DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., – The LPGA continues its upward momentum with record prize money and three new events in 2018, setting the stage for another season to remember for the world’s best female golfers.

The 2018 LPGA schedule features 34 events across 14 countries, with a record $68.75 million in prize money.

“Perhaps the most important aspect of our schedule is the consistency — continuing to deliver strong playing opportunities both in North America and around the world, while growing overall purse levels every year,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “There is simply no better Tour opportunity in the world, when it comes to purses, global TV coverage or strength of field. It’s an exciting time in women’s golf, with the best players from every corner of the globe competing against each other in virtually every event.”

Saskatchewan will host a it’s first LPGA Tour event in 2018, as the CP Women’s Open will be contested August 20-26 at Wascana Country Club in Regina.

Through its CP Has Heart campaign, Canadian Pacific (CP) will once again make a substantial donation to the host community by supporting pediatric cardiology at the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2019. In the four years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, $6.5 million has been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada.

After a three-year recruiting process, Wascana Country Club finally earned its opportunity to host the stars of the LPGA Tour after originally submitting a bid back in 2014. The club is one of only four private golf courses in a province that counts 206 total facilities.

The LPGA lost two events for 2018 – the Lorena Ochoa Match Play in Mexico and the Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada.

The LPGA replaced them with three new tournaments. One will be held in the Los Angeles area on April 19-22 and another at Lake Merced in San Francisco a week later. The other addition is a tournament in Shanghai. That will be played Oct. 18-21 as part of a seven-tournament swing through Asia.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson will have to wait a year to defend her New Zealand Women’s Open title, as the event will take a hiatus for 2018 and move to spring 2019, making a logical pair with the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

The LPGA Tour expects to have more than 400 hours of U.S. broadcast coverage on Golf Channel and network TV in 2018, with more than 450 hours available in 175 countries around the world. With domestic TV ratings that continue to climb annually, up 19% in 2017, the 2018 season is sure to continue to entertain and inspire golf fans around the globe. Golf Channel will once again broadcast the CP Women’s Open.

Tickets and corporate hospitality opportunities are now available for the 2018 CP Women’s Open by visiting www.cpwomensopen.com.

Here’s a look at the 2018 LPGA Schedule as of Dec. 13, 2018. 
(bold = majors; italics = new event; ** = unofficial money)

The success of the 2017 CP Women’s Open continued this past week as the LPGA Tournament Owners Association (TOA) presented Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific (CP) with a Gold Driver Award for Best Charity / Community Engagement among all LPGA Tour events.

The annual TOA Gold Driver Awards were hosted in conjunction with the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla. The TOA was formally established in 1990 and is composed of owned and operated LPGA Tour events.

As part of their sponsorship of the event, Canadian Pacific through its CP Has Heart campaign, raised $2 million in support for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) to help fund a renovated catheterization lab and interventional suite.

“This award is the result of a total team effort and we share it with our friends at CHEO and countless community supporters, as well as CP’s staff, event partners and our CP golf ambassadors Brooke Henderson and Lorie Kane,” said Keith Creel, CP President and Chief Executive Officer. “CP supports heart health because it is an issue that touches so many Canadians. Together with our partners at Golf Canada and everyone involved with the CP Women’s Open, we are proud to leave a lasting charitable legacy in Ottawa through CP Has Heart in support of CHEO’s incredible work.”

The total charity contribution was the result of several fundraising activities tied to the CP Has Heart campaign. Through CP Birdies for Heart, CP contributed $5,000 for each birdie made by a player on the 15th hole at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club during tournament play with a total of 45 birdies representing a $225,000 donation. CP also matched all donations made online at cheoheart.com from April 1 to the end of the tournament.

In the four years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, $6.5 million has been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see the CP Has Heart campaign honoured by the LPGA Tournament Owners with a Gold Driver Award for Best Charity/Community Engagement,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “Thanks to tremendous fan, player and partner support, the 2017 CP Women’s Open was a resounding success and it is most deserving that CP’s community impact has been recognized with this meaningful award.”

