EUROPEAN TOUR

David Puig birdied three of his first four holes and four of the first eight on the way to winning the Australian PGA Championship by two shots. It is his third professional win but first on the European Tour, and the Spaniard became only the ninth international winner of the event and only the second since 1998. He joins fellow countryman Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to win the tournament. China’s Wenyi Ding finished runner-up for his best career tour result. Local favourite Marc Leishman finished in a tie for third with New Zealander Nick Voke. Former world No. 1 and 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott finished tied for seventh. The tournament, which is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australia, marked the first event of the 2026 European Tour season, which only concluded its 2025 campaign two weeks ago. …Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who earned his PGA Tour card earlier this year, was making his European Tour debut. He carded the same score over four consecutive rounds for the first time in his professional career.

NEXT EVENT:  Crown Australian Open (Dec. 4)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Aaron Cockerill

NEXT EVENT: Nedbank Golf Challenge (Dec. 4)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Nick Taylor, Aaron Cockerill (alternate)

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

France’s Nastasia Nadaud overcame a five-stroke deficit to win the season-ending Open de Espana by four shots. It is her first professional victory. Nadaud had three birdies and an eagle over her first five holes to move to the top of the leaderboard and added three straight birdies after the turn to solidify her lead. Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley finished runner-up. Four players finished in a tie for third, including Olivia Cowan, who moved into the top 70 of the Order of Merit to secure her tour card for next season. …Anna Huang notched her sixth individual top-15 finish of the season. She finished 11th in the Order of Merit, just 2.59 points out of a top-10 spot, which would have secured a place in the final round of the Final Stage of LPGA Q-Series. In her first season on the tour, the Golf Canada Team Canada member finished with a pair of wins and was second in Rookie of the Year rankings. 

NEXT EVENT: LET Q-School-Qualifying Stage (Dec. 10)
CANADIANS ENTERED: Yeji Kwon, Ashley Chow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brooke Henderson has won on the LPGA Tour 14 times but winning the CPKC Women’s Open a second time is on another level for her.

Henderson shot a 4-under 67 to pull ahead of Australia’s Minjee Lee by a stroke in Sunday’s final round to win the Canadian national women’s golf championship. The win ended a drought that spanned more than two years, adding extra lustre to the title for Henderson.

“This one I think might be the longest in between victories, so for that reason it makes it super special,” said Henderson. “To be able to win the Canadian Open, the CPKC Women’s Open, for the second time is so special.”

Henderson also won the Women’s Open in 2018 at Wascana Country Club in Regina. That made her the first Canadian in 45 years — since Jocelyne Bourassa of Shawinigan, Que., in 1973 — to win the national championship.

She’s now accomplished the feat twice in seven years.

It also added another win to her career tally, already the most by a Canadian professional golfer.

“This week was beyond special. To be able to finish it off and hoist the trophy again is extremely cool. It feels super surreal still,” said Henderson. “When I won in 2018, I woke up Monday morning thinking I still had to play the final round, so I’m wondering if that nightmare will happen again tomorrow.”

Henderson and Lee finished Saturday’s third round tied for first at 11 under, three strokes ahead of the field. 

Between Henderson’s popularity in Canada and Lee’s star quality — she has 11 LPGA Tour wins in her career, including this year’s Women’s PGA Championship — the tournament’s final pairing had massive crowds following them around the river-valley course.

“Today was really tough actually because there was just so many people,” said Lee, who had a 3-under 68 round to move up to second in the LPGA Tour’s points list. “I was very mentally strong today and I just tried to focus on, obviously, myself and the things that I could do to get the score lower.

“That’s pretty much what I did and what I tried to focus on. I think overall I did a fairly good job.”

Henderson’s last win was the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January 2023. She said that although she always put a positive spin on her victory drought, she still had her doubts.

“There were some dark times, for sure. I feel like my family was so supportive and just said to keep going, just keep working hard, it’ll come around,” said Henderson, whose sister Brittany Sepanik is her caddie and her father Dave Henderson is her coach. “I’ve been telling everybody for like a long time, it’s close, it’s close, it’s close. 

“To finally break through again is just so exciting.”

Those struggles saw Henderson sink to 53rd on the Race to CME Globe points list and 58th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She’s projected to move up to 26th on the LPGA Tour’s points list, putting her in a position to join the World Team at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown in late October and play in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in late November.

“I’m excited for the rest of the season. I’m excited for what’s coming next,” said Henderson. “I’m super pumped about International Crown, and with this win I think I’ll guarantee my spot into the CME, which was a little bit in jeopardy before this.”

Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane, who had four LPGA Tour wins in her Canadian Golf Hall of Fame career, was at both of Henderson’s Women’s Open wins. She said that she hoped Canadians would give the 27-year-old Henderson more recognition for what she’s accomplished.

“I thought back automatically to 2018, when we’d been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for years, and that was surreal,” said Kane, standing greenside as Henderson submitted her scorecard. “This is now 14 wins. The first 13, we haven’t given this kid enough credit for.

“I certainly hope that this is something that keeps people talking about how good she is, rather than what’s wrong.”

Fifteen-year-old Aphrodite Deng of Calgary had a 2-over 73 round to finish in a tie for 20th as the tournament’s low amateur.

Aphrodite Deng almost stole the show at her first-ever CPKC Women’s Open.

The 15-year-old from Calgary shot a 2-over 73 in the fourth round to finish 4-under overall as the low amateur at the Canadian national women’s championship. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., won the title on Sunday, but Deng was in contention to start the day in a four-way tie for seventh.

At one point in the third round, Henderson and Deng were first and second on the leaderboard.

“That was really amazing,” said Deng of keeping pace with the best women’s golfers in the world. “I wasn’t really expecting anything coming into this week.

“I was just trying to make the cut, for it to end up like this is really cool.”

It’s the latest accolade in an eventful summer for the high school student, who became the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship on July 19. That victory helped earn her an exemption into the Women’s Open at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

Deng will continue to play in junior tournaments to close out the competitive golf season and, of course, return to school.

She said the highlight of the Women’s Open was all the cheers she heard from Canadian fans during the week, especially as she walked up the fairway to the 18th green in Sunday’s final round.

“It’s so nice to know that I have so many people supporting me,” said Deng. “It was really cool.”

Deng was born in Calgary and her family lived in Montreal before moving to New Jersey for her dad’s work. She mostly lives in Orlando now but remains a Canadian citizen and plays for Golf Canada’s junior program.

Jeff MacDonald, head coach of Golf Canada’s NextGen team, said he was impressed with her composure throughout the week, especially when she bounced back from tough stretches on the course.

“She showed that on this big of a stage, she’s got the game to be right there,” said MacDonald by the 18th green after Deng finished her round. “I think that’s going to give her a lot of momentum going forward, just being in the last few groups on a Sunday.

“It’s just great experience.”

Matt Sim, a seven-time club champion at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club and former collegiate player at the University of Waterloo, was Deng’s caddie for the tournament.

“It was unbelievable what she can do and how she gets the ball around this golf course,” said Sim, who only met Deng on Monday. “Her game is absolutely unbelievable, and it’s going to take her to the next level.

“No question what she’s done this year and what she did this week is just a statement of what junior golfers can do.”

Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., shot a 3-under 68 to move 17 spots up the leaderboard to tie with Deng and six others at 20th. The solid performance will move Leblanc up the Race to the CME Globe points list to 141st.

Epson Tour rookie Monet Chun (69) of Richmond Hill, Ont., tied for 36th at 2-under overall.

Amateur Katie Cranston (74) of Oakville, Ont., finished in a tie for 71st in her fourth Women’s Open appearance and the first time she made the cut at the national championship. She’ll return to Auburn University’s Tigers this week to start her senior year.

A last minute call and the chance to bet on herself is paying off for Monet Chun.

Chun, from Richmond Hill, Ont., is in the midst of her rookie season on the second-tier Epson Tour and had planned to play in the Dream First Bank Charity Classic in Garden City, Kan., this week. But a phone call on Sunday inviting her to play in the CPKC Women’s Open, the Canadian women’s golf championship, near her hometown at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club was an opportunity she just couldn’t miss.

“I was pretty committed to Kansas because I wasn’t going to make my flight for the Monday qualifier, but I just really enjoy the CPKC a lot,” said Chun, who had family and friends following her around the course wearing “Team Monet” shirts.

“I wanted to come home, especially for being on the road for so long, so little parts of everything.”

The 24-year-old Chun has been a model of consistency on the Epson Tour this season. She’s made the cut 13 times at the 16 events she’s played in, with a tie for 11th at the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship on July 10 her best showing.

Chun is ranked 64th on the circuit’s points list, earning a total of US$21,000 this season. Playing for a share of the purse at the Women’s Open, a minimum winnings of $4,953, could be lucrative for her.

