NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim set a goal of winning three times this year on the LPGA Tour, and she’s down to her last chance.

Reaching the goal would pay off big at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Kim scrambled to keep bogeys off her card Thursday along the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club, and then she pulled away from the pack with one big shot. Her approach on the par-5 17th narrowly stayed on the fringe of the green, and she holed the 12-foot eagle putt that carried her to a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead in the final LPGA Tour event of the year.

The winner gets $1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf.

“This tournament really special,” Kim said. “But I try to just make myself comfortable. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself.”

Nelly Korda, the highest-ranked American at No. 3 in the world ranking, did her best to make sure Kim didn’t get too far away, even after one round. She birdied the par-3 16th, holed a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the 17th green and closed with a 20-foot birdie. That took her from middle of the pack to a 67, leaving her two shots behind.

So Yeon Ryu and Georgia Hall, both past major champions, also were at 67.

“To be honest, this year is one of the worst seasons I’ve ever had,” said Ryu, who has yet to win this year. “So if I can win this tournament, it’s going to be awesome to finish the season, and then I’m not going to complain.”

That’s the effect of $1.5 million, which dwarfs the $1 million payoff at the U.S. Women’s Open, won by Jeongeun Lee6. The next-biggest check in women’s golf was $675,000 at the Women’s British Open.

The change this year at the Tour Championship is that all 60 players who qualified get the $1.5 million if they win the tournament. Previously, it was based on points from earned all season, and only the top 12 were given a shot at the $1 million bonus.

Because the money is official, Jin Young Ko is not assured of capturing the money title even though she has been the best in women’s golf this year. Ko, who won two majors among her four LPGA titles, clinched the LPGA player of the year with three tournaments left, and she leads the money list by more than $700,000.

Playing for the first time since an ankle injury caused her to withdraw in Taiwan three weeks ago, she made her way around Tiburon without a limp, but without many birdies, either. Ko took double bogey on the fourth hole, made her third birdie with a 12-foot putt on the par-3 eighth and closed with 10 pars for a 71.

Still, this day was more about players not shooting themselves out of the tournament.

That’s what Ariya Jutanugarn might have done. She didn’t make a birdie until the final hole to salvage a 76, leaving her 11 shots behind. Jutanugarn has yet to win this season, one year after she swept all the major awards on the LPGA Tour.

Brooke Henderson, one of seven players to win multiple times on the LPGA this year, did well to stay in the mix. She hit a thin 7-iron out of the pine straw on the 15th hole, a bad shot that turned good when it ran on the fast turf of Tiburon between bunkers and onto the green to 12 feet for birdie. She followed that by chipping across the green for a sloppy bogey on the 16th, and then failing to birdie the par-5 17th.

But the Canadian finished with a birdie to join the group at 68, leaving her just three behind with a lot of golf left.

“That made my round feel a lot better,” Henderson said. “I saw Sei Young at minus 7, which is a good score today. The wind was kind of hard to judge at times, but I think once you get on a roll, you can make a lot of birdies out here.”

There’s hope for Henderson and others, and concern that it also applies to Kim, a streaky player who holds the LPGA Tour 72-hole record to par at 31 under.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made consecutive bogeys on the back nine and had to settle for a 70.

NAPLES, Fla. – Mike Whan pulled the LPGA Tour out of a deep hole when he took over as a commissioner nine years ago, and he’s not finished yet.

Whan has signed what the LPGA described only as a long-term contract extension that keeps him in charge as women’s golf tries to expand its exposure through a new television deal being negotiated.

Peter Carfagna, the outgoing chairman of the LPGA board of directors, said Wednesday in announcing the extension that Whan has taken the LPGA Tour “from a struggling sports brand to what it is today – a true powerhouse in women’s sports, equality and opportunity.”

“As my tenure on the LPGA board comes to an end, I could not be leaving this organization in better hands,” he said.

Whan took over in September 2010 for Carolyn Bivens following what amounted to a player mutiny over a heavy-handed style that alienated sponsors right about the time the economy went into a recession.

The LPGA had 24 tournaments that year with total official prize money of $41.4 million, and it had 23 events on the 2011 schedule in Whan’s first year. Only one tournament – the U.S. Women’s Open, run by the USGA – had a purse of $3 million or more.

Now, the LPGA is finishing up a season with 32 official events and $70.2 million in prize money. Five tournaments had a total purse of $3 million or more, and the CME Group Tour Championship has $5 million in prize money, with $1.5 million going to the winner, the richest payoff ever in women’s golf.

