LPGA Tour players take to social media to thank the CP Women’s Open
Even before her LPGA win, Brooke Henderson was a hometown ambassador
SMITHS FALLS, Ont. – Glenda Cooke started to get emotional when she sat, glued to her TV, while watching Brooke Henderson hit the golf ball off the 16th tee Sunday on her way to victory in the CP Women’s Open.
“That’s when I got up and got the Kleenex,” Cooke said Monday as she recalled witnessing Henderson, a fellow Smiths Falls, Ont., native, become the first Canadian to win an LPGA Tour crown on home soil in 45 years.
“And the happy tears started to flow and they just kept coming.”
By the time Henderson was walking comfortably toward the 18th, local fans of the 20-year-old were yelling “Go Brooke, yay,” said Anita Kerfoot as she and the others in her threesome were finishing their Monday morning round on the course at the Smiths Falls Golf and Country Club.
Henderson has had an immeasurable impact on young girls wanting to get into golf, even before she won in Regina, said Cooke.
“That started as soon as Brooke went on the (LPGA) Tour,” she said.
“Just the audience watching her (Sunday), there were a lot of young girls there,” Kerfoot added.
Club members who watched Henderson playing while she was growing up said they haven’t been surprised by her achievements.
“I did play a couple of rounds with Brooke when she was growing up and it was a treat to play with her then,” said Ken Closs.
“You could tell that she was going to be something special,” said Closs, adding that Henderson bested him on the golf course when she was just 10 years old.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said as his golfing buddies laughed.
You rock, #Saskatchewan! @BrookeHenderson says thanks to the fans and volunteers @The_Wascana for an amazing week at the #CPWO ? pic.twitter.com/PYaRI4M9ZX
— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) August 28, 2018
The Henderson family has become synonymous with golf in the small Eastern Ontario town. Her uncle, Tom Henderson, is the current local course title holder.
“What she’s doing for golf in Smiths Falls, and for women in general, it’s really awesome,” Tom Henderson said of his niece.
There is, after all, a trophy case displaying Brooke Henderson’s achievements just inside the clubhouse.
A new junior locker room in her name also was built in the last year, displaying pictures from some of Henderson’s junior championships.
“It’s really there to help inspire our juniors to continue working hard and loving this game,” said club manager and senior pro Dan McNeely.
Henderson has, through her talents but also by virtue of her character, become an ambassador for not only Smiths Falls, but for the sport of golf and for her country, said the town’s mayor, Shawn Pankow.
“She’s our favourite daughter,” Pankow said as he stood on the sidewalk outside his office.
“When you look at the way she represents our community, the way she represents Canada, she’s still that humble small-town girl who has taken the golf world by storm,” he said.
“So much she’s done in such a short period of time, the whole town is incredibly proud of her.”
Pankow said Henderson’s victory was yet another shot in the arm for a town which was once struggling, despite being close to the nation’s capital. However, Smiths Falls more recently has experienced a boom in tourism and business development.
The future for the town of roughly 9,000 people appeared grim a decade ago when a major local business, the Hershey Chocolate factory, shut down operations and moved to Mexico.
But Smiths Falls has since benefited from the explosion in Canadian cannabis, which has brought a resurgence in jobs and tourism.
Pankow said Henderson’s victory Sunday appeared all the more remarkable, given her and her family’s own recent turmoil.
Both of Henderson’s grandfathers died this summer.
Weir says CP Women’s Open win could be only the start for Brooke Henderson
Once a beacon of inspiration for men’s golf in Canada, Mike Weir believes Brooke Henderson can be the same for the women’s game – and she will “blow past” the all-time mark for top-flight tour wins by a Canadian in the process.
Weir returned to his hotel after hiking in southern Utah on Sunday to the news that Henderson had won the CP Women’s Open. That put the 20-year-old Henderson at seven LPGA wins, just one back of the record for most victories by a Canadian at a top-level tour held by Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post.
“I hope it makes a difference in Canadian women’s golf,” Weir said in a phone interview. “She’s such a young person herself, so hopefully that means young girls and teenagers will take up golf and we get the women’s game growing even more.”
Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was the last Canadian to win a PGA or LPGA event on home soil when he picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the now-defunct Air Canada Championship in 1999. The native of Brights Grove, Ont. had an infamous near miss at the 2004 RBC Canadian Open, losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh.
Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 7-under-par 65 Sunday at Wascana Country Club in Regina to beat Angel Yin by four shots. At one point in the back nine, Yin made three birdies in a row. Henderson matched her shot-for-shot, making four straight birdies.
PGA Tour golfer Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., took to Twitter on Thursday to say Henderson was “single-handedly changing the game of golf for young girls in Canada” like Weir did in the early 2000s.
Weir said Henderson’s strong mental approach complements her athleticism.
“The way she swings the club and how dynamic her movement is with her swing, she may be the most athletic woman out there from what I’ve seen,” said Weir. “But it’s the mental side. A girl makes three birdies on her and she makes four? That shows something not only with her athleticism but what’s inside, and what she thinks about the game, how she’s able to handle herself in a tough situation.”
Weir said he still remembers the roars from his Air Canada Championship victory, and outside of the Masters it was as loud a crowd he’s ever had cheer him on. He called it an incredible feeling.
“When I won in Canada, it wasn’t the Canadian Open but it felt like a major because the crowd is so big and so behind you. The energy feels like a major,” he said. “I’m sure (Henderson) felt that.”
Weir’s life changed after his Masters victory in 2003, as he climbed as high as No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He said he’s not sure Henderson’s life will change that much after the CP Women’s Open victory – since she’s already got a major win and is an established player, he said – but it will be important for her confidence.
“This is huge for her for sure, and her game going forward,” he said.
Henderson returns to action this week on the LPGA Tour at the Cambia Portland Classic, an event she’s won twice in her career. She also said Sunday she’s got a lot of confidence as she heads into The Evian Championship, the LPGA Tour’s final major.
“I’ve had two wins the last couple seasons, so I wanted to keep that streak going, so I’m happy that I did,” she said. Hopefully I can look forward to getting a third win this season.“
Weir believes Henderson’s win on the biggest stage in Canadian women’s golf could be the start of a “special” run.
“I want her to keep having fun, play aggressively, and not take it as pressure but ‘let’s just see how good I can get.’ Whether that’s two or three wins a year or seven or eight or nine, maybe she’ll rattle off one of those years like one of the all-time greats Tiger (Woods) or Annika (Sorenstam),” said Weir.
“She has the talent, and that’s a real possibility.”
Brooke Henderson takes her golf game management next level in Canadian victory
Feeding off the energy of fans in the galleries, but not letting it overwhelm her, is now a skill in Brooke Henderson’s toolbox.
Labelled the face of Canadian golf at age 14 when she played in her first CP Women’s Open, Henderson had to learn how to manage her own intense desire to win on home turf, and the fervent, vocal wishes of home fans that she do so.
The 20-year-old from Smith Falls, Ont., solved that puzzle at Regina’s Wascana Country Club on Sunday where she became the first Canadian in 45 years to win the CP Women’s Open.
“I played my first CP Women’s Open seven years ago. I just felt like I was slowly getting better, getting used to the attention,” Henderson said Monday in Calgary.
“This year, something just sort of clicked. Just being able to feed off the energy of the crowd, that was the first time ever I was really able to manage that.”
Less than 24 hours after hoisting the trophy she superstitiously wouldn’t touch until she won it, Henderson was at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country club for a women’s golf clinic and panel discussion.
The course is hosting the men in the PGA Tour Champions Shaw Charity Classic starting Friday.
Henderson’s visit was a stopover en route to Portland, Ore., and the Cambia Portland Classic, which she won in both 2015 and 2016.
Seeing England’s Georgia Hall claim the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in early August inspired Henderson as she headed to her own national championship.
But she was taken aback by the size of Wascana’s galleries when she stepped to the first tee box for her opening round.
Henderson still engaged with spectators, however. She smiled, waved and high-fived for three rounds until Sunday when her game mask was firmly on.
“Heading into Sunday, I just wanted to give it everything that I had and I wanted to keep that focus from when I first teed off until the 18th hole,” Henderson explained.
“I definitely did show my appreciation, but I was much more serious and much more focused.
“I just figured it would all be worth it if I was able to hoist the trophy on the 18th green and celebrate with everybody then. So, I feel it was a smart decision.”
The mask slipped as she walked to the 18th green for a birdie putt and she let the moment in.
“It was the first time all day I could really take a deep breath and realize that I’d actually just won,” she explained.
“That feeling of being able to let go, because I’d been not stressed, but just wanting to win it so badly. This was probably number one on the tournaments I wanted to win.”
