PGA TOUR

Hideki Matsuyama erased a three-shot deficit and made a two-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Alex Noren and win the Hero World Challenge. It is the second time he has won the Tiger Woods-hosted event, and it is his second win of the year – the first coming almost exactly 12 months ago in the season-opening The Sentry in Hawaii. Noren, who led the field with 27 birdies, made an 18-footer on the final hole to force the playoff. Third round leader Sepp Straka birdied the final hole to finish solo third for his second top-five finish at this event. J.J. Spaun and two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler finished tied for fourth. …Corey Conners, making his inaugural debut at the event, recorded his eighth top-10 result of the year

NEXT EVENT: PGA Tour Q-School (Dec. 11)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Peyton Callens, Myles Creighton, A.J. Ewart, Adam Hadwin, Stuart Macdonald, Drew Nesbitt, Ben Silverman, Roger Sloan, Adam Svensson

NEXT EVENT: Grant Thornton Invitational (Dec. 12)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Corey Conners, Brooke Henderson

EUROPEAN TOUR

Kristoffer Reitan watched a five-stroke lead evaporate as the Norwegian held off two other golfers to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. It is his second European Tour title of the year, and it also assured him of an invitation to the 2026 Masters as he moves up to No. 30 in the world rankings with one tournament left in the year. The top 50 qualify for a trip to Augusta. Jayden Schaper of South Africa and Dan Bradbury of England both finished one stroke back. Schaper had four birdies through the first 12 holes but could not make another the rest of the way, while Bradbury had six birdies through 14 holes but pars over the final four. …This was Nick Taylor‘s best finish at a European Tour-sanctioned event since 2018.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen scrambled to make par on the final hole and win the Crown Australian Open by a single stroke. It is his first European Tour win, and it also earned him an invitation to the 2026 Masters. The Dane was tied with hometown favourite Cam Smith as they played the 18th hole. After missing the green, Neergaard-Petersen flopped his third shot to within 10 feet and made the par putt. Smith had a five-footer for par to force a playoff but missed it to the left, ending his chances of snapping his two-year winless drought. Si Woo Kim finished third, with Michael Hollick fourth and former Masters champion Adam Scott in fifth. All three earned a spot in next year’s British Open. …Aaron Cockerill notched his first top-25 European Tour finish since June.

NEXT EVENT: Alfred Dunhill Championship (Dec. 11)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Aaron Cockerill (alternate)

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Team Europe captured the Skechers World Champions Cup over the International and American teams. After two days of nine-hole matches in modified alternate shot and better ball, Europe led by a slim 1.5 points entering the final day. Colin Montgomerie kicked things off by winning 10.5 points in his Sunday singles match to pace the attack as European players were the leading scorers in four of the six morning groupings. The International team’s Steven Alker was the leading scorer in the morning session, collecting 13.5 points. In the afternoon session, Team International captain Mike Weir led the way with 12 points, but it was not enough to blunt the European surge, which was led by Bernhard Langer and Soren Kjeldsen, who each scored 12 points. Europe finished with 230 points to win the title by 16.5 points over the defending champion United States. The Internationals finished with 204.5 points. Team USA’s Jason Caron was the leading point scorer for the event with 60.5 points, scoring double-digit points in each of the last four sessions.

NEXT EVENT: PNC Championship (Dec. 20)

Epson Tour sophomore Leah John drained her final putt on the 18th green at South Bend Country Club to claim the first professional victory of her career. John started the week with a new personal best, posting a 9-under bogey-free 63 on Friday, making the celebratory moment even more meaningful.

Despite having a three-shot lead heading into Championship Sunday, the Canadian felt some nerves after bogeying the first hole. The 25-year-old carded four birdies on the day to hold her 36-hole lead and finish the tournament with a total of 9-under par.

“I was super excited to play with Melanie (Green) and Leo today, so I was just looking forward to the day and learning from her and her experiences, and just prioritizing joy, sticking to my game plan, and just seeing where the day takes me,” said John. “I was ready for anything that came.”