The LPGA expanded to five majors with the Evian Championship. It joined forces with the PGA of America to reshape another major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, held this year at Hazeltine, with future sites at Aronimink and Congressional.

Whan also introduced the International Crown, a biennial competition among eight qualifying countries with four-player teams.

“Ten years ago, I’m not sure many of us would have been bold enough to predict where we are today,” Whan said in a letter to his members, in which he pointed out that 19 of the 33 events on next year’s schedule didn’t exist in 2010. “We have built incredible alliances with many industry stakeholders, who have also helped us to create a stronger LPGA and fuel the growth of young women in the game.”

What said that when he gets asked where he wants to go next in his career, “Three words run through my head: I’m not done.”

The LPGA Tour now has a Tournament of Champions in Florida to start its season, and it has added another Florida event in the spring. It also has three international swings – Asia and Australia in the late winter, Europe in the summer and Asia in the fall.

Even as prize money increases, however, Whan is hopeful of broadening the exposure through television. The Tour Championship, the most significant individual event this side of the majors, is being broadcast on tape delay by Golf Channel until NBC airs the final round live.

The LPGA Tour is using the PGA Tour as its negotiator for the next TV contract, which expires after 2021. The LPGA typically uses an outside agency to help with negotiations, and Whan said this summer no one has been more successful than the PGA Tour.

He also is bullish on trying to persuade more companies to pour sponsorship dollars in the women’s game as they do for the men, either through tournaments or individual players.

“There is no doubt we’re at a tipping point and more executives, shareholders and investors are questioning whether their corporate values are reflected in every aspect of their company, including marketing and sponsorship decisions,” he said in his letter. “Increased corporate support translates into more opportunities for women in golf and more opportunities for female athletes to be seen as role models of confidence, ability and accomplishment.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 18, 2019 – The LPGA today announced that Diane Gulyas, a retired marketing executive with DuPont, has been elected as the incoming Chair of the LPGA’s Board of Directors, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Gulyas, who has been an independent member of the LPGA’s Board of Directors since 2017, will succeed Peter Carfagna, the Board Chair in 2018-19 and a member of the Board for the past nine years.

After a 36-year career with DuPont, Gulyas retired in 2014 as president of Performance Polymers, where she directed a $4 billion business portfolio that covered 35 sites around the world, and as DuPont’s Chief Marketing Officer. During that tenure, she was also Chair of a $1 billion joint venture with the Japanese company Teijin, focusing on polyester film. Previously, Gulyas served as DuPont’s group vice president of Electronics and Communication Technologies, with extensive business dealings in Europe and Asia. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Notre Dame Engineering Advisory Board, and also serves on the boards of directors of Ingevity, W.R. Grace and Expeditors.

“I am thrilled and honored to serve with this dynamic and talented Board and management team,” said Gulyas. “We have made significant progress in the last three years. I look forward to enabling this team to increase our impact for our Members and the empowerment of women golfers worldwide.”

Additionally, Madeleine Kleiner, retired executive vice president and general counsel of Hilton Hotel Corporation, and John Veihmeyer, retired Chairman of KPMG International, have been elected by LPGA Tour Membership to join the Board as independent directors. Joining the Board as player directors are Lydia Ko, Amy Olson and Alena Sharp.

Kleiner retired in 2008 from Hilton Hotel Corporation, where she had worked as executive vice president and general counsel since 2001. Prior to her time at Hilton, Kleiner was senior executive vice president and Chief Administrative Officer for H.F. Ahmanson and Company, and was a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, focusing on corporate law. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Yale Law School, and serves on the boards of directors of Northrop Grumman and Jack in the Box.

Veihmeyer worked for KPMG from 1977 to 2007, when he retired following a three-year term as Global Chairman. He also served as KPMG’s U.S. Chairman and CEO from 2010 to 2015. During that time, Veihmeyer was one of the driving forces in transforming the LPGA Championship into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a partnership between KPMG, the LPGA and the PGA of America. Veihmeyer currently serves on the board of trustees for his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, and is also on the boards of Ford Motor Company, Financial Accounting Foundation and Catholic Charities of Washington, DC.

Ko is finishing her sixth year on the LPGA Tour. She has 15 wins, including two majors, and at age 15, became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history when she captured the 2012 CP Women’s Open. Ko represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she earned the silver medal.

