It would have made all the sense in the world for Brooke Henderson to take a week off.

After all, Henderson won the CPKC Women’s Open on Sunday, fending off Australia’s Minjee Lee for a one-stroke victory at the Canadian national women’s golf championship. 

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., is the winningest professional golfer in Canadian history and very much the face of the Women’s Open, doing media appearances, meeting with sponsors, and signing hundreds of autographs all week while also holding her own against the best female players in the world.

But after celebrating her 14th victory on the LPGA Tour, Henderson decided to put her nose back to the grindstone and fulfil her commitment to play in this week’s FM Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.

“Right after I won on Sunday I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. It was such a huge week for me. I was very busy and just emotionally took a lot out of me,” Henderson said at a news conference on Wednesday. “I knew this event was a great event and I was excited to have the opportunity to come play here, so just decided just to try to keep things going. 

“Felt like it would be good for me to get back into, not reality, but get back to work and focus in on the things that I need to focus on.”

The victory — Henderson’s second Canadian championship — also salvaged what was shaping up to be her worst season since turning professional in 2015.

Winning at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club elevated Henderson from 53rd to 26th on the Race to CME Globe rankings, the LPGA Tour’s points list. It also meant she will join the World Team at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown in late October and play in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in late November.

“I think the big thing for me was my mindset and just mentally being in a good frame of mind. I feel like I’ve been working diligently on that, so to see it all work out last week was great in the heat of the moment and under pressure in contention. That was huge for me. 

“All parts of my game I was just trying to improve and be a little bit more consistent and get back to where it needed to be to be at the top of the leaderboard.”

Henderson is in the marquee group in the first and second round at TPC Boston, playing with Lee and Nelly Korda of the United States in Thursday’s morning wave. Henderson is the lowest-ranked of the trio, with Korda sitting seventh and Lee second.

“I’m definitely tired, but I’m looking forward to getting some good rest later this afternoon and tonight,” said Henderson. “It’s an early tee time tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed pretty early and try to recover as much as I can.

“I feel like last week was a huge week it just took so much out of my whole team mentally, physically, emotionally, so I think it’s really important just to try to recover that going into tomorrow.”

Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is the only other Canadian in the field at the FM Championship. She’s grouped with Alex Pano of the U.S., and South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai in a group that tees off in the early afternoon.

PGA TOUR AMERICAS — A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C., is the highest ranked Canadian on the Fortinet Cup standings heading into this week’s CRMC Championship. He’s 23rd heading into the play at Craguns Legacy Course at Brainerd, Minn. There are a total of 11 Canadians in the field.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Wearing a blueberry-coloured power suit, Claire Welsh confidently walks to the podium at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club and addresses a room of dozens – her first official public appearance as the new tournament director of the CPKC Women’s Open.

There’s confidence and grace. And there’s joy and excitement. The event is set to be big – it’s returning to the Greater Toronto Area for the first time in more than a half a decade, and Welsh gets to announce that the game’s top player, Nelly Korda is returning to the field. The Rink is back, too, and Mississaugua will become one of just a small handful of clubs to host the Canadian Men’s Amateur, Canadian Women’s Amateur, RBC Canadian Open and CPKC Women’s Open.

It’s all happening. And Welsh is at the helm.

“What a privilege,” she says.

Welsh has made a big-time return to Canada after a decade with the Royal and Ancient, where she served as director of player relations for the R&A, with a focus primarily on the AIG Women’s Open and The Open Championship.

Prior to that, she spent six years working for Golf Ontario.

Golf Canada was, of course, looking for a new tournament director after Ryan Paul moved over to take the reins at the RBC Canadian Open, with Bryan Crawford moving on to become commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League.

Welsh had taken a year of and ended up getting a call from someone at Golf Canada encouraging her to apply for the role.

“My husband and I were travelling, and we weren’t really looking in Canada – we were just trying to figure out what we wanted to do next,” Welsh says. “When I saw the opportunity, I thought, ‘OK, this is something really interesting,’ and it was the catalyst for us moving home.

“That felt like all the cards had fallen into place.”

The CPKC Women’s Open is one of the most impressive sporting event properties in the entire country. It won back-to-back “Tournament of the Year” titles in both 2022 and 2023 at the LPGA Tour’s year-end awards.

At the 2025 Sport Tourism Canada PRESTIGE Awards, it was also named Sport Tourism Canada’s International Sport Event of the Year.

“Coming home to help shape the next chapter of our national women’s open feels incredibly special, especially at a time when women’s sports are experiencing remarkable growth and recognition,” Welsh said at the time of her hiring. “I know how important this historic event is for golf’s top players, and I’ve also seen its ability to inspire communities right across the country.”

Welsh is also aware of how important a north star the event has in Brooke Henderson. Henderson, who won the event in 2018, is also a CPKC ambassador, along with being a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour.

Welsh had some history with Henderson after following her while she was at Golf Ontario. The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., was “tenny tiny” and just following in her sister Brittany Henderson’s footsteps.