The University of Nevada graduate settled in quickly, making three birdies in a row on holes five, six, and seven, posting a 1-under 36 on her opening nine. The nerves got the best of John as she made a bogey and double-bogey to start out her back nine, but dug deep to find a birdie on 16  in her final stretch to post a 2-over 74.

Melanie Green and Jennifer Chang started the day just three shots back of John, ultimately finishing in a share of second place. Green, the winner of the Island Resort Championship presented by Delta County Chamber, put an eagle and one birdie on her card during the round but posted an even par 72 and was unable to secure her second victory.

Chang couldn’t get things to fall her way on Sunday, carding an even par 72 and a combined 8-under for the tournament. Despite not being in the final pairing, the 25-year-old made two birdies, posting an even par front side. The University of Southern California alumna, found a birdie and a bogey on her finishing nine to secure her runner-up finish.

John, a first-time Epson Tour champion, jumped 77 spots in the Race for the Card standings after receiving 500 points from her win at the Four Winds Invitational. This is John’s highest rank of the 2025 season, number 22, putting the Canadian in a good spot to climb her way into the top 15 with five tournaments remaining.

“It’s super special,” John said of the win. “I said earlier that I love golf because of the game, but I think I love it more because of the people in it. It’s just nice to have a day like this, to represent all the hard work and the communities that have helped me along the way.”

As the final week of the Northeast stretch comes to a close, the Epson Tour will enjoy a well-deserved week off before traveling to Pendleton, Oregon, for the fourth playing of the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic at Wildhorse Golf Course from August 15-17.

The leaderboard was stacked with red numbers and ties after the first round of the 14th annual Four Winds Invitational. The field of 144 athletes took advantage of the cooler temperatures and pure conditions at South Bend Country Club in round one of the final leg in the Northeast Stretch.

Kaitlyn Papp Budde was the first leader in the clubhouse of the day, posting a 5-under 67. Papp Budde started off strong, sinking four birdies on her opening nine. The Texas native settled into her round carding a 1-under 34 on the back nine to tie her low round of the 2025 Epson Tour season.

Monet Chun followed closely behind Papp Budde, tying her 5-under round of 67 to start off the morning wave. Chun made six birdies and was bogey-free until her 16th hole, breaking her record for the lowest round in her professional career. The University of Michigan alumna is finding her spark at no better venue than in rival territory of South Bend, Ind., as she looks forward to continuing a weekend of solid golf in hopes of securing the best finish of her young professional career.

Epson Tour sophomore Leah John had a number to chase by the time she teed off in the afternoon and started off strong with three consecutive birdies on holes one, two, and three. The Canadian continued her string with birdies on holes five, six, seven, and nine to shoot a 7-under 30 on her front nine.

“I had a very unexpected beginning to my round,” said John. “I made a couple of putts in the beginning, and I was like, ‘Hey, this is great.’ And then it just kept happening and sort of felt like it was out of my control a little bit, but it was pretty exciting. The girls I was playing with were super nice, so I could keep myself distracted just chatting, but it was a pretty epic day.”

John rounded the turn, making two pars before sinking a birdie putt on the par-5 12th hole. The 25-year-old settled into her back nine with five pars before hitting the green on the par-5 18 in two to finish off her round with a birdie. The University of Nevada alumna carded a bogey-free round of 63, finding herself at the top of the leaderboard and leaving round one having tied the 18-hole tournament record along with her new career low round.

“I think that’s the coolest part about golf, it’s about playing against yourself and the golf course, so you’re always striving for more,” said John. “It’s just hard. You never really see yourself as good or a record person, so it’ll be just a nice thing to have in my pocket to remember.”

Brigitte Thibault was practising for a mini-tour event outside Orlando, Fla., last December, when a recreational player on an adjacent hole shanked her hybrid off the fairway, firing the ball into the back of the young professional golfer’s head.

Thibault’s hands instinctively flew to the back of her head as she lost consciousness and sank to the ground.

“I remember the vibration because it was so loud in my head,” recalled Thibault on Tuesday. “I remember thinking, ‘what the hell just hit me?’

“Then I opened my eyes and I was on the ground. I remember looking at both of my hands and they were just full of red blood.”

