WEST CALDWELL, NJ. – For the second consecutive day, fog wreaked havoc at the 2021 Cognizant Founders Cup. A dense morning blanket caused a 2½-hour delay on Friday, causing play to ultimately be suspended due to darkness at 6:18 p.m. with 63 players (all but the first group off No. 10) still to finish their rounds. Second-round play will resume Saturday at 7:15 a.m., with the third round beginning no earlier than 10:30 a.m.

First-round leader Jin Young Ko still sits atop the leaderboard at -10, with four holes left to finish on Saturday morning. Starting Friday at No. 10, she followed a bogey at No. 17 with birdies at 18, 2 and 3 to sit -2 on her round when play was suspended.

Brooke Henderson finished her round 5 shots back to sit T9 but is looking to capitalize on her opportunities heading into the weekend.

“I like to think that I play well on the weekends. One thing is I learn the course a little bit more, become a little bit more comfortable,” said Henderson. Once the pressure is off of the cut and everything, my only thought is the lead and climbing up as much as I can. So I feel like maybe a little bit more determined toward the top of the leaderboard, and just trying to make as many birdies to try to make my way up there”

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp finished the round at 2 over.

Play will resume Saturday morning.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. – It’s not often that you have a legend crash your post-round press conference, but that’s exactly what happened to Brooke Henderson following a 4-under 67 at the Cognizant Founders Cup. While recapping her first round, which she finished T3 in the dark after fog delayed the start of play this morning, LPGA Founder Shirley Spork wandered over, listening intently to the Canadian’s remarks about her Thursday play.

“I’m really happy to get 4-under par today,” said Henderson. “I feel like I hit the ball really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities, which is always key. I feel like a couple of putts could have maybe fallen. Hopefully, tomorrow I will make a few more birdies, but it’s nice to see I’m near the top of the leaderboard again. That always feels good. Hopefully another solid round tomorrow and try to catch Jin Young.”

Spork joined in on the fun, inquiring about Mountain Ridge’s challenging par 3s and offering up wisdom that can only come from a well-lived and well-played 94 years. In fact, Henderson and Spork caught up earlier today, with the latter giving the former a putting lesson, one that’s shrouded in secrets.

“Brooke, of the three par 3s that are out here, one is extremely long, correct? Is that the hardest one or is it one that’s the difference in the terrain of it different to make it the hardest? What is the hardest 3 par out here?” asked Spork.

“The one that you’re referring to, the longest one out here, I birdied today, so I like that one,” said Henderson. “They’re very difficult and all uphill, so it’s hard to see the green and you have to really hit a solid approach shot in to give yourself a good look.”

Spork added, “But you have a magic putter now. And you’ll have no problems sinking putts. And it has a name.”

“Shirley named my putter this morning, so maybe that gave me some good luck today. She’s great,” said Henderson. “So much knowledge and so much wisdom, and so any time she can share a little bit with I try to soak it all in. Having her bless my putter this morning was pretty cool. Hopefully, it continues to work for the next few days.”

Henderson demurred when asked the putter’s name, keeping that a secret between her and her Founding mentor. With that blessed putter in tow and a solid round under her belt, Henderson looks ahead to Friday at Mountain Ridge feeling much more confident on the greens. But it’s the sage advice that Spork can provide and the support of a legend in the game that will no doubt fuel her throughout the rest of the week.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

GALLOWAY, N.J. – Celine Boutier birdied two of her last three holes for an 8-under 63 and won the ShopRite LPGA Classic when South Korea’s best two players faltered down the stretch Sunday.

Starting the final round five shots behind, Boutier ran off six birdies on the front nine of the windy Bayside Course at Seaview to join a growing list of contenders.

The 27-year-old from France holed a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16 and then birdied the par-5 18th from 5 feet to set the target at 14-under 199.

Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park, who shared the lead going into the final round, couldn’t catch her.

Ko and Park were one shot behind playing the par-5 18th. Ko hit a fairway metal to the right side of the green, leaving her some 70 feet away. She lagged that about 8 feet short. Park didn’t have the length to get home in two, and her wedge ran by about 10 feet.

Both missed their birdie putts, giving Boutier her second LPGA Tour victory, and her first on American soil. Her previous win was the 2019 Vic Open in Australia, two weeks before the LPGA Tour was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Brooke Henderson of Canada birdied the 18th for a 64 and also wound up one shot behind. Park and Ko each closed with a 69.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Coming into the first round, Sophia Schubert was No. 9 in the Race for the Card. She had already claimed eight top-10 finishes, five of which came in the last five events, but a win could help her do it all.  

