BARWON HEADS, Australia – Ayean Cho shot a 2-under 70 on a difficult day for scoring to take a one-stroke lead over Madelene Sagstrom after three rounds of the LPGA’s Vic Open.

The tournament at the 13th Beach Golf Links also feature a European Tour men’s tournament running alongside the women’s event.

Choi had a three-round total of 12-under 205. Canada’s Alena Sharp was in third, two strokes behind Cho after a 70.

“I don’t really think about winning but know that it’s there and really just stay in one shot at a time like I did today,” said Sharp. “I didn’t get ahead of myself, it was one shot after the next. It wasn’t, oh, I’ve got to hit a good drive on this next hole. No, I’ve got to make this putt first. Really stay in the present and stick to the process.”

Sharp’s best career LPGA Tour result came at the 2016 CP Women’s Open, where she finished fourth. She has 12 other top-10 finishes, including a tie for sixth at the 2019 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

In the men’s event, Min Woo Lee eagled the 18th hole for 4-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead over three-time European Tour winner Marcus Fraser and fellow Australian Travis Smyth.

“I knew it was going to be difficult coming in, it was going to be a grind today,” Sagstrom told a television commentator before completing her round. “I am going to be tired after this.”

After Saturday’s third round, the men’s and women’s fields were reduced to 35 players each plus ties. The final round will be played on the Beach course. That course and the Creek course were used for the first two rounds of the tournament.

In the men’s event, Min Woo Lee eagled the 18th hole for 4-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead over three-time European Tour winner Marcus Fraser and fellow Australian Travis Smyth.

“There is so much wind, it’s so hard to figure out when to pull the trigger, I think it might be one of the best rounds I have ever played, regardless of the score,” Lee said.“

Lee had a three-round total of 15-under 201. Fraser shot 69 and Smyth 72.

Fraser said the windy conditions bordered on unplayable.

“My old man plays off 14, he’s a good golfer and I think he would have struggled to break 110 out there,” said Fraser. “I think that’s as strong a wind as I’ve played in anywhere.”

The tournament is also sanctioned by the Australasian PGA men’s tour and European Tour and the European and Australian women’s tours.

Vancouver, January 31, 2020 – Canadian Pacific (CP) and Golf Canada announced today that BC Children’s Hospital Foundation has been chosen as the primary charity partner for the 2020 CP Women’s Open. Fundraising initiatives will occur leading up to the tournament and a month-long public match campaign starts February 1st, in recognition of Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Month.

“The CP Women’s Open is an amazing opportunity to draw attention to the important work being done by doctors to mend the hearts of the future,” said Keith Creel, President and CEO of CP. “Partnering with BC Children’s Hospital Foundation again is a natural fit and progression from our first partnership in 2015. I look forward to seeing the lasting legacy this brings to the hospital, children and families who need it.”

Funds raised through the CP Women’s Open partnership will support the Children’s Heart Centre at BC Children’s Hospital. Funds will be used to purchase a new fleet of the latest generation cardiac ultrasound machines, advance the cardiac research program and help to train the next generation of medical superstars.

“We are delighted to be chosen as the charity partner for the 2020 CP Women’s Open and are honoured to be the first charity to partner with CP for a second time,” said Teri Nicholas, President and CEO of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Funds raised through this partnership will continue to take children’s health care in our province to the next level, giving new hope to kids and families when they need it most.”

“CP’s generosity will not only support the daily work of the clinical care team, it will enable us to substantially expand our research capacity,” said Dr. Shubhayan Sanatani, head, division of cardiology at BC Children’s Hospital. “This infusion of high-quality personnel into our scientific programs will create additional opportunities to pursue new solutions for children’s heart health. We are very grateful to have a partner like CP by our side as we work to solve tomorrow’s problems today.”

The month-long public match campaign beginning February 1 until the end of February will match online donations to BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. In addition to matching all one-time donations, CP will also match the total of the first year of contributions for all new monthly donations. With the match in place, the Foundation is hoping to acquire 100 new monthly donors by the end of the month. Visit bcchf.ca/heart for more information.

CP is proud to also announce the CP Women’s Open community charity partner is Royal Inland Hospital Foundation in Kamloops, an important terminal in the CP network and home to nearly 200 employees. CP will contribute $250,000 to fundraising efforts in support of cardiac care at Royal Inland Hospital.