The 26-year-old from Rosemere, Que., was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with a concussion. The doctors also told her that she was “lucky” that the blood was flowing outwards and that there was no serious internal bleeding. 

Indeed, she didn’t even need any stitches.

Thibault said she basically slept non-stop for the next two weeks and then returned to the gym to build her strength back up. But the damage the accident did to her nervous system and the lingering post-traumatic stress disorder have been harder to shake.

“For like a week and a half to two weeks, I was waking up because I would re-feel the vibration or see the hands (covered in blood),” said Thibault. “It’s strange to explain.”

Even as she physically recovered and the nightmares faded, PTSD episodes continued to surprise Thibault for weeks after the incident.

“A dog barks or a baby would cry, it would trigger a whole panic attack, as if I was getting attacked,” said Thibault, noting she hasn’t had any episodes since the first week of February. “I’ll feel like there’s going to be a panic attack, but then I don’t start crying or anything more. 

“When the accident happened, I was so caught off guard (…) that anything that would catch me off guard, post that event, would alarm my whole nervous system.”

Determined to return to her career, Thibault resumed playing competitive golf in March with her first event of 2025 sponsored by the same company as the fateful mini-tour event, also in the Orlando area.

“I was driving to the course, and I started crying, because I was just like, ‘this feels too much the same,” she said. “It’s strange to explain.

“I mean, I still don’t know if something’s gonna pop out, but for now, I feel pretty much back to my normal self.”

Thibault is now playing on the Epson Tour, the feeder circuit for the top-flight LPGA Tour, and has appeared in six events so far this year. Although she hasn’t gotten the results she’d like, missing the cut in her past five tournaments, she feels like her game is close.

“It’s been a bit of a bummer,” said Thibault. “I missed the last four cuts by one, so it’s been kind of hard on that end. 

“But again, my game is moving in the right direction, and my stats are moving where I want them to move to, so I’ve just got to stay the course.”

Thibault is one of eight Canadians in the field at this week’s Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship. 

She’ll be joined at Great River Golf Club in Milford, Conn., by Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., Vancouver’s Leah John, Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont., Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Josee Doyon of Saint-Georges, Que., Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ont., and Mary Parsons of Delta, B.C.

Thibault, who won bronze in the mixed team event with Parsons, Joey Savoie and Austin Connelly at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, said that it’s one of her favourite stops on the Epson Tour.

“It’s always really pure, I like the course set up,” she said. “It makes me think of an LPGA Tour event, and there’s always a lot of people that come out. 

“It feels like home in a sense.”

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Canadians on Tour:

LPGA TOUR — Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., returns to the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth major on the women’s golf calendar. She won the tournament in 2022 but is currently ranked 49th in the Race to CME Globe standings. 

PGA TOUR — Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is the top-ranked Canadian at the Genesis Scottish Open, an event co-hosted by the PGA Tour and the Europe-based DP World Tour. He’s ranked 13th in the FedEx Cup rankings. Conners will be joined by Nick Taylor (17th) of Abbotsford, B.C., Taylor Pendrith (35th) of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes (53d) of Dundas, Ont. Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., the only Canadian on the DP World Tour, is also in the field. He’s 98th on that circuit’s points list.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian in this week’s DICK’S Open. He’s ranked 39th on the Schwab Cup points list heading into play at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., leads the Canadian contingent into The Ascendant presented by Blue. He’s ranked 17th on the second-tier tour’s points list. Creighton will be joined at TPC Colorado in Berthoud by Sudarshan Yellamaraju (20th) of Mississauga, Ont., Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald (37th), Matthew Anderson (53rd) of Mississauga, Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Etienne Papineau (143rd) of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.

PGA TOUR AMERICAS — A.J. Ewart of Port Coquitlam, B.C., is the highest ranked Canadian on the third-tier Americas Tour heading into this week’s tournament. He’s 16th on the points list heading into the Bromont Open. There are 16 Canadians in the field at Golf Chateau-Bromont.

For as long as she could remember, Yeji Kwon has dreamed of playing the sport of golf at the highest level. Today, with a strong supporting cast around her, the 19-year-old is closing in on that childhood dream.

