EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Taking advantage of an earlier start time to get ahead of bad weather, Mi Hyang Lee surged to a 4-under 67 on Friday to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Evian Championship.
The 37th-ranked Lee was at even through 15 holes on the day before a birdie-birdie-eagle finish in the best of still conditions. Her clubhouse target of 10-under 132 only got tougher as threatened lightning strikes forced a delay and the heat was swept away by gusting winds.
Top-ranked Sung Hyun Park, also playing early, plus seven-time major winner Inbee Park and Hyo Joo Kim, thriving after a suspension that lasted 1 hour, 5 minutes, were one shot back.
Lee cited good fortune in leading the newest women’s major at the midway point.
“I think I missed a lot of the green today, but was trying to think simple,” said Lee, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour. “I had a little luck also.”
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp was at 1 under for the tournament after a 1-under 70 on Friday. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was even following a 70 in the second round.
Sung Hyun Park shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 but wasted a chance to lead. She three-putted the 18th for the second straight day.
“I knew I had to score low for the first and second rounds, so I was a little aggressive,” Park said through a translator, noting a forecast calling for rain through the weekend.
The late-afternoon delay disrupted first-round leader Paula Creamer, who was 9 under after making birdie on the 12th. Shortly thereafter, storm clouds moved on Evian Resort Golf Club.
Creamer returned on the 13th green and missed a 6-foot putt for her first bogey of the tournament. She dropped shots on Nos. 14 and 15 as the wind whipped up, then made a triple-bogey 6 after finding water at the par-3 16th.
Another bogey at No. 17 left Creamer seven shots worse off since the stoppage – giving back all she gained in a 64 during Thursday’s heat wave. Her 76 left her tied for 25th at 2 under.
“Unfortunately, this time it got me,” the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion said of the weather delay. “I was playing great, really consistent.”
Playing partners Inbee Park and Kim coped better, and Park credited the steep drop in temperature with helping her make three late birdies in a round of 68.
“Maybe I needed a break because of the heat,” she said, though the changing wind direction made judging distances tough. “We were definitely on the wrong side of the draw.”
Former No. 1 Shanshan Feng (66) was alone in fifth at 7 under. Feng, who won her only major at the 2012 LPGA Championship, missed the cut at the three previous majors this season.
“Finally get to see me on the weekend at a major,” Feng said.
A group at 6 under included Caroline Hedwall of Sweden, who also shot 64, and Americans Jennifer Kupcho and Amy Olson. Kupcho won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April and has since turned professional.
Last year at Evian, Olson led for most of the weekend and was still one shot clear on the 18th tee, but she closed with a double bogey and finished one shot behind Angela Stanford. It was her career-best result in a major.
“A little bit of mixed feelings,” Olson said about being back at Evian. “Obviously I played well last year. I’m not going to say it still doesn’t hurt.”
Stanford relinquished her title after a 74 left her at 8-over 150, six strokes outside the cut line.
The highest-ranked American, No. 3 Lexi Thompson, shot 72 to finish at 7 over and was unhappy with the condition of the course and the way she felt good tee shots were punished.
“I’m actually very thankful that I don’t have to put myself thru that for another two days,” Thompson wrote on Instagram . “You’re a beautiful place Evian but that’s just too many bad breaks with good shots for me, so bye.”
That left the weekend free to prepare for the Women’s British Open, the year’s final major that begins Thursday in Woburn, England.
No U.S. player has won a major this season. Americans have taken home at least one of the five major titles each year since the Evian tournament was raised in status for the 2013 edition.
Organizers brought tee times forward Saturday for the second straight day.
Henderson and Sharp finished fifth at LPGA Tour team event
Justin Naro/ Golf Canada
Canadian Press
MIDLAND, Mich. – Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura ran away with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational on Saturday, shooting an 11-under 59 in best-ball play for a six-stroke victory.
Clanton and Suwannapura took a five-shot lead into the final round after shooting an alternate-shot 63 on Friday at Midland Country Club in the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event. They finished at 27-under 253.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Suwannapura said. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
Suwannapura won her second tour title, and Clanton her first.
