PGA TOUR

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler won the rain-delayed RBC Heritage on Monday to continue his dominant play on the PGA Tour. Scheffler held a five-shot lead with three holes to play when the tournament was suspended due to darkness on Sunday night. He returned on Monday and made a bogey on the final hole for what officially ended up as a three-stroke victory. It was his fourth win in his last five starts and Scheffler becomes the first player in almost 40 years to win the week after the Masters. The bogey ended a streak of 68 consecutive holes of par or better. Sahith Theegala made birdie on No. 16 before closing out his round with back-to-back pars to give him sole possession of second place. Wyndham Clark was one of the golfers who managed to finish his final round before play was suspended. He made a charge with six birdies and an eagle through his first 11 holes before stumbling down the stretch to finish with a 65. He ended up tied for third with Patrick Cantlay, four strokes back. Tom Hoge was on the 18th hole when the horn sounded to stop play but he elected to finish his round rather than come back on Monday. After his tee shot sailed out-of-bounds, his fourth shot found the native area and his next shot ended up in the bunker. After his sixth shot found the green, Hoge needed three putts for a quintuple-bogey 9 that dropped him from a tie for sixth to a tie for 18th. 

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
T39	Mackenzie Hughes	66-66-75-71	-6
T42	Adam Hadwin	67-70-70-72	-5
T44	Corey Conners	69-71-66-74	-4
T44	Adam Svensson	72-66-70-72	-4
T49	Nick Taylor	71-70-69-71	-3

NEXT EVENT: Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Apr. 25)

CANADIANS ENTERED: Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith, Ben Silverman, Roger Sloan, Nick Taylor 

PGA TOUR

Billy Horschel ran off four straight birdies on his first five holes and played bogey-free the rest of the way for a two-shot win at the Corales Puntacana Championship. It was the eighth career win for Horschel but his first in almost two years. The victory earns him a spot in the PGA Championship next month and likely entry into the next $20 million PGA Tour signature event. Wesley Bryan, who got into the tournament on a sponsor exemption, led for the first 54 holes and was looking to become just the second wire-to-wire winner of the event until a bogey on No. 15 ended his chances. He finished runner-up, his best result since winning the 2017 RBC Heritage. …Taylor Pendrith notched his third top-15 result of the season and his best result since the end of January.

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
T11	Taylor Pendrith	67-69-65-73	-14
MC	Ben Silverman	73-70
MC	Roger Sloan	72-75

PGA TOUR AMERICAS

Matthew Anderson made back-to-back birdies over the final two holes for a come-from-behind win at the rain-shortened ECP Brazil Open. It is the first career victory for the Golf Canada National Team member in just his 14th start since turning pro. He became the first Canadian to win on the newly amalgamated PGA Tour Americas, which combined the Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada tours. The victory also moves Anderson into top spot on the season-long Fortinet Cup standings. He will earn conditional membership on the Korn Ferry Tour next year if he remains in the top two positions through the six-event Latin American swing. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes after rain delayed the start of the first round on Thursday due to unplayable conditions. …Joey Savoie picked up his second top-20 finish in three starts this season. …Jeevan Sihota recorded his third career top-25 finish as a pro 

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
1	Matthew Anderson	63-65-69	-16
T19	Joey Savoie	65-70-68	-10
T21	Jeevan Sihota	69-64-71	-9
T34	Chris Wilson	66-67-74	-6
T34	Thomas Giroux	68-65-74	-6
T41	Noah Steele	71-67-70	-5
T48	Jimmy Jones	69-68-73	-3
T52	Lawren Rowe	66-69-76	-2
MC	Max Sekulic	72-68
MC	Johnny Travale	72-68
MC	Chris Crisologo	73-71
MC	Stuart Macdonald	72-73
MC	Brendan MacDougall	78-70

NEXT EVENT: Diners Club Pero Open (Apr 25)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Matthew Anderson, Chris Crisologo, Thomas Giroux, Jimmy Jones, Stuart Macdonald, Brendan MacDougall, Lawren Rowe, Joey Savoie, Max Sekulic, Jeevan Sihota, Noah Steele, Johnny Travale, Chris Wilson (alternate)

LPGA TOUR

Nelly Korda became just the third player in LPGA Tour history to win five consecutive starts with a two-stroke victory at the Chevron Championship. It’s the second major title in three years for the world’s number-one ranked player who joins Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only players to win five consecutive events. Korda started the final round one stroke back of the lead but vaulted to the top of the leaderboard after making birdies on two of her first four holes. She increased the lead to four with a birdie on No. 10 and despite bogeys on Nos. 11 and 15, those chasing her failed to take advantage. Maja Stark put on a late charge with birdies on her final two holes to pull within a stroke of Korda, who birdied her final hole for the two-shot victory. Lauren Coughlin made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to get within two shots only to give it all back with bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes. Brooke Henderson, whose third-round 64 was tournament record and just one stroke shy of her best round at an LPGA major, had three birdies over her first six holes but a bogey on No. 2 and a double bogey on No. 4 cancelled out those gains and she ended up in a tie for third with Coughlin. It’s her eighth career top-5 finish in a major championship. 