Young Yeji grew up following the success of three-time Canadian Women’s Open champion, Lydia Ko, and LPGA star, A Lim Kim.

“You could see they were comfortable in any given situation on the golf course and their success was inspiring. I thought to myself that I really wanted to be able to play at that high level and have that success one day.”

Her father, Do Yoon Kwon, speaks about her determination to succeed from a young age.

“Yeji was practising sometimes over ten hours a day.  She was working on every area of her game and because of her hard work, I could see she was getting better and better,” he said.

“I know she’s a really competitive person and always wants to do her best.”

The Canadian National Team member scored an impressive win as a bright-eyed 14-year-old when she captured the Alberta Women’s Amateur Championship in 2020.

“The weather wasn’t so good that weekend and the third round actually had to be cancelled,” she recalled.

“I really didn’t have any expectations going to into the tournament. I was thinking ‘let’s have fun out there and just try to make the cut’ and I ended up winning the tournament.  I just have a lot of good memories from that weekend.”

Another notable victory came in 2022, when Kwon captured the Canadian Junior Girls championship.

“I was playing with a lot of my friends because it was the Canadian Junior Girls Championship so all the best junior girls from Canada were playing in the tournament. Every aspect of my game was on that week – my irons, driver, short game,” she recalled.

“With both my parents being there, it was so much fun.  It felt great to win it and it seemed like all the practise and hard work was paying off.”

With the childhood dream of one day playing on the LGPA Tour, the amateur standout turned professional last year in its pursuit.

Kwon won her first tournament as a pro last July at the Genesis of Conway Central Arkansas Open.

“My game was on and everything was really good.  I was feeling really comfortable and confident that week,” she said of her first pro win in Arkansas.

Kwon was asked to described the strengths in her game that has led to her success on the golf course.

“I feel my strengths are my distance off the tee and my iron play,” noted the five-foot six inch Canadian national team member.

The 19-year-old knows it’s still a work in progress and she is constantly learning and eagerly looking for ways to improve.

“I had played in the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship earlier that month and made a few mistakes that I knew I needed to work on.  I felt in Arkansas, I was able to correct those mistakes,” she noted.

“Getting that first win as a pro felt really good and it gave more confidence in my game.”

Kwon says it also gives her a lot of confidence knowing she’s part of Golf Canada’s National Team Program.

“I’ve been on part of the National Team for three years.  It’s been really great for my development as a golfer because we get the opportunity to compete in some of the biggest tournaments and getting that experience is really important,” she pointed out.

“It gives me confidence to see the success of past and current members from the program. I’ve learned a lot from the coaches that I’ve worked with over the years and just very thankful for all the support and all the resources available to me from Golf Canada.”

Kwon says her biggest supporters since day one has been her mom and dad; and it means everything to have them along in the pursuit of her childhood dream.

“My parents got me into the sport and were my coaches from the beginning. It really means so much to have both of them travel with me.  They have sacrificed so much so I could have this opportunity to pursue my dreams, it’s something I’m really grateful for.”

The talented young Canadian has status on the Epson Tour this year and is holding her own – making the cut in two out of her first three tournaments.

As one of her biggest supporters, Do Yoon Kwon believes his 19-year-old daughter is on the right track towards reaching her dream and shares his words on encouragement. 

“Be confident, have fun, work hard and keep doing what you’re doing.”

Josee Doyon’s second round at the IOA Golf Classic was off to a rough start. 

She began the day at Alaqua Country Club in Longwood, Fla., near the top of the leaderboard but a triple bogey on the second hole endangered her position.

“I was just like ‘all right, there’s 16 more holes and I have two choices: I can either come back strong or give up,'” said Doyon on Wednesday. “And I am not the type of person who gives up so I’m like, ‘all right, we’re just going to battle through it, there’s a lot of holes left.'”

That attitude helped Doyon get three birdies on her next seven holes and stay in contention at the three-day event. The native of Saint-Georges, Que., tied for fifth in the tournament for the first top-10 finish of her career.

