’s golf in Thailand.

Suwannapura gave her iron play credit for her round, beating windy conditions that she said she seldom sees at home.

After undergoing surgery on her back almost two years ago, she’s still rebuilding her game.

“After surgery I had to change my swing a little bit,” she said. “I could not use the same muscles. I usually use a lot of my back, and then broke my back – and then I had to use some other parts.”

She said her back was getting “better and better,” but lamented her putting.

“I feel like putting, it’s a weakness of my game,” she said. “I hit it so straight. I hit a lot of fairways. … Putting, just please putting.”

TORONTO – On Tuesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee launched their new series of Canadian Olympic School Program resources for the 2018-19 school year.

Titled the “Pursue” series, the new resources are a multimedia experience, featuring video interviews from eleven athletes who competed at PyeongChang 2018 in addition to classroom activities focused on reading and writing. The modules, entitled “The Dream”, “The Journey”, “The Performance”, “The Joy”, and “The Passion” use athlete experiences to promote the Olympic values of Excellence, Respect, and Friendship. The five new resources join the over 100 free resources available to educators, athletes, coaches, and community groups at olympic.ca/education.

Founded in 1987, in advance of the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games, the Canadian Olympic School Program is one of the enduring legacies of the Calgary Olympic Games. In over 30 years since its launch, the school program has been used in thousands of classrooms nationwide. With resources developed by teachers, for teachers, the program encourages physical activity and healthy lifestyle, helps to promote safer and more inclusive sport environments, and inspires the application of Olympic values.

“For over thirty years the Canadian Olympic School Program has helped bring lessons from the Olympic Movement into classrooms across our country,” said Tricia Smith, president of COC. “This new selection of pedagogical resources will build on that tradition and help inspire students to learn from and live by the Olympic values demonstrated by our Canadian athletes.”

The golf competitions at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be held at the Kasumigaseki Country Club with the men’s competition beginning on July 30 and the women’s on Aug. 5.

On Oct. 23 and 24 in Moose Jaw, Sask Sport Inc. hosted a two-day inclusion and diversity seminar featuring guest speakers and stakeholders across amateur sporting agencies and other vested groups. The solely focused seminar was reportedly the first of its kind for a sports governing agency in Canada.

Sporting organizations under the Sask Sport umbrella, including Golf Saskatchewan have been working to increase participation in various sporting activities. According to Sask Sport several amateur sport groups were undertaking their own initiatives to increase numbers and diversity but last week’s event was the first collective session to discuss inclusion and diversity. Amy Shipley, the community development consultant for Sask Sport said Saskatchewan residents are searching for different activities.

“The population demographics in Saskatchewan are changing and the province is becomingly increasingly diverse. The conversations at the retreat started an important dialogue on how the system can leverage the strength of diversity in the province,” she said.

The objective of the conference was to inject enthusiasm into the diversity and inclusion dialogue. Ideas were generated on how to increase participation through individuals that brought different ideas to the table. Shipley said hearing from provincial sporting agencies was important to Sask Sport going forward.

“Roundtable discussions allowed members to share their thoughts and ideas on enhancing the system through diversity. Too often we look to outside sources and subject matter experts and forget that there is strength in our system to challenge difficult issues and find solutions that will create a stronger sport system,” Shipley said.

Golf Canada incorporated their own Equity Diversity Inclusion Policy in December of 2017. President Leslie Dunning Pictured above) provided a keynote address during the conference highlighting Golf Canada’s plan and ideas. Dunning said she was very impressed with Sask Sports’ enthusiasm towards diversity and inclusion.

“The fact Sask Sport is taking leadership and spending two days on this topic with their sports organizations is really impressive to me,” she told Golf Saskatchewan. “I am not aware of any other sports group across the country that have used an entire seminar over two days focused entirely on the issue.”

Dunning was pleased to see provincial tribal councils and Indigenous groups involved in the meetings as well.

