Ko rallies to successfully defend Swinging Skirts title
DALY CITY, Calif. – Lydia Ko celebrated another birthday week at Lake Merced with another victory Sunday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
Ko won for the second straight year, this time beating Morgan Pressel on the second playoff hole by rolling in a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for her seventh career LPGA Tour victory. She turned 18 on Friday.
Ko made two birdies in the three times she played the closing hole at Lake Merced. She made an 8-footer in regulation to close with a 2-under 70.
Pressel had to settle for three pars on the 18th. She missed a 15-footer in regulation for the win, closing with a 72. Her best chance was a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole that grazed the edge of the cup. Pressel badly pulled an 8-foot birdie putt on her third try with Ko in close.
“At the start of the day, I didn’t know how it was going to go,” Ko said. “It’s been a great birthday week again.”
Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 14th to stay close to the lead and she had a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join the playoff. It missed on the low side and she had to settle for a 74.
Ko, already the No. 1 player in women’s golf, moved to the top of the LPGA Tour money list with her second tour victory and third worldwide title this year. But it was hard work. She never had the lead until making her winning putt on the 20th hole of the day.
Equally important was a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th that curled in from the left side right when it looked as if this was Pressel’s tournament to win. Ko missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 17th for a share of the lead, though she converted on the 18th to finish at 8-under 280.
It was a tough loss for Pressel, whose last victory was in 2008 at the Kapalua LPGA Classic. She had a two-shot lead with four holes to play until making back-to-back bogeys, and then failing to make a birdie on the 18th.
The par-5 closing hole could not be reached in two, so it effectively came down to a wedge and a putt.
“I just couldn’t convert the putts,” Pressel said. “It all comes down to putting. She birdied it twice and I didn’t.”
Ko opened with two straight bogeys and fell as many as four shots behind. She also chopped up the 16th hole with a poor tee shot and an approach that went well long, leading to a bogey. But the Korean-born Kiwi was spared by sloppy play all around her over the final hour on a crisp afternoon.
Henderson, trying to become the third player in history to win on the LPGA Tour before turning 18, was shaky from the start. She hit her opening tee shot to the right behind trees and had to punch out to the fairway, leading to bogey. She came up well short on the par-3 third and made another bogey, and fell out of the lead for the first time since Friday morning.
The Canadian never caught up, though she was never out of it until missing her 25-foot birdie attempt on the 18th.
“It was one of the least nervous putts I had all day,” Henderson said. “I could see it going in in my mind, but it didn’t happen in real life.”
She headed for Texas to try to Monday qualify for the next LPGA event. Finishing in the top 10 only makes a player eligible for the next tournament if she is an LPGA member. Henderson last year was denied a waiver to the LPGA’s minimum age requirement of 18.
Pressel took the lead by making pars, and she started to seize control when she rolled in a 45-foot eagle putt on No. 6 for a two-shot lead. But she missed three short putts on the front nine – two for birdie, one for par – that kept her from getting a little more separation.
The final hour took shape with three big shots. Henderson holed her bunker shot for eagle on the 14th to reach 8 under and get within one shot of the lead. Moments later, Pressel got up-and-down from behind the green to get to 10 under and, in the group ahead of them, Ko made her big birdie putt to reach 8 under.
Pressel dropped shots on the next two holes. Henderson chunked a chip on the 15th and made bogey. Ko went well long on the 16th and missed a 10-foot par putt. Pressel had a one-shot lead going to the last hole and could hear the gallery’s big cheer on the green when Ko made her 8-foot putt to tie her for the lead.

Brooke Henderson (Robert Laberge/ Getty Images)
Brooke Henderson holds one-shot lead at Swinging Skirts
DALY CITY, Calif. – Not old enough to join the LPGA Tour without permission, 17-year-old Brooke Henderson has been good enough for long enough to know about pressure.
She could get her fill of that in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
Leading by as many as five shots Saturday with Lake Merced at its toughest all week, Henderson closed with a pair of bogeys that reduced the Canadian teen’s margin to one shot over Morgan Pressel and Min Seo Kwak going into the final round.
Henderson had to settle for an even-par 72. She kept the lead, even though she lost some momentum.
And she kept her engaging smile.
“Overall, it was a great day and I’m really happy to be where I am,” Henderson said. “If someone told me at the beginning of the week I would be leading going into the final round, I would have taken it.”