What followed was whirlwind of media, autographs and fielding congratulatory messages on her phone, including one from Wayne Gretzky.
Henderson admitted not sleeping well after her four-stroke victory in part because she dreamed she hadn’t won and had to keep playing.
Only three other Canadian golfers since 1954 have won an Open at home is a testament to how difficult it is.
Henderson took her game management to a new level to achieve it. It is now in her skill set at just 20 years old.
She vaulted into world’s top 10 to No. 8 this week and sits second on the LPGA’s 2018 money list.
Henderson now targets a second career major Sept. 13-16 at the US$3.8 million Evian Championship in France.
She was just 18 when she won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Having checked a Canadian win off her career bucket list, Henderson says she now feels less pressure in her game.
“There is definitely a lot more pressure playing here at home in Canada, but it’s amazing I know I have that much support and people are cheering for me so hard,” she said.
“I definitely was a little disappointed with the way I’d played previously, but I feel like it was all a stepping stone in the right direction leading to this win.”
‘It’s a momentous occasion’: Henderson’s father reacts to CP Women’s Open win
REGINA – When Brooke Henderson sank her final putt on the 18th hole to win the CP Women’s Open, her father Dave ran onto the course and started to shower her with champagne.
He said after the victory on Sunday that he then congratulated his daughter and told her what an unbelievable feat that she had just accomplished.
“I’m sure it will take a lot of years for that to sink in with Brooke and her to reflect on it,” Dave Henderson said. “It’s a momentous occasion and history was set here today at Wascana Country Club.”
Henderson shot a final-round 7-under-par 65 for a 21-under 267 total and four-shot victory over American Angel Yin.
It’s the first time a Canadian has won the national Open since Jocelyne Bourassa was victorious in Montreal in 1973.
“I tell ya, golf in Canada just grew,” Dave Henderson said. “It grew across the country in every capacity today.”
Henderson hit four birdies in a row at one point on the back nine to pull away.
Her sister, and caddie, Brittany said that she was trying to hold in tears before the final putt that sealed the victory.
“I didn’t want to start celebrating too early and I think she didn’t either even though we were up three going into the last hole, it’s golf and anything can happen,” her caddie said. “Until that last putt went in, we didn’t really believe it. But now it’s just amazing.”
Henderson said that she thought of her family as she claimed victory and all the hard work that they’ve put in to help her along the way.
Family means everything. pic.twitter.com/wzLiWgXu4Q
— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) August 26, 2018
She added that winning the title was a “big dream and a big goal for all of us.”
“I thank God for this win and just the many opportunities that I’ve been given,” Henderson said. “My grandfather passed away this summer and I really think they were helping me today.”
It was the seventh career LPGA Tour win for the 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., and second victory this season.
The win also moved her one behind Sandra Post’s record for all-time victories by a Canadian.
“I don’t think anybody could have predicted that,” her father said. “We were just plugging along and good lord willing, we’ve got that many so far.”
Alena Sharp pays tribute to Humboldt Broncos throughout CP Women’s Open
REGINA – Throughout the entire week at the CP Women’s Open, Alena Sharp would write the number 16 on her golf balls.
It was one the Hamilton native’s ways of paying tribute to the 16 people that died in the April 6 bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team.
Sharp said earlier in the event that she felt as though she had 16 angels watching over her at the Wascana Country Club.
“I totally was thinking about them all day. Even on the last putt,” Sharp said after her final round on Sunday. “I wrote 16 on my ball just to give me a reminder of it.”
Thirteen people survived the crash that happened as the Broncos were on their way to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game.
Sharp played this year’s Canadian championship with a golf bag that featured the Broncos’s green and yellow colours and team logo. The bag is being given to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital and will be auctioned off at a fundraiser next month.
Sponsor obligations along with trying to learn the course prevented Sharp from making the trip to Humboldt, which is located 2 1/2 hours north of Regina. The busyness of the tournament also didn’t allow her to meet any of the survivors.
“I haven’t met them, but they’re always in my thoughts,” Sharp said.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., has captured the Canadian headlines during the tournament, but Sharp shot a 1-under 71 on Sunday to finish the event at 6 under. Anne-Catherine Tanguay (73) of Quebec City was 4 under.
As Sharp was walking on the cart path to the sixth hole on Sunday, she saw Henderson putting on the practice green and ran over to give her friend and Olympic teammate a hug before Henderson started her round.