Sask Sport will share the information generated during the conference to their members and ask the groups to answer a questionnaire and provide feedback. Potential “lunch and learn” meetings are being discussed to keep the momentum going. Dunning said Golf Canada had numerous discussions ahead of their organization settling on a policy for diversity and inclusion in their sport. She hopes Sask Sport can follow the same route.

“Accountability is part of it and annual reporting on what are the initiatives. Not just to make sure we are doing it but to share successes on what is possible. I think that’s important, build a policy into your plan, you have reports of what is happening, that keeps the topic in the forefront. My hope is it turns into action,” Dunning said.

SHIGA, Japan – Local favourite Nasa Hataoka shot a 5-under 67 on Sunday to win the Japan Classic for her second LPGA title of the season.

Hataoka offset a pair of bogeys with seven birdies at the Seta Golf Club to finish at 14-under 202, two strokes ahead of compatriots Momoka Ueda, Saki Nagamine and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who all shot 68.

Hataoka, who also won the Arkansas Championship in June, started the final round four strokes behind second-round leader Minjee Lee. Lee quickly faded, playing the opening nine at 7-over 43 and opening the door for Hataoka, who played the same stretch at 4-under 36. Hataoka had a setback after the turn, carding consecutive bogeys at the 11th and 12th and allowing Ciganda to briefly pull into a tie for the lead. But Hataoka regained her confidence with a clutch par save at No. 13, and her birdie at No. 14 reclaimed the lead.

“I realize something has to come to me and I had to get through it, and I knew it was at the 13th hole,” said Hataoka of the putt that saved her round. “I was not totally comfortable with the shot, but I was calm enough to play well on that hole.”

Ciganda had a chance to tie Hataoka at No. 18 but left her birdie putt from above the hole too short. Hataoka’s birdie putt fell, clinching a hard-fought home win.

South Korean golfers Jin Young Ko (66) and Ji-Hee Lee (68) were tied for fifth at 11-under 205.

Lee struggled with her game and had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 as part of a 78 that left her tied for 15th.

“I didn’t hit the shots that I wanted very solid,” Lee said. “So obviously it didn’t go the way I wanted.”

The LPGA stop in Japan is the fourth of five consecutive tournaments across Asia.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson finished in a tie for 41st.

LAS VEGAS – Bryson DeChambeau saw signs of greatness last season on the PGA Tour when he won three times against the strongest fields this side of the majors.

He started a new season headed down the same path.

In his only fall start, DeChambeau never shot worse than 66 over four days in Las Vegas, holed an eagle putt from just inside 60 feet on the 16th hole and closed with smart play for pars to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday by one shot over Patrick Cantlay.

“I was coming out here to try and kick rust off and was able to play some good golf,” DeChambeau said. “I’m happy to get it done.”

The eagle putt took him from a one-shot deficit to a two-shot lead when Cantlay made bogey from a deceptive lie in the bunker ahead of him on the 17th hole. DeChambeau won for the fourth time in his last 12 starts on the PGA Tour and moved to No. 5 in the world ranking.

He had to survive a wild back nine at the TPC Summerlin in which four players had a share of the lead at some point.

What. A. Putt. ?@B_DeChambeau takes the lead with an eagle at 16.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/R8aIoDRrSr

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 4, 2018

Cantlay, trying to become the first player to win back-to-back in Las Vegas in nearly 20 years, made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole to take a one-shot lead. But from a bunker right of the green on the par-3 17th, Cantlay was fooled by the amount of sand under his ball and flubbed the shot.

DeChambeau wasn’t entirely sure where he stood. He could see Cantlay made the putt on the 16th hole and had to ask if it was for birdie or eagle. DeChambeau easily cleared the water, and his ball went just over the back of the green. He thought he hit it perfectly. Then, he thought he might have hit it too hard. It held its line at the end, and DeChambeau responded with a big uppercut.

“I haven’t given a reaction like that in a while,” he said.

Cantlay birdied the 18th for a 65, but it wasn’t enough when DeChambeau played the final two holes conservatively for pars to finish at 21-under 263.