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
T3	Brooke Hendeson	71-71-64-72	-10
MC	Savannah Grewal	76-73

NEXT EVENT: JM Eagle LA Championship  (Apr 25)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Savannah Grewal, Alena Sharp (reserve), Maddie Szeryk (reserve) 

KORN FERRY TOUR

Sweden’s Tim Widing made par on the second playoff hole to defeat Patrick Cover and Steven Fisk and win the LECOM Suncoast Classic. It was his first career win and Widing became the eighth straight first-time winner to start the season. It was also the fifth straight event that had to be decided in a playoff, the longest streak in Tour history. After becoming the youngest player to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, 15-year-old amateur Miles Russell finished in a tie for 20th to become the youngest player in more than 40 years to record a top-25 finish on the PGA or Korn Ferry Tours …Myles Creighton posted his second top-10 finish in his last three starts. …Étienne Papineau picks up his third top-20 result of the season

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
T8	Myles Creighton	68-67-65-67	-17
T20	Étienne Papineau	69-66-66-69	-14
T37	Sudarshan Yellamaraju	66-66-69-71	-12

NEXT EVENT: LECOM Suncoast Classic  (Apr 18)

CANADIANS ENTERED: Wil Bateman, Myles Creighton, Étienne Papineau, Sudarshan Yellamaraju

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Paul Broadhurst edged David Toms by a single shot to win the Invited Celebrity Classic. It was the Englishman’s first win in five years on the Champions Tour. The tournament, which included 40 celebrities in a separate division, was shortened to 36 holes after heavy rains wiped out the second round on Saturday. Prior to Sunday, Broadhurst’s previous best finish this season was a tie for third, which also came in a rain-shortened event – the Chubb Classic in February which was won by Stephen Ames. Former tennis player Mardy Fish won the celebrity portion of the event for the second time in three years, edging former baseball player John Smoltz. Two other baseball players – Josh Donaldson and Bud Norris – finished tied for third with World Golf Hall of Fame member and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam in fifth. There were no Canadians entered in the event.

NEXT EVENT: Mitsubishi Electric Classic (Apr. 26)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Stephen Ames

ASIAN TOUR

John Catlin went wire-to-wire to win the Saudi Open by seven strokes, becoming the first back-to-back winner on the Asian Tour in five years. Australian Wade Ormsby finished runner-up followed by American Peter Uihlein and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Catlin, who became the first player to shoot 59 while winning in Macau last month, just missed becoming the first player in Tour history to play 72 bogey-free holes, missing a seven-foot par putt on No. 14.

POS		SCORES	TOTAL
T33	Jared du Toit	73-67-67-72	-5

NEXT EVENT: GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship (May 2)

CANADIANS ENTERED: Yonggu Shin, Richard T. Lee, Jared du Toit (reserve), Jake Lane (reserve)

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 definitely think that Canadians are a closer knit group than players from other countries. I don’t know if it’s just because of Golf Canada with the team aspect but I really think it’s a cool thing.”

Alena Sharp

“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.”

Rebecca Lee-Bentham made it a priority to recharge in the off season and now the long Canadian National Team member feels rejuvenated and is focused on having a successful season on the golf course.

“During the offseason I did a little bit of coaching at a new golf facility in Los Angeles called The City Golf. I went on a couple golf trips to play some of the courses on my bucket list – Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Spyglass, and Shadow Creek,” Lee-Bentham revealed, adding that she made it a priority to slow down and focus on her mental and physical health.

Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, Lee-Bentham was an amateur standout who first joined Golf Canada’s National Team Program in 2007.  The former Canadian Junior Girls champion and honour roll student would go on to earn a golf scholarship to the University of Texas.  

Shortly after winning the Canadian Women’s Amateur in July of 2011, she decided to forego her remaining years at the NCAA DI university to chase down her childhood dream of competing on the LPGA Tour.  And the Longhorn alum was able to realize that dream when she secured full playing status at the LPGA Q-School tournament later that year.

“She was a good classmate. I’m excited to see another Longhorn doing something big. I’m proud of her and I wish her a lot of success,” said NBA star Tristan Thompson at the time upon learning about his former classmate’s big achievement.