“I’ve been making a lot of cuts on Epson, but I would say the financial part is hard out there,” said Chun, who like all professional golfers is responsible for her own travel and accommodation when on the road. “Being out here and having a good week will definitely help.”

Chun had a 1-over 72 on Saturday to sit at even par after three rounds in a tie for 46th.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., fired a 6-under 65 to share the lead with Australia’s Minjee Lee. They were at 11 under, three shots clear of the field.

Fifteen-year-old amateur Aphrodite Deng of Calgary shot a 3-under 68 to crack the top 10, sitting in four-way tie for seventh at 6 under.

“It’s been incredible with all the people out here supporting me and it’s been really fun,” she said after submitting her score.

Henderson and Deng were briefly Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the leaderboard. Deng said it would have been really cool to have an all-Canadian final pairing at the national championship.

She said that she had a simple plan for the fourth round of her first professional tournament.

“Play my own game and play to my standards,” said Deng.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc (70) of Sherbrooke, Que., was tied for 37th at 1 under and amateur Katie Cranston (75) of Oakville, Ont., was tied for 69th at 4 over.

Akie Iwai took a three-stroke lead into the weekend in the CPKC Women’s Open in her bid to win for the second straight week.

Iwai followed her opening 7-under 64 with a 69 on Friday to get to 9-under 133 at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

The 23-year-old Japanese player won the Portland Classic on Sunday to join twin sister Chisato as a rookie LPGA Tour champion. She’s trying to keep it simple and not get ahead of herself.

“No change mind. No change swing. Just focus my golf,” she said.

Jeeno Thitikul, the Thai star making her first start since taking the No. 1 spot in the world from Nelly Korda, had a 70 for a share of second place with Minjee Lee (67) and Leona Maguire (70).

Slumping Canadian star Brooke Henderson rebounded from an opening 71 with a 66 to get to 5 under. The 2018 champion won the last of her 13 LPGA Tour titles in January 2023.

“I’m right there,” Henderson said. “Just got to keep going, put two more solid rounds together.”

She played alongside Thitikul and Lottie Woad, the Women’s Scottish Open winner who shot 75-69 to miss the cut by a stroke. Defending champion Lauren Coughlin also dropped out, shooting 74-70. She won last year in Calgary.

Akie Iwai, a six-time winner on the JLPGA Tour, is playing in Canada for the first time. On Friday on the tree-lined course, she played the front nine in even par with two birdies and two bogeys. She birdied the par-5 13th and par-4 17th on the second nine.

“Today, also I gave many birdie chances, but I just didn’t get,” she said. “I left putts short.”

Chisato Iwai, the winner at Mayakoba in May in Mexico, also missed the cut by a stroke with rounds of 75 and 69.

Korda was 4 under after her second 69. She had a double bogey on the par-3 third.

Aphrodite Deng, the 15-year-old Canadian amateur who was tied for

A cluster of friends and family started cheering for Katie Cranston as she walked out of the scorers’ room in the clubhouse of the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club and up to the spectators’ area.

The 21-year-old from Oakville, Ont., had done it: she made the cut at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Cranston, who begins her senior year at Auburn University next week, shot back-to-back even-par 71s in the first two rounds of the Canadian national women’s golf championship to become one of five Canadians to see the weekend. Making the cut on Friday ended years of frustration for Cranston.

“I’m very happy because it’s my fourth time playing, and last year I definitely was closer, so I’m just really excited to get the chance to just go play free on the weekend,” said Cranston, who missed the cut by two shots at last year’s Women’s Open at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. “Being so close to home and having so many people come out, it’s so much fun.”

Cranston birdied on No. 12 to get to even par on Friday, but then bogeyed on the par-4 16th hole to move up to 1 over. Around the same time, the projected cut line moved from 1 over to even par, putting her in danger of missing the cut. 

She recovered with a birdie on the par-4 17th hole and parred No. 18 to finish her day.

“I had no idea. I kind of thought in my head it would be 1 over,” said Cranston, covering her mouth in surprise at how close she had been to not playing the third round. “Once I made that birdie, I felt pretty good. I definitely left myself a bit of a tester on 18, too.”

As the afternoon wave went out on the course the projected line again moved to 1 over, giving Cranston a bit of a buffer. Salimah Mussani, Golf Canada’s women’s head coach, said that Cranston had grown as a player.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve seen out of Katie this year, in general, is a lot of maturity,” said Mussani, who was in the group of friends and family waiting for Cranston outside the clubhouse. “You could see in the last two days that she’s in control of what’s going on here. Nothing really got away from her. She managed her emotions. 

