PGA TOUR

Scottie Scheffler squandered a six stroke advantage to start the final round only to play near perfect golf on the back nine for a five-shot victory at the PGA Championship. It is the third major title for the world number one ranked golfer and his 15th career win in just his sixth season on the Tour. Scheffler is the third-fastest player to reach that total behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Two bogeys over a four hole stretch to close out the front nine coupled with Jon Rahm making three birdies over a four-hole stretch meant the two major winners were tied when Scheffler made the turn. But Rahm faltered down the stretch, failing to birdie the two easiest holes on the back nine – 14 and 15 – before surrendering five shots over the final three holes – a notorious stretch known as the Green Mile – while other contenders also saw their championship hopes fade. DeChambeau birdied the 14th and 15th to get within two shots of Scheffler, but never had another good look at birdie the rest of the way and ended with a bogey on the final hole to finish tied for second with Harris English and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the rest of the way. Taylor Pendrith finished in a tie for fifth for his best showing at the PGA Championship in three career starts and his first top-10 finish in a major. Pendrith was top-10 in Shots Gained: Off The Tee, Shots Gained: Total and Greens in Regulation for the week. Rory McIlroy finished tied for 47th, his poorest showing in a major in which he’s played all four rounds in the last four years. …Corey Conners picked up his third career top-20 finish at the PGA Championship and his ninth career top-20 result at a major.

NEXT EVENT: Charles Schwab Challenge (May 22)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Silverman, Adam Svensson

KORN FERRY TOUR

S.H. Kim survived a shaky back nine for a three-stroke victory at the AdventHealth Championship. It is his first tour title in just his 30th career start, but he has previous international victories on both the Korean and Japan golf tours. Kim is the eighth winner this season under the age of 30 and just the third international winner on tour this year. The victory moves Kim up to No. 1 in the points race, dethroning Hank Lebiod,a who held top spot since winning the season-opening event in the Bahamas after defeating Kim in a playoff. Blaine Hale Jr. finished runner-up after equalling the course record with a final round 63. Alvaro Ortiz, Ben Taylor and Carter Jenkins all finished tied for third. …Sudarshan Yellamaraju records his first top-10 result since his win back in January in the Bahamas.

NEXT EVENT: Visit Knoxville Open (May 22)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Matthew Anderson, Myles Creighton, Stuart Macdonald, Étienne Papineau, Roger Sloan, Sudarshan Yellamaraju,

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Angel Cabrera birdied two of his final three holes to win the weather-delayed Regions Tradition, the first major of the season on the Champions Tour. It is the second win in the last four starts for the Argentinian, who made a return to the tour last year after spending two years in prison for gender violence. Jerry Kelly was tied with Cabrera when play was suspended but saw his chances for victory slip away with a bogey on 17. This was the first unscheduled Monday finish on the tour since the 2024 U.S. Senior Open. …Stephen Ames notched his third top-10 finish of the season and second in his last three starts.

NEXT EVENT: Senior PGA Championship (May 22)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Stephen Ames, Mike Weir

EPSON TOUR

Gina Kim made three birdies over her first four holes and managed to tame the 25-mile an hour-plus winds in the final round to win the Copper Rock Championship by a single stroke. Kim was one of only three players in the final five groups who managed to break par on Sunday on the way to her third career Epson Tour title. Carla Tejedo Mulet was tied for the lead after a birdie on the penultimate hole but an errant tee shot on 18 resulted in a bogey. Melanie Green was one stroke back with one to play and put her approach to within six feet for a chance to tie but couldn’t convert, settling for par and a tie for second. …Team Canada member Maddie Szeryk notched her third consecutive top-40 finish. …Fellow Team Canada member Ellie Vorster (formerly Szeryk) made her Epson Tour debut, earning her way into the tournament after winning an event last month on the ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour.

NEXT EVENT: FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship (Jun 6)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Leah John, Maddie Szeryk, Monet Chun, Yeji Kwon, Josee Doyon, Mary Parsons, Brigitte Thibault, Ashley Chow

G4D TOUR

Brendan Lawlor captured the G4D Open for the second time in two years, a four-shot victory over Lachlan Wood from Australia. Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, made two birdies over his first six holes to help counter the surging Wood, who made four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. However, a double bogey on the 15th stalled his title hopes. Spain’s Juan Postigo Arce and Englishman Thomas Blizzard tied for third. Chris Willis of Canada finished 12th.

Daphne van Houten captured the women’s G4D Open title, defending the trophy she won a year ago with an 11-stroke victory over Jennifer Sraga of Germany, who was making her championship debut. Aimi Bullock of England finished third. Natasha Stasiuk of Canada finished seventh overall while taking top place in the Intellectual 1 category

NEXT EVENT:  G4D Tour @ Betfred British Masters

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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NEW BERN, N.C. – Hamilton’s Alena Sharp has won her second Epson Tour title of her career.

Sharp emerged victorious in the Champions Fore Change Invitational, securing a two-stroke lead on Sunday. When asked about her performance Sharp expressed “Today, I played really steady, I was really happy with my play. It was a little windy today, but I controlled my trajectory really well and am just really proud of myself.” 

Gigi Stoll from the United States finished second overall, ending the tournament at 15-under par at Taberna Country Club.