Lee-Bentham entered her rookie season on the LPGA Tour as a bright eyed 19-year-old in 2012 along with Maude-Aimée Leblanc.

In her sophomore season, she was the top earning Canadian on the LPGA Tour and was named by Canadian golf writers as the 2013 Female Professional Golfer of the Year.

However, nagging injuries and the constant grind would lead to inconsistent results over the next few years and Lee-Bentham decided to retire in the summer of 2016.

After stepping away from the competitive side of the game, Lee-Bentham stepped into the coaching side of the sport.

“Mentally speaking, when you do something over and over under a lot of pressure, it becomes stressful and the joy can be lost. Sometimes you just need a little break to realize the love you have for the game and you begin to appreciate the skill that you worked so hard to develop,” she said.

And in 2019, with a new found appreciation of the sport, the former LPGA pro decided to relocate to Irvine, California in order to make a return to competitive golf.

Derek Ingram – the former women’s national team head coach, and currently, the men’s national team head coach – believes Lee-Bentham has unfinished business on the golf course.

“Rebecca needed to step back and remember why she played the game and what it was all about. I personally feel she is a top 60 player in the world or better when she is engaged and practicing the right way,” he said upon learning about her return to competitive golf back in 2019.

Besides Ingram and Thompson, there are many supporters in her corner that believe Lee-Bentham still has what it takes to play the game at the highest level.

Recently, she was awarded the 2021 GJAC Women’s Player Bursary to support her in quest. 

“I really appreciate the extra support from the Golf Journalists Association of Canada and Mackenzie Investments. I’m grateful to receive the bursary that will help cover a bit of the expenses this upcoming season,” she said.

Lee-Bentham will also be receiving support from Golf Canada as it was recently announced that she will be a rejoining the Young Pro Squad for 2022. The long time National Team member is grateful for all the support she has received from Golf Canada throughout her career.

“Golf Canada gives their players the support that is needed to get onto the Tour. Along with financial support, they have a team of coaches and trainers to guide players from the junior level to life as a professional golfer,” Lee-Bentham noted

“There are a lot of costs associated to making it onto the tour and even more once you get on tour such as paying your way into Q-School, having a training facility and golf course to practice at, equipment, coaching, travel costs, caddie fees, tournament entry fees, and the list goes on,” she continued.

“I believe having funding and support is crucial to any player’s success on tour. Golf is an individual sport but it requires a team, alongside the player, to make it to the top.”

Lee-Bentham will be competing on the Epson Tour this year with the goal of taking her talents back onto the LPGA Tour.

“Ironically, before I started playing golf, my dad worked for Epson as an electronic engineer and retired early to support my golf career. What Epson is doing for the women’s tour is amazing and a huge step in the direction we all want to see,” she pointed out.

Having first been introduced to the sport at the age of 12 by her dad, Ken Lee-Bentham, the former Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion and former LPGA Tour pro is celebrating a special milestone this month as she is turning 30 years old.

“As the years go by, there are more and more things to look back on and be grateful for. I’m constantly in awe when I think about where this game has taken me and all the opportunities I’ve been blessed with.  At the same time there is more to life than just golf, so I am reminded to find balance and prioritize the things that matter to me the most,” said Lee-Bentham.

As the Young Pro Squad member prepares to start her season, she feels rejuvenated and is mentally prepared to celebrate a successful year ahead.

“My goal this season is to finish Top 10 on the money list on the Epson Tour and have a tournament win. I would also love to qualify for the US Women’s Open again and earn a spot into another LPGA event,” she said.”I’m approaching this year with the mindset that I’m just going to learn, improve each week and enjoy having the opportunity to compete and do what I love.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) – The LPGA Tour has a new title sponsor for its developmental tour that will boost prize money, award $10,000 to each of the leading 10 players that graduate to the LPGA Tour and seek to eventually cut entry fees in half.

Epson America has a five-year deal with the LPGA Tour that runs through 2026.

The newly named Epson Tour, which is set to begin the first week of March in Florida, will announce its schedule in a few weeks.

“This ground-breaking partnership will provide expanded opportunities for the future stars of the game from around the globe to test their talent and take one step closer to realizing their dreams,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said.

The developmental tour enters its 42nd year of structured competition, and it has produced such future stars as Karrie Webb, Lorena Ochoa, Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. Nine players who started on the tour accounted for 12 victories last season on the LPGA Tour.

The LPGA’s deal with Symetra expired last year.

Japan-based Seiko Epson Corp., a global technology company, is the parent company of Epson America, based in California.

More than being the title sponsor of the main circuit that leads to the LPGA Tour, it will start the Epson Tour Ambassador Program, giving $10,000 to the 10 leading players to provide a financial boost as they start on the LPGA Tour.

