TROON, Scotland – Royal Troon Golf Club, the host of this year’s British Open, is consulting members on whether its male-only membership policy should end.

Troon says it has written to its 800 members “seeking views on the issue of the admission of women members.”

Troon official Martin Cheyne says “we care very much for the reputation of Royal Troon Golf Club and it is important that the club, much like the wider game, reflects the modern society in which we exist.”

Royal Troon, formed in 1878, is sharing the responsibility of hosting next year’s British Open with The Ladies Golf Club in Troon that uses its facilities.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews decided in 2014 to open its membership to women after 260 years of male exclusivity.

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods grimaced as he took three warmup swings after sitting in a chair for 30 minutes on a cool, blustery Monday morning at Congressional talking about his upcoming tournament. Hitting a ceremonial shot from a forward tee on the par-3 10th hole, he chunked his first attempt into the pond short of the green.

He asked for another ball. That one splashed, too. With officials from his foundation egging him on, he tried one more time. The last one cleared the pond, but not by enough. It landed on a steep bank and rolled down into the water.

His efforts at Congressional – home to the Quicken Loans National, which he hosts and which benefits his foundation – put to rest most of the lingering questions about whether he’ll be ready to return to competitive golf anytime soon.

“I have been practicing at home, and I’m progressing nicely. I’m hoping to play,” Woods said. “That’s the overriding question I keep hearing: When are you coming back, when are you playing? I get it all the time. If I knew, I’d tell, you, because it’d be fun to know.”

Woods, who underwent two back surgeries last fall, said he’s getting stronger and hitting the ball better. The tournament at Congressional will be played June 23-26, the week after the U.S. Open, and it certainly appears that Woods will attend only in a noncompetitive role.

Woods, 40, hasn’t played since last August, and he’s fallen to no. 524 in the world ranking. He said Monday he can’t spend nearly as much time practicing as he used to. He’s been playing friendly games at Medalist, his home club in Florida, but he’s yet to play 18 holes, although he said he’s physically capable of playing a full round.

“Everything about my game is coming around. Now it’s just a matter of being consistent with it,” Woods said. “And then being able to do that not only at home against the boys at Medalist and trying to take their cash, but trying to come out here and doing it against the best players in the world is a completely different deal.”

If he were healthy, June would be a busy month for Woods, starting with the Memorial and then the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he tied for second in 2007, followed by the Quicken Loans National, which he’s won twice. While Woods did not confirm that he would be absent from those events, he said it’s frustrating not to be able to play at places where he’s been successful.

“I want to play. Trust me, I want to,” he said. “The plan is to get well, and whether that’s by next week or it’s a year from now, I don’t know. My doctors don’t know, I don’t know.”

Woods also said he considered walking away from the game after his first back surgery, a microdiscectomy in 2014.

“Do I want to go through that whole process again of getting back? Some part of me said yes, some part of me said no. Because it is hard,” Woods said. “Nerve pain – if you’ve never experienced it, man, it’s something else.”

He said he no longer has any nerve pain, although he’s not pain-free.

Still, Woods believes he can still generate the same clubhead speed that he did when he was younger, and he showed little interest in changing his aggressive style of play to protect his body.

“Ironically enough, my speed’s higher than it’s been in a few years. And I’m not trying. My technique just changed. That’s a good sign. When I get stronger and I do crank it up, I’ll have the speed I used to have, which will be nice,” Woods said. “… Guys who are on the shorter side have success, but when they’re not quite on their game, they’re missing cuts.”

While sidelined, Woods has watched admiringly as his friend Jason Day has solidified his hold on the No. 1 ranking. The two are in touch frequently and Day, who won the Players Championship on Sunday, has spoken about the valuable advice he’s gotten from Woods.

“I think it’s fantastic how he’s playing, how he’s handling himself, how focused he is and how committed to improving” he is, Woods said. “He practices with purpose and you can see it when he plays.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jason Day wanted to win The Players Championship so badly that he wasn’t going to let anything stop him.

Not the super slick greens that nearly derailed him Saturday. Not the three muffed chips that turned potential birdie into a unsettling bogey as he made the turn Sunday. And certainly not the best field in golf.

With another command performance, Day put his stamp on No. 1 in the world by never letting anyone closer than two shots in the final round, playing bogey-free on the back nine of the TPC Sawgrass for the fourth straight day and closing with a 1-under 71 for a wire-to-wire victory.

It was his seventh title in the last 10 months.

And the 28-year-old Australian wants to win a lot more.