“We are so proud to witness first-hand the incredible work CP does through CP Has Heart and the meaningful impact made in the lives of countless Canadians,” said Lawrence Applebaum, CEO of Golf Canada. “Excitement for the CP Women’s Open continues to grow in the Vancouver area and I’m very much looking forward to a tournament week highlighted by world-class golf and charitable giving in support of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.”

The 2020 CP Women’s Open will feature the stars of the LPGA Tour at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club from August 31 – September 6.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Madelene Sagstrom won the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title, birdieing the par-3 17th to tie for the lead and winning with a par when Nasa Hataoka missed a 3-footer on the last.

Sagstrom finished with a 2-under 70 for a 17-under 271 total at rain-softened Boca Rio Golf Club.

“I put something on the Instagram in the beginning of the week, saying I’m determined that 2020 is going to be the best season yet. I didn’t know it was going to be this good right away,” Sagstrom said. “But no, I have worked really hard over many years now, and I think that the biggest change or the biggest journey I have had is within myself and my mental game.”

Hataoka shot 69. The Japanese player birdied Nos. 15 and 16 to take the lead, then fell into a tie when Sagstrom birdied the 17th and lost with the bogey on the par-4 18th.

“It kind of helps me out with the beginning two tournaments, being there at the top, gives me a little strength to keep on going for the following many tournaments coming ahead,” Hataoka said. “Missing the win gives me more motivation to keep on going for the next many tournaments coming.”

She also finished second last week in the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, losing to Gaby Lopez on the seventh extra hole in a Monday finish.

Sagstrom bogeyed two of the first five holes, then rebounded with birdies on Nos. 8, 10 and 11 – chipping in on 10.

“It doesn’t matter how you start,” Sagstrom said. “If you just continue fighting, things can go your way. And I just told myself, `Keep fighting, keep fighting.”’

Sagstrom made a 4-footer for birdie on 17, then saved par from 5 feet on 18,

The 27-year-old Swede and former LSU star opened with a 72, shot a career-best 62 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead and doubled her advantage Saturday with a 67.

“I have never been in a situation like this before, so obviously it was all new to me,” Sagstrom said about taking the lead into the final round. “I didn’t know how I was going to handle it or if it was going to go my way or not, so my whole goal today was just go out and stay patient and do what I have done the other days.”

Sagstrom won in her 69th career LPGA Tour start. She’s the 12th Swede to win on the tour, and the first since Pernilla Lindberg in the 2018 ANA Inspiration. Sagstrom won three times on the Symetra Tour in 2016 and led the money list to graduate to the big tour.

Brooke Henderson was the top Canadian. The Smiths Falls, Ont., native finished in a tie for 15th place at 7 under after shooting 73 in the final round.

Danielle Kang was third at 15 under after a 69. She parred the final eight holes.

“I kept hitting it to 30, 35 feet,” Kang said. “And they’re not easy to make. So, it’s hard to two-putt, to be honest.”

Celine Boutier shot 70 to finish fourth at 13 under. Sei Young Kim was 11 under after a 73,

The tournament was the first official event in Boca Raton since the 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The final round of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions featured a little bit of everything. Clutch shots, bold play, lead changes, a few costly mistakes and even bonus golf.

Sunday did everything but decide a champion.

Nasa Hataoka and Gaby Lopez matched par five times in a playoff at the 197-yard 18th hole until it was too dark to continue. They will return at 8 a.m. Monday at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club to see who gets the trophy.

LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park also was in the playoff, but was eliminated on the third extra hole when her tee shot with a fairway metal caromed off rocks left of the par-3 18th and bounded into surrounding water.

If the LPGA season can replicate the fireworks displayed in its season opener, this could be quite a year. Five players spent time with at least a share of the fourth-round lead. Lopez (5-under 66), Hat–aoka (68) and Park (71), who led by two shots after 54 holes, finished 72 holes of regulation at 13-under 271.

M.J. Hur, who made 10 birdies and shot 63, and Brooke Henderson (67) of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished one shot out of the playoff in this event featuring 26 LPGA tournament winners from the last two seasons.

.@BrookeHenderson starts off the year with a top 5 finish at #DiamondLPGA ???? pic.twitter.com/oiFPFTkxQt

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) January 19, 2020

The playoff that will resume on Monday is the LPGA’s longest since Pernilla Lindberg defeated Park in eight holes at the 2018 ANA Inspiration. Monday’s winner will earn $180,000.