“To be around to watch that journey and see her become this incredible woman that she is today – it just feels so amazing that she is the face of the event and being a CPKC ambassador and everything she does with them,” Welsh says. “There’s awe. There’s admiration. And how lucky are we to have such an amazing ambassador for women’s golf in Canada?”

Welsh was also quick to heap praise on Mississaugua. The course will have a modified routing for the tournament as golfers will go from Nos. 1 through 10, and then Nos. 11 through 18, for the split-tee starts, with No. 10 being The Rink hole for 2025.

Welsh had a front-row seat to the importance of venues when she was at the R&A, and how giving women priority for the best venues mattered as they reviewed the championship rota for The Open. When Welsh was at the R&A, the AIG Women’s Open was contested at Royal Troon (2020) and Muirfield (2022) for the first time, for example. The Open Championship also visited Royal Portush (2019) and Northern Ireland for the first time in more than half a century.

Welsh knows it’s different for the CPKC Women’s Open as it moves across the country, but golf has been her passport to the world, and now she says she’s thrilled with the opportunity to do it at home.

“For me personally, I’ve seen the world and seen amazing golf courses, but now I get to do it in Canada. I was out in Banff a few weeks ago, and I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ Seeing iconic courses – this is a privilege,” Welsh says. “How cool is this?”

A cool opportunity, and a wonderful return home.

Jeeno Thitikul, Minjee Lee, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang and defending champion Lauren Coughlin join Henderson, Korda and Ko in the field for the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open

CPKC Has Heart campaign to benefit official charity partner MacKids along with community charity beneficiary Trillium Health Partners

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Golf Canada and the LPGA Tour today announced the early commitments scheduled to compete in the 51st playing of the CPKC Women’s Open, August 20-24 at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club in Mississauga, Ont.

The list of early commitments features six of the current top 10 and 15 of the top 25 in the Rolex World Golf Rankings. The field also includes six of the top 10, 15 of the top 25 and 66 of the top 100 players on the 2025 Race to the CME Globe Standings. The final field will be announced on Friday, August 15.

Thirteen-time LPGA Tour winner and the winningest golfer in Canadian history, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., will lead a field of 156 golfers that includes current world no. 1 Nelly Korda, three-time CPKC Women’s Open champion and 2024 Olympic Gold medalist Lydia Ko (world no. 3), and current leader in the Race to the CME Globe, Jeeno Thitikul (world no. 2). Other notables include Ruoning Yin (world no. 4), Haeran Ryu (world no. 5) and Hannah Green (world no. 8), along with rising stars Lilia Vu (world no. 11) and Rose Zhang (world no. 44). Minjee Lee (world no. 24) has also committed to compete in Mississauga. Lee recently won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, earning her 11th career win and third major championship.

The CPKC Women’s Open through CPKC Has Heart will once again leave a meaningful impact in the host community of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship. For 2025, CPKC has selected MacKids, the arm of Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation dedicated to fundraising for MacMaster Children’s Hospital, as the primary charity partner with a goal to raise more than $2.8 million in support of pediatric cardiac care initiatives from newborn to adolescent. In addition, Trillium Health Partners will be the community charity partner with CPKC generously matching donations up to $250,000 in support of Trillium Health Partners cardiac program equipment needs, with up to $500,000 expected to be raised.

“The growth and impact of this incredible event, which continues to attract the world’s top golfers, is undeniable,” said Keith Creel, CPKC President & Chief Executive Officer. “Our ultimate goal with the CPKC Women’s Open has been, and always will be, to help the youngest hearts across Canada. We are excited for the community to come together to raise millions of dollars for MacKids.”

Last year, CPKC helped raise $4.3 million for heart health with donations of $3.8 million to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and $507,000 to the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation. Since 2014, this tournament, which is the marquee event of the CPKC Has Heart community investment program, has helped raise over $23 million in support of children’s heart health in North America.

Defending champion Lauren Coughlin is among six past CPKC Women’s Open champions competing for Canada’s Women’s National Open Championship including Megan Khang (2023), Jin Young Ko (2019), Brooke Henderson (2018), Brittany Lincicome (2011) and Lydia Ko (2015, 2013, 2012) who will be chasing a record fourth CPKC Women’s Open title.

Mississaugua Golf and Country Club will welcome eight LPGA Tour in-year winners, including Yealimi Noh (Founders Cup), Lydia Ko (HSBC Women’s World Championship), Madelene Sagstrom (T-Mobile Match Play), Haeran Ryu (Black Desert Championship), Jeeno Thitikul (Mizuho Americas Open), Jennifer Kupcho (ShopRite LPGA Classic), Carlota Ciganda (Meijer LPGA Classic) and Minjee Lee (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship).