She moved up to 23rd on the Race for the Card, the points list for the second-tier Epson Tour. That made her the highest ranked Canadian on the circuit, two spots ahead of Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont.

“It feels good, especially after the first two events were not so good for me,” said Doyon, who missed the cut at the Central Florida Championship on Feb. 28 and the Atlantic Beach Classic on March 6. “To come back strong with the top five, to put me in the 23rd place is good because my goal this year is really to finish in the top 15. 

“The top 15 will get their cards on the LPGA Tour at the end of the year, so this is a good start for me. There’s 17 more tournament to play and I’ll be in a strong position at every one of them.”

The Epson Tour is taking a month off, with the IOA Championship the next event. It will be held at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon’s Champions Course in Beaumont, Calif., from April 25-27.

That doesn’t mean that Doyon has the time off, however.

She intends to play two events in the ANNIKA Womens All Pro Tour to keep sharp, teeing it up at the Coke Dr Pepper Open at the Links on the Bayou in Alexandria, La., April 3-5 and the Lake Charles Championship at L’Auberge at Contraband Bayou Golf Club in Lake Charles, La., April 9-12.

“I’ve really looked over my stats over the last three tournaments,” said Doyon. “I know I have to work a little harder on my second shot because my putting is good. 

“If I hit the ball even closer, it will give better results and just to keep being mentally strong and come back strong and rested.”

NCAA — Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C., continued her impressive season for the Texas Longhorns at the Betsy Rawls Invitational. Kim birdied No. 15 and made pars on Nos. 16, 17, and 18 to earn a one-shot victory at 1-over-par for the individual title. That performance anchored Texas’s 18-stroke team victory at the event.

PGA TOUR — Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., tied for sixth at the Players Championship on Sunday to move up to eighth in the FedEx Cup standings heading into this week’s Valspar Championship. He’ll be joined at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., by Adam Hadwin (87th) of Abbotsford, B.C., Mackenzie Hughes (113th) of Dundas, Ont., Ben Silverman (146th) of Thornhill, Ont., and Adam Svensson (153rd) of Surrey, B.C. Hadwin won the Valspar in 2017.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames and Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., are in this week’s Hoag Classic, which tees off on Friday. Ames is 29th and Weir is 75th in the Schwab Cup points list heading into play at the Newport Beach Country Club in California.

ROGERS CHARITY CLASSIC — Ames and Weir were the first golfers on Wednesday to add their names to the tee sheet for this summer’s Rogers Charity Classic in Calgary. The event is the only Champions Tour event in Canada and will be held at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club from Aug. 11-17.

“This is one of the premier events on the PGA Tour Champions, and I always really look forward to playing in Canada,” said Weir. “All of the players really love it. 

“When we get closer to the event, the chatter in the locker room increases, and I know the guys are going to be looking forward to getting up there, and that goes without saying for me to come home, see family and friends.”

Leah John knows that the standard answer for on what her goals are as an up-and-coming golfer should be something like “top 15 on the Epson Tour” or “get my LPGA card.” 

But, if she’s being honest, she’d rather just refine her process.

“I am just really focused on getting me and my game the best it can be, and then seeing where that takes it,” John said on Wednesday. “I have always believed that things will work out the way they want to if you put in the work and make a plan and just stick to it.

“I know it’s kind of a lame answer. I know the proper answer is ‘be the best golfer in the world,’ but really it’s to be the best I am right now.”

The 24-year-old from Vancouver turned pro this spring after graduating from the University of Nevada and has seven Epson Tour events under her belt since late April. She’s made the cut three times, including a tie for eighth at the Twin Bridges Championship on July 19.

“I think the thing that I’m still trying to figure out is the difference between playing to win versus playing not to lose, and kind of how you work around that and using pressure to fuel you,” she said.

The top 10 at Twin Bridges in Guilderland, N.Y., is the perfect example. 

John needed a good showing or she’d have to go to the LPGA and Epson Tour’s Qualifying Tournament Stage 1. She started the final round with back-to-back bogeys and briefly got down on herself but, by sticking with her process, she bounced back with four birdies on the final seven holes to earn her first professional top 10.