DeChambeau won for the third straight season, and fifth time overall on the PGA Tour.

The 25-year-old American began his big run with a playoff victory at the Memorial, and then won consecutive FedEx Cup playoff events in New Jersey and Boston. He said he was playing Las Vegas to shake off a little rust, and it turned into another victory.

“I thought I had it in me, but I didn’t know if I could do it,” DeChambeau said. “Last year I saw signs of something great. I didn’t know where it would lead me. But I think it led me in the right direction.”

Not since Jim Furyk in 1998-99 had anyone successfully defended his title in Las Vegas, and Cantlay looked as if he might get it done when he drove the green on the par-4 15th for a two-putt birdie, and then rolled in another good birdie after having to lay up on the 16th. His tee shot into the 17th was a fraction away from catching a slope and feeding toward the hole. Instead, it tumbled into the bunker to set up what appeared to be a relatively simple shot.

“When I dug my left foot in, it didn’t have a bunch of sand, and then obviously when I hit my shot there was more sand under the ball and didn’t anticipate that,” Cantlay said. “It was a tricky one and I hit a poor shot.”

He wasn’t the only player stung by the outcome.

Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole that would have given him a share of the lead with three holes to play. Glover missed the putt, and then missed a 30-inch par putt. One hole later, he was three shots behind.

Glover finished with a triple bogey for a 71 and tied for seventh. He shot 61 on Saturday.

Peter Uihlein, who shared the 54-hole lead with DeChambeau, didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole, finished bogey-bogey for a 75 and tied for 23rd.

Sam Ryder was one shot behind when his second shot to the par-5 16th bounced off a knob and back into the water. He managed to save par and birdied the last hole with a 15-foot putt for a 62 to finish alone in third.

Rickie Fowler (63), Abraham Ancer (66) and Robert Streb (68) were another shot behind.

DeChambeau won for the fifth time in just his 68th start as a pro on the PGA Tour, dating to his victory in the John Deere Classic in 2017.

Canadian Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., finished tied for 36th at 10 under par.

HAMILTON, Ont.  (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada, in partnership with title sponsor RBC, are pleased to announce that tickets are now available for the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, June 3-9 at the historic Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

With a new premier spot on the PGA TOUR schedule in early June, the 2019 RBC Canadian Open promises to be a summer festival celebration to mark the unofficial start of Canada’s golf season.

CLICK HERE to get your tickets for the 2019 RBC Canadian Open

One of Canada’s premier annual sporting events, the RBC Canadian Open features miles of front row seating for golf fans to experience Canada’s lone stop on the PGA TOUR.

General admission tickets, starting at just $25 for early week access, provide access to the grounds to get an up-close look at the stars of the PGA TOUR including defending champion and Team RBC member Dustin Johnson.

Tournament rounds for Thursday, Friday and Saturday are $70; a Sunday final-round ticket is $80; and a weeklong, fully-transferable badge is $160. As well, Tuesday admission for RBC Hall of Fame Day is complimentary with the purchase of a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday ticket. A specially-priced youth ticket (13-17 years old) is also available while juniors aged 12-and-under gain FREE grounds admission all week long.

In addition to general admission tickets and corporate hospitality products, the RBC Canadian Open also offers a pair of premium ticket products—The 1904 Club and The Trophy Club—for golf fans to experience the 110^th playing of Canada’s National Open Championship.

The 1904 Club is located inside the clubhouse at Hamilton Golf and Country Club and offers an air-conditioned experience with ample televisions and indoor views of the 18 green, as well as an outdoor patio with views of the driving range and 1st tee. Tickets for The 1904 Club start at $125.

The Trophy Club is a premium social experience situated in the heart of the action at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Located behind the 14th green with a view of the 15th tee and fairway, guests will enjoy all-inclusive food and beverage from a raised, covered structure. Well suited for passionate event fans or small businesses looking to host smaller client groups, cost for this upscale ticket experience is $260 per day, with savings available for those purchasing multi-day commitments.