Sharp said that she was excited for Henderson, who is aiming to become the first Canadian champion of the event since Jocelyne Bourassa won in Montreal in 1973.
“Hopefully she can stay strong in the last little bit, the last few holes and bring the win in,” Sharp said.
Sharp has struggled with consistency this season and said that it’s been a mentally tough year for her. She said that it’s always tougher to play at home but felt as though she has taken a step in the right direction with this week’s play.
“I’m just battling through some mental demons,” Sharp said. “I’m happy walking off of this week, I played well under the pressure and have a lot of positives to take to next week.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson shoots 65 to win CP Women’s Open by four strokes
REGINA – Brooke Henderson ended Canada’s long drought at the CP Women’s Open on Sunday, firing a final-round 7-under-par 65 to win the national championship by four strokes.
Henderson finished with a 21-under 267 total, sealing the win with a short birdie putt on the 18th hole at the Wascana Country Club.
“It’s amazing, just surreal,” Henderson said. “The crowds here have been so amazing all week, and to finish it off the way I did is really a dream come true.”
American Angel Yin was alone in second place after a 68 and American Jennifer Song (67) was six shots behind at 15 under. Australians Minjee Lee (68) and Su Oh (69) were seven strokes off the pace in a fourth-place tie with South Korea’s Amy Yang (68) and American Austin Ernst (69).
It was the first time a Canadian has won this tournament since Jocelyne Bourassa took the 1973 event – then called La Canadienne – at Montreal.
Henderson earned US$337,500 of the $2.25-million purse for her second victory of the season. It was her seventh career LPGA Tour win, moving her one behind Sandra Post’s record for all-time victories by a Canadian.
Henderson, who started the day with a one-shot lead, was aggressive from the start on an overcast, chilly morning in front of a vocal group of adoring supporters.
Displaying a steely focus and no sign of nerves, she found the fairway with her opening drive and cleared a greenside bunker with her second shot, sticking the ball 12 feet from the pin.
Henderson is one of the biggest hitters on the Tour but her short game can be inconsistent at times. The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., set the early tone by sinking the birdie putt for a two-shot lead.
She gave the stroke back on the second hole after her drive found the rough. A line of fairway-hugging trees forced her to chip out on the fairway and Henderson would settle for bogey.
Back-to-back pars followed, allowing Oh to briefly pull even with the Canadian. However, Oh missed a 10-foot par putt on the fifth hole and Henderson drained a 25-footer for birdie to regain the lead.
Canada’s @BrookeHenderson wins the 2018 #CPWO, becoming the first Canadian to win since 1973 https://t.co/rtdHhQ7ueb
— CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) August 26, 2018
After a birdie-bogey run, Henderson showed her form on the par-3, 206-yard eighth hole. With a challenging pin placement, she elevated her tee shot perfectly to clear a greenside ridge and bunker to leave herself an 18-foot putt.
She hit the birdie to move to 16-under for a three-shot cushion on Oh and defending champion Sung Hyun Park of South Korea.
Henderson was playing to win and not to just hang on.
A steady rain started to fall as the last few groups made the turn. Some of the Tour’s biggest names were chasing Henderson but no one could get hot enough on the back nine to get close.
Yin hovered a few shots back but Henderson wouldn’t budge.
“It’s great for golf in Canada, women’s golf, and it’s great for her too,” Yin said. “I mean, people shouting her name left to right since the first hole, like (since) nine in the morning. I bet you she feels pressure.
“But she’s used to it and she handles it pretty well, and she finished the job.”
The Canadian was making almost every shot look easy. The greens softened up a touch and Henderson was going for the pins. Approach shots were usually in tight and the putter was working.
Yin rolled in her third straight birdie on No. 15, and Henderson answered by knocking in her fourth birdie putt in a row to keep her three-shot lead.
She maintained that cushion through the 17th hole, allowing her to fully enjoy the moment on No. 18 as the packed gallery roared during her walk up the fairway.
After a beautiful drive, Henderson’s approach shot from 69 yards out cozied up to the hole. She tapped in the short putt and the celebration was on.
Henderson raised her arms in the air and hugged her sister Brittany, who was on her bag all week. Their ecstatic father, Dave, ran on to the green and doused them in champagne.