Clanton earned spots the next two weeks in the Evian Championship and Women’s British Open. The first Auburn University player to win on the tour, she began the season without a full LPGA Tour card after finishing $8 out of the top 100 on the 2018 money list. Clanton has split time this year on the LPGA Tour and developmental Symetra Tour, winning the Symetra Tour’s El Dorado Shootout in April.
“I couldn’t even dream up to have won a Symetra event earlier this year and then to come out and win with Jasmine,” Clanton said. “It’s so funny, this is the tournament that I wanted to come and play in. I was like, ‘Team event, I’m in, let’s go.’ So, I’m blessed for the opportunity, I’m blessed that Jasmine came and let me come play with her.”
Jin Young Ko and Minjee Lee closed with a 58 to finish second.
“We both played better than we did the last time we played four-balls,” Lee said. “We just had a better rhythm out there. I think we just fed off each other. Jin Young had so many birdies today, so I just tried to keep up pretty much.”
“I’ve had full status before, but it will allow for me to kind of sit back and relax a little bit and kind of set my own schedule,” Clanton said. “I think it’s just going to free me up because it’s been something that I’ve been working on. I guess I was quite down for the first couple years.”
Suwannapura, from Thailand, also won the Marathon Classic last year.
Clanton and Suwannapura each bogeyed the first hole, then each had eight birdies.
“Actually, felt pretty good on the first tee,” Clanton said. “Didn’t hit a great shot into the green, but I’m not going to lie, the majority of my rounds start with bogeys. So I told Jasmine, I was like, ‘Dude, we’re ready. We’re ready to go. We got it out of the way. we’ll go low.”’
Sisters Ariya Jutanugarn and Moriya Jutanugarn tied for third with Na Yeon Choi and Jenny Shin at 20 under. They each shot 61.
“So much fun,” Ariya Jutanugarn said. “Need to be patient with alternate shot, but also even best ball we still have to be patient because we feel like you going to make birdie hole after hole, but it’s not going to happen.”
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp were fifth at 19 under after a 9-under 61 round. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee and Australian partner Robyn Choi shot a 6-under 64 to finish 36th at 6 under.
Henderson and Sharp in top-10 heading into final round at Midland
Justin Naro/ Golf Canada
Canadian Press
MIDLAND, Mich. – Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura shot a 7-under 63 in alternate-shot play Friday to open a five-stroke lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event.
Clanton and Suwannapura birdied five of the last seven holes on the front nine and played the last five holes in 2 under, making three birdies and a bogey.
“I think because we pretty chill, like ‘You hit a bad shot, like OK, I’ll fix it, don’t worry,”’ Suwannapura said. “So everybody kind of like relaxing the game today, so the result pretty good.”
They had a 16-under 194 total at Midland Country Club, with a best-ball round left Saturday.
“Each hole’s an opportunity,” Clanton said. “How many opportunities can we give ourselves. One of those things where as many fairways and greens as you can hit and if the putts go in, great.”
Suwannapura, from Thailand, won the Marathon Classic last year for her lone LPGA Tour title. Clanton is winless on the tour. They had an alternate-shot 67 on Wednesday and shot a best-ball 64 on Thursday.
“Today, I think what we did was quite impressive just with our ball-striking in general,” Clanton said. “Jasmine’s putting’s on point. I think you’ve just got to look at it as it’s just another opportunity to play and the more that you can think of the fact that it’s just another day on the golf course, we’re going to go out and try to do what we’ve been doing, the better it’s going to be.”
Sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn had a 64 to move into a tie for second at 11 under with Simin Feng-Ruixin Liu (67), Na Yeon Choi-Jenny Shin (67) and Paula Creamer-Morgan Pressel (69).
“I felt like first round, don’t want to miss any shot because I don’t want my sister to have like tough shot and I kind of worry and scared,” Ariya Jutanugarn said. “But today we already make the cut and nothing to lose, so we keep playing golf.”
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp fired a 69 to finish the day tied for sixth at 10 under, six shots back of the lead. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee and Australian partner Robyn Choi combined for a 75 and are in a tie for 36th at even par.
Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and partner Daniela Darquea of Ecuador as well as Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Germany’s Sophia Popov missed the cut.