“I want to be to be able to be looked back on and know that ‘he was one of the greats in the game.’ If I have the opportunity to do that, I’m going to try my best,” Day said after his four-shot victory. “And I have the opportunity to do that right now, try and work has hard as I can to really leave my footprint in this game.

“I’m very motivated to win as much as I can right now.”

He stomped his way all over everyone at The Players Championship, even though he had a few nervous moments.

Day made bogey on No. 6, had to make a 15-foot par putt on the next hole and really looked out of sorts from just 40 feet right of the green on the par-5 ninth. He muffed three straight chips and had to make a 6-foot putt just to escape with bogey, dropping his lead to two shots.

“If I walk away with a double bogey there, I let everyone (back) in the field,” he said. “I was right there next to the green in two and felt like an amateur chopping my way to the pin. That putt was probably the most crucial putt of this tournament for me.”

Two 15-foot birdies over the next three holes restored his margin and sent him on his way. The last hurdle was finding land on the island-green 17th, and he cleared the water with about 10 feet to spare.

Day’s seven victories dating to the Canadian Open include the PGA Championship, The Players, a World Golf Championship and a pair of FedEx Cup events, all some of the strongest fields in golf. He became the first wire-to-wire winner in 16 years at Sawgrass, and he joined Tiger Woods, Johnny Miller and Tom Watson as the only players to go wire-to-wire twice in the same season dating to 1970.

Day finished at 15-under 273 and earned $1.89 million, the richest payoff in golf.

Kevin Chappell, who finished one shot behind Day at Bay Hill, was 5 under over his final 10 holes for a 69. He picked up a consolation check of $1,134,000 and moves just outside the top 30 in the world, giving him a spot in the next two majors.

“That’s getting a little old,” Chappell said of his two runner-up finishes to Day. “I’m not sure what Jason’s scrambling stats were, but they were much better than mine on the week.”

Day got up-and-down 85 per cent of the time this week, best at Sawgrass.

He now has won 10 times on the PGA Tour – only Rory McIlroy with 11 has won more among players in their 20s.

“It’s no coincidence he’s No. 1 in the world,” Justin Thomas said after closing with a Sunday-best 65 to tie for third. “He drives it extremely far, extremely straight. He hits it to the moon, so he can access pins that most people can’t. His short game is ridiculous. I think I’ve pretty much covered it all there when it comes to the golf.”

Day is the third No. 1 player to win The Players Championship, joining Greg Norman (1994) and Woods (2001 and 2013).

Thomas, who started 11 shots behind, stuck around Sawgrass to see if 10-under 278 would have a chance. He wound up tied for third with Matt Kuchar (68), Colt Knost (69) and Ken Duke (72).

Canada’s David Hearn, of Brantford, Ont., shot a 71 on Sunday to finish tied for 28th at 3 under for the tournament. Adam Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 39th at 1 under.

Hideki Matsuyama, playing in the final group with Day, was 3 over after three holes and quickly out of the mix.

The pressure didn’t come from anyone else. Day brought it on himself. He only hit three greens on the front nine, and let evil thoughts of blowing the lead creep into his head until he steadied himself with the bogey putt on No. 9 and the two birdies on the 10th and 12th holes.

Day now has a large lead in the world ranking over Jordan Spieth, who missed the cut, and McIlroy at No. 3, who was never a factor on Sunday at Sawgrass. Dating to his 81 last year at The Players to miss the cut, Day has finished out of the top 10 only seven times in his last 20 starts.

Adam Scott referred to his run as “Tigeresque.”

“That’s one of the hardest things to do when you are hot like that, to keep pushing,” Scott said. “But he has a very strong desire to achieve so much, and I think probably his goals are changing throughout this period, and he’s expecting more and more of himself. He’s got that ability to push himself and accomplish.”

RALEIGH, N.C. – Trey Mullinax won the Rex Hospital Open on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, shooting a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over Brady Schnell.

“It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it. It hasn’t hit me, but it will,” said Mullinax, five strokes behind Schnell with nine holes left. “This year hasn’t been long, but it’s been hard on me, dealing with expectations and being able to come out here and just have a free attitude and do what I need to do.”

The 23-year-old former Alabama player finished at 14-under 270 at TPC Wakefield Plantation. He earned $117,000 to jump from 33rd to fourth on the money list with $154,486. The top 25 at the end of the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

“I think winning kind of changes some things. When you win, it changes your whole year. You can take off, but I don’t feel like I want to even take off,” Mullinax said. “I’m playing well. I’ve got a good attitude. I’m enjoying what I’m doing and I really just want to keep doing this.”