Even so, the final two holes changed the dynamics of this tournament.
Henderson had looked unflappable even in conditions so tough that Pressel (67) and Kwak (69) were the only players to break 70. The wind made the Pacific air feel close to 50 degrees, and overnight rain made the course soft and longer. Pressel hit a 5-wood into the seventh hole Saturday; she had been hitting 9-iron.
Henderson didn’t miss a fairway until the par-5 14th hole, and she converted that into birdie with an up-and-down from a greenside bunker. But she couldn’t escape a pair of mistakes to close out her round, and it didn’t help that her group was on the clock over the final two hours.
From a bad lie in the left rough on the 17th, she worried about going right and down a steep slope and instead went short and left. Then, she didn’t realize until making contact on her pitch that “something really hard” was under the turf. Her club bounced and the ball shot over the green, and only a tough up-and-down from there allowed her to get away with no more than a bogey.
On the par-5 18th, she thought her third shot was good until she didn’t hear anyone clap. It was long and in the rough, and she couldn’t get up-and-down.
Henderson was at 9-under 207, and suddenly had more contenders than just Pressel and Kwak.
Defending champion Lydia Ko, who turned 18 on Friday and now is chasing someone even younger, salvaged a 71 and was three shots behind. Ko was as many as six shots behind and was happy to be that close to Henderson.
“I saw the leaderboard, and every time it’s there, even though we played a couple tough holes, she wasn’t losing shots. She was gaining shots,” Ko said. “Shows how strong she is in her mental game, too.”
Pressel birdied four of her last six holes, including a 5-iron hybrid to 15 feet on the 15th hole, for a 67 on a day when the average score was 74.6.
Stacy Lewis and Shanshan Feng of China each had 71 and were four shots behind.
More than just her first LPGA victory is at stake for Henderson. She was denied a waiver to the LPGA Tour’s minimum age requirement of 18 last year. Commissioner Mike Whan has granted only two exceptions to the rule – Ko and Lexi Thompson – mainly because both had already won on the LPGA.
Perhaps a victory by Henderson will change his mind. This is only her second LPGA event since she turned pro in December.
And while there might be some truth that teenagers on tour are too young to appreciate nerves, Henderson is different. She has been a starlet in Canada for years, winning three times on the Canadian Women’s Tour as an amateur, capturing the Canadian Women’s Amateur and finishing runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She also was medalist at the Women’s Amateur Team Championship.
Expectations are high in Canada, a country that loves its golf and hasn’t had an LPGA winner since Lorie Kane in 2001. Henderson is used to that.
“If you have pressure, it means you’re doing something right,” Henderson said. “I try and use it to my advantage and try and use it to help me get better.”
The most pressure might be seeing Pressel with her on the first tee Sunday, along with Kwak.
Henderson recalls meeting Pressel, who won the Kraft Nabisco at 18 and remains the LPGA Tour’s youngest major champion, at a golf outing in Ottawa when Henderson was 8. She refers to Pressel as her biggest role model in golf and concedes she still gets a little nervous around her.
Pressel remembers what it was like to be a teen in the spotlight. She was poised to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 17 until Birdie Kim beat her with a bunker shot on the last hole at Cherry Hills, and Pressel came through two years later at Mission Hills. She has been following Henderson’s progress over the years.
“I knew she would be something special out on our tour as well,” Pressel said.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson shoots tournament record for LPGA lead
DALY CITY, Calif. – Brooke Henderson fiddles with her earrings between shots, purses her lips and anxiously watches each shot, then politely responds and makes eye contact when someone in the gallery engages her with a compliment.
Henderson is the new 17-year-old with serious swagger in women’s golf.
She shot a tournament-record 7-under 65 to take the lead halfway through the second round of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic on Friday.
“That’s pretty cool,” the 17-year-old Smiths Falls, Ont., native said about her low score.
That round put her at 9 under at Lake Merced Golf Club, where world No. 1 and defending champion Lydia Ko shot an even-par 72 to remain 5 under after taking the first-round lead Thursday. There were still afternoon rounds to play Friday, including by local favorite Juli Inkster after her opening 68.
Na Yeon Choi was two strokes back at after a 68. The 27-year-old South Korean eagled the par-5, 475-yard 14th and had three birdies on her front nine.