Henderson, a CPKC Ambassador, made history at the Wascana Country Club in Regina in 2018 becoming the first Canadian since the late Jocelyne Bourassa won Canada’s National Women’s Open 45 years earlier. Henderson will be joined by fellow Canadians with LPGA Tour status, Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que.

In addition, an important pathway to the CPKC Women’s Open is through the She Plays Golf Championship Series, a three-stop circuit that offers competitive opportunities for elite Canadian players with exemptions into the tournament available. Two Team Canada athletes have claimed the first two exemptions as 14-year-old Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C. won the Golf BC Group BC Women’s Open and 16-year-old Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., won The Peloton Glencoe Invitational. Both Ding and Liu will be making their first starts in an LPGA tour event. The final stop in the series will take place at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada at Burlington Golf and Country Club, July 7-10. One additional exemption will be awarded to the player ranked highest on the order of merit for the series, if not already qualified. For more information, click here.

“We are excited to announce the early commitments led by Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko for the 51st playing of our National Women’s Open Championship. The CPKC Women’s Open draws one of the strongest fields on the LPGA Tour and we look forward to watching these incredible athletes compete in Mississauga,” said Claire Welsh, Tournament Director, CPKC Women’s Open. “We have welcomed nearly 1,000 volunteer registrations, highlighting the excitement to be part of this special tournament. The CPKC Women’s Open is one of the top yearly women’s sporting events in Canada and fans are in store for a very memorable week this August.”

The 2025 CPKC Women’s Open will take place on the Treaty 22 territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN), on lands that were once home to the Credit River Mission Village. During tournament week, MCFN will share their culture, history, and enduring connection to the land through ceremony, storytelling, and educational elements on-site. This engagement is part of a broader effort to ensure the tournament honours the history of the territory and creates space for learning, reflection, and meaningful community connection.

One of Canada’s premier annual sporting events, the CPKC Women’s Open is riding continued momentum from being named as the Gold Driver Award recipient for Best Volunteer Appreciation at the LPGA 2024 Gold Driver Awards. In addition, the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open was named Sport Tourism Canada’s International Sport Event of the Year at the 2025 Sport Tourism Canada PRESTIGE Awards.

The CPKC Women’s Open also earned the LPGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year award in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023. The 2023 tournament also won additional awards for Best Sponsorship Activation and Best Volunteer Appreciation at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver. Golf Canada and CPKC also received Gold Driver Awards for Best Sponsor Activation in 2019, 2022 and 2023 as well as Best Community and Charity Engagement in 2017, 2019 and 2022.

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT RETURNS

Golf Canada and CPKC will host the eighth annual CPKC Women’s Leadership summit on Tuesday, August 19 as part of the weeklong excitement of the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open. The summit will be held at the Boulevard Club in Toronto, Ont., and be hosted by TSN’s Lindsay Hamilton. The day will bring together like-minded business leaders from across the country for a day of networking, empowerment and philanthropy. For more information, click here.

HALL OF FAME DAY SET FOR TUESDAY OF TOURNAMENT WEEK
Golf Canada will host Hall of Fame Day on Tuesday, August 19. Accomplished amateur golfer, Richard Scott, former professional golfer Jerry Anderson (posthumous) and renowned course architect Charles Blair Macdonald (posthumous) will be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. For more information on the honoured members, click here. In addition, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont. will be inducted into Golf Ontario’s Hall of Fame during the ceremony after previously being announced in March.

“THE RINK” HOLE AND THE FARE WAY FEATURING THE KEG FAN EXPERIENCE RETURNS

Fans of all ages will once again be able to experience the week-long celebration of golf highlighted by The Rink on the 10th hole at Mississaugua, and a variety of food and patio experiences in The Fare Way featuring the Keg.

KIDS 12-AND-UNDER GET IN FREE

As part of the championship’s commitment to junior golf, admission all week is free for youth aged 12-and-under. General admission tickets provide access to the golf course and enjoy fan activations throughout the property and experience the thrill of major professional golf.

MOBILE APP EXPERIENCE

Experience the CPKC Women’s Open like never before by downloading the Golf Canada Mobile App on your iOS or Android device. Essential features include a live map, leaderboard & pairings, tickets, breaking news, and special events. Plus, use the Golf Canada Mobile App to enhance your experience while playing! Find golf courses, track your game, set up matches against friends, access GPS yardages and more. Click here to download.

While there may be some debate over which is the most important of the four men’s golf majors — one that pits the Open Championship’s history against the mystique of the Masters — there is no such discussion when it comes to the women’s game. The U.S. Women’s Open is the queen bee of the LPGA Tour schedule.

Established in 1947, the U.S. Women’s Open is the oldest professional tournament in women’s golf and carries the biggest purse at $12 million (US). Its list of multiple winners is a who’s who of women’s golf — Besty Rawls, Mikey Wright, Babe Zaharias, Hollis Stacy, JoAnne Carner, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Juli Inkster, Meg Mallon, Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam to name a few. Last year, Yuka Saso added her name to that list when she prevailed at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

This year’s 80th edition of the tournament is taking place in Wisconsin for the first time since 2012. Then, Na Yeon Choi took home the hardware at Blackwolf Run in Kohler. This week, Erin Hills is in the spotlight. It is a big, broad golf course that was the site of Brooks Koepka’s 2017 U.S. Open triumph, the first of his five major triumphs.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open.

