Brooke Henderson ended 2019 on a high note with a fifth-place finish at the CME Group Tour Championship and took a much-deserved break in the offseason, enjoying the warm weather at her residence in Florida and visiting her friends and family in her native Canada. It was a perfect time for the 22-year-old to reflect on a triumphant year that included becoming the Canadian with the most professional wins on the LPGA and PGA Tour when she won the Meijer LPGA Classic for her ninth career victory.

“I feel like 2019 was a really successful season for me and my sister (and caddie Brittany Henderson) as well,” said Henderson. “We were really happy with how everything went. I felt like I improved in a lot of places, which was good. I think a key thing for me is scoring average and keeping it below 70, which I did last year.”

Henderson returns to action at the biggest party on Tour at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, alongside a host of Hall of Fame athletes and celebrities. Despite the fun nature of the week, she said it still feels just as competitive on the course as it does at any other event.

“I feel like playing with some of the best athletes in the world here, you’re just always pushing each other to be a little bit better and trying to hit a little bit further and make a few more birdies,” said Henderson, who finished T6 in the inaugural tournament in 2019. “It’s really a unique experience as it’s maybe not as intense right off the get go, as it is on the regular LPGA Tour week, but definitely it has that same intensity once you get going, and it has maybe a little bit of fun added to it.”

With the start of season play just a few days away, Henderson said she is already prepped to execute her 2020 goals, which includes continuing her streak of four straight years with at least two wins.

“I’d love to keep that streak alive. It’s been pretty important to me the last few years, especially with how dense the field is in terms of talent,” said Henderson. “It’s really important to me to keep that going, and I feel like to get another major championship win is hopefully on my radar, and hopefully I can get it done maybe this year and in future years.”

The R&A and the men’s European Tour have committed to help the newly formed joint venture between the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the Ladies European Tour (LET) in its efforts to significantly grow playing opportunities, financial incentives and television exposure for women’s professional golf in Europe and around the world.

As well as providing financial support and leveraging other assets they manage, the bodies will each have one seat on the new LPGA-LET Joint Venture Board of Directors.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “Building a strong and sustainable Ladies European Tour is fully consistent with the aims of The R&A Women in Golf Charter. We support the vision of the LPGA-LET joint venture to create significantly more opportunities for women and girls to pursue their dreams in golf here in Europe and to inspire future generations to take up the sport. We look forward to working with the LPGA-LET team as a board member of this important venture.”

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said, “The European Tour has already had the opportunity to host events involving LET members and we’ve seen their talent and drive first-hand. Looking ahead to our 2020 schedule, we have added another new and exciting co-sanctioned event with the LET in Sweden and are pursuing similar opportunities in other markets. The women professionals bring a different dynamic and fan base to the game – all of which improves our sport – and we look forward to building a strong women’s professional presence through this new collaborative approach.”

While the LPGA might have been the first organization to reach out to the LET in an effort to create an even stronger entity, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan always knew he could count on the support of others. “It’s exciting to see so many stakeholders in the game give their attention and their support to rebuilding a stronger women’s professional tour in Europe,” said Whan. “This significant commitment by The R&A and the European Tour is an immediate, important endorsement of the vision for the new LPGA-LET partnership.”

“Great businesses typically start with great leadership teams,” said LET Board Chair Marta Figueras-Dotti. “Adding leadership from the LPGA, The R&A and the European Tour to our newly formed board is a recipe for success. I can’t wait to get started!”

The commitment and engagement of The R&A and the European Tour provides more velocity, energy and expertise to help the newly formed LPGA-LET partnership. It’s an exciting time for golf – when top organizations not only look out for their own interests but are also compassionate enough to help support others that are trying to achieve similar results for the women’s game.

It’s not accurate to say Corey Conners’ dreams came true in 2019.

“I don’t think my dreams were quite that high,” the Canadian golfer said.

After starting the year without full status on the PGA Tour, Conners played a piecemeal schedule before Monday qualifying for the Valero Texas Open in April. The native of Listowel, Ont., would go on to win that event and earn the final spot in the Masters the next week.

Conners earned more than US$2.9 million this season, one of the highlights of an impressive year in Canadian golf.

Among the top moments for men: Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., winning on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a PGA Tour card for the first time; Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., winning twice on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada to earn a promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour, Richard Jung of Toronto and Justin Shin of Maple Ridge, B.C. winning on PGA Tour China; and Drew Nesbitt of Toronto winning on PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., also represented the International team at the Presidents Cup earlier this month in Australia. At 49th in the world, Hadwin ended the year as Canada’s top-ranked male golfer and will earn a spot in the Masters in 2020.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#Canada’s @ahadwingolf finished the season ranked 50th, securing a spot to play in the 2020 @themasters ?? – #masters #golf #golfcanada #golfstagram

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Dec 22, 2019 at 12:32pm PST

On the amateur circuit, full-time NHL referee Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., won the 117th playing of the Western Amateur, while Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., won a collegiate event and participated in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had the best season of any Canadian. She notched two wins this year and had 13 top-10 finishes, the most on the LPGA Tour.