Yueer Cindy Feng of China stood in third place at 6 under.
As Ko celebrated her 18th birthday, she cleared the way for a new teen star to shine.
“I think I’m ready. Yeah, 17 is young,” Henderson said. “As you’ve seen with Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson and even Jessica Korda, there are a lot of great names that have been able to do it. I’m hoping that I’m one of them.”
The long-driving Henderson eagled the 14th, hitting a 3-wood approach and making a 15-foot putt. She also had six birdies.
Henderson regularly hears how she is fearless and goes for it on shots when others might be more conservative, and that approach sure worked for her in the tricky conditions at Lake Merced.
Not that she has necessarily noticed any extra hype.
Caddie Bunk Lee insists they didn’t even know she had jumped to the top of the leaderboard in just her 10th career LPGA Tour event. Though Henderson grabbed a few glances at the leaderboard “here and there.”
“I was able to stay in a rhythm today,” Henderson said. “I got into it early, and I was able stay there all day, which was nice.”
She and her older sister, Brittany, tied for second place in last month’s Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, a Symetra Tour event that earned them each $10,000-plus paydays.
In many ways, Henderson – a member of Team Canada’s Young Pro Squad – appears to be a veteran unfazed by golf’s big stage.
“She’s far above most 17 year olds as far as maturity is concerned,” Lee said. “She’s very calm, she’s very patient, her thought process is very clear. Her ability to focus is astounding. … It’s an absolute joy to be on this bag.”
While she wasn’t particularly happy with her golf, Ko was serenaded with “Happy Birthday” and presented with a cake, and she covered her face briefly in embarrassment. Some 300 people followed her group in the gallery for parts of the round.
Ko, the first-round leader after a leading after a 67, drew an early tee time and had evening dinner plans to celebrate with friends. She got a new iPhone from her mother and her peers have told her she “upgraded.”
She was headed for some Korean barbecue, “go to the original roots.”
“No more singing, please,” Ko joked after her round. “Really cool to share this birthday with a lot of the people out here. Lots more time to celebrate tonight. It was a good day. It is really cool that now I’m an adult … big 18.”
And Ko found herself again talking about the fact age is no issue in golf, this time not about Inkster but someone younger – Henderson.
“She’s still 17 in a lot of ways, and that’s a good thing,” the caddie, Lee, said. “She’s not getting ahead of herself, and I think it’s very refreshing. We rolled into the parking lot and it started from there, and it was a good day.”
Lydia Ko takes first-round lead in Swinging Skirts
DALY CITY, Calif. – As Lydia Ko geared up to turn 18 on Friday at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, right behind her on the leaderboard was 54-year-old Juli Inkster.
Refreshed and ready to make a run at defending her title, the top-ranked Ko returned from two weeks off to take the first-day lead Thursday at 5-under 67.
Ko nearly chipped in for eagle on the par-5 14th, but the ball deflected off the pin and she settled for a tap-in birdie putt, and that moved her to the top of the leaderboard at Lake Merced Golf Club.
“This is a very tough golf course. You need to position yourself well,” Ko said. “I hit the ball pretty good where I wasn’t in too much trouble. If I did miss it a little bit, I did get away with it, too. It’s a really good start but I know I’ve got three long days to go.”
Ko will celebrate her birthday on the course Friday then go out for a nice dinner with friends. Paired with Anna Nordqvist and Lexi Thompson, Ko pulled on a jacket midway through her round in the afternoon chill and finished strong.
Ko had a one-stroke lead over three others, including Inkster. Stacy Lewis, last year’s runner-up to Ko at Lake Merced, was two strokes back at 69.
“It was probably one of the craziest rounds of golf I’ve ever played,” said Lewis, who recovered from four bogeys on her front nine with an eagle on the par-4 11th and three birdies on the back.
Ko had birdies on consecutive holes three times – Nos. 5-6, 8-9 and 13-14 – with just one bogey.
“The first couple holes were playing down wind, so that made it a lot easier,” she said. “A lot depends on the wind. It really depends on the conditions of the day and the scores are really good.”
Ko was followed by a gallery of about 100 fans early, and first-day attendance seemed to be a noticeable improvement from a year ago for the tournament’s inaugural round. The wind picked up significantly in the afternoon.
Inkster, done hours earlier before the wind began whipping in earnest, quickly corrected the notion she is facing a talented LPGA field with women her daughters’ ages.