Playing the last 18 holes with Fatima Fernandez Cano, who has already clinched her card, as well as Amanda Doherty, who entered the week at No. 10, competition was high all day long. Fernandez Cano and Schubert dialed throughout the day and both birdied No. 18 to finish at -18 and head to a playoff. Three playoff holes later, Schubert rolled in an eagle putt to win a trophy, a check, her first win and clinch her spot in the Race for the Card top 10. 

“I have so many emotions right now and I’m just so happy and so grateful to have been in this position this week. I’ve worked really hard leading up to this season and I had a lot of expectations for myself, I was able to accomplish all of my goals this year and so I’m just really happy,” said Schubert. “I wouldn’t have been able to do without my support team back home my family my friends my coaches trainer sponsors and I’m just so so grateful I think is the biggest thing I’ve worked really hard for this and just to finally be able to have it not only a win but also get my LPGA card just means so much.” 

The University of Texas alumna can now add professional winner to her resume along with 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and 2018 Curtis Cup and Arnold Palmer champion. But even prior to nationwide amateur events, Schubert started her career as a little girl and participated in the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program. When she saw 2020 U.S. Kids World champion Adelyn Rosago and Autumn Solesbee with all eyes on her, Schubert’s career came full circle right in front of her eyes.  

“I can remember when I was their age out there watching and we would go to professional events and I’d always say I want to be out there one day it was always a dream of mine since I was 4 or 5 years old,” said Schubert. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I’m actually there now but to be able to see them and talk to them just brought back so many memories.”  

Determined to tie a bow on the season with a win, Fernandez Cano was frustrated with today’s outcome. Despite the loss, she was happy to see a fellow competitor claim her spot and join her in this year’s graduating class from the Symetra Tour.  

“It is frustrating, but it was good. I honestly was playing really well. I gave myself I think the first 7 holes I had it maybe 4 or 5 inside 6 feet that I just couldn’t make so that was kind of frustrating, but I stayed with it,” said Fernandez Cano. “I was so close, but it just wasn’t for me out there. I am really happy for Sophia; I mean she is clearly a really good player and she had a great day out there today.”  

Canadian Brittany Marchand finished T3 alongside Emilia Migliaccio, each sitting at -17.

With only one tournament left for the season and four spots left to claim in the top 10 of the Race for the Card, take a look at the current standings:  

1. Lilia Vu (Fountain Valley, California) - $156,615    

2. Fatima Fernandez Cano (Santiago, Spain) – $118,140   

3. Sophia Schubert (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) – $97,959 

4. Ruixin Liu (Guangdong, People’s Republic of China) - $95,281   

5. Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada) - $91,634  

6. Casey Danielson (Osceola, Wisconsin) - $91,117  

7. Allison Emrey (Charlotte, North Carolina) – $78,123 

8. Amanda Doherty (Atlanta, Georgia) – $75,780 

9. Rachel Rohanna (Marianna, Pennsylvania) - $74,067 

10. Morgane Metraux (Lausanne, Switerzland) – $72,567 

ABOUT THE SYMETRA TOUR 

The Symetra Tour is the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour and enters its 41st competitive season in 2021. With the support of entitlement partner Symetra, the Tour’s mission is to prepare the world’s best young women professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour. Since Symetra’s inaugural sponsorship year in 2012, the Symetra Tour has grown from 16 tournaments and $1.7 million in prize money to $4.0 million in prize money awarded in 2019 and 2021. With more than 600 alumnae moving on to the LPGA, former Symetra Tour players have won a total of 445 LPGA titles. Follow the Symetra Tour on the web at www.SymetraTour.com, as well as Facebook.com/Road2LPGA, Twitter.com/Road2LPGA and Instagram @road2lpga. 

GALLOWAY, N.J. – Inbee Park birdied three of her last five holes to match Jin Young Ko with a 6-under 65 and the leave two top South Koreans in the world tied for the lead Saturday in the ShopRite LPGA.

Ko, the No. 2 player in the world, played in the morning on the windy Bay Course at Seaview and ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. She had to settle for only one bogey on the back nine and was the first to post at 11-under 131.