Henderson’s second win came in June when she was just 21. It was the ninth of her LPGA Tour career, making her the winningest Canadian of all time on the PGA or LPGA Tour.

“To become the all-time winningest Canadian golfer on both the LPGA and PGA Tour is amazing,” said Henderson. “This was a great year for many Canadian golfers. It’s fun to be part of this trend and I’m excited to see it continue and get better in 2020.”

Laurence Applebaum, the CEO of Golf Canada, declared 2019 as a year of “real celebration.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of 2019 as we look back and say it was a year we were celebrating golf and we were championing some of the best players in the world,” said Applebaum.

Applebaum points to the success of the RBC Canadian Open in Hamilton and CP Women’s Open in Aurora, Ont.

The two national championships had more than 175,000 people in attendance combined, a record for the organization.

Both events were also finalists for ‘Tournament of the Year’ by their respective tours at their year-end award ceremonies.

“We played at two epic tracks in 2019 and had world-class champions,” said Applebaum.

Both the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour’s 2019 players of the year – Rory McIlroy and Jin-Young Ko, respectively – won in Canada.

“In 2020 we’re going from strength to strength in St. George’s (in Toronto for the men) and Shaughnessy (in Vancouver for the women), two of the greatest golf courses and clubs in our country,” Applebaum said.

While the individual successes of Canadians were undeniable in 2019, the pipelines will be a little emptier in 2020.

Henderson and Alena Sharp of Hamilton will be the only full-time Canadians playing on the LPGA Tour next year after the retirement of Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and the long-term injury to Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City. Jaclyn Lee of Calgary will have partial status, playing under a medical exemption due to a severe wrist injury sustained in the summer.

Pendrith, meanwhile, is the only Canadian who earned promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. did not regain PGA Tour status for this season so they will start have to start the season on Korn Ferry Tour. Svensson has a full card, while Silverman has conditional status.

Pendrith and Conners – who live together in Florida – are convinced 2019 will not be a one-off.

A year ago they both were wondering what the next 12 months would look like, without any real answers.

“I was just trying to figure out what mini-tour event I was going to play next,” said Pendrith. “Now, it’s exciting. Every week on whatever tour, there’s going to be a Canadian in the mix.”

Conners is in the upper tier of the PGA Tour after finishing in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings in 2019, but he still gets as much joy as anyone in following what his countrymen and women are doing.

“It’s really fun to watch Brooke (Henderson) and be part of the group, but it’s also really motivating to continue to rack up wins,” said Conners. “It’s an exciting future for Canadian golf. There’s going to be more and more memorable moments.”

Alena Sharp is never home for a Canadian Thanksgiving turkey dinner, so she enjoys celebrating instead in late November. This year she had even more to celebrate at the end of the 2019 LPGA Tour season.

“This year is probably my best year that I’ve played,” Sharp said from Arizona, a week removed from her American thanksgiving celebration.

Indeed, the native of Hamilton, Ontario had one of her steadiest performances in her decade-plus as a professional on the LPGA Tour this past season. While she didn’t earn as much money as in 2016 – she played the U.S. Women’s Open that year, the richest purse in women’s golf – she had more top-10 finishes than any other year in her career and, overall, she’s never felt better at a season’s conclusion.

“I put myself into contention more often. I had more top-10’s in a year than I’ve ever had. I really can look back and say I played solid and steady, especially the last couple months,” said Sharp.

Sharp said what she was able to do on the greens was the key to her success this year.

In 2018 Sharp ranked 150th on Tour in Putting Average. This year, she rocketed up to 15th in the same statistic.

“That just goes to show you why my year was better, right there,” said Sharp, who continued to work with Vancouver-based coach Brett Saunders.

Sharp said Saunders identified that his pupil was not using her left-eye properly, although she is left-eye dominant. Sharp changed the way she looked down her putting line and thanks to Saunders’ equipment set-up (“He’s got cameras on every angle”) Sharp was able to, well, sharpen, her short game.

“I got into a putting routine and I never really had one in the past,” said Sharp, “and I definitely felt like I had a lot more confidence, especially on the greens.”

Sharp’s best finish of the year was a fifth-place result at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a team event that saw her paired with Brooke Henderson for the week. She had three other top-10’s on the season.

Sharp said it’s been great to see Henderson’s ongoing fan support because the Canadian fans cheering Henderson on at tournaments around the world are also following Sharp most weeks, too.