“She bogeyed 16 today, followed it up with the birdie on 17. She went from plus 1 back to even, and then hit a great shot into 18 and gave herself an opportunity.”

There were 16 Canadians in the field, 10 of whom were amateurs and six of those players were juniors. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was the low Canadian after shooting a 5-under 66 on Friday to rocket 33 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth at 5-under overall, four shots back of leader Akie Iwai of Japan.

Fifteen-year-old amateur Aphrodite Deng, from Calgary, shot a 2-over 73 to drop into a tie for 15th at 3-under overall. Monet Chun (68) of Richmond Hill, Ont., was tied for 29th at 1 under. Maude-Aimee Leblanc (68) of Sherbrooke, Que., was tied with Cranston for 49th at even par.

Mussani said having five Canadians make the cut was a sign that women’s golf in the country is in a very healthy spot.

“We’ve got a lot of young girls coming up the pipeline, which is obviously exciting for me, because they’ll eventually get to our program,” said Mussani. “Whether it’s (the growth of recreational golf during the COVID-19 pandemic), or it’s Brooke Henderson, or just participation in women’s sports in general, it’s exciting for us.”

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, Vancouver’s Anna Huang and Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., didn’t make the third round.

Amateurs Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C., Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., Calgary’s Tillie Claggett, Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C., Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos, Ruihan Wang of Markham, Ont., Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill and Joline Truong of Mississauga also missed the cut.

Brooke Henderson knew she had something when she stepped into a greenside bunker on the 17th hole of Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

Henderson lined up her shot and made the perfect out, softly bouncing it a few feet away from the hole and then watching it roll into the cup for eagle, another clip for her highlight reel, and the lead at the CPKC Women’s Open.

“Before I got into the bunker I was thinking, ‘I can make this. It’s very makable,'” said Henderson after her round. “I was really happy with where the tee shot ended up and had a really good line in the bunker.

“I knew I had to hit it soft because it was really fast. It was nice to land it right where I wanted to and see it go in.”

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., and Australia’s Minjee Lee finished Saturday’s third round as the new co-leaders at the Women’s Open, the Canadian women’s golf championship. Henderson fired a 6-under 65 and Lee caught up to her with a 5-under 66 for them to sit at 11-under overall, three shots clear of the field.

That creates a top-tier final pairing on Sunday, with a total of 24 LPGA Tour titles between Henderson and Lee.

“I love playing with Minjee,” said Henderson. “She has an amazing presence on course, she is like very calm and relaxed and I feel like it’s a great pairing for the final round.”

Lee said she was prepared for the experience of playing alongside Henderson in Canada, as the winningest pro golfer in Canadian history has thousands of fans trail her around the course.

“Oh, my God, countless times. I’ve played with her a lot. I know what to expect,” laughed Lee.

Japan’s Akie Iwai led the only LPGA Tour event in Canada for two rounds but stumbled to a 1-over 72 on Saturday to drop into a tie for third with world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand. Thitikul had a 2-under 69 day to sit at 8-under overall.

Henderson has 13 wins on the LPGA Tour, including the 2018 Women’s Open, where she emerged victorious at the Wascana Country Club in Regina. That made her the first Canadian in 45 years — since Jocelyne Bourassa of Shawinigan, Que., in 1973 — to win the national championship.

“Winning in 2018 was a huge career highlight. It meant so much to me, it was so special,” said Henderson. “To be in a position to possibly have that opportunity again is really, really cool.

“I’m still a really long way from that. There are so many top players near the top of the leaderboard and still 18 holes to play.”

Fifteen-year-old amateur Aphrodite Deng of Calgary moved up to the top 10, shooting a 3-under 68 to sit in a group tied for seventh at 6-under overall.

“Today was pretty solid,” said Deng. “Just like whenever I hit it out of position I tried to get it back into position. My putting was pretty good.”

The CPKC Women’s Open — a women’s golf major until 2001 — regularly draws some of the largest crowds on the LPGA Tour. Although Henderson always has the largest gallery in Canada, the fans also respect and support some of the bigger names in the field like Lee.

“It’s really nice to see the lovely crowds,” said Lee, noting she drew loud cheers when she made a difficult par on No. 18. “I think we always get really great support from the Canadian people, and they just love the LPGA and love to support Brooke and the women’s game.”

Henderson, however, hopes to draw energy from the spectators as she makes the final push for her 14th title.