Olson is also finishing her sixth year on the LPGA Tour. She enjoyed a celebrated collegiate career at North Dakota State University, setting the NCAA record for most career victories with 20, a mark previously held by Juli Inkster.

Sharp is finishing her 15th season on the LPGA Tour. She represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she finished 30th.

Kleiner and Veihmeyer join a slate of independent directors that also includes Gulyas; David Fay, former executive director of the USGA; Jon Iwata, retired senior vice president and Chief Brand Officer of IBM; and Tom Schoewe, retired executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart. Ko, Olson and Sharp join fellow LPGA Tour players Kim Kaufman, Pernilla Lindberg and Kris Tamulis, as well as Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, a retired Member who has served as Player President since 2014. LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan also sits on the Board of Directors, as does Marvol Barnard, national president of the LPGA Professionals.

Retiring from the Board of Directors are Carfagna, Chairman/CEO of Magis, LLC, and former Chief Legal Officer of IMG, and Peggy Mulligan, former executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly Biovail).

REGINA – It’s been slightly over a year since Brooke Henderson made history at the 2018 CP Women’s Open and Regina’s Wascana Country Club.

It’s a moment Canadian golf fans won’t soon forget when Henderson became the first Canadian to win the event since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973 on Aug. 26, 2018. Wascana Chief Executive Officer Greg Dukart said the club and city are still beaming about how the event played out.

“The membership at large totally embraced the event when it was here, as did the community,” Dukart said. “That whole sense of pride and ownership has just continued into this year. The efforts all the volunteers made in making the event happen and then in combination with Chad Fawcett (superintendent) and his team getting the course playable, it jived together perfectly. The after effect is still very positive.”

No one knew who was going to win the event, but when Henderson hit her approach shot on hole 18 and got it to within a couple feet of the hole, the gallery knew history was upon them. Dukart said The Wascana has now immortalized the spot on the fairway where she hit from. The staff placed a plague in the turf commemorating the moment In Canadian sports history.

“When members now play it’s a constant reminder that they are part of history with her winning on home soil and being the first in 45 years,” Dukart explained. “Not only history of that but the LPGA coming to Regina and Wascana which arguable may or may not ever happen again. To have a Canadian win, everything around that is pretty unique.”

The many people behind the event have every reason to be proud of the event from the staff to hundreds of volunteers. Dukart said the commitment wasn’t lost on the LPGA brass as well.

“We put a lot of energy in trying to land the event and that’s all good, now you can’t take it away from our members and our club, it’s been held here and successfully. I just received an email from LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan commenting on how great the event was when it was held in Regina,” Dukart beamed.

The Wascana opened in 1911 and has had extraordinary moments in its history. Hosting the Canadian Mid-Amateur Men’s Championship in 2017 was a highlight. Saskatchewan had 37 players in the field including long-time Wascana member Tyler Wright.  He placed fifth, the highest ever for a Saskatchewan competitor at the national event. Dukart said speaking with local historians, Henderson’s win might trump everything in their legacy.

“Without exception aside from the monumental task of opening the course in 1911 I think they are putting this at the top of the many significant moments in our history. This has to be pretty close to number one in those moments,” Dukart said.

The Wascana honoured Henderson with a lifetime membership at the club as well.

An estimated 45,000 people passed through gates over the four days on the event.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Defending champion Nelly Korda birdied the first hole of a three-way playoff on Sunday to win the LPGA Swinging Skirts.

Korda and Minjee Lee both birdied the final hole of regulation to finish at 18-under 270 and force a playoff with Caroline Masson, who shot a 68.

Korda, who started the final round with a three-stroke lead over Lee (69), looked set to win in regulation after a birdie on the par-5 No. 12 gave her a three-shot lead. But she bogeyed three of her final five holes to fall one stroke back of Masson before a birdie on 18 gave her even-par 72.

“It just gets away from you so fast,” Korda said. “And Caroline made a couple putts and she was one ahead of me on 17. I was like, geez, I have to make a birdie here.”

Masson took the lead after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 but closed with par on the final two holes.

“I did have a couple chances to get maybe two ahead on 17 and make birdie on 18, and didn’t use them, but I think overall, I just hung with them all day,” Masson said. “Super proud of the way we played and battled.”

In the playoff on the par-5 18th, Korda was the only one to find the fairway and hit a perfect second shot to set up an eagle chance. She left the eagle putt short, but a birdie was enough for her to win her third career LPGA title.