The Course

Erin Hills caught the fancy of the United States Golf Association immediately after it opened in 2006. At a time when the governing body was shifting away from tree-lined private country clubs for its championships, the public Erin Hills, built on a massive parcel of largely treeless land in rural Wisconsin, offered something new.

Original owner Bob Lang hired Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry to design the course, which they did with input from longtime Golf Digest architecture critic Ron Whitten. Lang had grand visions of championship golf at Erin Hills and two years after the course opened the USGA conducted the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links there. The USGA then awarded the 2017 U.S. Open to Erin Hills and brought the 2011 U.S. Amateur to the course as a test run. Lang had to sell the course amid financial hardships and the layout underwent a number of revisions requested by the USGA after it was purchased by Andrew Ziegler.

At over 7,800 yards (at elevation) for the first round, the course played as the longest in U.S. Open history in 2017, but its wide fairways and calm conditions made it easy pickings and Koepka won with a record-tying 16-under-par total. This week’s U.S. Women’s Open will be the first major at Erin Hills since that time, though the course did welcome the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur. The course will measure just over 6,800 yards and play as a par 72.

The Favourites

Jeeno Thitikul leads the LPGA Tour’s points race entering the U.S. Women’s Open thanks to her recent victory at the Mizuho Americas Open and five additional top 10s. The 22-year-old Thai golfer is in search of her first major victory this week, having racked up seven top 10s in 23 career major starts. She does not have a top-three finish, however, with her best result being a solo-fourth at the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She leads the LPGA Tour in strokes gained total this season.
Bet99 odds: +900

Nelly Korda remains atop the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, but the 15-time LPGA Tour winner is without a victory this season and sits 15th on the Race to CME Globe. After suffering a neck injury last fall that forced her out of two tournaments in Asia, Korda began 2025 with a runner-up finish in the Tournament of Championships but went without a top-five finish until two weeks ago at the Mizuho Americas Open. Nevertheless, she is second on tour in strokes gained total, first in scoring average and first in birdie percentage.
Bet99 odds: +1450

At 24, Haeran Ryu has taken over as the top women’s golfer from South Korea, sitting fifth in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She captured the Black Desert Championship earlier this month by five shots, her third career LPGA Tour title. The five-time winner on the LPGA of Korea Tour has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six major championships. She leads the tour in strokes gained tee to green, a good stat for any U.S. Open.      
Bet99 odds: +1450

A three-time winner in 2024 and a two-time winner in 2023, Ruoning Yin hasn’t yet won this season, but she put together back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Chevron Championship, the season’s first major, and the Black Desert Championship. She was then T15 at the Mizuhos Americas Open. Those three results came after five finishes outside the top 20 to start the season, so clearly Yin has turned things around. Her lone major victory came at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA.  
Bet99 odds: +1800

Former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko is winless since 2023, but she has four top 10s in eight starts this season, including two in her last two starts. She won two major championships in 2019, along with the CPKC Women’s Open, and tied for second in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open. She tied for sixth at the Chevron Championship last month.
Bet99 odds: +2000

The Canadians

Five Canadians will tee it up at Erin Hills with two-time major winner Brooke Henderson joined by four qualifiers: Vanessa Borovilos, Celeste Dao, Anna Huang and Leah John.

Henderson is still trying to find her form this season as the 13-time LPGA Tour winner sits in unfamiliar positions on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (42nd) and Race to CME Globe (48th). Her lone top 10 — a T9 — came in the T-Mobile Match Play where she lost in the Round of 16. The 27-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., had a solid T12 finish at the Black Desert Championship but then missed the cut in her last event, the Mizuho Americas Open. Henderson’s best U.S. Women’s Open finish is a T5 in 2015, one of 16 career top 10s in majors.

Borovilos hails from the Toronto borough of Etobicoke and earned one of two spots available at a 36-hole qualifier at Elgin Country Club in Illinois. This will be the first major championship start for the 19-year-old amateur coming off her freshman season at Texas A&M University. Borovilos was the medallist at Elgin Country Club with two rounds of 68 for an 8-under-par total.

Dao is no stranger to the U.S. Women’s Open as the Quebecer has now qualified for the championship four times. However, this will be Dao’s first major appearance as a professional. She took the lone qualifier spot at Salem Country Club in Massachusetts with rounds of 72-71. She’s a University of Georgia alum.

Huang is one of three 16-year-olds in the field this week at Erin Hills, having finished as the runner-up at the qualifier at New Albany Country Club in Ohio. The Vancouver native turned professional in December after earning status on the Ladies European Tour and has made five cuts in six starts on that circuit this year.