Volunteer opportunities to be a part of the 2019 RBC Canadian Open are also available with a full listing of committee positions here.

New in 2019, with the RBC Canadian Open date change to early June, Golf Canada has introduced a new Student Volunteer Program for students to earn their required volunteer hours during the week of Canada’s National Open Championship.

The tournament’s return to the Harry Colt designed course in 2019 is timed perfectly – marking the 100-year anniversary since the renowned club originally hosted Canada’s National Open Golf Championship.

Hamilton Golf and Country Club previously hosted five Canadian Opens, with the first taking place in 1919 – a championship featured two of the most legendary names in golf – Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet. J. Douglas Edgar would go on to earn a 16-stroke win – a PGA TOUR record stands to this day as the largest margin of victory.

Other players to have won the Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club include Tommy Armour (1930), Bob Tway (2003), Team RBC member Jim Furyk (2006) and Scott Piercy (2012).

The 2019 RBC Canadian Open in early June begins an exciting new chapter for Canada’s National Open Championship. Join us at the historic Hamilton Golf & Country Club to witness great golf, activities for all ages including ‘The Rink’, local food and patio experiences, plus new event features being announced in the coming weeks.

Get your tickets today and be a part of one of Canada’s premier sporting events – www.rbccanadianopen.com/tickets.

Volunteer, sponsorship and corporate hospitality opportunities are also available. For more information on the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, visit us online at www.rbccanadianopen.com.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that Aaron Wise has been named the 2018 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2017-18 season.

PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 FedExCup events during the 2017-18 season were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on October 1.

The 22-year-old resident of Las Vegas earned his first PGA TOUR victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson, becoming the second player in history to win on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada (PGA TOUR-era), Web.com Tour and PGA TOUR, joining Mackenzie Hughes. His win also represented the 500th TOUR win by a Web.com Tour graduate.

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, our congratulations to Aaron Wise on being voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “For Aaron to have won on the PGA TOUR, the Web.com Tour and Mackenzie Tour before the age of 22 is remarkable, and qualifying for the TOUR Championship as a rookie proved there is no stage too big for him.”

One of eight rookies to qualify for the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs, Wise was the only one to advance to the season-ending TOUR Championship, finishing No. 24 in the FedExCup. In the 12 seasons of the FedExCup, 12 rookies have advanced to the TOUR Championship, with 10 subsequently being named Rookie of the Year.

For the season, Wise collected four top-10s in 29 starts, highlighted by his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson and a runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship. In the FedExCup Playoffs, Wise tied for fifth at THE NORTHERN TRUST and earned two additional top-20s.

The University of Oregon product is the first player from a Pac-12 Conference school to win the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year award since Tiger Woods in 1996.

Wise was one of three rookie winners in 2017-18, including Austin Cook and Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira.

He was selected for the honour over Cook and Kodaira, as well as Keith Mitchell and Joaquin Niemann.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The LPGA Tour announced today that Ariya Jutanugarn has earned the 2018 Rolex Player of the Year award, the second time in three seasons that the long-hitting Thai has secured this prestigious accolade.

With three events remaining on the 2018 LPGA Tour schedule, Jutanugarn leads the standings with 219 points, 83 ahead of second-placed Sung Hyun Park, and cannot be caught. Minjee Lee is third, with 122 points, and Brooke Henderson is fourth, with 110.

“It feels great to win this award for a second time, and I’m really excited about that,” said Jutanugarn, a 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour who returned to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Monday. “I’ve played well this season and it’s a huge honor for me to have my name on this trophy again. I would also like to thank my entire team. I am grateful to be working with all of them, and I am blessed to have my family and my sponsors who believe in me. I would also like to thank all my fans in Thailand. I am really proud to be from Thailand, and to win this prestigious award.”