The standard tournament prize money will be $200,000, another increase.

The commitment is believed to be roughly three times greater than the previous season.

The deal also includes Epson contributing money to lower entry fees by 10% each tournament for every player, which would amount to as much as a $1,000 savings for each player.

And through the Epson Tour DEI Partnership, the company and the LPGA are challenging at least four companies to join them by working to cut entry fees from $500 to $250. Participating companies would receive Pro-Am spots and advertising at every Epson Tour event.

“We don’t only want to put our name on the Epson Tour. We want to find ways to invest in players chasing their dream of the LPGA Tour and support them once that dream becomes a reality,” said Kendra Jones, Epson America’s vice president of legal affairs and general counsel.

After eight gruelling rounds, the 2021 LPGA Tour Qualifying Series has come to an end. In all, 46 players, including Canadian Maddie Szeryk, finished at -4 or better to secure Tour status for 2022.

Szeryk shot a personal-best 4-under 68 in the final round of the Q-Series with crucial birdies on her final two holes to finish T35. The 25-year old – who has played on the Symetra Tour since 2019 – competed in 18 events during the 2021 season with a best finish of T22 at the Copper Rock Championship in April.

Szeryk will join fellow Canadians Brooke Henderson and Maude–Aimée Leblanc on the LPGA Tour circuit next season, which will include the 2022 CP Women’s Open, August 22-28 at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

Two other Canadians who advanced to the final four Q-Series rounds, missed out on the top-45 and ties cut line. Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont. finished T68, and Hamilton native Alena Sharp finished T69. Both women will receive Symetra Tour playing status for the 2022 season.

Over the course of the two-week tournament, 110 LPGA Tour hopefuls competed in two 72-hole stroke play events with the low 70 players and ties cut after week one. Scores then carried over into week two held at Highland Oaks Golf Course in Dothan, Ala. from Dec. 9-12.

It all comes down to this.

After two long weeks, we have our 2021 #QSeries class ❤️ pic.twitter.com/taZ2egAyC9

— LPGA (@LPGA) December 13, 2021

After the conclusion of all eight rounds of the Q-Series, players who finished inside the top 45 and ties received LPGA Tour membership and playing status for the 2022 season. Players finishing outside the top-20 and ties also received 2022 Symetra Tour playing status.

For complete results and full leaderboard click here.

Gutsy performance from @mszeryk who barely missed a couple of years ago through @roadtolpga top 10 and has patiently been working away. Class on and off the course and couldn’t be happier for her. #faith #dragonheart https://t.co/JwNxYX3nxj

— Tristan Mullally (@tmullallygolf) December 12, 2021

Brittany Marchand announced today that she will be stepping away from professional golf. The 29 year-old announced the decision to retire following the conclusion of the 2021 Symetra Tour season which wrapped up on Oct. 10.

“The last 6 years have been the most amazing experience,” said Marchand via her social media channels. “The ups, the downs, the grind, the adventures, the people, the pure joy and the sadness… I wouldn’t trade any of it! I am leaving professional golf today a stronger person than when I started and I’m leaving with my head high. I’m proud of what I have accomplished and I feel joy thinking about the new adventures that life has in store for me.”

In 2021, Marchand competed in 18 Symetra Tour events with a season-best finish of T3 at the Carolina Golf Classic in Greensboro, N.C. During her career on the Symetra Tour, the Orangeville, Ont. native would earn nine top 10 finishes including a victory at the 2017 PHC Classic.

In 2017 she finished T32 at the 2017 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn Priority List Category 17 status for the 2018 season. She spent two years on the LPGA Tour where she competed at the CP Women’s Open three times (2017, 2018, 2019) with her best finish being T30 in 2017.

As a member of Team Canada for eight years total, Marchand joined the Development Squad in 2011, competed as a member of the Amateur Squad from 2015 – 2017, and joined the Young Pro Squad from 2018 – 2021.

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A post shared by Brittany Marchand (@b_marchand)

She’s amassed more than $148K in career earnings since 2016 and currently ranks No. 772 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Marchand played collegiate golf at North Carolina State University where she was a three-time All-ACC selection, WGCA All-American in 2014, and continues to own the school record for most career wins with three. While competing in NCAA golf, she also completed a degree in chemical engineering to continue pursuing her passions for both golf and science.  

Marchand credits her grandfather in sparking her interest in the game when he joined her to Brampton Golf and Country Club at age seven and taught her how to play. During her career she’s been able to pay it forward by acting as an ambassador for multiple youth-in-sport programs, including Golf Canada’s Golf in Schools program.

Golf Canada wishes Brittany all the best in her future endeavors.

Click here for more information on Brittany Marchand’s career highlights.