“Yeah, they’re a lot younger than my daughters,” she said with a grin. “They’re 25 and 21. Out here that’s a seasoned veteran. You know what, that’s the beauty about golf. I mean, age matters in a lot of things as far as how your body feels and how far you hit the ball and how much time you can put into it. You can still go out there and compete at 54.”
Inkster, a local icon, birdied six of her first 10 holes for a 68 on a cool, breezy morning off the ocean. She had no idea that put her on top of the leaderboard after the morning rounds.
“I didn’t know I was,” Inkster said. “The way I played today, no, I’m not surprised. … Coming into this week, my game feels pretty good.”
Lewis joked that a leaderboard with Inkster on top would make a good “Throwback Thursday” photo.
Ha Na Jang, who also shot a 68, made a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3, 162-yard eighth for one of her eight birdies. P.K. Kongkraphan also had a 68.
Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brooke Henderson had a share of ninth place after an opening-round 70.
British Columbia’s Sue Kim carded a 72 Thursday for a share of 28th.
Back for a second straight year at Lake Merced in the San Francisco suburbs, the tournament drew 18 of the top 20 players in the world – and it would have been one more before eighth-ranked Suzann Pettersen withdrew Wednesday because of an ailing shoulder.
Paula Creamer was at risk of missing the cut after a 10-over 82. She had four bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.
Paula Creamer calls for women’s Masters at Augusta National
DALY CITY, Calif. – Paula Creamer is calling for a women’s Masters at Augusta National.
Creamer would love for organizers to at least listen to the idea of women playing a Masters in consecutive weeks with the men’s tournament. She reiterated her thoughts Tuesday at Lake Merced Golf Club, where the Bay Area native is preparing for this week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
On April 14, Creamer posted on Twitter:
I hope The Masters will consider a Women’s Masters soon. They do so much to grow the game. Fastest area of golf growth is women! #6Majors?
— Paula Creamer (@ThePCreamer) April 14, 2015
“I’ve been there, I’ve played there, stayed in Butler’s Cabin,” said Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion. “I had an awesome time. I think the patrons and everybody would love to have two weeks there, two tournaments. Why wouldn’t you? Hopefully, we will see something change and happen.”
While she hasn’t heard from anyone official at Augusta, there has been plenty of positive feedback since she made the comments. She wants to be part of golf taking steps to recruit the next generation of young players.
“It’s 2015. I think Augusta and the Masters and everybody with that event, they want to grow the game so badly,” Creamer said. “That’s what it is, about growing the game and giving people opportunities. The Chip and Putt, all of that for the kids to be able to come out there. There’s no reason why we can’t do that in women’s golf. We’re just as much a part of growing the game.”
When reminded that Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Billy Payne has referenced scheduling issues when it comes to adding an event such as a women’s tournament, Creamer noted she believes it wouldn’t be that hard and “I think they could handle two weeks a year.”
“You could have two major tournaments back-to-back,” she said.
Payne has said he doesn’t envision a women’s Masters.
“We have a very short member season at Augusta National. It’s seven months only,” he said. “The time that we dedicate to the preparation and conduct of the tournament is already extensive. I don’t think that we would ever host another tournament.”
Creamer is open to participating in further discussion.
“There’s no reason why you can’t revisit things. I think somebody’s got to speak up and somebody’s got to say something,” Creamer said. “It’s an idea, I don’t think that people should be ashamed to talk about it. I’d like to know truthfully why we wouldn’t be able to have a tournament there. Definitely women’s golf deserves something like that.”
Sei Young Kim holes out from fairway to win in Hawaii
KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Sei Young Kim holed out from 154 yards for eagle to win the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship on the first hole of a playoff Saturday with Inbee Park.
After driving into the water in regulation on the par-4 18th, Kim forced the playoff with an 18-foot chip-in for par. She then won on the hole with her 8-iron shot that barely cleared the water.
The 22-year-old South Korean player became the first two-time winner on the LPGA Tour this year. She won in the Bahamas in February in her second start as a tour member.
Kim rebounded from a disappointing final round two weeks ago in the ANA Inspiration when she squandered the lead and ended up tying for fourth.
She closed with a 1-over 73 in wind gusting to 30 mph at Ko Olina to match Park at 11-under 277. Park finished with a 71.