With her second win of the year, Korda is the first American with multiple wins in the 2019 season.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 68 to finish regulation tied for fourth, four strokes back with South Koreans Sei Young Kim and Mi Jung Hur.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp tied for 49th.

Brooke Henderson added to her impressive collection of awards on Wednesday, receiving the inaugural People’s Choice Award from Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

The award was created to “Recognize future Hall of Famers who are a champion of their sport and a champion for their community.”

The 22-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., had another stellar campaign on the LPGA Tour, capturing her record ninth title at the Meijer LPGA Classic, becoming the winningest Canadian golfer in history on either the LPGA or PGA Tours.

Henderson is a strong advocate for charity and community involvement, playing a large role as an ambassador for Canadian Pacific and the CP Has Heart campaign. At the 2019 CP Women’s Open in Aurora, Ont., she helped celebrate raising $2.2 million for SickKids Foundation. She also participated in numerous clinics and charity outings throughout the year.

Her list of recognitions also include the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2018. She also took home the honours for 2019 ESPY award for Best Female Golfer.

Aaron Stewart was always around golf even when he wasn’t heavily invested. Now he’s involved in ways he never imagined.

Stewart, the son of late three-time major champion Payne Stewart, has been appointed tournament director of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida. The season opener on the LPGA Tour is Jan. 16-19 and features two events in one – 72 holes of stroke play for LPGA winners the last two seasons and celebrities competing in a Stableford format.

“I’m really excited to be with the tournament side of things, back in the golf industry,” Stewart said. “And I’m still with the company I grew up with.”

He is approaching the 20-year anniversary – Oct. 25, 1999 – of his father travelling to Texas when the jet lost cabin pressure and flew uncontrolled across the country until crashing in South Dakota. Stewart was the reigning U.S. Open champion. His son was 10.

“I didn’t play as much then. I was more into other sports,” Stewart said. “I’d always go out to the golf course, and I was around my dad when he was practicing. I was more into the golf cart, driving that around.”

He started playing seriously a few years later and decided if he was going to be good, he would have to put in the time. He went to SMU, his father’s alma mater, with every intention of trying to make it to the next level.

“I ended up going a different route,” Stewart said. “I didn’t have the desire to play professionally. I was a little burned out, to be honest.”

He returned home to Orlando and worked for the Tavistock Group and then was hired by Diamond Resorts through an intensive training program. This job was more about marketing, taking him to Las Vegas and California. He married and took a year off to travel, returned to Diamond Resorts in March as part of the sports marketing team involved in the Tournament of Champions and was elevated last month to executive director.

It was a different path, much like the LPGA Tour event he now runs.

The tournament began as a one-day charity event for Brian Gay, geared toward raising money toward health causes. It became an unofficial event for the PGA Tour Champions, and now it offers a unique blend of LPGA winners and celebrities, along with giving the LPGA Tour a winners-only event it had been lacking.

Eun-Hee Ji won the inaugural event, with former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz winning the celebrity side.

Stewart always remained connected to tour golf in some capacity. The Payne Stewart Award has become one of the most significant honours on the PGA Tour, and Stewart goes to Atlanta every year for the televised ceremony during the Tour Championship.

He was in Las Vegas last week and got together with Jim Furyk, who played in the 1999 Ryder Cup with his father and won the Payne Stewart Award.

Now it’s about running a season opener for the LPGA Tour.

“It makes each week really exciting for us to see if we’ll have a new person on the roster,” Stewart said Monday, one day after Cheyenne Knight won her first LPGA Tour event to qualify for the season opener. “It’s a great transition into the season. We’re thrilled to be in that position.”

PRESIDENTS CUP

Four tournaments into the PGA Tour season are enough to raise questions about captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup – Joaquin Niemann of Chile winning big at the Greenbrier, and Kevin Na winning at Las Vegas for his second victory in five months.

Na said he was hopeful of a text from U.S. captain Tiger Woods about his Vegas win in a playoff.

“If not, I’m going to be texting him.” Na said.

He still is somewhat of a long shot. Na was No. 22 in the standings. Woods has four picks, and among those well ahead of Na were Match Play winner Kevin Kisner, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Northern Trust winner Patrick Reed, along with Rickie Fowler and yes, Masters champion Woods.