The 31-year-old Park, winless in 2019, by far had the most experience of the last players standing, having won 19 times, including seven major championships, in addition to winning an Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016. Perennially one of the LPGA’s best putters, Park struggled to make anything Sunday until rolling in a 15-footer for birdie at the short par-4 16th that lifted her back into a tie for the lead.

When Lopez, clad in the red and green colours of Mexico, and Hataoka scrambled to get up-and-down for pars on the third playoff hole, Park was eliminated. She dropped to 3-5 in her LPGA career in playoffs.

“I think just No. 18 got me yesterday and today,” said Park, who had three-putted the hole for bogey a day earlier. “If I shoot under par (Sunday), I should have won. That’s golf.”

Lopez’s 66 was one of the sharper rounds played Sunday. She completed it in grand style by making the lone birdie yielded all weekend at the 18th hole. Lopez hit a 4-hybrid past the flagstick and made an 18-foot, right-to-left slider to get to 13 under. There have been only five birdies on that hole all week by LPGA players in the tournament, which also features celebrity amateurs; Lopez owned two of them.

The 21-year-old Hataoka has giant goals for 2020. A three-time LPGA winner, she wants to climb to No. 1 in the world (she entered the week ranked sixth) and win gold at the Summer Olympics in her native Japan. She stayed alive on the second hole of the playoff by making a 15-footer for par following a poor chip.

With the leaders struggling to make birdies, Hur, a two-time winner in 2019, made a huge charge up the leaderboard. Her 18-footer straight up the hill at the par-5 17th was her 10th birdie of the round, and it temporarily moved her alongside Park in the lead at 12 under.

Henderson, who shared the 36-hole lead, also made a late run with four back-nine birdies, but missed the green short and right with her tee shot at the 18th and failed to hole a long pitch.

“I saw Inbee had fallen back to 11 (under) early,” Henderson said, “and I was like, `Wow, the door is sort of wide open.”’

There was one champion crowned on Sunday: John Smoltz, former Atlanta Braves standout starter and reliever and baseball Hall of Famer, repeated as champion in the celebrity division. He finished with 150 points in the modified Stableford scoring system, nine points better then U.S. Curtis Cup captain Mardy Fish, another two-time champion.

Smoltz said he hopes to get a two or three PGA Tour Champions starts in 2020 and will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open, a field he made in 2018. He made six birdies Sunday and earned $100,000 for his victory.

“You don’t learn anything until you play tournaments like this,” Smoltz said. “I just want to see how good I can get my golf game.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Inbee Park finally made a bogey, but she still finished with a 4-under 67 Saturday and a two-shot lead over Sei Young Kim heading into the final round of the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Brooke Henderson of Smith Falls, Ont., fell into a tie for fifth place after she carded a 1-over 72 on Saturday. Henderson now sits five shots back of the leader heading into Sunday’s final round.

Park, a 19-time winner on the LPGA Tour, hadn’t made a bogey since November’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. But she finally dropped a shot when she three-putted the difficult 211-yard par-3 18th.

To that point, Park had been precise and consistent and had a decent day with the putter. She hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and made five birdies. Three consecutive birdies starting at the par-4 13th built her lead to three shots.

“Well, it’s always disappointing to finish with a bogey … So I think I’ll just go ahead and make some birdies tomorrow,” Park said.

Closest to Park is Kim, whose three victories in 2019 included the lucrative CME Group Tour Championship. Kim made five birdies in a wild second nine and shot 67. Nasa Hataoka shot 68 and will begin Sunday three shots behind the leader.

With 10 victories, Kim widely is regarded as the most talented player on tour who has yet to win a major. After a sloppy bogey at the 13th hole, she bounced back by reeling off birdies on her next four holes. At the par-5 17th, she hit a 3-wood from 209 yards into the wind that finished 10 feet right of the hole, and narrowly missed the eagle attempt.

“Her (short off-season) break was good and it looks like she picked up where she left off,” said her caddie, Paul Fusco. Asked the biggest strength of Kim’s game, he answered, “Everything. She’s relaxed, and she makes it look very easy. She’s special.”

Kim was in high school when Park broke through to win for the first time as a pro at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, the first of Park’s seven majors. Kim has played in the final round on Sunday with Park previously, and win or lose, has enjoyed the experience. In 2015, Kim holed out from 154 yards to beat Park in a playoff at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii; she lost to Park in a playoff at the Women’s PGA Championship.