MIDLAND, Mich. – Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer shot a best-ball 6-under 64 on Thursday for a share of the second-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event.
Stephanie Meadowand Giulia Molinaro had a 61, and Frenchwomen Celine Boutier and Karine Icher shot 62 to match Pressel and Creamer at 10-under 130 at Midland Country Club. The teams will play alternate shot Friday and close Saturday with a best-ball round.
“You have two balls in play, you can play much more aggressively,” Pressel said. “I know I certainly could play aggressively knowing my partner had my back the whole way around.”
Trying to get into the U.S. Solheim Cup mix, Pressel and Creamer birdied six of the last eight holes on their opening nine – the course’s back nine – then parred the last nine.
“Morgan played awesome on the back nine, which was our front nine,” Creamer said. “I couldn’t really get anything going on this side. But we’ve got two more days left so we’re not in bad position by any means. It wasn’t our ‘A’-game today, but still very pleased with where we’re sitting.”
Meadow, from Northern Ireland, and Molinaro, from Italy, had eight birdies in a 10-hole stretch, making five straight on Nos. 5-9.
“We talked about it and said, ‘We’ve just got to time it right,” Meadow said. “There’s something about when your partner’s in a little bit of trouble we kind of pick up the pace and try to make birdie and kind of have their back. I think that’s what we did really well today.”
Boutier and Icher birdied four of the five and closed with three straight birdies.
“Our games complement each other really well,” Boutier said. “When I was struggling a bit, she was there to save the team, and the opposite, so it was pretty good.”
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, the first-round leaders after a 65 in alternate-shot play, had a 66 to fall a stroke back with Kim Kaufman-Kris Tamulis (62), Tiffany Chan-Peiyun Chien (62), Pajaree Anannarukarn-Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (63), Mirim Lee-Amy Yang (64) and Cydney Clanton-Jasmine Suwannapura (64).
“Would have liked to make a few more birdies,” Henderson said. “I feel like it’s very unusual that we have a better score alternate shot than in best ball.”
Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee and Robyn Choi of New Zealand fell from third into a tie for 23rd at 5-under after a round of 68.
Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City and partner Sophia Popov of Germany and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and partner Daniela Darquea of Ecuador missed the cut of 4 under.
The French duo of Celine Herbin and Joanna Klatten had a 60, the best round of the day, to get to 7 under.
Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson were 5 under after a 64. Sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda (67) and Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn (65) also were 5 under.
Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp lead LPGA Tour team event
Brooke Henderson (Gregory Shamus/ Getty)
Canadian Press
MIDLAND, Mich. – Canadians Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp shot a 5-under 65 in alternate-shot play Wednesday to take the first-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event.
Henderson and Sharp had seven birdies and two bogeys at Midland Country Club.
“We really got it going, kind of fed off each other,” Henderson said. “She hit some good shots, I made some putts and vice versa. So it really worked out nice and it’s a good way to start.”
Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel were a stroke back.
“We’re best of friends we’ve played a lot of team events together, so it’s nothing new for us to be able to come out here,” Creamer said. “We haven’t played alternate shot for a little while, and when we have played it in the past, it’s always match play and you never have to finish. Out here you actually have to shoot a score, which is a little bit different.”
The teams will play best-ball Thursday, return to alternate shot Friday and close Saturday with a best-ball round.
“It’s intense, but then we got out our tension and then we played and we were free-wheeling it,” Sharp said. “I think the first few holes we didn’t really know what to expect and we had a lot of adrenaline, and then we calmed down and played really nicely together.”
The 21-year-old Henderson won the Meijer LPGA Classic a month ago in Grand Rapids to break the Canadian record for tour victories with nine. Also the Lotte Championship winner in April in Hawaii, Henderson broke a tie with Sandra Post for the Canadian record on the LPGA Tour and also moved ahead of George Knudson and Mike Weir for the overall country mark. The 38-year-old Sharp is winless on the LPGA Tour.
The teams of Minjee Lee-Jin Young Ko, Robyn Choi-Jaclyn Lee, Jasmine Suwannapura-Cydney Clanton and Amy Yang-Mirim Lee shot 67.