Na says injuries limited him to only 19 starts – he has played at least 26 times each of the last five years – and he missed the second FedEx Cup playoff event to be home for the birth of his son.

“I was a little behind on the points, but I got two wins in this calendar year,” Na said. “So hopefully, he’s keeping an eye on me. I could make some putts. I’m a good match play player. I keep trying to sell myself. Hopefully, he considers me.”

Woods and International captain Ernie Els make their selections after the HSBC Champions ends on Nov. 3.

LPGA CARDS

The LPGA Tour takes a week off before heading to Asia for a month of limited field, no-cut events in which only players who earn spots in the fields – no sponsor exemptions – can earn points toward trying to be among the top 60 reaching the season-ending CME Globe Tour Championship.

The final full-field event in Texas proved plenty big. Cheyenne Knight won for the first time and moved to No. 65 on the money list, which will get her into Asia events. For others, it was a matter of keeping their cards. Stephanie Meadow made an 18-foot birdie on the last hole that was just enough to finish No. 99 on the money list.

The top 80 effectively have full cards and top 100 have status secured without having to go the Q-Series, consecutive 72-hole events at the end of October for players from Nos. 101-150, and for Nos. 11-35 on the Symetra Tour money list.

Among those who avoided a return to the Q-Series was Maria Fassi of Mexico, largely based on her pro debut.

She tied for 12th at the U.S. Women’s Open, which has the largest purse among the majors. Fassi made 80% of her money from one event with $103,065. She made $26,099 from three other tournaments and had a stretch of seven straight missed cuts.

Fassi, along with Jennifer Kupcho, went through the Q-Series last year, earned cards, deferred their memberships so they could finish college and didn’t start until June. Kupcho had two big weeks. While she missed five of her last six cuts, she tied for second in a major at the Evian Championship and tied for fifth at the Marathon Classic. She is eligible for the Asia swing but goes into them at No. 64 in the Race to CME Globe.

FITNESS FREAK

It would be simple enough for Bryson DeChambeau to say he’s going to spend time in the gym over the next month.

Only it’s never that simple with DeChambeau.

The objective is to get stronger, and he says that means he will probably look bigger. And he says he’s going to have fun doing it through muscle activation techniques.

“We make sure the neurological threshold is just as high as the mechanical threshold,” DeChambeau said. “In layman’s terms, pretty much whatever muscle potentially you have, how big and the muscle spindles you have, making you recruit every single one of them to their full potential throughout the whole range, and training the whole range of motion.”

DeChambeau calls it “revolutionary in the physical therapy world.”

“I’m looking forward to an incredible off-season of getting really strong and really stable,” he said.

DISTANCE CHASER

Pat Perez is the latest on the list of players who went chasing power only to find their games got weaker. He also is the latest to figure out that what he had was good enough to win on the PGA Tour and reach as high as No. 16 in the world.

Perez returned from shoulder surgery to win twice in 26 starts, finally reaping the rewards of being among the top players in the world ranking – the Masters, no U.S. Open qualifying for the first time and more than $7 million over two seasons.

And then he wanted to get better, which meant trying to get longer.

“I played for three years one way and I made a lot of money, won twice, do all these things,” Perez said. “And then I went away from it to try to get longer. It just hurt my game, so I went back to the drawing board.”

He finished third in Las Vegas, his best finish since he won in Malaysia two years ago. It moved his world ranking from No. 183 to No. 120.

DIVOTS

Dustin Johnson plans to defend his title in the Saudi International next January. The tournament also confirmed that world No. 1 Brooks Koepka will return. … Phil Mickelson now has gone 18 consecutive starts without a top-10 finish since winning at Pebble Beach in February. … The 2022 Ryder Cup in Italy will end on Oct. 2, the third time since 2010 the matches end in October. The others were Wales in 2010 and Hazeltine in 2016. … Ian Baker-Finch will captain the Australians in the Olympics for the second time. Three Aussies currently are in the top 25 in the world – Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and Jason Day, none of whom was in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Jon Rahm has finished in the top five in 10 of his 14 regular European Tour events, including five victories.

FINAL WORD

“Putter got hot this week – tends to do that sometimes. And when it does, if I’m hitting it halfway decent, I feel like I can win.” – Kevin Na, after making 559 feet of putts over four rounds in his victory at Las Vegas.

THE COLONY, Texas – Cheyenne Knight struggled so much her rookie season that she made the cut in only half of her tournaments and figured she was headed back to the LPGA Tour qualifying series. One week changed everything.