Jutanugarn has produced electrifying form on the LPGA Tour this year, winning three times and recording 12 additional top-10 finishes in 25 starts. She claimed her first victory of the season in May at the Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO, then added a second just two starts later at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she edged out Hyo Joo Kim after four extra holes to secure the second major title of her career. Another win followed for Jutanugarn at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open in July, when she fired a 5-under 66 in the final round to triumph by one shot over Minjee Lee.

With three events still to be played this season, Jutanugarn leads the LPGA Tour in multiple statistical categories. She heads the Official Money List with $2,459,240 in season earnings, is No. 1 in scoring average at 69.379 and sets the pace in the CME Race to the Globe standings with 4,002 points. She also leads the way with total birdies (421) and top-10 finishes (15).

Jutanugarn will receive the Rolex Player of the Year award at the 2018 Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony, to be held on Thursday, Nov. 15, at Tiburon Golf Club during the week of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

In 2016, Jutanugarn clinched the Player of the Year award for the first time after a dominant season in which she led the Tour with five victories and recorded 11 additional top-10 finishes. She became only the second player to win the Rolex Player of the Year, Race to the CME Globe and the LPGA Official Money Title in the same season, emulating Lydia Ko (2015).

Since its inception in 1966, there have been 13 multiple winners of the Rolex Player of the Year award: Kathy Whitworth (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973); Joanne Carner (1974, 1981, 1982); Judy Rankin (1976, 1977); Nancy Lopez (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988); Beth Daniel (1980, 1990, 1994); Betsy King (1984, 1989, 1993); Pat Bradley (1986, 1991); Annika Sorenstam (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005); Karrie Webb (1999, 2000); Lorena Ochoa (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009); Yani Tseng (2010, 2011); Stacy Lewis (2012; 2014); Ariya Jutanugarn (2016, 2018).

This week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas marks the tour debut for the next generation Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, available to players for the first time to play in competition. Over the next three days of practice rounds at TPC Summerlin, members of the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team will be busy testing these final Pro V1 and Pro V1x prototypes with players and fitting them into the model that helps them play their best.

Over the years, Titleist’s tour seeding and validation process for new Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls has become a holiday of sorts held biennially at the PGA TOUR’s Las Vegas stop, with players arriving to their lockers to find the prototypes in their signature white boxes and sleeves. It was at TPC Summerlin in 2000 that the original Pro V1 prototype was first introduced with 47 players immediately making the switch, including eventual winner Billy Andrade, a historic shift in equipment usage for a single tour event.

This process, which also signals the near conclusion of Titleist’s rigorous two-year golf ball development cycle, continues to be critical step in providing golfers with the best performing golf balls in the game. Earning final validation from the best players in the world ensures that new products are faithful to the Titleist brand promise of innovation, performance, consistency and quality excellence.

PINEHURST, N.C. – It was the start the Canadian LPGA hopefuls were looking for in the newly revamped LPGA Q-Series segment.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee leads the way with sole possession of second place through the opening four rounds of play at 9 under par (68-70-70-71). The Team Canada National Amateur Squad athlete is one of 11 amateurs in the field—four of which are inside the top 10. Among them is top-ranked female and 2017 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, Colo.

Fellow Canadian Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City also holds strong positioning at Pinehurst Resort, sitting in solo 10th at 4 under par.

Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is tied for 60th at 9 over.

The 102-player field is in pursuit of the leading Klara Spilkova of Czech Republic. Approximately 45 spots are up for grabs for the 2019 LPGA Tour campaign.

Great first week at #QSeries for @JaclynLee57 and @ACTanguay ! Proud !?? Rest up ????

— Alena Sharp (@AlenaSharp) October 28, 2018

The second week of action will resume from Oct. 31 – Nov. 3 at Pinehurst No. 7.

I haven’t seen No. 7 yet, but I heard that it’s a good course as well. It’s not that we’re starting over next week, but I’m going to kind of view it as starting from day one again,” said Lee, a senior at Ohio State. “I’m excited to go play that course tomorrow and have a good week.”

The field will be 102 players and there will be approximately 45 spots up for grabs for the 2019 season.

Click here for scoring.