“We chatted pretty much the whole way around,” Lee said. “We usually don’t get to get this opportunity to play with our friends too much, so I think that was the best part.”
The sister duo of Nelly and Jessica Korda topped the group at 68.
“Start of the round, kind of just getting used to everything, the new format,” Nelly Korda said. “Gave each other some good opportunities on the back and took advantage of a couple. Anything under par for alternate shot is good, so we’re happy with that.”
Sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn shot 70, and Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson opened with a 71. Rookies Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi also had a 71. They staged a memorable duel that Kupcho won at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“Alternate shot’s always really hard. We knew that coming in and we didn’t really know how it was going to go because we didn’t try it,” Kupcho said. “It went better than what I thought it was going to go, so I was pretty happy.”
Suzann Pettersen, making her first tour start after a 20-month break for the birth of her first child, and European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew had a 73. Pettersen will be a vice caption for the European team.
“I just really enjoyed it,” Pettersen said. “It was nice to play with Beany. Some good shots and some average shots and some that we just got out of the way. Overall, very happy to be back.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The trophies continue to pile up for Canadian superstar Brooke Henderson.
The 21-year-old Smiths Falls, Ont., native was honoured with an ESPY award on Wednesday night for the Best Female Golfer of 2019. Earlier this spring, Henderson collected her ninth LPGA Tour title, becoming the winningest Canadian professional golfer in history.
The Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards are presented by the ABC television network and were previously put on by American sports network ESPN.
“Extremely honoured to receive Best Female Golfer at the #ESPYS!! So cool!” said Henderson from her verified Twitter account.
She was unable to attend the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles because she’s competing at the Marathon Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, this week.
Extremely honoured to receive Best Female Golfer at the #ESPYS!! So cool! ☺️??
Henderson, a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team program, captured the hearts of Canadians from coast-to-coast in August of 2018 when she became the first Canadian to win the National Open since 1973.
The other nominees were Ariya Jutanugarn, Jin-Young Ko and Sung Hyun Park.
Brooke Henderson welcomes stiff competition at CP Women’s Open
Brooke Henderson (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
AURORA, Ont. – When she was just 10 years old, Brooke Henderson’s dad Dave took her to an LPGA event where she briefly met her idol Morgan Pressel. Pressel spoke to Henderson about her golf game, took a picture and autographed her shirt.
Weeks later, they met again at the CP Women’s– Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Pressel remembered Brooke Henderson’s name, a moment the young Canadian still treasures.
Now 21-years old, ranked No. 8 in the world, and with the most wins in Canadian pro golf history, Henderson sees it as her responsibility to create memories for her young fans like Pressel did for her.
“When I first met her, she spent that little bit of extra time with me, signed my shirt, took a picture with me, it was just a really incredible moment that I’ll remember forever,” said Henderson on Tuesday. “I think now I’m just trying to pay that forward to every little kid that I meet.”
Henderson will easily be the most popular player at the CP Women’s Open at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont., this August, and will have plenty of opportunities to interact with her fans, most of whom are children.
“It’s really special to see those young kids, when they want my autograph or they want a picture with me it’s sort of surreal but it’s really inspiring for me,” said a beaming Henderson. “I do think that the LPGA is very approachable. We love little kids and we love spending time with them.
“I think that’s kind of what separates our tour from a lot of other major sports.”
The CP Women’s Open has not been in the Greater Toronto Area since 2001, when Annika Sorenstam won at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont. Because of Henderson’s popularity among Canadian fans and its proximity to Canada’s largest city, it’s expected that it will be one of the best attended events on the LPGA Tour’s calendar this year.
Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane, who will be playing in her 29th CP Women’s Open, thinks the timing couldn’t be better for the popularity of the sport in Canada.
“It’s time that we came back to the GTA. It’s time for women’s golf to be elevated one more level in this country,” said Kane, raising her hands for emphasis. “We all know in this room that (Henderson) is changing the way people see women’s golf in our country.
“We’ve been trending in the right direction but why do we keep saying that? We’re in a really awesome place.”