Park is the No. 3 player in the world and putted well all day, her hallmark. She holed a 30-foot birdie on No. 6 and had a 6-foot par save on the next hole.

They were two shots ahead of ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit, who birdied the final hole to cap off a bogey-free 65.

Brittany Lincicome (67) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark (68) were three shots behind going into the final round.

Brooke Henderson (70) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was the top Canadian. She dropped into a tie for 10th at 6 under. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (72) failed to make the cut.

Ko has a recent history of playing her best golf at the end of the year. She sat out most of the LPGA Tour season last year, staying home during the pandemic, and returned to capture the CME Group Tour Championship.

Now she sets her sights on a third victory in her last five starts on the LPGA Tour. That doesn’t include the Olympics, where Ko tied for ninth.

“I like it better than earlier in the year,” said Ko, who changed swing coaches late last year and feels all parts of her game are starting to come together.

Park won her first start of the year at the Kia Classic, but has been struggling of late by going six consecutive events outside the top 10.

“I remember putting good in Kia and then earlier in the season,” Park said. “And then middle of the season to the end of the season, not as good. I feel like this week is almost back to like where I was putting really good earlier in the season.”

Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, has not played since the U.S. loss in the Solheim Cup a month ago. That leaves Ko and Park, both multiple major champions and former No. 1 players, to battle it out.

“Jin Young is really, really good player, too, so I think it’ll be really fun out there tomorrow playing with her,” Park said. “Obviously, you need some birdies out here to win tomorrow. Knowing that No. 2 player in the world is hunting for the same thing I am hunting for, definitely need to put some good performance. Good motivation to play for.”

Not to be overlooked is Tavatanakit, the first major champion of the year, who is well within range.

“I was thinking since I’m two back, I would say 4 or 5 under tomorrow would put myself in a really good position because I know how good they are,” Tavatanakit said. “No pressure, no expectations. I’m just going to go out there and play golf, and hopefully I get up to where I think I should be.”

GALLOWAY, N.J. (AP) – So Yeon Ryu finally quit thinking about her swing and thought only about scoring just in time to birdie the last three holes for a 6-under 65 and a share of the lead with Jodi Ewart Shadoff in the ShopRite LPGA on Friday.

Scoring was so low on the Bay Course of Seaview that 20 players shot 67 or better.

Ewart Shadoff, who has missed the cut in her last eight LPGA Tour events, birdied the par-5 18th to join Ryu in the lead.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., Jin Young Ko, the world’s No. 2 player, Inbee Park and Solheim Cup star Matilda Castren of Finland were among those one shot behind at 66.

U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso birdied four of her last seven holes to join the chase. She was among those at 67.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp opened with a 1-under 71.

The Bay Course at Seaview hasn’t been a comfortable course for Henderson, even though the 10-time LPGA winner made the cut in six previous appearances and tied for sixth in 2020.

The Canadian looked comfortable on Friday, however, with a 5-under 66.

“It goes against a lot of my natural instincts to hit 1/8fairway 3/8 woods off tees and to lay up in certain spots,” Henderson explained.

Henderson recorded six birdies in the first round, but it was a par save on No. 12 that the 24-year-old felt was the turning point in her round.

“I was 2-under and things were kind of at a tipping point, could go either way,” said Henderson. “I got a really bad lie, had to wait for a rules’ official and things were just getting a little bit more out of control than I would have liked.

“I was able to get up and down, which was great and made a birdie on the next hole.”

Getting off to a quick start is important at the ShopRite LPGA because it’s a 54-hole event.

Ryu, a two-time major champion and former No. 1 player in women’s golf, didn’t get off to the fastest start. She began on No. 10 and was only 1 under through 12 holes when she made eagle on the par-5 third hole.

The South Korean player said she has been working on her downswing to keep it from coming too far inside. It seemed that’s all she could think about at times.

“Sometimes I’m too addicted to golf swing,” Ryu said. “I really try hard to just think about how I’m going to play instead of just how I’m swinging. So I think that’s the thing I really struggle on the golf course and that’s the focus on the golf course.

“I just only realize it just five holes to go,” she said. “So I just told myself, `So Yeon, let’s just focus on how I’m playing instead of swing.’ I think that one really help me out.”

Playing for Britain in the Olympics against a 60-player field, Ewart Shadoff tied for 40th.

“This year hasn’t been the greatest for me, and I’ve been working on a lot breathing just to settle me down,” she said. “Just staying in my routine today was really important.”