It’s basically a forgone conclusion that the pair will also represent Canada at the Olympics in 2020 given where they’re at in the Rolex Rankings.

While Sharp is excited to represent the red-and-white again in Tokyo, she has her own individual goals she’s hoping to achieve as well – including finding the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour for the first time.

To do that she’s going to have to top a field of LPGA Tour golfers that is getting stronger and stronger with each passing year.

“It’s way more challenging,” Sharp said of the level of competition now versus when she first joined the LPGA Tour. “Cuts are lower and it’s hard to win. You have to have four good rounds and even-par rounds don’t help you.

“It just goes to show you how the level of competition in women’s golf has increased. It’s made me as a player step up my game and step up my practice and be more focused on all those things.”

Sharp said creating a routine has been the key. Her putting success is thanks to her new routine and extra work in practice, but the whole of her approach to golf is built around trying to work smarter not harder.

“Have a plan for every day and once you’re done, you leave. You don’t stay out there to put the quantity (of work) in… it’s more about quality. As I get older it’s more about that because I don’t have as much energy as I used to,” said Sharp. “Being really smart on what I’m practicing, for how long, and the frequency of it per week is really important. That’s come up more often in the last couple years than when I was first on Tour.”

To put a bow on 2019 Sharp was also named a Player Director on the LPGA Tour’s Board, saying the reason why she followed through on joining the Board was because she wants to leave the Tour in a better place than when she first started playing.

With her newly elected post and her fine results, it was a big year for Alena Sharp both off the course and on.

She’ll enjoy a well-deserved break – with a quick trip back home in mid-December – before getting back to it and trying to achieve some of her big goals in 2020. Before she gets back into a routine and starts working hard again, she can reflect proudly on the year that was.

“There was a lot of hard work that paid off,” said Sharp.

NAPLES, Fla. – As the 2019 LPGA Tour season ends, the CME Group Tour Championship provided the perfect opportunity to celebrate a year’s worth of incredible on-the-course performances and off-the-course accomplishments.

Four-time 2019 LPGA Tour winner Jin Young Ko earned major hardware at Thursday night’s Rolex LPGA Awards, accepting the Rolex Player of the Year award and Rolex ANNIKA Major Award. She later added the Vare Trophy to her tally when she captured the award for the season’s lowest scoring average following completion of the CME Group Tour Championship, finishing at 69.062.

“At this very special occasion, I want to say that this is not the end but only the beginning,” said Ko. “I will work even harder to become a better golfer.”

Additionally, by winning the 2019 Official Money title with $2,773,894, Ko joined Yani Tseng, Lorena Ochoa and Ariya Jutanugarn as the only players to win the Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy and lead the Tour in season earnings while also sitting first in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Big congrats to our 2019 #CPWO champ Jin Young Ko on winning @LPGA Player of the Year!#DriveOn pic.twitter.com/EWoimh9GeU

— CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) November 22, 2019

Brooke Henderson received the 2019 Founders Award, an honour previously known as the William and Mousie Powell Award. The award is given annually to an LPGA Member who, in the opinion of her playing peers, best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA through her behavior and deeds. The award has been given out since 1986, with a list of previous recipients that includes Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Betsy King, Juli Inkster, Lorena Ochoa, Chella Choi, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb and So Yeon Ryu. Effective this year, the award will be presented in honour of the 13 LPGA Founders who began the LPGA Tour in 1950.

“I know we as a Tour will continue to do our best to honour all 13 Founders and act as they so courageously and inspiringly did. What makes this award even more special is that it was voted on by my playing peers on the LPGA. Thank you to all of you,” said Henderson. “I have made many great friends over my five years on Tour. I love being able to live my dream playing out there and to experience this journey along so many talented golfers who are also great people.”

Suzann Pettersen, who retired in September after returning from an extended maternity leave to sink the winning putt for Team Europe at the 2019 Solheim Cup, was named the winner of the 2019 Heather Farr Perseverance Award. The award honours an LPGA player who, through her hard work, dedication and love of the game of golf, has demonstrated determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player. Established in 1994, the Heather Farr Perseverance Award celebrates the life of Farr, an LPGA Tour player who died on Nov. 20, 1993, following a four-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer. Previous winners of this award include Heather Farr, Shelley Hamlin, Martha Nause, Terry-Jo Myers, Lorie Kane, Nancy Scranton, Brandi Burton, Kris Tschetter, Kim Williams, Beth Daniel, Colleen Walker, Amy Read, Se Ri Pak, Leta Lindley, Sophie Gustafson, Lisa Ferrero, Stephanie Meadow, Ariya Jutanugarn and Jessica Korda.