In the only LPGA event in her home state of Texas, in what she thought would be her last tournament of the year, Knight played bogey-free Sunday and closed with a 5-under 66 for a two-shot victory in the Volunteers of America Classic.

Her first victory on the LPGA Tour comes with a two-year exemption and makes her eligible for the Asia swing. At No. 49 in the Race to CME Globe standings, she is virtually assured of getting to the Tour Championship next month.

“It’s so incredible. I can’t put it into words,” Knight said.

The 22-year-old was in tears even before players rushed onto the 18th green at Old American Golf Club and sprayed her with champagne and water. Knight had pointed to his tournament, which she played as an amateur, all season. She grew up about an hour away in Aledo. And she never plays without thinking of her brother, Brandon, who died in a car accident when Knight was 12.

She dropped her putter and pointed to the sky when her 2-foot par putt dropped to finish at 18-under 266, two shots ahead of Brittany Altomare (67) and Jaye Marie Green (69), both trying for their first LPGA title.

“I think I had a second caddie. I know he’s watching in heaven, and he’s so proud of me,” Knight said. “This is for Brandon.”

Altomare, who played in her first Solheim Cup last month, got up-and-down from just short of the 17th green for birdie to briefly tie for the lead. Knight, playing in the group behind, holed a 15-foot birdie putt to regain the lead.

Needing birdie to have any chance, Altomare gunned her putt about 6 feet and missed the next one, taking bogey to clear the way for Knight.

“I keep saying this, but I think the more I put myself in those situations, eventually, statistically, I feel like it has to happen,” Altomare said.

Green began the final round with the lead and still was one shot ahead through 10 holes until she bogeyed the 11th and 12th and never caught up. With a runner-up finish, Green moved to No. 48 in the Race to CME Globe and will be eligible for Asia event, which do not have cuts.

Georgia Hall (66) and Jane Park (68) tied for fourth.

Knight had not finished better than a tie for 29th in the 54-hole event in Arkansas going into the Texas event, the final full field of the year.

“I said when I got my card this was the event I was most looking forward to,” said Knight, who tied for 29th three years ago when she played as an amateur. “Who would have thought this would help me secure my card. I thought I was going back to Q-school. To win this means everything, knowing I can persevere.”

Stephanie Meadow of Northern Ireland, who was No. 112 on the money list, made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to keep her card by moving into the top 100 and avoid returning to the LPGA Q-Series at the end of the year.

Meadow closed with a 67 and tied for sixth with Katherine Perry, who also needed a birdie on the final hole to keep her card. Perry missed from 15 feet and will finish outside the top 100 on the money list.

Alena Sharp (72) of Hamilton was 7 under to finish it a tie for 14th place. Brooke Henderson (69) of Smits Falls, Ont., was 5 under in a tie for 16th.

THE COLONY, Texas – Canada’s Alena Sharp shot a 6-under 65 on Friday for a share of the second-round lead with Brittany Altomare and Cheyenne Knight in the LPGA Tour’s Volunteers of America Classic.

Sharp closed with a bogey on the par-4 18th to drop into the tie for the lead at 9-under 133 at Old American Golf Club. Altomare had a 66, and Knight shot 67. The three leaders are winless on the LPGA Tour.

Knight was a two-time state high school champion at Aledo, just west of Fort Worth.

First-round leader Stephanie Meadow was 8 under, following her opening 63 with a 71.

Jaye Marie Green and Katherine Perry each shot 68 to reach 7 under.

Ariya Jutanugarn was 6 under after her second straight 68. The 10-time tour winner missed the cut last week in Indianapolis, ending her streak of 56 starts on the tour without missing a cut.

Georgia Hall (68) also was 6 under with Caroline Hedwall (67), Jane Park (67) and Wei-Ling Hsu (68).

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Suzann Pettersen stood over the final shot of her golfing career, not quite realizing it also was the last shot of the most dramatic Solheim Cup ever played.

Europe’s players had their hands over their mouths, and their captain could barely watch. Blissfully unaware of what was unfolding was 1-year-old Herman, Pettersen’s first child who was also among the thousands around the 18th green at Gleneagles.

The putt was from 7 feet, slightly left to right, and it never looked like missing.

After being mobbed by her teammates on the 18th green, an emotional Pettersen held Herman in her arms and kissed him. The Europeans had regained the Solheim Cup and one of the stalwarts of women’s golf had her perfect ending.