She’s put in extra time on the green, and saw that pay off. Ewart Shadoff decided to switch from cross-handed to what she described as a “Tommy Fleetwood claw pencil grip.” It seemed to work, at least for the opening round.

Lexi Thompson, who hasn’t won since the ShopRite LPGA two years ago, opened with a 68.

Brooke Henderson´s 10 LPGA Tour victories make her the winningest professional golfer in Canadian history. And with the first three wins coming in the Pacific Northwest, it’s no surprise that her three words to describe Portland are “amazing times three.”

Henderson’s professional career lifted off when she won the 2015 Cambia Portland Classic in an eight-stroke runaway romp, setting a 72-hole scoring record of -21 that still stands, and only matched once in the tournament’s history by 2019 champion Hannah Green. The following year, Henderson captured her first major title by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship just 200 miles north of Portland at Seattle’s Sahalee Country Club. A second Portland victory just a month later cemented the Pacific Northwest as one of Henderson’s favorite locales.

Henderson comes to the 2021 tournament fresh off three weeks at home in Canada, one of the longest stretches she’s ever stayed away from competition in her professional career. Some hard work with her dad and coach Dave, combined with much-needed rest after what she called an “up-and-down year,” gives Henderson a good feeling as she takes to Oregon Golf Club.

“I feel like this golf course is definitely a shot makers’ golf course and a lot of strategy is involved,” she said. “Got to play smart. Feel like every hole you have to have an individual strategy for. Each hole is really different from the next.”

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Anna Nordqvist kept her ball out of trouble to make a routine par at the last and win the Women’s British Open for a third major title.

For playing partner Nanna Koerstz Madsen, her 72nd hole of the tournament could hardly have been more traumatic.

The Scandinavians were tied for the lead on 12-under par as they made their way down the famous No. 18 at Carnoustie on Sunday, with even their tee shots unable to really separate them.

After Nordqvist landed her approach from the middle of the fairway safely on the green and 25 feet from the pin, Koerstz Madsen turned away in disgust as she pushed her shot from the light rough on the left into a horseshoe-shaped greenside bunker on the right.

Facing a plugged ball and a downhill lie at the back of the bunker, Koerstz Madsen shanked a shot that flew sideways and almost out of bounds at the back of the green.

The Danish player’s chip from straggly rough fell short and left of the cup, leaving Nordqvist with two putts for the title. The second was a tap-in from a couple of inches, securing a one-shot victory on what proved to be a shootout in perfect conditions over the storied Scottish links.

“The only thing I could really control was myself,” said Nordqvist, who closed with a 3-under 69. “It was going to be my time.”

Three players Lizette Salas (69), 2018 champion Georgia Hall (67) and Madelene Sagstrom (68) tied for second place, with a double bogey at the last dropping Koerstz Madsen (71) into a tie for fifth with Minjee Lee (66).

Canadian Brooke Henderson began the day in the chasing pack three shots behind the leaders, but she failed to gain any ground. Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., closed with an even-par 72 to finish in 13th place at 6 under. The Canadian bogeyed the ninth, 10th and 12th holes.

By adding the Women’s Open to her victories at the 2009 LPGA Championship and the 2017 Evian Championship, the 34-year-old Swede became just the third European woman after Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies to have won three or more majors. She received a check of $870,000 from the $5.8 million purse, the largest in women’s golf.

When it was all over, Nordqvist was joined on the 18th green by her husband, Kevin McAlpine, a former Scottish Amateur champion who is from Dundee, a city barely 20 minutes from Carnoustie. On Christmas trips back to Scotland, the couple play the storied links course that can often bring players to their knees but was defenseless Sunday because of little wind and almost balmy temperatures.

A third round of 65 the lowest round of the week set up Nordqvist’s first win in four years, since the Evian Championship. But the title was up for grabs midway through the final round when, at one stage, there were six players in a share of the lead on 9 under, including the overnight leaders in the final group.

In the end, what transpired on the 18th hole over a stretch of couple of hours decided the championship. First, Lee, who started five shots back but briefly moved into outright first place, made bogey to drop to 10 under overall after nearly going into the Barry Burn that runs in front of the green.

Sagstrom, playing in the third-to-last group, also bogeyed the last to fall out of a three-way share of the lead.