“The crowds have been so phenomenal all week, and today starting out on the first tee because I was near the final groups, it was really exciting and a lot of energy,” said Henderson, who has not won since the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January 2023. “I feel like I was playing pretty well today, so the crowd continued to grow and grow.

“It was fun to give them some things to cheer about. That’s always one of the goals.”

Even Brooke Henderson, the winningest professional golfer in Canadian history, can still learn on the job.

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., climbed 33 spots up the leaderboard on Friday at the CPKC Women’s Open, shooting a 5-under 66 to sit in a tie for fifth at 5 under after two rounds.

It’s not the first time Henderson has put together a solid second round at the Canadian national women’s golf championship and she’s beginning to see a pattern.

“Getting used to the crowd and the fans and the energy and learning the golf course a little bit more, just getting a little bit more comfortable with myself,” said Henderson on what was working for her at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club. “I also think I had to go low today to get away from the cut line, so that was a big goal of mine was to shoot minus-5 and I was able to do that, which is cool.

“I just wanted to get away from the cut line as fast as I could and I’m in a good spot.”

Japan’s Akie Iwai was the second-round leader, building a three-stroke lead over the pack after she had a solid 2-under 69 round to improve to 9 under.

Despite her sizable lead, Iwai felt she let some scoring chances slip between her fingers.

“I had many birdie chances, but I just didn’t get any,” said Iwai. “I left many short putts, no distance, short. That’s why tomorrow I need more.”

Australia’s Minjee Lee (66), Ireland’s Leona Maguire (70) and world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (70) shared second at 6-under overall.

Henderson and her group at 5-under was next on the leaderboard.

“Any time you can see your name near the top of the leaderboard it’s always a great feeling,” said Henderson. “I’m so excited to be playing the weekend in front of these amazing fans, and just hopefully I can give them some more to cheer about tomorrow.”

Lee said that having to chase a player like Iwai — who won her first-ever LPGA Tour title on Sunday at the Standard Portland Classic — changes her mindset.

“When you have the lead, I’m sure you’ll be in like a really good condition and you’ll be hitting it well. But I do think you feel like you need to keep the lead more than when you’re chasing,” said Lee, an 11-time LPGA Tour champion. “You can kind of be a little more aggressive and you’re trying to chase and make as many birdies as possible.”

Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng, a 15-year-old amateur, was the low Canadian after Thursday’s first round. She shot a 2-over 73 on Friday to drop into a tie for 15th at 3 under.

“She’s been playing amazing. I don’t know if she needs any advice from me,” said Henderson, who won her first LPGA Tour event when she was 17. “It’s cool she’s playing so well and just to see her name up there yesterday it was like, ‘oh, I need to get playing better here.’

“I am looking forward to seeing what she does the next couple days.”

Akie Iwai was right back on top of the leaderboard in the CPKC Women’s Open on Thursday, four days after her breakthrough victory in the Portland Classic.

Iwai closed her afternoon round at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club with birdies on the par-4 eighth and ninth holes for a 7-under 64 and a two-stroke lead.

“Last week I won, but already it’s in the past, already past,” Iwai said.

Fifteen-year-old Canadian amateur Aphrodite Deng was tied for second with top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul, Leona Maguire, Gaby Lopez and 2023 winner Megan Khang.

On Sunday in Oregon, Iwai joined twin sister Chisato as a rookie LPGA Tour winner. The 23-year-old Japanese player had second-place finishes in Thailand in February and Los Angeles in April, then watched her sister win at Mayakoba in May in Mexico.

She’s playing in Canada for first time.

“Really beautiful course,” said Akie Iwai, a six-time winner on the JLPGA Tour. “Looks like something similar in Japan course.”

Chisato Iwai bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 to shoot 75.

Deng was born in Calgary, Alberta, and her family lived in Montreal before moving to New Jersey for her father’s work. She mostly lives now in Orlando, Florida, but remains a Canadian citizen and plays for Golf Canada’s junior program.

“Just trying to hit each shot and play in the fairway,” Deng said.

Thitikul played her first round since taking the top spot in the world from Nelly Korda.

“I think just like another day at work for me,” Thitikul said.

Korda opened with a 69.

Slumping Canadian star Brooke Henderson had four birdies and four bogeys in a 71. The 2018 champion won the last of her 13 LPGA Tour titles in January 2023.

“Just grateful we were able to get it back to even,” Henderson said.

She played alongside Thitikul and Women’s Scottish Open winner Lottie Woad, who shot 75.

Defending champion Lauren Coughlin had a 74. She won last year in Calgary.