“You can’t think about it at all but you want it to happen, right?” said John on the difficult balance of staying present while trying to achieve goals. “You have to dial into the process more and more. 

“So learning that, there’s so much your mind kind of can help you get away with. This is the thing my coach (Jennifer Greggain) and I talk about all the time: trusting your mind, trusting your brain, to create what you want, and not getting in its way.”

John will be back in action on Friday at the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Ind. She’ll be joined by Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., and Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam, B.C. 

Thibault is 114th on the Race for the Card points list, Szeryk is 117th, John is 120th and Kwon is unranked.

LPGA TOUR — Rookie Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., leads the Canadian contingent into this week’s FM Championship. She’s 93rd on the Race to CME Globe rankings heading into play at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (113th) and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (141st) of Sherbrooke, Que., are also in the field.

PGA TOUR — Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is the lone Canadian in the Tour Championship at East Lake golf Club in Atlanta. The final event of the season has the top 30 players on the PGA Tour start with a score based on their rankings. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler will tee off on Thursday at 10 under, No. 2 Xander Schauffele begins at 8 under, and so on. Pendrith, who starts tied for 21st, will start the tournament at 1 under.

PGA TOUR AMERICAS — Matthew Anderson of Mississauga is second in the Fortinet Cup standings, heading into the second last event of the PGA Tour Americas season. He can gain some ground on John Keefer of the United States at this week’s CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minn. There are 13 Canadians in the field at Craguns Legacy Course.

As Ellie Szeryk lined up her final putt to seal the win at the B.C. Women’s Open, she spied longtime friend Brooke Rivers lurking around the green with a bottle of water.

Sure enough, when Szeryk made the putt, the chase was on with Rivers trying to douse her with water.

“I ran as far as I could, but she still got me quite good,” Szeryk said with a laugh. “But it was fun. In golf you usually do that to your really good friends when they win. 

“So it was really sweet that she did that. It’s like an unspoken honour.”

Szeryk beat Rivers by four strokes at Pitt Meadows Golf Club on Sunday in their professional debuts. Both golfers also earned berths at the CPKC Women’s Open, July 25-28 at Calgary’s Earl Grey Golf Club.

“It was just really nice to be able to have followed through on something that I had been thinking about,” said Szeryk. “It’s not always easy to golf. It’s just three rounds and you have no idea what the course is like and how it’s going to play.”

Earning their way into the national women’s championship, rather than relying on a sponsor’s exemption, was a relief to both players.

“I knew that there’d be a good opportunity for that,” said Szeryk, from London, Ont. “It’s been on my mind the last couple of months, like since I signed up. 

“I knew I needed to make sure I had my game right so I could take advantage of it because I knew that they weren’t going to be a lot of sponsored exemptions for this Canadian Open.”

Rivers agreed.

“It does feel really good to earn the exemption spot on my own through good play,” said Rivers, from Brampton, Ont. “It also feels a little more rewarding while being there because you feel like you had done everything in order to put yourself there.”

Rivers added with a laugh: “It’s a little bit easier when booking travel that you don’t have to do it the week before.”

Both Szeryk and Rivers turned pro after the conclusion of the NCAA golf season. They’re both spending time with family and practising before the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada tees off at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont., on July 2.

“I’m really excited to turn pro, and it’s something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” said Rivers, who played one season at Wake Forest University. “It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole life. 

“I just felt that I was in a position where I was ready to turn pro and I was ready to start competing.”

Golf Canada announced the early commitments to the 50th playing of the Women’s Open on Monday, with eight of the current top-10 and 83 of the top-100 players on the Race to the CME Globe Standings entered in the national women’s championship.

The 156-player field will be competing at Earl Grey Golf Club for the first time in tournament history. It will be the seventh time that Alberta hosts the Women’s Open and first time since 2016.

LPGA TOUR — Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is in the Dow Championship three days after making Canada’s Olympic golf team for a third time. Maddie Szeryk, Ellie’s older sister, just missed out on beating Sharp to the Olympics by 1.41 points in the women’s world golf rankings. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., No. 14 in the world, is also in the field at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich. They will be joined by Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., and amateur Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto.