Park (71), who finished at 13 under, will retain her No. 1 position in the world rankings. She was tied with three-time CP Women’s Open champion Lydia Ko (69) and several others.
American Mo Martin was another shot back at 12 under after firing a course-record 62.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (71) was at 6 under, two shots ahead of Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (73).
The 2019 CP Women’s Open will be held at the Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson leads after three rounds of CP Women’s Open
REGINA – Canada’s Brooke Henderson feels most comfortable with her game when she’s on top of the leaderboard.
A solid third round has left her in that very position as she prepares to take a run at history at the CP Women’s Open.
Henderson moved into the lead Saturday with a 2-under-par 70, leaving her at 14-under 202 and one shot ahead of Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (69) and American Angel Yin (71).
“It’s a lot more fun (on top) and I feel like I can kind of go off the crowd a little bit more,” Henderson said. “It’s just really exciting and I feel like when I have a lot of confidence in my game, that’s when I tend to make a lot of birdies and I tend to play really well.”
After back-to-back scores of 66, Henderson had to deal with windier conditions at the Wascana Country Club.
Her length off the tee was impressive but her short game was inconsistent at times. Henderson did manage to hit some big putts when she needed to and spent most of the afternoon alone in first place.
On Sunday, she’ll try to become the first Canadian since Jocelyne Bourassa to win this tournament. Bourassa was victorious in 1973 in Montreal.
Yin missed an eight-foot birdie putt on her final hole that would have given her a share of the lead. Defending champion and world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park of South Korea (70) was two shots back.
Australia’s Su Oh (69) and American Austin Ernst (70) were three strokes off the lead.
The 6,675-yard course sets up well for Henderson’s style. She’s one of the LPGA Tour’s longest hitters and is not afraid to go for it.
If Henderson can attack the par-5 holes and stay consistent on the greens, she’s got a great shot of winning the event.
“I definitely do play better when I’m aggressive,” she said. “I play smart but aggressive and when I’m kind of chasing birdies, I feel like that’s kind of where I’m playing my best. But it just kind of depends on the conditions.”
Play will begin earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid the wet weather that’s expected to arrive by lunch hour. The fourth round will start at 7 a.m. local time and the last group will tee off at 9:01 a.m.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., started the day one shot behind second-round leader Amy Yang, but the South Korean bogeyed her first two holes to give the Canadian the outright lead.
They were joined in a group with Yin, who hovered near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day.
With a vocal group of supporters cheering her at every turn, Henderson opened with four straight pars before a drive on the par-4 fifth hole found the rough and led to a bogey. She responded by rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt on the sixth.
She was aggressive after the turn with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. Henderson nearly eagled the 14th hole, but her chip from the rough hit the back of the cup and bounced out for a tap-in birdie.
She ran into some trouble on the 16th hole but recovered nicely. Henderson pulled her drive and her second shot landed in the rough beside a greenside bunker.
Standing in the sand, she flopped a wedge that came up short but she hit a 20-footer to save par.
“To be able to get up and down when I kind of ran into a little bit of trouble there on 16 I think was really key and just (helped me) keep my composure a little bit,” Henderson said.
Henderson and Yin both struggled on the 17th green. Yin had an eagle putt but settled for par while Henderson missed a four-foot par putt.
Yang, meanwhile, struggled to a 75. She was in a five-way tie for seventh place at 10-under 206.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (70) and Anne-Catherine Tanguay (70) of Quebec City were nine shots off the lead.
Henderson, 20, has one victory this season and six wins over her LPGA Tour career. Her best career finish at this event came last year in Ottawa when she tied for 12th.
“She’s gritty and determined and aggressive,” Sharp said. “I think that is a huge thing to have out here, especially with the wind.”
The winner of the US$2.25-million tournament will earn $337,500. The runner-up will pocket $209,358.
Final round of 2018 CP Women’s Open to be broadcast on TSN
REGINA (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada in partnership with title sponsor CP, the LPGA Tour and broadcast partner Golf Channel, are pleased to announce that Bell Media’s TSN will broadcast the final round of the 2018 CP Women’s Open at the Wascana Country Club on Sunday, August 26 live to Canadian audiences from coast to coast.
With possible inclement weather forecasted for Sunday in Regina and final round play adjusted to begin earlier, Golf Channel, the exclusive television rights holders for the 2018 CP Women’s Open, agreed to extend the Canadian broadcast television rights to TSN to bring live coverage of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship directly to Canadian households.