The 2017 CP Women’s Open saw rookie sensation Sung Hyun Park card a final-round 64 to capture Canada’s National Open Golf Championship just weeks after earning her U.S. Women’s Open title.  Park went on to share Rolex Player of the Year honours with fellow Korean So Yeon Ryu, making her the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both Player and Rookie of the Year honours in the same season.

The 2018 CP Women’s Open will mark the first time the province of Saskatchewan will host a major LPGA Tour event when the world’s best players challenge Regina’s Wascana Country Club August 20-26, 2018. Through the CP Has Heart campaign, CP will once again make a substantial donation to the host community by supporting pediatric cardiology at the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2019.

Information regarding tickets and corporate hospitality for the 2018 CP Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

NAPLES, Fla., – Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu, the 2017 and 2014 CP Women’s Open champions, have became the first LPGA golfers in history to share the Rolex Player
of the Year Award at the conclusion of Sunday’s CME Group Tour Championship.

Entering this week’s 2017 LPGA season finale, Ryu held a three-point lead over Shanshan Feng and a five-point lead over Park in what had been a tightly contested race all season. Ryu’s T30 finish combined with Park’s T6 result on Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship put the duo even atop the standings at 162 points.

Park is the first player to win the Rolex Rookie of the Year and Rolex Player of the Year awards in the same year since Nancy Lopez achieved the feat in 1978.

“It’s a great, great honor to be walking the same path as a great player as Nancy Lopez,” Park said. “After accepting this award, I will continue to try hard and work hard at my game.”

It can be argued that Park has completed the most successful rookie year in LPGA history. She clinched the 2017 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award in October, spearheaded by her first LPGA, and major championship, victory at the U.S. Women’s Open in July followed by her win at the CP Women’s Open six weeks later. All told, she carded 11 top-6 finishes in 23 events and ends the year as the second ranked player in the world.

Arriving to the LPGA from the KLPGA Tour, where Park won seven times in 2016 and had climbed to No. 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings by year’s end, Park’s rise in women’s golf was the worst kept secret from afar. After top- six finishes at three LPGA major championships in 2016 (T2 at The Evian Championship, T3 at the U.S. Women’s Open, T6 at the ANA Inspiration), none of her newfound LPGA peers held Park to the standard expectation of an ordinary rookie.

Park was also in contention for the CME Group Tour Championship and Race to the CME Globe titles and the Vare Trophy as she led this weekend’s tournament by three shots after 36 holes, and briefly led on the front nine on Sunday. Her bogey-free, final round 3-under par 69 enabled her to stay on the first page of the leaderboard and clinch the prestigious honor.

“I didn’t quite expect to receive the award,” Park said. “David (Jones), my caddie, told me that there is a chance I could accept the (Rolex) Player the Year Award. When it was decided and I did find out … I was very happy.”

Ryu, the 2012 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year recipient, enjoyed a year that included her second major championship, at the ANA Inspiration in March, her fifth LPGA triumph at the Walmart NW Championship Presented by P&G in June, two runner-ups and a pair of third-place finishes. A gritty Ryu endured through a shoulder injury and built up enough of a tolerance for pain to shoot 4-under on the final 36 holes this weekend.

The Rolex Co-Players of the Year finished the year first and second in the LPGA Money Title rankings. Park won her first career LPGA Money Title, amassing $2,335,883, while Ryu earned $1,981,593. Canada’s Brooke Henderson ranked 6th with $1,504,869 in earnings.

NAPLES, FLA – Korea’s Sung Hyun Park received her trophy as the LPGA Tour’s top rookie of 2017 at a ceremony in Florida on Thursday.

Park was presented with the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year trophy during the LPGA ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. It was held after the opening-round of the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Park actually clinched the points race for the top rookie honors in mid-October. She had opened a 1,413-615 lead over Angel Yin of the United States with five tournaments remaining. Rookies earn 150 points for each victory, which is doubled for majors and the CME Group Tour Championship. Yin was only scheduled to play four more events at the time and wouldn’t have been able to catch Park.

The 24-year-old former Korea LPGA star won the U.S. Women’s Open for her first LPGA win and her first major in July, and she followed up with a win at the CP Women’s Open in August.