Golf Canada, the LPGA, and Canadian Pacific railways – the event’s title sponsor – announced on Tuesday that the field at the US$2.25 million tournament will include 15 of the top 20 golfers on the LPGA’s money list, and 90 of the top 100.
Henderson, the first Canadian to win the national title in 45 years, is one of seven past CP Women’s Open champions confirmed for 2019. Sung Hyun Park (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), So Yeon Ryu (2014), Katherine Kirk (2008), Cristie Kerr (2006) and three-time winner Lydia Ko (2015, 2013, 2012) are the other past winners in the field.
Henderson welcomes the stiff competition.
“I love it. Being able to beat the best in the world is one of the best things about this sport,” said Henderson. “To tee it up and know that you are playing the best and that you have to play really, really, well and hit shots that you’ve never hit before and shoot low scores, make a ton of birdies, that’s really exciting.”
Brooke Henderson collects 3rd straight win at CVS Health Charity Classic
Golf Canada
Barrington, R.I. – Brooke Henderson’s winning form continued Monday, as she won the CVS Health Charity Classic along with teammates Keegan Bradley and Billy Andrade. The trio won the event for the third straight year.
Six teams of golfers, each featuring a PGA TOUR member, an LPGA Tour member and a PGA Tour Champions member competed at the CVS Health Charity Classic. The two lowest scores on each hole counted toward the team’s score.
The trio of Henderson, Bradley and Andrade competed alongside teams that included Billy Horschel, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Brad Faxon.
Post and Weir happy to see Henderson take sole possession of golfing record
Brooke Henderson (Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
Brooke Henderson is now the undisputed monarch of Canadian golf. Her predecessors can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.
The 21-year old from Smiths Falls, Ont., won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday to break the Canadian record for professional golf titles. The victory elevated her over Sandra Post, Mike Weir and George Knudson, who have eight wins apiece on their respective tours.
“I knew it was coming,” said Post on Monday. The Canadian Golf Hall of Famer noted that normally Henderson wins by a wide margin, rather than the one-stroke victory she earned over Lexi Thompson, Nasa Hataoka, Su Oh and Brittany Altomare. “I think I was looking at it as more a tournament rather than the ninth win because in my mind that was a given.
“I hope she goes to double figures with the wins and runs it up as high as she can for the next Canadian.”
Weir also wasn’t concerned about his record. Instead, he was excited to see an elite golfer at the top of her game.
“I don’t really pay that much attention to records and things like that, that’s more for other people’s water-cooler talk,” said Weir, also a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. “I just appreciate watching good golf and I appreciate excellence in all sports. When you see a player really excelling themselves and improving their own game and seeing them round into form, as Brooke has, it’s great to see.”
Although Henderson’s nine career wins is impressive, she is a ways off from reaching the all-time mark on the LPGA Tour.
Kathy Whitworth holds the all-time professional record with 88 wins on the LPGA Tour. Sam Snead has the most among men with 82. That record may fall, however, with Tiger Woods picking up his 81st PGA Tour win at this year’s Masters.
Golfing great Annika Sorenstam, third in LPGA Tour history with 72 wins, tweeted her support of Henderson on Monday afternoon.
“Congratulations to ?BrookeHenderson on winning the #meijerlpga,” said Sorenstam, adding an emoji of a champagne bottle popping and a trophy.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also voiced his support on Twitter.
Henderson also won the Lotte Championship in April in Hawaii.
Just six months into the year, she is an early contender to win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian female athlete of the year. Henderson has won the Rosenfeld three of the past four years, including in 2017 and 2018.
Post, who won the Marsh in 1979 and back-to-back Rosenfelds in 1979 and 1980, didn’t want to make any bold predictions just yet though.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in sport this year, do we? It’s not an Olympic year, that’s a good thing,” said Post. “All I’m saying is that she’s got a good shot at it. But I think it’s great that we can have that conversation.”
Weir, who was awarded the Marsh in 2003 after winning the Masters, also likes Henderson’s chances.
“Her odds are great, she’s playing great,” said Weir. “There’s still a lot of the year left in other sports but clearly in the golf world Brooke’s setting herself apart from any other player, man or woman, in this country. She’d be a real deserving recipient.”