John was the co-medallist at her qualifier in Sacramento at Del Paso Country Club. Also from Vancouver, John is plying her trade on the Epson Tour, the LPGA Tour’s developmental circuit, where she’s made three cuts in seven starts this season. She had two top-10 finishes in 12 starts on that tour last year after turning pro in the spring of 2024. John attended the University of Nevada.  

Chip Shots

– There were 1,904 entrants for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, the second most in tournament history.

– The semi-retired Lexi Thompson will make her 19th consecutive start in the U.S. Women’s Open. Now 30, Thompson has played in the tournament since she first qualified as a 12-year-old.

– Former World No. 1 Yani Tseng is making her first U.S. Women’s Open start since 2016 after successfully qualifying for the championship. The Taiwanese golfer won five major titles from 2008 to 2011 but her career nosedived in 2013 and she is now ranked 995th in the world. Since reappearing on the LPGA Tour in 2024, she has not made a cut in 14 starts. In fact, her last made cut came in 2018. She is a 15-time LPGA Tour winner.

– Emily Odwin will become the first golfer from Barbados — male or female — to play in a major championship when she tees it up Thursday. She qualified at the historic Olympic Club in San Francisco. Odwin learned the game at Royal Westmorland and now attends Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Brooke Henderson needed only 27 holes to win two matches. The Canadian needs to win one more to be assured of reaching the weekend at the T-Mobile Match Play.

One day after a 6-and-5 win in the opening round, Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., pulled away late by winning five of the last seven holes Thursday in a 5-and-4 win over Peiyun Chien of Taiwan.

One more day of round-robins matches remain at Shadow Creek before the winner of each of the 16 groups advance to the knockout stage on the weekend. While no one clinched her group, at least 18 players were eliminated on another day of this fickle format.

Nelly Korda, the defending champion and No. 1 player, will have to beat Ariya Jutanugarn to win her group. Korda halved her opening match and she had a few shaky moments in a 1-up win over Jennifer Kupcho.

Korda had a 4-foot putt to go 3 up with three holes to play, missed the putt, and then gave away the the par-5 16th with a bogey. It came down to the 18th, and Kupcho pulled her drive to the left side of the hazard. Her next shot clipped a tree and she stopped watching, only to discover the ball was on the green.

Korda’s approach was 40 feet long, and she did well to lag it to a foot. Kupcho missed her 30-foot birdie attempt and Korda moved on to a decisive match against Jutanugarn. The Thai is 2-0 and would only need a halve against Korda.

“Very questionable by me,” Korda said of her play. “Definitely don’t have my best stuff right now.. That’s the greatest thing about match play, is even if you don’t have your best stuff you have to grind it out.”

Lydia Ko joined Henderson as the only players who have yet to play the 15th hole in either of the two rounds. The difference is Ko lost her first match (6 and 4) before a 6-and-5 victory Thursday over Gabriela Ruffels. Everyone in Ko’s group is 1-1.

If any group ends in a tie, the winner is decided by a sudden-death playoff.

Hyo Joo Kim, coming off a playoff victory last week in Arizona, won the last four holes to rally against Nanna Koertz Madsen for her second win this week. Kim and Maja Stark are 2-0 and will play Friday to see who advances.

Rose Zhang conceded her match against Albane Valenzuela after three holes. Zhang had complained about a neck injury in the opening round. That sets up a strange scenario.

If Zhang can’t play against Meghan Khang, Valenzuela would be eliminated. If Zhang can play and beats Khang, Valenzuela could win the group by beating Nataliya Guseva.

Among those eliminated are Jin Young Ko and Leona Maguire in another bizarre situation. 

Ko needed to win the match to have any shot at the weekend. The match was dormie after 16, meaning Ko was eliminated. But the South Korean won the next two holes to halve the match, and that eliminated Maguire.

NAPLES, Fla. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson is planning to tough it out for the final event of the LPGA Tour season.

Henderson offered no explanation when she withdrew from the Pelican Women’s Championship on Saturday.

But the native of Smiths Falls, Ont., said on Tuesday that it was an upper-back injury.

She issued a statement explaining the withdrawal and saying she planned to rest as much as possible but still compete in the CME Group Tour Championship.

The CME Group Tour Championship starts Thursday at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Henderson is fourth among money earners on the LPGA Tour and sixth on the world rankings.

The 25-year-old Henderson won twice this season, winning at the ShopRite LPGA Classic on June 12 and then her second career major victory at the Evian Championship on July 24.

Her 12 professional victories are the most by any Canadian golfer.

OTTAWA, Ont. – Golf Canada, in partnership with the title sponsor Canadian Pacific (CP), announced today the names of 14 players that have earned tournament exemptions into the 2022 CP Women’s Open, August 22-28, at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ottawa, Ont.