She became the first rookie to reach No. 1 in the world rankings last week, but her reign lasted just one week, as Feng Shanshan of China soon brought her down to No. 2.

Heading into CME Group Tour Championship, Park was leading the LPGA in money and was in second place in scoring average. She was also in third in the Player of the Year points race, within striking distance of the current leader, Ryu So-yeon of South Korea.

No rookie has won the money title, scoring title, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same year since Nancy Lopez in 1978.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sung Hyun Park of South Korea has become the first LPGA Tour rookie to reach No. 1 in the world.

Park replaced So Yeon Ryu atop the women’s world ranking Monday without playing last week. Ryu lost the No. 1 ranking after 19 weeks when she failed to finish in a tie for sixth at the Toto Japan Classic.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was the top Canadian on this week’s rankings list at No. 13.

The 24-year-old Park won 10 times on the Korean LPGA Tour. Park won the CP Women’s Open, the U.S. Women’s Open and already has clinched LPGA rookie of the year. She has a chance to become the first player since Nancy Lopez to win rookie of the year and player of the year in the same season.

Park is playing in China before next week’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.

(REGINA) – When the CP Women’s Open takes to the links in Regina in August, Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation will be the official beneficiary of the seven day tournament. Through its CP Has Heart campaign, Canadian Pacific (CP) will once again make a substantial donation to the host community by supporting pediatric cardiology at the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2019.

“CP is very proud to partner with Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital for the 2018 CP Women’s Open,” said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO. “This is a natural partnership as CP is focused on heart health through our community investment program, CP Has Heart, and the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital is focused on helping the youngest hearts across the great province of Saskatchewan – a province that has been integral to our network for more than 130 years.”

Funds raised through the CP Women’s Open will support a dedicated pediatric cardiology space and specialized equipment in the Pediatric Outpatients Clinic at the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. With a nature theme running throughout the hospital, the “Frog Pod” will be specifically used to treat pediatric cardiology patients and will include three echocardiography exam rooms, a pulmonary function technology lab, an exercise challenge room, and a regular exam room. Directly across the hall, included in the pod, is a staff echocardiology reading room.

“On behalf of Saskatchewan children and families, we offer our heartfelt thanks to CP and the CP Women’s Open for helping us further develop the provincial pediatric cardiology program at our new children’s hospital,” said Brynn Boback-Lane, President and CEO of Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation. “It warms our hearts to know the impact this legacy gift will have for young patients, families, and the provincial pediatric cardiac team.”

The Pediatric Outpatients Clinic, which will see children for general pediatrics, cardiology, oncology, speech and language, hearing, and psychiatry, will offer three times more exam rooms than are available today. An anticipated 40,000 young patients will use this area of the hospital every year.

In the four years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, $6.5 million has been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada.

“Together with our incredible partners at CP and the LPGA Tour, Golf Canada is proud to bring world-class professional golf to The Wascana Country Club, the city of Regina and the province of Saskatchewan in 2018,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “I can’t say enough about the great work that CP does through the CP Has Heart campaign and there is great reason for Saskatchewan residents to be excited about the charitable legacy in support of pediatric cardiac care at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital that will make a difference in people’s lives.”

This is the first time Saskatchewan will play host to a major LPGA Tour event. The CP Women’s Open will run from August 20-26, 2018 at Regina’s Wascana Country Club. Tickets and corporate hosting are available for purchase at www.cpwomensopen.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., – The LPGA Tour today announced that 24-year-old Sung Hyun Park, of the Republic of Korea, has mathematically clinched the 2017 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award with five events remaining on the season’s schedule.

Park, who won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open Championship for her first LPGA and major victory, has a 798-point lead over Angel Yin which would mark the third-largest margin of victory in the history of the award, passing 2016 winner In Gee Chun (778 points) and trailing only Karrie Webb over Mayumi Hirase in 1996 (1030 points) and Se Ri Pak over Janice Moodie in 1999 (929 points).

“I am honored to receive this award which was one of my goals from the beginning of the season,” Park said. “This is really special because you only get one chance in a lifetime. Taking this opportunity, I want to be a better player.”