After playing the front nine in 2 over, Mullinax birdied the next three holes and chipped in from 20 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th.

“I got it up there real close to the green and had a pretty easy chip,” Mullinax said about the eagle. “In my mind, I thought I could make it and when I chipped it, it kind of took a good bounce to the hole and it went in.”

He two-putted from 45 feet for par on the par-4 18th.

“I got up there, and the crowd was obviously having a good time, and some guy yelled, ‘If you two putt this, you’ll win,”’ Mullinax said. “I thought, ‘Hey, thanks buddy.’ As if this wasn’t hard enough.”’

Schnell shot a 72. He bogeyed the final two holes, three-putting from 50 feet on the par-4 17th and hitting into the back bunker on 18.

“Looking back on it, probably tried to make too many pars and got a little conservative and a little gun shy with some shots out there,” Schnell said. “Just kept leaving myself with too long of putts, too long of opportunities coming in.”

JT Poston had a 69 to finish third at 11 under. Cameron Percy (67) and Dominic Bozzelli (73) followed at 10 under.

Toronto’s Albin Choi tied for 10th at 7 under.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Erica Popson won the Symetra Classic on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, rallying for a two-stroke victory.

The 25-year-old former Tennessee player made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th and parred the par-3 18th for a 2-under 70 and an 8-under 208 total at Raintree Country Club.

“I feel like I’ve been playing some good golf this year and putting myself up there, and kind of tanking, to be honest, on the last day,” Popson said.“

She earned $22,500 to jump from 45th to fourth on the money list with $27,946. The final top 10 will earn LPGA Tour cards for next season.

“I’ve been struggling for a long time,” Popson said. “To have something like this is, it’s unreal and definitely a big confidence-booster going forward.”

She birdied Nos. 3 and 6, bogeyed No. 9 and made seven straight pars before the birdie on 17.

“I hit a couple of bad wedges,” Popson said. “I chunked one on 9 and then I chunked another one on 10, both with wedges. I just kept telling myself, ‘Let’s write the good story this week and see what happens.’ I just come out with no expectations today. ‘Play the best I can and worry about me and see what happens.’ And it turned out pretty good.”

Second-round leader Kendall Dye tied for second with Jenni Jenq and Australia’s Emma de Groot.

A day after shooting a tournament-record 65, Dye birdied two of the last three holes for a 76. She birdied the par-5 fourth to reach 11 under, then played the next 11 holes in 7 over with two double bogeys and three bogeys.

Jenq shot a 68, and de Groot closed with a bogey for a 71.

Three Canadians tied for 5th spot. Augusta James of Bath, Ont. (76), Ann-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City (71) and Sara Maude Juneau of Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, Que., all finished at 5 under.

Money leader Madelene Sagstrom missed the cut after winning two of the first five events of the season. The Swede has earned $93,714 to join Cindy LaCrosse ($94,578 in 2010) and Vicky Hurst ($93,107 in 2008) as the only players in tour history to top $90,000 in a season.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jason Day saw The Players Championship at its easiest and toughest, all in the span of nine hours Saturday on what felt like two golf courses.

He set a record when it felt like a shootout.

He was even stronger when the TPC Sawgrass turned into a battle for survival.

And when a long, wild and utterly exhausting day was finally over, the world’s No. 1 player could take solace that he still had a four-shot lead.

“I want to say this was the toughest day I’ve ever had to play in my life,” Day said after gutting out a 1-over 73 going into the final round. “I want to win this tournament so bad. I really do. … But right now, I’m just trying to focus on trying to play well tomorrow. I mean, that’s all you could do is just try to survive.”

The difference between morning and afternoon was more like night and day.

Day finished his storm-delayed second round with a 66 to set the 36-hole record at 15-under 199, and it appeared he would take aim at more records. And then it all changed. The PGA Tour rolled the greens one more time. The wind picked up. The air dried out. The sun baked out the course.

Suddenly, the greens were like putting on glass.

Day four-putted from 18 feet for a double bogey. He made another double bogey two holes later. But right when it looked like he would fall victim to the fierce conditions, the 28-year-old Australian played the final 10 holes with three birdies and seven pars to reach 14-under 202 and keep his big lead.

More than excited about a chance to win the PGA Tour’s premier event, he is worried about facing similar conditions Sunday.

“That would just ruin everything,” he said. “That won’t make it fun for … we were out there for nearly six hours today trying to play 18 holes. They made the course pretty much nearly unplayable. If they do make it like that, then I’m just going to have to grind my hardest to win the tournament, and I’m OK with that.