Lorie Kane headlines the list of 11 Canadians who have earned exemptions into the 2022 championship. The CP ambassador confirmed in late June that her record 30th career appearance will also be her final go around as a player at the CP Women’s Open. A member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Canada Sports Hall of Fame, Kane made her debut at Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship in 1991 and has played in each of the 29 tournaments since. In 2019, the Charlottetown, P.E.I., native broke the record previously held by World Golf Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner for the most all-time appearances at the event.

Joining Kane in the nation’s capital in late August will be LPGA Tour veteran, Alena Sharp. The Hamilton, Ont., native recorded a top-10 finish at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in mid-July. Sharp will be making her 17th appearance at the National Open Championship where she posted a career-best 4th place finish in 2016.

Also accepting invitations to the championship are a foursome of Team Canada Young Pro Squad members and Epson Tour professionals: Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto, Megan Osland of Kelowna, B.C., Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont. and Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont. The 30-year-old Lee-Bentham, in the midst of a career resurgence, will be returning to the CP Women’s Open for the first time since 2016. Osland will be making her third CP Women’s Open appearance having recently qualified for the US Women’s Open Championship as well as the LPGA Tour’s inaugural Palos Verdes Championship in April. Szeryk, who has posted five career top-10 finishes on the Epson Tour since her rookie season in 2019, will be making her seventh appearance at the CP Women’s Open while Costabile, who currently leads all Canadians on the Epson Tour money list, will make her debut at the CP Women’s Open.

Some of the brightest young amateur talents on the Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad will also be joining the field in Ottawa. Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont., the highest ranked Canadian on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, earned a spot by way of winning the 2022 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., who plays for Clemson University and competed at the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, also joins the strong Canadian contingent in Ottawa. Fellow Team Canada athlete Sarah-Eve Rhéaume will join LPGA Tour member Maude-Aimée Leblanc in representing La Belle Province at Ottawa Hunt. The 21-year-old Furman University product won the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada to earn her first CP Women’s Open start.

Team Canada’s National Junior Squad will be represented by a pair of budding stars in Katie Cranston and Lauren Zaretsky. Cranston, 18, of Oakville, Ont., was crowned champion of the 2022 Women’s Porter Cup and will make her first appearance at the professional ranks. A unique consideration for 2022—following two years of event cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic—Golf Canada will honour select exemptions that were previously earned since the last CP Women’s Open was hosted in September of 2019. That leads to Zaretsky, the 2021 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, who did not get a chance to play in a CP Women’s Open last year due to the event cancellation. The 18-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., is coming off a T17 finish at the U.S. Junior Girls Championship and will be playing in Canada’s National Open Championship for the first time.

Rounding out the list of early exemptions are 2022 British Women’s Amateur champion, Jess Baker, 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, Anna Davis, and, finally, the no. 1 ranked player on the Epson Tour, Lucy Li.

“Together with CP we are very proud to welcome this exceptional group of Canadian and international athletes to the celebrated return of the CP Women’s Open,” said Tournament Director Ryan Paul. “Extending playing opportunities through tournament exemptions has always been an important component of the CP Women’s Open and we are very pleased that these talented amateur and professional players can join us at Ottawa Hunt for the 48th playing of Canada’s National Open Championship.”

The Canadian and international players earning exemptions will join a field a stellar field of LPGA Tour stars led by Canadian sensation, two-time LPGA major champion, and honorary Ottawa Hunt member Brooke Henderson, as well as the defending champion and current world no. 1 ranked Jin Young Ko. The pair will also be joined by 87 of the top 100 players on the LPGA Tour’s Race to the CME Standings including global stars Minjee Lee, In Gee Chun, Jennifer Kupcho, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Ashleigh Buhai, Nasa Hataoka, Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Charley Hull, Celine Boutier, Hannah Green, Sei Young Kim, Anna Nordqvist and Danielle Kang.

The field will include seven past CP Women’s Open champions, and 13 of 17 in year winners including all five 2022 LPGA Tour Major winners.

The final field including additional exemptions (excluding Monday qualifiers) will be confirmed on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. Four spots will be up for grabs at the Monday qualifier which will be played at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa, Ont., on August 22.

CP HAS HEART CHARITY CAMPAIGN TO BENEFIT THE CHEO FOUNDATION:

Canadian Pacific and Golf Canada are proud to support the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Foundation as the primary charitable beneficiary for the 2022 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Among the charitable engagements tournament week will be the Birdies for Heart hole on no. 15 at Ottawa Hunt with $5,000 donation made for every birdie made on the hole during the four rounds of the competition. In addition, CP is also proud to support a community beneficiary in the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital Foundation in support paediatric cardiac care. In the nine years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, more than $13 million has been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada.