“I never knew Heather Farr, but I’ve known of her and this award since I joined the LPGA Tour. I can’t tell you how much is means to receive this, not just because of the player it honours, but because of all the players who have received before me and because it’s chosen by our fellow players, my peers,” said Pettersen, who became emotional later in her speech when speaking of her son Herman. “The LPGA Tour has been such a huge part of my life. It gave me the opportunity to follow my childhood dream and to reach beyond my wildest imagination. To go places, meet people and do things I never dreamed possible. For almost two decades, I’ve been able to measure my game against the very best female golfers in the world. I made many great friends and received lots of good advice along the way.”

The Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony celebrated Rolex-First Time Winners Celine Boutier, Cydney Clanton, Hannah Green, Cheyenne Knight, Bronte Law and Jeongeun Lee6. Additionally, Lee6 also added to her trophy count when she accepted the 2019 Rolex Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award with a painstakingly memorized English speech that brought the crowd to its feet.

“With the support of my family and friends, I was able to pursue my biggest dream. The LPGA Tour is where we get to compete with the best players in the world. Just being a part of it made me feel like I could take on anything,” said Lee6, the 13th player from the Republic of Korea to capture the honour and the fifth consecutive, following Jin Young Ko (2018), Sung Hyun Park (2017), In Gee Chun (2016) and Sei Young Kim (2015). “It is an honour to compete on the LPGA Tour, to be able to play at the best golf courses around the world and among the world’s best golfers. Winning the U.S. Women’s Open and receiving Rookie of the Year has all been a dream come true.”

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan selected KPMG as the 2019 recipient of the Commissioner’s Award. In his speech, Whan spoke of their foresight in stepping in as title sponsors of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, revamping the LPGA Championship into a week-long celebration of female leadership and empowerment. When accepting the award, retired Chairman of KPMG International and incoming LPGA Board member John Veihmeyer thanked LPGA Tour player and KPMG Ambassador Stacy Lewis for her role in elevating the competition and focusing its most important asset – the players.

“There’s nothing that has made me more proud over the years of being at this championship than listening to the players, hearing them or having them come up to me and telling me how much they love this event,” said Veihmeyer. “This is all about the players. We have some of the greatest athletes in the world here. They deserve to be on the best courses in the world. They deserve to be playing for the best purses in the world and they deserve to be on network TV.”

Nancy Quarcelino, a member of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals (T&CP) Hall of Fame who has coached players on both the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour, joined an elite group of her peers as the recipient of the 2019 Ellen Griffin Rolex Award. Instituted in 1989, the award honours the late Ellen Griffin, the best-known woman golf teacher in U.S. history. The award recognizes an individual, male or female, who has made a major contribution to the teaching of golf and who has demonstrated, through teaching, Griffin’s spirit, love and dedication to the golf student, teaching skills and game of golf.

“I’ve been very blessed in my life to be able to get up every day and go to work and do something that I love,” said Quarcelino. “I can only hope that I can be an inspiration to people that are watching, that are teaching, that are coming up, that are playing. I can only hope that I can be that inspiration to them and I do want to Drive On for the future.”

Earlier in the week, the LPGA Tour celebrated the winners of two season-long competitions. Carlota Ciganda captured the inaugural Aon Risk Reward Challenge and earned the $1 million prize. The competition, which measured the performance of LPGA Tour and PGA Tour golfers on a series of holes across multiple tournaments, tested players’ ability to analyze risk, utilize data-driven insights to identify opportunities and maximize performance in the moments that matter most. Ciganda joined PGA Tour winner Brooks Koepka in winning the inaugural honour, with both players receiving equal prize money.

Additionally, Ko won the LEADERS Top 10 competition on a tiebreak, earning $100,000. She racked up 12 top-10s in 21 starts, including four victories and three runner-up spots, to finish ahead of second-place Brooke Henderson and third-place Hyo Joo Kim. Henderson and Kim also recorded 12 top-10s but Ko won the competition via a tiebreak, her four wins eclipsing Henderson (two) and Kim (none).

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim hit the putt of her life, a 25-foot birdie on the final hole of the CME Group Tour Championship to win $1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf.

Kim closed with a 2-under 70 to beat an unlikely foe Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club.

Charley Hull of England birdied her last three holes for a 66, the last one a 12-footer that gave her a tie for the lead. Kim, who looked shaky in missing three straight birdie chances from 12 feet, tugged her approach to the top of a crown at the bag of the green. The winning putt – the money putt – was hit with perfect pace and broke sharply to the right as Kim pumped her fists in disbelief.

She finished a wire-to-wire victory for her third LPGA Tour title of the year and 10th of her career.

This was memorable for the finish and the reward.