“I won’t stop until it’s done, and I can rest after that.”

It wasn’t unplayable for everyone.

Ken Duke in the round of a lifetime made six birdies over his last seven holes for a 65, which was more than 10 shots better than the average score. He was tied for second with Hideki Matsuyama, who made seven birdies in his round of 67. Joining them at 10-under 206 was Alex Cejka, who shot a 72 that felt much lower.

Canadians Adam Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., and David Hearn, of Brantford, Ont., are 2 under and tied for 34th. Hadwin shot a 74 in his third round while Hearn had a 72.

“I don’t know what they did to the golf course overnight, but it was playing like a U.S. Open,” Cejka said. “It was just lightning-fast greens.”

Sixth of the 76 players who made the cut had a double bogey or worse.

There were 149 three-putts – or worse – in the third round. Sergio Garcia took six putts from just off the sixth green. Paul Casey took five putts from about 8 feet on the 15th hole. There was rare a lag putt. The putts wouldn’t stop rolling.

“A 10-foot putt felt like it was 60 feet away,” Day said.

There was still the traditional trouble at the Stadium Course. Russell Knox hit three shots in the water on the island-green 17th and made a 9 that ruined his round (he shot 80) and his chances. Kevin Chappell had to play his second shot with his feet on the planks framing the water on the 18th hole. Having made two eagles, he closed with a double bogey to fall six shots back after a 70 that felt a lot better.

Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and defending champion Rickie Fowler all missed the cut when the storm-delayed second round was completed Saturday morning. Canada’s Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, and Graham DeLaet, of Weyburn, Sask., also missed the cut. If there was a consolation, it was not having to take on Sawgrass and its scariest.

Two Canadians did make the cut. Abbotsford, B.C.’s Adam Hadwin had a 74, while Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn shot 72. The pair are now tied for 34th at 2 under.

Day had his moments.

His first blunder was a four-putt double bogey on the sixth hole, which started with an 18-foot birdie putt that he nearly made. It could have been worse. His 5-foot putt for double bogey nearly spun out of the cup. He answered with a wedge to 2 feet for birdie, but then had more trouble off the green at the par-3 eighth. This time, he had to make a 6-foot putt for double bogey.

And while his card was clean on the back nine, the biggest break of all came at the 15th. He was short of the green in three, certain to drop at least two shots, when Day chipped in from just over 50 feet for par. Then, he pounded a 3-wood and hit a towering 8-iron to 6 feet on the par-5 16th. He missed the putt and had to settle for birdie, made a 10-foot par putt on the 17th and finished with a solid par.

One more round, and no one is sure what to expect now.

The average score the opening two rounds was 71.02. It was 75.59 on Saturday, helped by 86 scores of double bogey or worse. There were 163 rounds under par the opening two rounds, and only six on Saturday.

“To have two doubles on the front side and then play some nice golf on the back to really kind of keep that distance between me and the rest of the guys was nice,” Day said. “But really hoping they slow the greens down tomorrow.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kendall Dye of Edmond, Okla. carded a Symetra Classic tournament-record 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a one shot lead into the final-round on Sunday. Dye moved to 10-under, 134 and will aim for her second career win. Augusta James of Bath, Ont., drained a 30-footer on her last hole to shoot a 5-under, 67 and is 9-under, 135. Erica Popson of Davenport, Fla., turned in a 4-under 68 to move to solo third at 6-under, 136.

The cut was made at 1-over, 145 and 70 players will tee it up in groups of two on Sunday.

Dye made nine birdies on the day including three in a row to end the round.

“It was all about my putter,” said Dye, who one-putted the final five holes. “Normally, I find fairways and greens, but today it was hard work and I had to get up-and-down. Once I got a putter in my hand, I was making it or getting real close. It was nice to see them go in.”

Dye attempted just 24 putts on the day. For the first time in 20 plus years, Dye changed her putting grip this week.

“I was tired of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and not seeing the ball go in so I switched it up because it couldn’t have got any worse,” said Dye, who googled videos of Jordan Spieth. “I knew this course set up to my eye, it is a course similar to the one I grew up playing in Oklahoma City and you have to move the ball both ways and I love that.”

Dye struggled on the LPGA in 2015 and is off to a hot-and-cold start in 2016. She has one top 10 finish, but also missed back-to-back cuts in early April.