CP WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT RETURNS TO KICK OF TOURNAMENT WEEK:

Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific will host the fifth annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday, August 23 at the Infinity Convention Centre as part of the weeklong excitement of the 2022 CP Women’s Open. The CP Women’s Leadership Summit will bring together like-minded businesspeople from across the country for a day of networking, empowerment, and philanthropy. The Summit, which will be headlined by renowned Canadian venture capitalist Arlene Dickinson as the keynote speaker, will also raise awareness for the CP Women’s Open, with attendees receiving access to the tournament during the week. For more information about the CP Women’s Leadership Summit, including panels, tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.cpwomensopen.com/wls.

2022 CP WOMEN’S OPEN WELCOME “THE RINK” FAN EXPERIENCE:

Golf Canada is pleased to introduce the fan-favourite Rink hole spectator experience to the CP Women’s Open for the first time. The energetic hockey-themed hole, complete with fan-pounding rink boards, volunteers dressed as referees and a surrounding hospitality experience will be situated on par-3 17th hole at Ottawa Hunt.

CP WOMEN’S OPEN BROADCAST:

The 2022 CP Women’s Open will feature four days of domestic and international television broadcast coverage including Canadian broadcast partner TSN as well as international coverage on GOLF channel. For the first time ever, the CP Women’s Open will also be broadcast on US network television with Sunday’s final round coverage on CBS. A full schedule of TV Times and on course activities can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

KIDS 12-AND-UNDER GET IN FREE…

Golf Canada and CP are committed to offering a fan friendly, family event with the CP Women’s Open. To introduce more juniors to the sport, children aged 12-and-under get FREE admission to the CP Women’s Open for the entire week.

GOLF CANADA MOBILE APP EXPERIENCE

Spectators at Ottawa Hunt will experience the CP Women’s Open like never before by downloading the Golf Canada Mobile App on their iOS or Android device. Essential features include a live map, mobile ordering, leaderboard & pairings, tickets, breaking news, and unique events. Golf enthusiasts can also use the Golf Canada Mobile App to enhance their everyday golf experience while playing! Find golf courses, track your game, set up matches against friends, access GPS yardages and more. Click here to download.

When Smith Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson returns to Ottawa for the CP Women’s Open later this summer, she will undoubtedly be greeted with a rock star reception from the hometown crowd.

Having recently won her second career major at the Amundi Evian Championship, Henderson is now the only Canadian golfer to have captured multiple majors – Mike Weir and Sandra Post both have one each to their names.

While the former Canadian National Team Member led throughout the first three rounds at the Amundi Evian Championship, she did run into a bit of turbulence in the fourth round and had to dig deep to secure her second major.

Despite not playing her best golf in the final round, Henderson stayed composed and was clutch when she needed to be.

“Not the start that I wanted, but I stayed pretty patient, as patient as I could under those circumstances,” she said right after winning at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France.

“The saying is that majors are won on the back nine on Sunday, so I just tried to keep that frame of mind, and knew I was still in it if I could have a solid back (nine).”

Heading into the 18th hole, Henderson was tied at 16 under with American Sophia Schubert but she would drain an eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole to secure the victory.

“I made some clutch putts and shots down the stretch, which really helped. I’m just super excited to have my second major championship win; 12 wins on tour is pretty cool, too,” noted the Canadian LPGA superstar. “Really excited for what the rest of the season holds.”

Two other big tournaments on Henderson’s radar include the Women’s British Open in early August and the CP Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt Club from Aug. 22-28.

The 24-year-old was home last month for media day and to promote the return of the CP Women’s Open to the nation’s capital. The LPGA superstar spoke about her fond memories from the last time the tournament was held in Ottawa.

“In 2017, when I showed up on Thursday morning, my tee time, I think, was 8 o’clock and I was thinking there’s going to be a couple of people watching. But when I showed up to the first tee there was lines of people on both sides – it was just a phenomenal experience,” said Henderson, who is an honorary member at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum recalls the excitement around the 2017 CP Women’s Open.

“Many will know this story, but Brooke had to make a birdie on her 18th hole in order to make the cut. And what does Brooke do? She makes birdie,” Applebaum recalled.

“She goes out the next day and shoots 63 – a course record. It was a spectacular 24 hours and it was amongst one of most amazing things I’ve ever seen. We have been continually amazed by this athlete over last few years.”

A year later, at the 2018 CP Women’s Open in Regina, Henderson became the first Canadian in 45 years to win Canada’s national open.

The tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but will make its long-awaited return to Canada this year at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

Tournament Director Ryan Paul speaks about the excitement building around the return of the LPGA’s best this year.

“Golf fans in this community have gotten behind our National Women’s Open Championship in a major way,” he said. “We can’t wait to get back to Ottawa Hunt and put on a can’t miss summer celebration.”

Henderson will be joined by fellow Canadians Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Maddie Szeryk, Alena Sharp, Jaclyn Lee, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Selena Costabile, Monet Chun, and Lorie Kane—who earlier announced this year will be her last. A number of other Canadians are expected to receive exemptions into the star-studded 156-player field in the coming weeks.

One of the new additions for 2022 is the rink which will be situated on the par-3 17th hole. Having also played hockey as a goaltender growing up, Henderson is eager to test out the hockey themed hole later this summer.