Canadian Brooke Henderson, currently the 54-hole leader, looks to become the first Canadian golfer since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973 to win Canada’s National Women’s Open Golf Championship.
The final round of the CP Women’s Open will be broadcast live on TSN1 and TSN3 from 1-4pm ET (11am to 2pm CT), and on TSN.ca and the TSN App for TSN and TSN Direct subscribers.
“Together with CP and the LPGA Tour, Golf Canada is so proud to work with our great partners at Golf Channel to ensure Canadians can experience this incredible moment in Canadian golf history,” said CP Women’s Open Tournament Director Ryan Paul. “We are also extremely thankful to Bell Media and TSN for coming together with Golf Channel to deliver Sunday’s final round live so that Canadians from coast to coast can experience the incredible finish to the CP Women’s Open.”
Golf Channel will broadcast the final round of the CP Women’s Open tape-delayed from 2-5pm CT and will also live-stream to US audiences on www.golfchannel.com.
With the forecast of rain and possible afternoon thunderstorms, the final round of the CP Women’s Open will start earlier than previously scheduled off the 1st and 10th tee beginning at 7:00 am CT in groups of three.
The final group of Canadian Brooke Henderson playing alongside Nasa Hataoka and Angel Yin will tee off at 9:01 am CT.
Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane makes record tying 28th appearance at CP Women’s Open
REGINA – It’s a walk that never gets old for Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Lorie Kane.
She received a warm ovation as she strolled up the 18th fairway Friday after making a record-tying 28th appearance at the CP Women’s Open.
“I’m sure there will come a time where I may decide that might be the last,” Kane said. “As for right now, I don’t see that in my near future. At least I hope.”
The 53-year-old from Charlottetown struggled in both rounds at the Wascana Country Club. She missed the cut after shooting a 77 on Friday, a day after opening the tournament with an 83.
Brooke Henderson was the low Canadian as the last few groups finished second-round play. She shot a second straight 66 for a 12-under-par 132 total, one shot behind clubhouse leader Amy Yang of South Korea.
A total of 16 Canadians entered the tournament but most will miss the cut.
Anne-Catharine Tanguay of Quebec City (71) was a good bet for weekend play at 3-under 141, one stroke better than the projected cut line.
Bubble players included Alena Sharp of Hamilton, amateur Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile-Perrot, Que., and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que. They were all on the windswept course in the late afternoon.
Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., (73) and Victoria amateur Naomi Ko (79) finished at 3-over-par 147, one stroke ahead of Vancouver amateur Tiffany Kong (72). Saskatoon’s Anna Young (75) was at 153 and Calgary’s Jennifer Ha (79) was at 154.
Saskatoon’s Anna Young, Augusta James of Bath, Ont., Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., Megan Osland of Kelowna, B.C., Ellie Szeryk of London, Ont., and Saskatoon native Bobbi Brandon were all well back with late tee times.
Kane plays the occasional event on the LPGA Tour and also keeps busy with appearances on the Legends Tour. Quick with a smile and always keen to sign autographs and chat with fans, she remains as popular as ever.
Like Henderson, Kane’s picture is featured on promotional banners around the course and she has become an ambassador for the game throughout the country.
Kane took part in a charity clinic this week and was also a featured speaker at a women’s leadership panel. She believes in a ‘Lift and Climb’ philosophy so that others can benefit.
“For me that means as I’m climbing, I want to bring somebody with me because I was lifted,” Kane said. “I was lifted high and I’m just trying to return the favour.”
Longtime golf analyst Bob Weeks of TSN said Kane is very passionate about her work on and off the course.
“It’s a feel-good story of someone who has gained a lot from golf but has probably given back 10 times more in terms of Canadian golf and where she’s taken it.”
Kane has been the low Canadian at this tournament on nine occasions – eight outright and one tie – with her best result coming in 2001 with a third-place tie.
After hitting the 18th green with her approach shot on Friday, Kane acknowledged the supporters by taking off her red visor and waving at the crowd.
“I’ve never spent too much time looking back,” Kane said of her long career. “I hope to just be able to continue to look forward. But there is nothing like that walk up 18.”
The four-time LPGA Tour winner shares the tournament’s all-time appearance record with JoAnne Carner. The mark will likely be broken next year at the Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.
In fact, chances are good that Kane will receive an exemption to participate for as long as she wants to continue to playing at the event.