“She’s fun,” Kim said of Park. “She’s very consistent. Yeah, opposite of my character.”

Kim’s $1.5 million winner’s check at the CME Group Tour Championship was the richest prize ever won by an LPGA player. Kim, who turns 27 on Jan. 21, was asked earlier this week if she’d made any big purchases with her winnings. “I buy a lot of dinner,” she said.

With this being an Olympic year, Park, the gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro when golf returned to the Olympics in 2016, decided to get to work a little earlier than normal. She hadn’t made a January start since 2016, but currently ranks as second alternate among competitors from South Korea, a country that boasts four players among the top seven in the world rankings. Park spent 106 weeks in her career at No. 1, but currently is 16th.

How important are the Olympics to her? Park’s dog is named Rio.

In the 49-player celebrity division, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, the event’s defending champion, had 111 points in the modified Stableford format to lead through three rounds, four better than two-time Diamond Resorts champion Mardy Fish. Mark Mulder, the 2018 champion, was in third place, six points back.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson parlayed four birdies and a late eagle into Friday’s hottest round and a share of the lead at the LPGA’s season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Henderson had a 5-under 66 to join Inbee Park of South Korea at 9-under 133 heading to the weekend at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando.

Henderson, No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings and the highest-ranked player among the 26 LPGA players in the field, had a clean scorecard until three-putting from the back collar at the difficult, 192-yard closing hole for her lone bogey.

She wasn’t pleased with the finish, but she also wasn’t going to allow it to sour a solid body of work on a day when the scoring average was nearly 71. Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, whose lone LPGA victory is the 2018 Blue Bay LPGA in China, shot 69 and is alone in third, two shots back.

Park, already a World Golf Hall of Fame member with more victories (19 on the LPGA, seven majors) in the Diamond Resorts field, does not usually compete this early in the season. But with 2020 being an Olympic year, the gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 adjusted her winter schedule to play weeks earlier than normal. Park shot a bogey-free 68 Friday, nearly holing her third shot at the par-5 17th to set up her third and final birdie.

That’ll work, @BrookeHenderson! A tap-in ? moves her into the lead in the LPGA season opener ??pic.twitter.com/C4ORPOUL06

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) January 17, 2020

Only 22, Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., is seeking her 10th LPGA victory, and has earned multiple victories in each of her four seasons on tour. Winning this week would be a nice jump on extending her streak. Friday’s wind proved more demanding than a day earlier, with gusts topping 20 mph as Henderson reached the middle of her round.

“Once it started to pick up, I guess around the seventh hole, Britt (Henderso’n, her younger sister and caddie) and I did a really good job of just counting in all the factors and trying to hit smart shots and give ourselves some birdie looks,” Henderson said.

Her highlight was making an eagle-3 at the 525-yard 17th hole. After a big drive, Henderson had 200 yards to the front of the green, 230 yards to the flagstick. She was between a 3-wood and 7-wood, decided on 3-wood because of strong crosswinds, and ripped an approach shot that finished 4 inches from the hole.

Henderson owned one of two eagles recorded in the round. The other was by France’s Celine Boutier, who made the LPGA’s first ace of 2020 when she holed a 4-iron at the 179-yard fifth hole. It was her second lifetime hole-in-one, her first coming eight years ago, when she was an amateur.

When Boutier birdied her next hole, she held a share of the lead with first-round leader Danielle Kang at 9 under. Boutier (69) is tied for fourth, two shots behind the leaders.

Kang, who had birdied six of her first 10 holes and shot 5-under 29 on her front nine a day earlier, opened her day with seven consecutive pars before making back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth holes. Kang, however, would stumble with four bogeys on her closing nine and shot 73. She trails the leaders by three shots.

In the 49-player celebrity and entertainment division, which competes for a purse of $500,000 (the LPGA’s purse is $1.2 million), Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Fox analyst John Smoltz, the event’s defending champion, surged into a three-way tie for the leader. He was joined by two-time Diamond Resorts champion Mardy Fish (tennis) and U.S. military veteran Chad Pfeifer, who plays with a prosthetic left leg.

All three players have 74 points using a Modified Stableford scoring system. Blair O’Neal, a former Symetra Tour player who now works in television, is playing six-months pregnant and is tied for sixth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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