In July, Park rallied from three strokes behind after three rounds to pull off a victory at the U.S. Women’s Open, becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner and capturing her first major title. The following month, Park earned her second career win with a four-stroke rally at the CP Women’s Open. She has six additional top-10 finishes in 2017, with no showing worse than 43rd, and finished in the top 20 at four of the season’s five major championships.

Through October 15, Park leads the LPGA in Official Money with $2,092,623, making her the fastest player in LPGA history to reach $2 million in career earnings at 7 months, 13 days (19 starts; 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship). She was also the fastest to reach $1 million in career earnings following her U.S. Women’s Open victory at 4 months, 14 days (14 events).

Park also sits in the top 10 in Scoring Average (first), Race to the CME Globe (second), Rolex Player of the Year (third), Birdies (sixth), Driving Distance Average (ninth) and Greens in Regulation (sixth). She is currently No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, less than one point behind No. 1 So Yeon Ryu.

Park is currently on leave from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, where she is majoring in International Sports and Leisure. After taking up the game in the second grade at her mother’s suggestion, Park joined the KLPGA Tour in 2012 at the age of 19. She earned her first win on the KLPGA in 2015, and captured 10 total victories before joining the LPGA Tour in 2017.

Park will receive the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award at the 2017 Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony, to be held Thursday, Nov. 16, in conjunction with the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

About the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award

The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award, named for the late Louise Suggs, an LPGA Founder and LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member, was established in 1962. Suggs passed away at the age of 91 in August 2015 but leaves an unsurpassed legacy behind as the namesake for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award.

This is the 56th year the LPGA Tour will recognize a rookie for their performance in official tournaments. Since its inception, ten Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year winners have become members of the LPGA or World Golf Hall of Fame: Joanne Carner (1970), Amy Alcott (1975), Nancy Lopez (1978), Beth Daniel (1979), Patty Sheehan (1981), Juli Inkster (1984), Annika Sorenstam (1994), Karrie Webb (1996), Se Ri Pak (1998), and Lorena Ochoa (2003).

The rookie of the year award was established in 1962. Until 1992, the rookie of the year award went to the first-year LPGA player who finished with the highest ranking on the LPGA money list through the close of the official domestic LPGA season.

In 1992, a point system was instituted. LPGA Tour rookies are awarded points at each official LPGA tournament based on top 40 finishes and positions 41 through each player making the cut receive 5 points each. All points are doubled at LPGA major championships.

Past Winners

OTTAWA – Cristie Kerr waved at her caddy to stop for a second on the 18th fairway of the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Mirim Lee and her bagman also held up.

Brooke Henderson, the third member of their trio for the final round of the CP Women’s Open, marched ahead with her sister and caddy Britt in tow, the standing ovation from the gallery theirs alone. Although Henderson had an even par round to finish at 7-under in a tie for 12th on Sunday, she was the star of the LPGA event all week and it was only fitting she had one last moment on the course with her legions of fans.

“It was amazing,” said Henderson minutes before accepting the Sandra Post Medal as the tournament’s low Canadian from the award’s namesake. “The crowds were incredible, and to have that support behind me from the very start of the week, Monday, when they were out here following me and cheering me on, it was so amazing.

“Today didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked, but still having that support around me was amazing, and I’m going to remember this week forever.”

South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park shot a 7-under 64 to finish at 13-under par to win the tournament, but she was almost an afterthought for the partisan crowd.

The 19-year-old Henderson, from nearby Smiths Falls, Ont., was on the covers of programs, played pro-ams, appeared on billboards, and did everything asked of her to be an ambassador for the event. On Friday, she almost missed the cut but birdied on her final hole of the second round to keep playing. The next day, Henderson fired a course-record 8-under 63 to rocket up the leaderboard and play in the second-last group in Sunday’s final round.

“She had so much pressure on her this week,” said Kerr, who played with Henderson in the first, second and final rounds. “You know, more than a major, I told her. I was joking around, but it was true. Look at the people out here for her, they all want her to do well, and she wants to do really well for them.”

Kerr tried to settle Henderson’s nerves when it looked like the younger player might miss the cut. When Henderson had a pair of bogeys in the front nine on Sunday Kerr was there again to cheer her up.