For $1.5 million…

Sei Young Kim wins the @CMEGroupLPGA with a birdie on the 18th‼️#RaceToCMEGlobe ? pic.twitter.com/IoyTW4sB9M

— #RaceToCMEGlobe (@LPGA) November 24, 2019

Instead of a $500,000 first-place check and a $1 million bonus to a season points race, CME Globe wanted to award $1.5 million in official money to any of the 60 players who qualified for the season finale. That’s $500,000 more than the previous record prize, $1 million at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Kim, who never trailed during the final round, was feeling the heat coming down the stretch as Danielle Kang and then Hull took aim.

Kang, who made five birdies on the front nine, went quiet on the back until making a 30-foot eagle putt on the 17th. She hit 4-iron into 15 feet on the final hole, and her birdie attempt to tie for the lead was short. She closed with a 65.

Hull birdied five of her last seven, and when she saw the leaderboard on the 15th, she figured she would have to birdie everything coming. From short of the green on the par-5 17th, she hit putter up the slope to tap-in range to get within one shot of Kim. And on the 18th, she walked in the birdie putt.

Kim thought her biggest threat was Nelly Korda, who started one shot behind. Korda stalled with two hooked tee shots, the second one hurting her chances at a birdie on the 17th.

Walking up the 18th, Kim realized Hull had tied her.

“I didn’t know Charley finished at 17 (under),” Kim said at the trophy presentation. “What if I couldn’t make it? I could go to a playoff. It’s not good for me. It was really nervous when walking through hole 18. I was like: `OK, not a big deal. Try to play like a practice round.’ Even then, I was really nervous.”

She set nerves aside and made the only putt that mattered. The $1.5 million was more than she had made all year.

Kim finished at 18-under 270 and finished No. 2 on the LPGA money list behind Jin Young Ko, who tied for 11th and still had no complaints about her season. Ko won LPGA player of the year, the money title and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

Ko won four times this year, including two majors.

Hull was an example of how the format change turned the Tour Championship into a free-for-all. She had only one top 10 this year and was No. 51 in the Race to CME Globe. A year ago, she wouldn’t have been eligible for the $1 million bonus.

“I gave it my best shot,” said Hull, who won $480,000 for being runner-up. She made $405,961 in her previous 21 events this year.

Korda, the highest-ranked American who had a chance to get to No. 2 in the world with a victory, tied for the lead with a birdie on the fourth hole. But she began to fall back by failing to birdie the par-5 sixth, scrambling for bogey on No. 9 and making a careless bogey on the 11th that put her three shots behind.

On both par 5s on the back nine, she hit tee shots well left, leading to bogey at No. 14.

#Golf is easy for @BrookeHenderson ?? pic.twitter.com/TJXpsgoTWV

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 24, 2019

“I thought about it once today,” Korda said of the prize. “I was just out there trying to play some golf.”

She birdied the last hole for a 71 to tie for third with Kang. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot 67 and finished alone in fifth.

Canada’s Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., finished her strong season at 5 under in a tie for 29th.

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim was on the verge of taking all the drama out of the chase for the richest payoff in women’s golf history.

She opened with three birdies in seven holes Saturday in the CME Group Tour Championship as her challengers either stalled or faded. She led by five shots before making the turn.

Kim hit the brakes.

Nelly Korda hit the gas.

When the third round ended at Tiburon Golf Club, Kim had to settle for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead over Korda with one round remaining to see who wins the $1.5 million.

Both made it sound as though it will be just another round of golf.

Then again, no one in LPGA Tour history has ever played for this much cash. It’s more than either of them has made all year.

“I had a pretty solid round front nine,” Kim said. “But back nine was little tough to focus. I kept thinking about future, so I was like, ‘Nope, Sei Young. Stop thinking. Focus on it.’ I had a lot of chances back nine. Going to practice and ready for tomorrow.”

Korda, who has a chance to reach No. 2 in the women’s world ranking with a victory, fell back early with a double bogey by going long of the green on the par-3 fourth. She recovered with three birdies over the next five holes, and then really turned it on.

“Kind of hit the brakes every single day on the back nine,” Korda said. “I told myself to be really aggressive on the back nine, and it worked out today.”

She opened with three straight birdies, holing out from a greenside bunker on No. 11, and she was back in the game. Korda shot a 31 on the back nine for a 66.

Kim was at 16-under 200 and will be in the final group with Korda.

Caroline Masson of Germany, who will join them in the final pairing, had a 70 and was four shots behind, with Charley Hull of England another shot behind after a 66.

For so many others, an ideal day for scoring at Tiburon turned out to be a lost opportunity.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who attracted the biggest gallery playing with Korda and with a horde of Canadians in Florida for the winter, had bogeys on three of the par 5s and never got anything going for a 71. She was six shots behind.