Sharp previously won the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic in 2014 when it was still known as the Symetra Tour. A 19-year LPGA veteran, has experienced numerous close final rounds throughout her career, accumulating 15 top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour and an additional 11 on the Epson Tour.

Sharp also shared her mindset during the tournament, saying, “I stayed present all day, and if I had a negative thought, I backed off and started again. You need luck when you win as well, and I had some luck, so I am just really happy right now.” 

Selena Costabile, representing Thornhill, Ontario, tied for 14th place at 7-under par.

Sharp currently holds the eighth position on the money list of the second-tier tour.

It’s all been coming together for Megan Osland this winter.

Osland fired a 6-under 66 in the third round of Sunday’s Cactus Tour event for a one-shot victory. It’s the third win the native of Kelowna, B.C., has earned on the mini-tour this winter, and she feels she’s reaping the rewards of her hard work.

“I think it validates all the work that I’ve been doing in the off-season,” she said in an phone interview from Scottsdale, Ariz. “All my training is paying off.

“I’ve been working with my swing coach, my putting coach, and my mental coach. Everything’s coming together with all three of those.”

Osland said that she’s just made small adjustments in every facet of her game.

“Nothing major in any, in any category, just tweaking little things and just improving kind of the consistency of each area,” said Osland.

Those changes paid off in a three-stroke victory at the Sun City Country Club on Nov. 2, a seven-shot win at Riverview Golf Club on Jan. 15, and then Sunday’s win at Willow Creek Golf Club.

All three of those events were in Sun City, Ariz., but the Cactus Tour will shift to Beaumont, Calif., for its next two tournaments.

Osland plans to play in both as they could be a stepping stone from the developmental Cactus Tour to the second-tier Epson Tour. That circuit serves as a direct feeder to the LPGA Tour, the highest level of women’s professional golf.

“The carrot for that is the you get points for both of those tournaments and the overall point winner at the end of the two tournaments gets an exemption into an Epson Tour event,” said Osland, who played in five Epson Tour events in 2022 and was a regular on the second-tier circuit 2016-2019.

“Getting back on the Epson Tour full time is the biggest thing that I need to do. Then from there, obviously, the goal is to get an LPGA Tour card, whether that’s through Epson or Q-school at the end of the season.”

Osland’s hot start to the season puts her in a strong position to quickly meet her goals, as long as she continues to produce results.

“You’ve just got to play, well make some money, and then they’ve got a reshuffle in May,” said Osland, referring to the LPGA and Epson Tour’s annual recategorization. “Basically you can get reshuffled into having full status again, if you’ve made enough money.

“That’s the route that would be ideal if I can just get a couple starts early in the season.”

The Epson Tour kicks off its season next week with the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at the Country Club of Winter Haven in Winter Haven, Fla. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., won the event in 2015 and Samantha Richdale, also from Kelowna, took the title the next year for back-to-back Canadian wins.

Selena Costabile was making plans to play in the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic when she got a message from a familiar name: Alena Sharp.

The two Canadians had met at the LPGA Tour’s Q Series last winter. When Sharp saw that Costabile would be playing in the Epson Tour event in Mesa, Ariz., she decided to reach out to the younger golfer. Sharp, who lives with her wife Sarah Bowman in Arizona, suggested Costabile could stay with them for the duration of the tournament.

“I’m so grateful that I have that kind of friendship and I’m able to ask her questions, bounce ideas off of her,” said the 23-year-old Costabile on Wednesday. “Her and Sarah both are amazing people and it’s no surprise why she’s been able to be so successful.”

Sharp, who has been a fixture on the LPGA Tour since 2005, said that Canadians on the men’s and women’s circuits tend to stick together. She wanted to help Costabile and continue to foster that sense of community among Canada’s golfers.

“I think it’s important because Tour life can be pretty lonely,” said the 41-year-old Sharp, who is from Hamilton.

“I mean, yeah, we’re competitive, but we want to see each other do well and it’s not so cutthroat.”

Costabile, from Thornhill, Ont., is in her second full year on the Epson Tour. She said that between the two seasons she did a self-evaluation of her game and recognized she needed to work on her mental performance and how to manage her time around events.

Spending time with Sharp and Bowman helped Costabile immensely with that education. In particular, Costabile admires Sharp’s perseverance.

“Golf can beat you up in so many different ways but as long as you have the drive and the passion for it and the will to just keep going and pick yourself up and keep trying, I think the sky’s the limit,” said Costabile. “You can you can do anything you set your mind to and that’s really been clear from what I’ve seen through Alena.”

Costabile’s off-season self-evaluation has seemingly paid off this year.

In 2021, she played in 15 Epson Tour events and made four cuts, but this season she’s made the cut in all three events she’s played in.

She tied for 56th at Florida’s Natural Charity Classic on March 4, tied for 35th at the Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on March 17, then tied for 20th at the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic on March 31. The Epson Tour is in the midst of a two-week break, but she plans to return for the Copper Rock Championship on April 21 in Hurricane, Utah.

“I think just the mindset of being a little bit more prepared once the tournament comes was huge for me,” said Costabile. “During the winter I placed more importance on being more calm out there and having a little bit more of a steady mind, It’s been paying off so far.”