EPSON TOUR — Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., is the top-ranked Canadian playing in the Dream First Bank Charity Classic. She’s 120th on the second-tier Epson Tour’s points list. She’ll be joined at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan., by Vancouver’s Leah John (160th), as well as Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Kate Johnston of Ayr, Ont., who are unranked.

PGA TOUR — Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is the top ranked Canadian at No. 30 on the FedEx Cup standings. He will be in the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, where he finished tied for second in 2022. Adam Svensson (76th) of Surrey, B.C., Ben Silverman (113th) of Thornhill, Ont., and Roger Sloan (194th) of Merritt, B.C., are also in the field.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is No. 23 on the Tour’s points list heading into the Memorial Health Championship. Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (33rd), Etienne Papineau (50th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., Sudarshan Yellamaraju (100th) of Mississauga, Ont., and Jared du Toit (118th) of Kimberley, B.C., are also in the field at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames leads the Canadian contingent into the U.S. Senior Open Championship. He’s No. 1 on the Charles Schwab Cup money list with two victories so far this year. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., is 25th on the list and also in the field at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I. David Morland IV of Aurora, Ont., is also playing the event.

AMERICAS TOUR — Matthew Anderson of Mississauga, Ont., remains the atop the points list of the third-tier Americas Tour heading into this week’s ATB Classic. He’s one of 18 Canadians playing Northern Bear Golf Club in Strathcona County, Alta.

Pro-am rounds can be a fun opportunity for serious golf fans to meet their favourite players and for the golfers to get some extra practice in ahead of that week’s tournament.

But for Canadian golfer Selena Costabile and former NFL players Josh Scobee and Marcus Pollard it was a chance to get into the intricacies of the athlete’s mindset. The trio were grouped together for the pro-am on Tuesday ahead of the Epson Tour’s Atlantic Beach Classic and got into a lengthy discussion as they made their way around the course. 

Costabile, who is from Thornhill, Ont., and Scobee bonded over the similarities between being a golfer and a placekicker.

“Because you really just have one shot to perform,” said Costabile. “He was giving me a lot of insights about how you have to have two different mindsets. One is in practice, and then once you get in to a competition or the tournament, on the course or on the football field, whatever that may be, you have to almost switch to more of a performance mindset.

“Trying to just get the ball between the posts is similar to trying to get the ball in the hole and do that as best as you can while not really thinking about the mechanical side of it.”

Scobee was a kicker on the Jacksonville Jaguars for 11 seasons before being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015 and then spending a couple of months with the New Orleans Saints in 2016 before retiring the next year. He connected on 80.1 per cent of his field-goal attempts and 98.2 per cent of his extra-point attempts for a total of 1,046 points.

He said that he developed his “how and where” approach about six years into his career.

“I told her what I’ve always tried to do — and it’s not always easy — but what I tried to do was to separate practice from the games,” said Scobee. “Practice is where you’re trying to figure out how to do it. You’re working on your technique, and little things that you practice to be ready for the game or a tournament or whatever. 

“Then separating that from where to hit it, or where to kick it whenever I was playing. So I told her it’s the how versus the where, how to do it versus where to hit it.”

Pollard was a tight end with the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons over 14 seasons, catching 40 touchdowns and over 4,280 receiving yards. Although Pollard didn’t have much to add to Scobee and Costabile’s conversation on mechanics, the kicker said he had a lot to say about mindset in general.

“It’s fun to get in front of other athletes that play different sports and go around the table and talk about what we all thought about or how we prepared,” said Scobee, “It all basically comes back to the same things and that’s the beauty of sports.”

Costabile said the conversation came at a good time for her because she has missed two cuts to start the Epson Tour season.

“I’m trying to work on leaving all the work of the off-season in the off-season and trusting that I did the work and now I just have to go out to play,” said Costabile. 

She’ll be joined by Kate Johnston of Ayr, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., in the field at Atlantic Beach Country Club. 

Thibault, in her first full season on the Epson Tour, made the cut at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic on March 8 and again at the IOA Golf Classic on March 15. She said she was happy with those results because her ball striking has not been up to its usual standard.