Dye and James will play in the final group on Sunday and tee at 1:10 p.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. – J.J. Spaun matched a career-best, 8-under 63 to take a one-shot lead at the Rex Hospital Open. The 25-year-old posted six birdies and an eagle at the par-5 15th in the opening round to take his second opening-round lead of 2016. Chris Wilson and Canadian Ryan Yip are just one shot back of the lead after 7-under 64s.

“Yeah, today was one of those days where everything was kind of clicking, driving it well, hitting irons well, finishing up putts,” Spaun said. “It was just one of those days where everything was kind of firing on the right cylinder.”

Spaun, No. 1 on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit a year ago, opened the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER in March with an 8-under 63 before finishing in a tie for seventh.

“Just trying to stick to game plans, don’t try to be too conservative. I think that’s what I learned from Chitimacha,” Spaun said. “I came out firing the first day and then kind of cooled off the last three rounds.”

Spaun’s 2016 campaign has included the Northern Trust Open Exemption, awarded annually to a top golfer who represents the advancement of diversity in golf, and wouldn’t otherwise be eligible to compete in the PGA TOUR’s long-standing event at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Rounds of 77-75–152 (10-over) left Spaun on the outside of the cut line, but nevertheless set the tone for a solid 2016 season on the Web.com Tour, where he has notched a pair of top-25 finishes, including a season-best T7 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER. He is currently 41st on the Tour’s money list with $33,177 in earnings.

Wilson, an Ohio native, recently joined TPC Wakefield Plantation after moving to Raleigh for his wife’s new job in January. His 64 marked a career-best over the course of 97 career Web.com Tour events. His T8 finish at the 2014 Rex Hospital Open is one of six career top-10s on the Web.com Tour. Despite missed cuts in six of his first seven starts of 2016, Wilson is confident in where his game is headed.

“Ball-striking hasn’t been quite crisp enough and struggled a little bit with the putting,” Wilson said. “I made a few tweaks in my setup with both, and things are trending in the right direction now.”

Yip, the self-taught 31-year-old from Calgary, birdied five of his last six holes to tie his career best. He credited his new coach (the first of his career) and a new pair of Air Jordan 9s that he was wearing for the first time during Thursday’s opening round.

The former Kent State Golden Flash previously posted career-best 64s at the first round of the 2015 Digital Ally Open (T3) and the 2016 Brasil Champions presented by Embrase, where he missed the cut after a second-round 75.

“I’ve been working with my coach back home, found something, got a new pair of shoes and seems to be working,” said Yip, who created the shoes with existing spikes.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jason Day created a far better memory Thursday than his last round at the TPC Sawgrass. Not only was he 18 shots better, the world’s No. 1 player tied the course record with a 9-under 63 that gave him a two-shot lead in The Players Championship.

In a game that can defy logic, and on a course that can be perplexing, Day had a simple explanation for bouncing back from last year’s 81.

“I’m playing a lot better than I was last year,” he said.

The 28-year-old Australian was in such control that he putted for birdie on every hole and felt so good on the greens that he thought he might make them all. He made nine of them, and his longest par putt was 30 inches.

“Tee to green was pretty decent – was actually really good – and then once I got on the green, I felt like I could hole everything,” he said.

It helped that there was hardly any wind on a steaming morning that made Sawgrass more vulnerable than usual. Day had only the fifth round of 63 at the Stadium Course in the 35 years of The Players Championship, and he still only had a two-shot lead.

Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Bill Haas were among the five players at 65. Ernie Els, who just last month took six putts from the 3-foot range on the opening hole at the Masters, ran off six birdies and an eagle to lead the group at 66. There were 29 rounds in the 60s among the early starters.

Jordan Spieth did not have one of them.

Spieth, in his first tournament since he lost a five-shot lead on the back nine at Augusta National, played alongside Day and laboured his way to a 72. Spieth, who says he has put the Masters behind him, had another poor finish.

With three straight birdies, he was trying to at least stay in Day’s neighbourhood. Then Spieth made bogeys on two straight holes, answered with a birdie, and then ended his round of 72 with a double bogey by taking five shots to get up-and-down from a bunker behind the green on the par-5 ninth.

“I hit it seven times,” Spieth said. “I hit two fantastic shots, and then not really sure after that.”

Masters champion Danny Willett opened with a 70 in his first competition since slipping on the green jacket.

Rose looked at the pin positions and had a good feeling, especially on the island-green 17th. It was at the front, with a ridge serving as a backboard. By mid-afternoon, only four shots found the water. And with hardly any wind and greens still moderately soft, good scores were available.

“If there was a day to get the course, today was it,” Rose said.

Day wasted no time.