I.K. Kim bogeyed the final two holes for a 74 that left her two strokes back.
Hyo Joo Kim (69) and Chella Choi (72) tied for fourth at 7 under as South Korean players swept the first five places. German Sandra Gal (69) finished sixth at 6 under.
Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., tied for 55th at 8 over; while Alena Sharp of Hamilton and Rebeca Lee-Bentham of Toronto shared 63rd spot at 11 over.
Sei Young Kim takes third-round lead in Hawaii
KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Sei Young Kim shot a 2-under 70 on Friday in wind gusting to 30 mph to take a one-stroke lead in the Lotte Championship.
With the breeze making birdies elusive at Ko Olina, the 22-year-old South Korean player reached 12-under 204 to break out of a first-place tie with I.K. Kim.
Sei Young Kim will take a lead into the final round for the second straight tournament. Two weeks ago, she had a four-shot advantage in the ANA Inspiration and finished fourth in the major championship.
Sei Young Kim won in the Bahamas in February in her second start as an LPGA Tour member.
I.K. Kim was second after a 71. Third-ranked Inbee Park was another shot back after a 69.
The top five are all from South Korea, with Jenny Shin four shots back after a 70, and Chella Choi at 7 under after 71.
American Paula Creamer (72) and Japan’s Ai Miyazato (71) were 6 under. Defending champion Michelle Wie (73) had five bogeys and four birdies to fall eight shots back in her home event.
Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Sue Kim is the top Canadian. The Langley, B.C., native is tied for 47th at 3-over.
Sei Young Kim, I.K. Kim share 2nd-round lead in Hawaii
KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Sei Young Kim rode the wind and some major inspiration into a share of the lead Thursday in the second round of the Lotte Championship.
Kim shot her second straight 5-under 67 at breezy Ko Olina to catch first-round leader I.K. Kim at 10 under.
Sei Young Kim, the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic winner in February in her second start as an LPGA Tour member, began the round two strokes back. She bogeyed the opening hole, then rallied with four birdies before the turn and added three straight on her second nine.
Part of the 22-year-old’s motivation this week is what happened two weeks ago at the first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration in California. Kim took a three-shot advantage into the final round, but shot a 75 on Sunday and finished fourth.
“My win will certainly help me,” she said, referring to her victory in the Bahamas, “but I think what will motivate me better was the fact that I didn’t win. That’s really motivating me this week and that is going to get me to play better.”
Inbee Park, who ended the last two years ranked No. 1 in the world, was three strokes back after a 70.
Six of the top seven players are from South Korea. The exception is Paula Creamer. The American has won twice in Hawaii, including the 2008 Fields Open at Ko Olina.
“I love playing on these types of golf courses,” Creamer said. “Just the wind, the conditions. Your misses are exaggerated so much when you play in this kind of weather. Being a good ball-striker is incredibly important and that’s something that I’ve always felt was one of my strengths. For me, I like this. The windier it gets the better.”
A bogey on the final hole gave Creamer a 69 and a share of fourth at 6 under with Chella Choi (68) and Jenny Shin (70).
I.K. Kim is going after her fourth LPGA Tour title, but first since 2010. She had just a pair of top-10 finishes last year, but a week off after the ANA Inspiration, and the warm wind and familiar food of Hawaii, have helped her this week – along with an improved putting stroke.
“After ANA, I spent a lot of time on the putting green,” I.K. Kim said. “I felt like I was hitting the ball really well, having a lot of opportunities, but putting was letting me down a little bit.
“I also went to Las Vegas, so putting and a little bit of fun and then here … I think that was kind of a good balance.”
Defending champion Michelle Wie was tied for eighth at 5 under with Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Haru Nomura. Wie, playing at home, shot a 69 that included an eagle from 117 yards out on the par-4 15th hole, followed by what she called a “nerdy” dance.
“I kind of saw it roll over the hill and I was like, `Oh, OK, it’s disappearing,'” Wie recalled. “Then everyone went crazy. It was pretty fun.”
Canada’s Sue Kim is tied for 39th at 1-over, while Rebecca Lee-Bentham and Alena Sharp have a share of 58th at 3-over heading into the weekend.
I.K. Kim shoots 65 to take lead in Lotte Championship
KAPOLEI, Hawaii – I.K. Kim started last and finished first Wednesday in the first round of the Lotte Championship.