Dialing it in from distance! @BrookeHenderson finishes at 1 under for the day and is in a tie for 5th ?? pic.twitter.com/okOTC06Nzz

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 23, 2019

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the only other Canadian in the field. She shot a 69 to sit in a tie for 24th at 5 under.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made an early charge, only to be slowed by a pair of bogeys on the back – all her bogeys this week have been on the back nine – that gave her a 70 and put her seven shots behind.

Kim has shown few signs of coming back to the field. She has made only one bogey through 54 holes, and with her strong start it looked as though the 26-year-old Korean might run away from the field.

The back nine changed everything.

Korda appeared to be in trouble on No. 11 when she fanned a shot from the waste area into a bunker. She blasted it out and watched the ball crash into the pin and drop for birdie. She made another at the par-3 12th and took advantage at the end with a 4-hybrid on the green at the par-5 17th for at two-putt birdie.

Kim gave herself plenty of reasonable looks at birdie on the back nine. She couldn’t get any to fall except for a 25-footer on the 15th hole that restored her lead to two shots, but only briefly.

Kim’s second shot into the 17th was well short and to the right into a bunker, and she blasted out to some 30 feet away. She played away from the flag on the 18th and two-putted for par from about 40 feet.

Still, she was in the lead after the third straight day, one step closer to a massive payoff.

The format changed this year from a points-based system in which only the top 12 players had a shot at a $1 million bonus to any of the 60 players who made it to the Tour Championship getting $1.5 million in official money by winning the tournament.

Jin Young Ko, celebrated Thursday night as LPGA player of the year, tried to get back into the game with a 66. She still was six shots behind along with Jessica Korda (69), the older sister of Nelly Korda.

Ko is virtually a lock to win the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and needs a 65 to become only the second woman to finish with a sub-69 average score for the year.

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim wasted two good birdie chances late in the second round Friday when she got a pep talk from an unlikely source.

Cristie Kerr was working as a commentator for Golf Channel, and on the long walk to the 18th tee, she told Kim that a strong finish in the CME Group Tour Championship would make dinner that much better.

“I just said, `Yeah, I’m going to make the birdie.’ Yeah, it come true,” Kim said.

She fired a 6-iron to the perfect spot in the middle of the green and watched it roll toward the back pin until stopping less than 2 feet away. Kim tapped in for a birdie and a 5-under 67, keeping her lead at two shots in the chase for the richest prize in women’s golf.

Kim has made only one bogey over two rounds at Tiburon Golf Club and was at 12-under 132.

Everyone around her had far more excitement, not all of it good.

Caroline Masson of Germany atoned for missing a birdie chance on the par-5 17th by rolling in a 40-foot birdie putt from off the green and through the shadows on the final hole for a 66 that closed the gap to one shot until Kim finished with her birdie.

They will be in the final group on Saturday, moving closer to a shot at the $1.5 million to the winner.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., began her second round with a double bogey on the par-5 opening hole. She finished much better, with five birdies over her final seven holes that put her squarely back into the mix with a 67, leaving her three shots behind.

Henderson has a home not far from Naples and gets a big following, many of them Canadians in Florida for the winter.

“Great crowd, great energy out here,” Henderson said. “I’m excited to be playing the weekend near the top of the leaderboard, so it should be fun.”

Alena Sharp of Hamilton is at 2 under after her second straight 71.

From downtown Smiths Falls ?? pic.twitter.com/dHkfYvgNHR

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 22, 2019

Also three shots back was Nelly Korda, the top American in the women’s world ranking at No. 3, who didn’t finish so well.

Korda provided the biggest challenge to Kim all day, firing darts into the seventh and ninth greens for short birdie putts that gave her a 31 on the front nine and gave her a one-shot lead.

Korda was one shot behind when she missed a birdie putt on the par-3 16th, and then shockingly missed the 2-foot par putt.

“It’s not going to be the last putt I miss,” Korda said. “It’s just how it is.”

Looking to get a shot back on the 17th, Korda instead hit a hard hook off the tee beyond the cart path and through the dirt until it came to rest under a tree.

“May be been a little ticked off,” Korda said with a grin. “I did snipe it left into the trees.”

She had no choice but to pitch back to the fairway and did well to give herself a birdie chance with a shot into about 15 feet, only to miss it. She made par on the final hole for a 68.

Su Oh of Australia had a 67 and was four behind, while the group five back included defending champion Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, both with 67s.

The format for the season finale changed this year, from only the top 12 in the Race to CME Globe have a chance at the $1 million bonus to all 60 players in the field winning $1.5 million in official money just by winning the tournament.

Friday was critical not to lose much ground.

Jin Young Ko, who received her award Thursday as LPGA player of the year, shot a 69 and remained eight shots behind. Jeongeun Lee6, the U.S. Women’s Open champion, felt a burden lifted and shot 67. She had six birdies, twice as many as the first round.