Then, of course, it was Kerr who insured that Henderson had one last moment in the sun at the Women’s Open, getting their group of golfers to slow their pace so the Henderson sisters could absorb the crowd’s applause.

What a week for the local favorite, @BrookeHenderson! ??❤️

Watch highlights from her final day #CPWO: pic.twitter.com/YbndLBqQWg

— LPGA (@LPGA) August 27, 2017

“She’s a role model, I look up to her,” said Henderson of Kerr. “To play with her three days this week really helped me. Just things like that, letting me walk up on to 18 and soak in the crowd and all those cheers, that was just really a class act.”

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., was the only other Canadian to make the cut out of a field of 14. She shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 3-under par on the tournament. Marchand, who was a sponsor exemption that usually plays on the Symetra Tour, also drew some crowds.

“They’re always cheering you on no matter how it goes,” said Marchand. “It’s nice to have that support backing you, especially playing at home. Now that I’ve played two LPGA events at home, I’m getting more support than I probably would if I was just playing in the States somewhere.”

The crowds were so vocal for Brooke Henderson that even her caddy Britt drew cheers with people calling out her name, encouraging her as she lugged her sister’s golf bag or gave advice.

“The crowds were so great all week and it’s so cool to play this kind of tournament at home and have that kind of crowd support, even the caddy,” said Britt. “It felt awesome.”

OTTAWA – Now that she’s won two LPGA championships, Sung Hyun Park is finally going to get to see the biggest attraction in her home away from home.

Park shot a 7-under 64 to finish at 13-under par to win the CP Women’s Open on Sunday, five weeks after winning the U.S. Women’s Open. Both wins came in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour and she feels it’s time for a rest, so she’s returning to her North American home in Orlando to relax.

“I’ve never been to Disney World. I think I’ve got to go this time,” said Park through a translator. “I have a dog named Ato. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my dog, so I’m planning to play with my dog during my vacation.”

Park started the day in a tie for 12th, but played a bogey-free final round with seven birdies – including back-to-back birdies on the Nos. 8 and 9 holes – to storm up the leaderboard. She had already sewn up the championship by the time the final groupings were on the 18th fairway.

“I feel a little nervous when I play in the last group. But I was not today,” said Park. “Today I was in an earlier group when I started, so I felt a little more comfortable when I played this round.”

Fellow Korean Mirim Lee finished second at 11 under, while China’s Shanshan Feng, Korea’s In Gee Chun, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen and Americans Marina Alex and Cristie Kerr were in a five-way tie for third at 10 under.

Broch Larsen and American Mo Martin had been co-leaders at 10-under to start the day.

“Sung Hyun had a really good round today. But I don’t know, my game was not really bad,” said Chun. “I’m happy for her to win this week. I’ll just keep going to next week.”

Brooke Henderson of nearby Smiths Falls, Ont., shot an even-par round to finish at 7 under to tie for 12th, a disappointing result after her course-record 8-under 63 catapulted her into a tie for sixth after three rounds. The 19-year-old phenom drew the most fans of any golfer at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club and was followed from hole to hole by a sizable gallery.

“I wasn’t nervous, but I had some tension,” said Henderson. “I wanted it so badly that it kind of affected me a little bit with some of the shots that I hit. Some of the putts, they were so close to going in, and it kind of got me down a little bit that they just rubbed the edge or stayed on the lip a couple times.”

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., was the only other Canadian to make the cut. She shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 3-under par on the tournament and tie for 30th.

“It was a rough start, but overall I played well. Like after the first few holes,” said Marchand. “It was a good day. I think it was what I kind of wanted to finish the tournament.”

Park believes that the key to her success in her first year on the LPGA Tour is that there are no expectations on her, so if she makes a mistake there’s little consequences.

“Because I am a rookie, I don’t really worry about every shot,” said Park. “I just did every shot with confidence. My confidence made me do well this year.”

Michelle Wie had to withdraw from play between the third and fourth rounds so she could have an emergency procedure to remove her appendix at Ottawa Hospital. Canadian Pacific, the title sponsor of the event, donated $2 million to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario before play began on Sunday.