Kim birdied her final three holes and four of the last five for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke lead.
Playing in the last group of the day off the 10th tee, Kim had eight birdies and one bogey in wind gusting to 25 mph at Ko Olina Golf Club. The South Korean player won the last of her three LPGA Tour titles in 2010.
“I hit a really good putt at No. 7 and at No. 8 I hit an 8-iron downwind that stayed on top of the green so I was able to look at a makeable putt,” she said. “At the ninth, it was getting really dark. It was dinnertime really. There were just the three of us out there.”
From 190 yards, she aimed 20 feet right and hit her 5-wood into the wind. The ball stopped 12 feet from the hole. She could see well enough to make the putt and shoot the same score she had in the final round two years ago en route to a fourth-place t
“Birdie on the three finishing holes is why 65 was possible,” Kim said. “I didn’t think it was possible when I started today.”
South Korean players held the first five spots on the leaderboard. Na Yeon Choi, Inbee Park and rookie Sei Young Kim shot 67, and Jenny Shin was fifth after a 68.
Choi had four birdies on her second nine to take the lead in the morning wave. Park birdied four of her last six to catch her, slam-dunking a 45-foot putt on the final hole.
“I judged the wind great and holed a lot of good putts,” Park said. “Especially the last putt. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I holed that long a putt.”
Choi, Sei Young Kim and Park have all won this year. Choi won the season-opening Coates Golf Championship in Florida for her eighth LPGA title, Sei Young Kim took the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, and Park won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.
Founders Cup winner Hyo Joo Kim, Kia Classic champion Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer were in the nine-player group at 69.
Hawaii’s Michelle Wie, the defending champion, got to 3 under on the 15th, but bogeyed the next hole and finished at 70. Wie hit the flag with her approach shot on the final hole, but left her 8-foot birdie putt short.
“Some of the putts you kind of have to play for the wind as well, too,” said Wie, who needed 31 putts with a chip-in. “It’s not like it’s a constant, so you have to wait for the right moment for the wind to blow or not blow. It gets tricky out there. You’ve just got to stay patient and try to hit solid putts and take whatever comes at you.”
Four Canadians were in the field with Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. leading the way at T24 following a round of 71. Alena Sharp sits T51 after opening at one-over 73. Jennifer Kirby finished the day at 74 while Rebecca Lee-Bentham carded a 76.
Molson Canadian 67 tees up with Golf Canada as official beer sponsor of the 2015/2016 golf seasons
Molson Canadian 67 and Golf Canada officially announced today the renewal of their partnership for the 2015 and 2016 golf seasons that will see Molson Canadian 67 return as the official beer of both the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open.
Molson Canadian 67 will be made available at the host courses, including on-site sampling and beer gardens. Molson Canadian 67 has been the lead beer sponsor of Golf Canada’s National Men’s and Women’s Open Golf Championships since 2011, and is renewing the partnership for the next two years.
“We are pleased to partner with Golf Canada this season, for the fifth year in a row,” says Jeff Harrop, Senior Marketing Director, Molson Coors Canada. “There is a natural synergy between Molson Canadian 67 and golf as one of our favourite summer activities with a strong social element. Golf Canada is the perfect partner to help bring this connection to life.”
As part of the partnership package, Molson Canadian 67 will be supporting Golf Canada’s two marquee events this summer as official beer sponsor, including:
RBC Canadian Open
This world-class PGA TOUR event, which is part of the Triple Crown of national golf championships, will host many of the best golfers in the world at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. from July 20-26. www.RBCCanadianOpen.com
Canadian Pacific Women’s Open
The women of the LPGA Tour will compete for a prize purse of 2.25 million USD at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. from August 17-23. www.CPwomensopen.com.
“Molson Canadian has a rich history of supporting golf in Canada and continues to be a tremendous partner for Canada’s National Open Golf Championships,” says Gavin Roth, Chief Commercial Officer at Golf Canada. “Golf, summer and a cold Molson Canadian 67 go perfectly together, and with the golf season set to gear up, we’re excited to renew our partnership for 2015 and 2016.”
Molson Canadian 67 is a premium light beer with a clean, crisp, fresh taste that is specially brewed to 3% ABV and 67 calories per 341ml, and is the perfect complement to any round of golf, especially on the 19th hole.