The burden had nothing to do with the big prize. Lee6 was rookie of the year, and she gave a moving speak in English before a full banquet room and without notes, having rehearsed it for two months. She received the loudest ovation of the night.

“A lot of people this morning were cheering and then they were congratulating me and then they saw that, `Oh, she did really well with the speech,’ and I felt really good about it,” Lee6 said. “And I felt like really good feelings about today, so my shots and my putting were good so far. But I kind of want to try my best I can for the last two rounds.”

In a comfortable floral jumpsuit and with her parents in the audience, Brooke Henderson added another award to her ever-growing trophy case.

The 22-year-old won the 2019 Founders Award at the Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony Thursday night in Naples, Fla. during the week of the CME Group Tour Championship.

The Founders Award is newly named for 2019. Formerly called the William & Mousie Powell Award, it was renamed for this year to celebrate the 13 founders of the LPGA.

Henderson told golfcanada.ca that the win was extra special since the winner of the award comes from a vote by fellow golfers on the LPGA Tour. It’s annually given to, in the opinion of her peers, someone “whose behaviour and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals, and values of the LPGA.”

The nine-time LPGA Tour winner said she first found out at an LPGA Tour Players’ Meeting earlier in the year that she was one of the nominees, and said to know people were voting for her was ‘pretty crazy.’

“It means a lot,” Henderson said. “I spend so much time with these girls that it’s really a great honour to be given the Founders Award.

“To be considered in the same sentence as (the founders)… their passion and perseverance and what they did this Tour was amazing. This is really cool for me.”

Henderson has made a habit of capturing awards-by-votes in 2019.

Earlier in the year she became the first Canadian golfer to win an ESPY award (she won for ‘Best Female Golfer’) and in October she won the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame People’s Choice Award – a new award designed to recognize ‘future Hall of Famers who are a champion of their sport and a champion for their community.’

“This year has been really crazy for the awards. I didn’t expect any of them,” Henderson said, flashing her recognizable smile. “To get them is just amazing. I’m honoured, humbled… and it’s just an amazing feeling.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A champion both on and off the #golf course ???⁣ ⁣ @BrookeHendersonGolf was named the 2019 recipient of the Founders Award, given to the player “whose behaviour and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the #LPGA” #DriveOn

A post shared by CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) on Nov 21, 2019 at 5:48pm PST

Henderson, who sat at a table with Lexi Thompson and executives from Rolex at the awards dinner, has won twice in 2019. Her victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic was the ninth in her young career. Win no. 9 gave her more than any other Canadian in the history of the LPGA or PGA Tour.

“This award that Brooke got is maybe one of the most special ones because it’s voted on by her peers and we’re so impressed and thrilled for Brooke to be recognized. We know how special she is,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “For all of her peers on the LPGA Tour to give her this award is phenomenal. It’s great for herself and her family and for all of Canadian golf.”

The native of Smiths Falls, Ont. has become a driving force for young golfers across the country – but even this week in Florida there are plenty of girls dressing with a visor and ponytail like Henderson walking outside the ropes – and she said being able to play in front of Canadians no matter where she goes makes her even more grateful for the support.

Henderson said she’s recognized her role and is happy to have an opportunity to be an inspiration both on the golf course with her record-breaking play, and off the course as well, as someone people can look up to.

“I’m always trying to become a better golfer, but I’m always trying to become a better person every day, too,” said Henderson. “When you work hard and are focused on achieving some goals, good things happen. This year is definitely proof of that.”

2019 CP Women’s Open winner Jin Young Ko was the night’s big winner, as she took home the Rolex Annika Major Award, and Rolex Player of the Year. With just three rounds left in the LPGA Tour season, she has nearly wrapped up the Vare Trophy (for lowest scoring average) as well.

Henderson sits T5 after the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 22, 2019 – In 2020, for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour, the world’s best female athletes will compete for a combined prize fund of $75.1 million, which includes the fourth playing of the UL International Crown, and air on more than 500 hours of television, both true signs of the continued growth for the game’s global tour.

The 2020 LPGA Tour schedule will feature 33 official events across 11 countries and regions, with the most hours of television production in LPGA history, and at least seven tournaments that will air on network television. Additionally, the UL International Crown, a unique biennial team event, will feature a $1.6 million unofficial purse and showcase the best female golfers from the top eight countries across the globe. 2020 will also see the world’s top players head to Japan for the Summer Olympics, bringing the game into even more households around the world.