“To be honest, the focus hasn’t been on cuts because you’re trying to win it so it’s been more annoying in that sense,” said Thibault. “But I’m still excited because to start the season the top 50 women’s golfers in the world were in Asia so the first three Epson Tour events were probably the strongest fields we’re getting the whole year. 

“To be able to really not feel like you have your game and still fight and put those scores up, I’m extremely proud of that.”

The 25-year-old said that her focus this off-season has been to focus on the natural motion of her swing.

“I’m diving more into my creative side and more into my given talent and working with that instead of trying to fit into a box,” said Thibault. “I’ve been more of a sponge, going into tournaments and seeing what tendencies show up with adrenalin instead of being so technical, because I had really tried to fit into a box with a certain swing and it looked better but then I kind of lost a bit of lag there.”

LPGA TOUR — Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is the top-ranked Canadian heading into this week’s Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship. She is fifth on the Race to CME Globe season standings, having finished in the top 10 in three of her first four tournaments of the year. Rookie Savannah Grewal (29th) of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., are also in the field at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

CPKC WOMEN’S OPEN — Golf Canada announced on Wednesday afternoon that Mississauga Golf and Country Club would host the CPKC Women’s Open Aug. 18-24, 2025. It’s the first time the national women’s championship has been in the Greater Toronto Area since 2019 when Magna Golf Club hosted it in Aurora, Ont.

PGA TOUR — Nick Taylor is 11th in the FedEx Cup standings heading into this week’s Valspar Championship. Adam Hadwin, who is also from Abbotsford, B.C., won the Valspar in 2017 and is No. 30 in the points list. Five other Canadians are in the field at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., including Mackenzie Hughes (71st) of Dundas, Ont., Adam Svensson (72nd) of Surrey, B.C., Ben Silverman (88th) of Thornhill, Ont., Taylor Pendrith (93rd) of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Roger Sloan (201st) of Merritt, B.C.

PGA TOUR AMERICAS — The PGA Tour Americas begins its inaugural season on Thursday with the Bupa Championship. The third-tier tour is a combination of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada, that ended last year. Twelve Canadians will tee it up at PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico.

DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., is 15th on the Road to Dubai standings, the European-based DP World Tour’s points list. He’s the lone Canadian in the field at this week’s Porsche Singapore Classic at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.

Right up until she was standing on the 18th green, making her final putt of the tournament, Brigitte Thibault didn’t know she was winning the Kathy Whitworth Championship.

The three-stroke win in Trophy Club, Texas, was the first victory of the 24-year-old Thibault’s professional career. Thibault said she had just kept her head down for the third and final round of the Women’s All Pro Tour season finale.

“I had no idea what the leaderboard was. I was just trying to score as best as I could,” said Thibault. “It’s almost like I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and just felt like I just needed to keep pushing.”

Thibault finished the tournament 71-68-68 for a total of 207. The native of Rosemere, Que., came out of the front nine of her third round at 5 under, having three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole at the Trophy Club Country Club.

She bogeyed the par-3 No. 13 to arrive at her final round score of 4-under 68 and the win.

“I kept missing great opportunities on the back nine,” said Thibault. “I’d reach a lot of pins and then not make the putts.

“I felt like I was giving it away, but I ended up coming up on top. That was exciting.”

Having won a professional event, Thibault’s next goal is to move up to a higher tier of women’s golf. That means a good showing in Stage II of the LPGA Tour’s qualifying series at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla., Oct. 17 to Oct. 20.

Thibault said she’ll be working with coach Chuck Cook in Austin, Texas, to ready herself for Stage II.

“Just preparation for what the course is asking for,” said Thibault. “Really make sure I’m comfortable with the type of shots that I’m going to need to be hitting. Just a lot of short game, to be honest.”

Winning the Kathy Whitworth Championship has shown Thibault that she can do it.

“My work is paying off and just to see it come to fruition is really exciting,” said Thibault. “But also just confidence in terms of like I’m trying to stay ready for Q-School and just to have competitive reps and to be able to come out on top it’s very encouraging on my end.”

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