“Yeah, this is it. I’m completely done,” said the 38-year-old Pettersen, confirming her sudden decision to retire. “It doesn’t get any better.”

On an afternoon of singles matches that pretty much had everything, Europe secured a 14 1/2-13 1/2 win over the United States to claim the biggest team prize in female golf for the first time since 2013.

The final act, spread over two holes with virtually simultaneous putts, could not have been more thrilling.

Just as Pettersen was addressing her putt at No. 18, U.S. player Ally McDonald slid a putt to the right of the hole at No. 17 and walked up to Bronte Law to concede the match in favour of the Europeans.

The score changed to 13 1/2-13 1/2 and – without her even realizing – the outcome of the contest hinged on Pettersen.

“I thought Bronte was in behind me on the (18th) fairway,” Pettersen said. “I actually didn’t know that it was THE putt.”

That it was Pettersen who secured the winning point felt apt.

She was a contentious wild-card pick by European captain Catriona Matthew because Pettersen had played just two tournaments – missing the cut in both – since November 2017. She had time off before and after giving birth to Herman, and then because of injury.

Pettersen also had a score to settle with the Solheim Cup. In her most recent appearance, at St. Leon-Rot in Germany in 2015, she refused to concede a short putt to Alison Lee on the 17th hole of a tight fourballs match before the singles on the final day. There were angry exchanges, and it stoked a fire inside the Americans as they fought back from 10-6 down going into the singles to win 14 1/2-13 1/2.

Pettersen later apologized.

“She gone from villain to hero,” said Laura Davies, one of the European vice captains.

Pettersen’s redemption story was delivered in Scotland, the home of golf, where the U.S. team hasn’t now won in three attempts. Playing in her ninth Solheim Cup, Pettersen won two of her three matches and is now a four-time Solheim Cup winner.

The day started with the teams locked at 8-8 after four sessions, and the first definitive break of the entire contest happened when the Americans took the lead for the first time since Friday lunchtime, at 12-11.

At 13 1/2-11 1/2, they needed just a half-point from the final three singles matches out on the course to guarantee retaining the cup, but then came the European fightback.

Anna Nordqvist completed a 4-and-3 win over Morgan Pressel. Then, on No. 17, Law sealed a 2-and-1 win over McDonald to tie the score. Pettersen delivered for Europe on No. 18, but only after her opponent, Marina Alex, slid a 10-foot birdie putt wide that, if it had found the hole, would have been enough for the U.S.

“I told them afterward, the sun’s going to come up tomorrow,” said U.S. captain Juli Inkster, when asked what she’d said to her players. “It was great for women’s golf. We played great.

“But you know what, the Europeans played great. You tip your hat. And you move on to Toledo.”

Inkster won’t be there in 2021, confirming afterward that she will not be captain for a fourth straight match. She finishes with two victories from three Solheim Cups as captain.

Two of the Americans, in particular, will still look back on the week with fond memories despite the loss. Jessica and Nelly Korda, the first sisters to play together in the fourballs or foursomes at the Solheim Cup, both finished with 3 1/2 points from four matches after coming from behind to win in the singles.

Nelly Korda, out in Match 2, was 3 down after nine holes against Caroline Hedwall but won 2 up. Jessica Korda, who at age 26 is five years older than her sister, beat Caroline Masson 3 and 2 after being 2 down.

Other key interventions for the U.S. in the singles came from Megan Khang, who birdied No. 18 to claim a half-point against Charley Hull, and Lizette Salas, who parred the last for a 1-up win over Anne van Dam.

But Europe, which had a historically inferior record in singles, managed to win the session 6 1/2-5 1/2 after victories in three of the first matches to finish – including Georgia Hall taking down world No. 3 Lexi Thompson 2 and 1 – and then those last three matches.

Hall and Celine Boutier, a 2-and-1 winner over Annie Park, both won all four of their matches.

Thompson, the highest-ranked player at Gleneagles, collected just two half-points from four matches.

Matthew, carried shoulder-high by her players on the 18th green, celebrated victory in her home country.

And Pettersen closed her career with 21 points in the Solheim Cup, the Norwegian described by Matthew as “one of the trailblazers in women’s golf.”

“Coming down No. 18, Beany (Matthew) said, ‘It’s why I picked you,”’ Pettersen said. “In your wildest dreams, especially where I’ve come from, I never thought I was going to do this again.”