“As we close 2019 and move to 2020, I could not be more excited about what the future will bring for the LPGA Tour and the sponsors that support us,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “$75.1 million in total purse. That number is a testament to the support we are receiving from sponsors and industry partners around the globe. As I enter my second decade as commissioner, we find ourselves in a new phase of the LPGA Tour. We’ve grown, but now we must flourish. We talk a lot about the next generation, but we will lift THIS generation. I know a lot of our fans understand the difference we are making for women’s golf in America, but they might be surprised to know about the impact our Tour is having all around the globe.”

The largest purse increase for the 2020 season comes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The purse for the season’s third major championship will grow to $4.3 million, up $450,000 from 2019. Additionally, the purse at the ANA Inspiration, traditionally the first major of each professional golf season, will increase to $3.1 million, up $100,000 from 2019 and the sixth consecutive year with a purse increase since ANA assumed title sponsorship in 2015.

Other purses increasing in 2020 are the CP Women’s Open ($2.35 million, up $100,000), the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana ($1.85 million, up $100,000) and the Volunteers of America Classic ($1.4 million, up $100,000).

As previously announced, the 2020 LPGA Tour season will include two new events in Florida, making it four tournaments for the Sunshine State. The Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will be held Jan. 23-26 at Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, one week after the season-opening Diamond Resort Tournament of Champions presented by Insurance Office of America in Lake Buena Vista. Four months later, the Tour will return to the Sunshine State for the Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging, to be held May 14-17 at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. Finally, for the seventh consecutive year, the LPGA Tour will end its season in Naples at the CME Group Tour Championship, a competition that awards the winner with $1.5 million, the largest single prize in women’s golf history.

2020 will also see the return of the Blue Bay LPGA, which was not conducted in 2019 to transition the competition into a spring time slot. The tournament in the People’s Republic of China will now be held March 5-8 as part of the LPGA Tour’s Spring Asia Swing, following stops in Thailand and Singapore.

The major season will kick off in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with the ANA Inspiration celebrating its 49th year on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. The U.S. Women’s Open, conducted by the USGA, will visit Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, while the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa. The final two majors send the LPGA Tour overseas, with the Evian Championship returning to Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bain, France, and the AIG Women’s British Open heading to Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland.

In early August, between the Evian Championship and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, the LPGA Tour will go on hiatus to accommodate the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. The women’s golf competition will be held Aug. 5-8 at Kasumigaseki Country Club, located 40 miles outside Tokyo. Qualifying for the 60-player field ends following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, with the top 15 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings automatically qualifying for the Games (no more than four players per country). The remaining spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two qualified players. Weekly Olympic golf rankings are posted every Monday on the International Golf Federation website.

The 2020 UL International Crown will be held Aug. 27-30 at Centurion Club, located outside of London, England. Spain won the inaugural competition in 2014, with the United States winning in 2016 and the Republic of Korea winning in 2018.

The 2020 LPGA Tour season will again feature three season-long races. In its second year, the Aon Risk Reward Challenge will award $1 million to the players on the LPGA and PGA Tours who best navigate risk across the season’s most strategically challenging holes. Carlota Ciganda captured the inaugural title on the LPGA Tour, while Brooks Koepka won on the PGA Tour. For the third consecutive year, the LEADERS Top-10s competition will award $100,000 to the player with the most top-10 finishes, with Ariya Jutanugarn (2018) and Jin Young Ko (2019) earning the first two awards. Finally, the Race to the CME Globe will see the top 60 players following the season’s penultimate event heading to the CME Group Tour Championship with the opportunity to win the $1.5 million winner’s check.

While the overall TV schedule is still being finalized, the 2020 LPGA Tour will see 500 global hours of broadcast coverage, including at least seven events aired on network TV. The Tour will be televised in more than 175 countries and in more than 500 million households.

The Symetra Tour, which is celebrating its 40th season, is still finalizing a schedule that will include at least 20 events for players on the LPGA Tour’s Official Qualifying Tour. Earlier this year, the Symetra Tour announced that the Circling Raven Championship, the first new event of the 2020 campaign, will be held at Circling Raven Golf Club at Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort and Hotel in Worley, Idaho. Since Symetra’s inaugural sponsorship year in 2012, the Symetra Tour has grown from 16 tournaments and $1.7 million in prize money to a record $4 million awarded over the course of 23 tournaments in 2019.

2020 will see a date change for the Senior LPGA Championship presented by Old National Bank. After three years in October, the tournament will move to July 30-Aug. 1, but will remain at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick (Ind.) Resort. Additionally, the LPGA’s Q-Series presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the two-week qualifying tournament that replaced Stage III of Q School, will be held Oct. 19-31 in Pinehurst, N.C., while the LPGA T&CP National Championship will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at Reynolds Lake Oconee Golf Course in Greensboro, Ga.

2020 LPGA Tour Schedule (bold = major; italics = new event; * = unofficial money; ** = to be confirmed)