“I was super excited when Golf Canada mentioned that they were going to bring The Rink over to the LPGA Tour. I think the fans are going to be so wild and fired up. It will be super exciting and I’m really excited to seeing what it looks like,” she said during media day in June.

Now with 12 LPGA victories and two majors to her name, the 24-year-old Canadian is arguably – at present – the most successful Canadian athlete across all the major sports.

And she is eager to continue that success on home soil later this summer.

“My sixth major on the LPGA Tour is always this one. This is a huge week for me, for us, and I always want to play my best,” said Henderson about the CP Women’s Open.

Given all the success, there’s definitely and buzz and excitement surrounding her homecoming at the end of August. And the 24-year-old from Smiths Falls is eager to bring her ‘A’ game for the pumped up and energetic Canadian golf fans later this summer.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) – Brooke Henderson stood over a birdie putt from three feet at the 18th green, a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Evian Championship seemingly at her mercy.

For the first time on Saturday – maybe all week, given her dominance of the fourth women’s major of the year – her putting stroke let her down.

Henderson missed it left, to gasps from spectators around the green at Evian Resort Golf Club. The Canadian couldn’t believe it. Probably those hoping to chase her down on Sunday, too.

Seeking her second major title after the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, Henderson had to settle for a 3-under 68 in the third round and a two-shot lead on 17-under par – two off the 54-hole record for the tournament.

She is still in a position of strength after opening with two straight 64s, but that missed putt at No. 18 might prove costly.

The closest challengers to Henderson are a former No. 1 and a player breaking new personal ground at a major.

So Yeon Ryu, a two-time major winner from South Korea, shot 65 after three birdies on her last four holes and was alone in second place. The top-ranked player in 2017, when she won the ANA Inspiration for her second major, she hasn’t been in contention this deep into one of women’s golf’s biggest five tournaments for three years.

Two strokes further back on 13 under was Sophia Schubert, ranked No. 283 and without a top-50 finish in a major. The American birdied her last four holes for a 66 and was in new territory alone in third place in just her fifth appearance in a major.

Olympic champion Nelly Korda started the third round in second place, three strokes behind Henderson, but could shoot only even-par 71 _ the worst score of the current top 20 on a warm and still day when only a few tough pin placements kept very low scores off cards.

Korda was on 11 under overall, six shots off the lead and in a five-way tie for sixth with, among others, top-ranked Jin Young Ko (67).

Above them in a tie for fourth place, five behind Henderson, were Carlota Ciganda (67) and Sei Young Kim (68).

If the end to the 2021 tournament is anything to go by, there’s plenty to play for on Sunday.

Minjee Lee made up a seven-shot deficit to third-round leader Lee Jeong-eun in the final round last year and beat her in a playoff.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) – Brooke Henderson is setting the pace in record-breaking style at the Evian Championship.

The Canadian shot a second straight 7-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the fourth major of the year on Friday.

She is the first player in the history of the U.S. LPGA to begin a major with two rounds of 64 or lower.

And Henderson, who is 14 under for the tournament, thinks there’s a reason for her fast start.

“I’ve been having a lot of crepes in France,” she said, smiling. “To keep the momentum going, I’d better have some more.”

Nelly Korda is the only player in the 132-woman field within four shots of Henderson.

The Olympic champion and former No. 1 was three back, having finished birdie-eagle at the picturesque Evian Resort Golf Club to shoot 67.

It is Korda’s fifth event since returning to competitive action after more than four months out because of surgery on a blood clot on her arm.

South Korean players Sei Young Kim (65) and So Yeon Ryu (66) were tied for third place on 9 under, five shots adrift of Henderson. Among the bunch of six players on 8-under par was a Frenchwoman, Perrine Delacour, after her round of 68.

Henderson, who won her only major title at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, started her afternoon round four shots behind Korda – who was part of the morning wave – and birdied her first two holes.

There was a bogey at No. 3 and a birdie at No. 9, before Henderson went on a roll over the back nine. She had back-to-back birdies from No. 11 and then made putts from 15 feet, 8 feet and 10 feet for birdies on the final three holes.

“It feels really nice to get off to a fast start in a major championship,” Henderson said.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. To get it this far under par is really awesome and I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well, which is nice, and making some putts.”

The highlight of Korda’s round was her second shot at the par-5 18th, a high fade which landed in the middle of the green and rolled to inside 3 feet from the cup. She made no mistake with the putt for eagle.

Korda said she has been suffering from jet lag and barely slept ahead of the early start to her second round, which opened with what she described as 10 “stress-free” pars.

Like Henderson, Korda has won one major championship – last year’s PGA Championship – and was No. 1 in the world when she stopped playing in February.

Now she is No. 3 and is coming off three top-10 finishes in that little stretch since her return.

First-round leader Ayaka Furue shot 72, nine strokes worse than Thursday, and was in a five-strong group on 7 under.