Salas missed a 15-foot birdie putt in the next-to-last group and couldn’t get to 12 under, leaving Nordqvist and Koerstz Madsen to duel it out.

While Nordqvist played the 72nd hole perfectly, Koerstz Madsen lost her nerve as she sought to become the first Dane male or female to win a major.

“On 18, I tried to not make a mistake,” she said, “and that was the only thing I shouldn’t do.”

It was the first year since 2010 that a South Korean failed to win a major.

The last 13 LPGA majors have been won by 13 different players.

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Anna Nordqvist and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Scandinavians with contrasting resumes in golf, share the lead heading into the final round of the Women’s British Open.

A bunched-up chasing pack, containing Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson, promises to make it a Sunday to remember at Carnoustie.

In the toughest conditions of the week on the storied Scottish links, the 34-year-old Nordqvist a two-time major champion from Sweden shot her lowest round in one of women’s golf’s five elite events with a bogey-free, 7-under 65 on Saturday.

Koerstz Madsen, a 26-year-old Dane with just one top-10 finish in a major, joined Nordqvist on 9 under overall by rolling in a 15-foot eagle putt at No. 12 and parring her way home down Carnoustie’s tough closing stretch to shoot 68.

They were a stroke ahead of Lizette Salas of the United States, whose up-and-down at the last completed a round of 70 that didn’t include a bogey from the fifth hole.

Yealimi Noh wasn’t so lucky. The 20-year-old American held at least a share of the lead for much of a third round that lived up to the “Moving Day” tag, only to drop shots on her final three holes and finish at 6 under with a 71.

That left Noh tied for eighth place with a star-studded group containing Korda (70), the recently crowned Olympic champion and new superstar of women’s golf, and two players who have won the Women’s Open in the last five years 2018 champion Georgia Hall (73) and 2016 winner Ariya Jutanugarn (68).

The top 14 were separated by just three shots going into the final round. Thompson, whose only major win was in 2014, was in a four-way tie for fourth place after a 70.

Perhaps the most unlikely player alongside Thompson on 7 under was Louise Duncan, a 21-year-old Scottish amateur who goes to Stirling University in her home country.

She gave a fist pump after making birdie at No. 8 for a 68 to stay in contention for much more than the Smyth Salver that is awarded to the leading amateur.

“The crowd was absolutely loving it and so was I,” Duncan said, “and to hole that putt tops it off as well.”

Duncan won’t be the only player counting on local support on Sunday.

Brooke Henderson heated up in the third round, with 3 birdies in a row. Completing the round with 6 birdies and shooting her way 3 back from the lead. Henderson sits tied for the 8th spot moving into the final round.

Nordqvist, who won the LPGA Championship in 2009 and the Evian Championship in 2017 for her two majors, said her husband was from a place 20 minutes away from Carnoustie and that many of his friends and family had been at the course.

“I am definitely feeling their support,” she said.

She is also mindful of the 2011 Women’s Open at Carnoustie, when she tied for seventh for her joint-best finish at the tournament, and she climbed 22 places Saturday.

A 25-foot putt for birdie at No. 8 was her highlight, along with the 230-yard approach at the 17th that set up her seventh and final birdie of the round.

At one stage, Nordqvist was in a five-way tie for the lead at 7 under, with Hall who shared the overnight lead Noh, Madelene Sagstrom and 2019 champion Hinako Shibuno.

Noh was the last one of those players to fall away, although Sagstrom another Swede bounced back from a double-bogey 6 at No. 9 with two straight birdies and then seven pars to finish for a 69. She was with Thompson, Duncan and Sanna Nuutinen (68) on 7 under.

The Golf Canada Foundation has opened applications for bursaries to provide Canadian professional golfers with financial assistance for upcoming Q-school tournaments in support their journeys to the LPGA and PGA TOUR.

These bursaries are being made available this year in recognition of the increased travel expenses that many players have incurred due to the impact of COVID-19. For example, host family housing has not been available at many events, thus creating increased expenses for players. 

Canadian professional golfers who anticipate expenses attempting to qualify for the 2021-2022 season on any tour that is affiliated with the PGA TOUR, European Tour, or LPGA tour are welcomed to apply through this link.

The application will be open until Monday, September 20 at 5pm ET. Bursaries will be awarded by mid-October in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $7,000, depending on a player’s competitive results and projected expenses.

For more information, please contact Emily Phoenix (ephoenix@golfcanada.ca).