He knocked in a 30-foot putt on his first hole, caught a good break on the par-5 11th by having a clear gap out of the pine trees that set up a birdie from the bunker, and made it three straight birdies with a wedge into 6 feet on the 12th.

He felt tired. But there was no stress.

Day only got into what looked like trouble on two occasions. He had a stick behind his ball from the pine straw on the par-5 second hole and sent that shot well out to the right. But he hit a perfect pitch that just landed on the green and rolled down to a foot for a birdie.

On the seventh, Day’s drive hit the back end of a bunker and kicked forward down a slope and just inside the red hazard line of a pond, about a yard from the water. He worried about his wedge going long, but it settled 15 feet away for a birdie.

That’s when he started thinking about the course record, last match by Martin Kaymer two years ago in the opening round of his victory.

“Then I’m like, ‘OK, I think I can birdie 8 and 9, and that’ll clip the course record.’ It would be nice to shoot 10 under,” he said.

His 40-foot birdie attempt on the par-3 eighth looked good ball the way, and Day began to backpedal as the ball got closer to the cup, a move he first made famous when he won the PGA Championship last year. He threw up his head in disbelief when it caught the right lip, and he tapped in for par.

And then on the par-5 ninth, he hit another great bunker shot that curled back toward the cup and settled inches away for his ninth birdie and a 63, allowing him to join Kaymer, Roberto Castro (2013), Greg Norman (1994) and Fred Couples (1992).

Abbotsford, B.C.’s Nick Tayor was the leading Canadian after 18 holes. He’s 5-under after a 67 and tied for 13th.

TORONTO – Alena Sharp tried not to think about the Rio Olympics last year when she was among a pack of players in the mix for one of two spots on the Canadian women’s team.

Since then she has raised her game and her ranking, making herself a virtual lock to be named to the squad this summer along with world No. 5 Brooke Henderson.

“I just kept on it and played really well last year and distanced myself,” Sharp said.

The 35-year-old Hamilton native made 21 of 26 cuts last year. She had two top-10 finishes and was 65th on the money list, her highest position since 2010.

Sharp is off to a decent start again this year, posting her best result of the season last week at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic with a tie for 22nd place. She’s currently 121st in the world rankings but holds the No. 37 position in the Olympic rankings of eligible golfers for the 60-player field.

Sharp’s excitement level about the Games has been on a steady rise of late, stoked by her steady play and the regular Olympic commercials she sees on television. She was on hand Wednesday at Lambton Golf and Country Club as Golf Canada unveiled the national team uniforms for the Rio Games.

“It’s just more of a realization,” Sharp said. “To represent Canada and wear the red and white and to see these uniforms today, it’s an amazing dream that’s going to come true.”

Sharp’s game appears well-suited for the Olympic Golf Course in Rio’s Barra da Tijuca district. The 18-hole course will be 6,500 yards for the Aug. 17-20 women’s competition, which should give a big hitter like Sharp an edge.

“She’s been one of the longer players for a long time,” said Canadian women’s team coach Tristan Mullally. “It’s a golf course that will require some precision off the tee but you’ve also got to be long enough to give yourself chances. The par fives are long and the par fours, you’re going to be hitting a long fairway wood in. So that gives her an advantage. It’s certainly going to be super-windy.

“We’ve worked with her game over the last nine months (to a year) _ not necessarily for the wind, but just in general _ (to) try to be a little more solid and have some more variety with shots. That’s going to play when it is windy.”

Sharp plans to take next week off before playing in eight tournaments in a row, capped by the Women’s British Open near London in late July. The windy conditions there should help ahead of Rio as well.

“I’ve done well in the wind this year and in the past I haven’t,” she said. “So I already see my game suiting it.”

Sharp is 25th on the LPGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 265.56 yards.

“I think looking ahead she’s starting to see how good her game is,” Mullally said. “She’s almost been under-achieving up until now.

“I’m excited to see where she goes.”

Sharp and Henderson – who’s expected to be a medal contender – essentially have the women’s spots nailed down. The two men’s spots could go down to the wire in early July with several players in the mix.

“Everybody knows about the Olympics,” Sharp said. “Maybe not everybody knows about golf’s majors because they don’t follow golf. But everybody knows about the Olympics and I think it’s a huge thing to be a part of. It’s something on my resume. No one can ever take that away from me. When I’m older, I can say I was an Olympian.

“To go there and do well and to possibly win a medal, that would be something that would be huge on my bucket list and obviously one of the biggest accomplishments I could probably ever have.”