SINGAPORE – Sung Hyun Park made sure there were no anxious moments as she closed in on her sixth LPGA Tour victory on Sunday at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Four strokes behind No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn at the start of the final round, the world No. 2 birdied five of her first seven holes and added four more birdies on the back nine for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke victory.

Over the first three rounds, Park was 3-over on the back nine. Park had a four-round total of 15-under 273 at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong course.

Park has traditionally had a slow start to the new season.

“So last year, my shots and like overall thing was pretty unstable in the beginning of the season, and I think my training in the last winter really helped me a lot, and it also helped me to be stronger with my play,” she said.

Congrats to our 2017 champ ?, Sung Hyun Park, who came from 4-shots behind to win the 2019 HSBC Women's World Championship pic.twitter.com/hb0C90EtoH

— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) March 3, 2019

“I didn’t think I would win this fast … I think I will play really comfortable the rest of my season.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson finished in a tie for 15th place.

No. 3-ranked Minjee Lee, who led for part of the front nine Sunday, was second after a 69. Lee also finished second last week at the LPGA’s Thailand tournament, one stroke behind winner Amy Yang.

Amy Olson, who led after Friday’s second round, shot 70 and the American finished in a tie for fifth, five strokes behind.

Jutanuguran shot 75 and finished in a tie for eighth, seven strokes behind Park.

“Sung Hyun, she’s such a great golfer; I’m not surprised she shot 8-under because she’s the best to me, so just congrats to her,” said Jutanuguran. “She’s great.”

Most golfers look for balance in their swing. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp found it in her life and is now reaping the benefits on the LPGA Tour.

Sharp was named Golf Canada’s player of the week on Feb. 18 after tying for sixth at the Women’s Australian Open and tying for 17th at the Victoria Open to open the LPGA Tour’s season. Sharp credits a more measured approach to training and a better work-life balance to help her stay focused after a frustrating 2018 where she battled with depression.

“It’s not all about golf,” said Sharp. “I was practising too much and really wore out. Then not getting the results. This is a humbling game. It can be tough mentally and bring you down. When it’s going well it’s amazing but when it’s not going well, it’s tough.

“So working with my therapist and having a good work-life balance along with a strong finish last season, it helped me feel like I was coming out of the downward spiral from last season.”

 

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@alenasharp07 is trending ? Swipe for ?? results!

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The big change for Sharp in the off-season was to never really stop playing golf. In previous years she would take a few weeks off, then ramp up an intense training regime featuring long days of up to six hours of practise and strength training.

This year, Sharp has aimed for quantity of practice, rather than intensity.

“I didn’t put down the clubs, I did light practice,” said Sharp, who conceived of her new training program with coach Brent Saunders last June. “Just a couple of hours of practice a day, nothing crazy. Get in, do you work, get out, and rest. Got in the gym and got stronger and I’m hitting it further.

“Just mentally I’m really fresh. Just good practice habits have translated into the results I had in Australia.”

Now that the LPGA Tour season has begun, Sharp plans to continue putting an emphasis on working every day, rather than ramping up the intensity of her training to prepare for an event and risk burn out or injury.

“I think I might have a little bit more quantity on certain days but I’m not really going to change much,” said Sharp. “What I’ve been doing obviously is working and it’s a long season and there’s a lot of travel.

“I know last year that I was pretty tired in August. I ran around too much, practising five or six hours every day. It really wore me out.”

Alena Sharp of Canada speaks to the media following her final round at the CP Womens Open at the Wascana Country Club on August 26, 2018 in Regina, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Sharp has another week off with Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., the only Canadian competing at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore starting on Thursday.

Instead, Sharp is using the downtime to focus on her next two events, the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in Phoenix (March 21) and the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif., (March 28).

“I just feel like I have a really good recipe for success,” said Sharp. “Really trying to stay away from results-focused thinking this year and being into the process.”

CHONBURI, Thailand – Amy Yang won the LPGA Thailand for the third time after holding off Minjee Lee by one stroke on Sunday.

Yang, from South Korea, carded a final-round 65 and a 22-under-par 266 at Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course for her fourth overall LPGA Tour win.

Despite lightning stopping play for 50 minutes and a rain delay later in the round, Yang emerged from a three-way tie with Lee and Carlota Ciganda with a birdie from the fringe of the green on the par-3 16th to regain the lead at 21 under.

“I was honestly very nervous, especially last three holes,” said Yang, who also won the event in 2015 and 2017. “It was (a) tough hole to finish. I was really telling myself just (to) be patient, do (my) best at the time.

“I tried to stay calm and stayed patient out there. I just enjoy coming here. I love the golf course, which is why I always play well here.”

Brooke Henderson (68) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was sixth at 15-under 273.

With Ciganda already signing off at 20 under, Lee, on the 18th, had the chance force a playoff if she made a 14-foot eagle putt. She didn’t, and she had to settle for a birdie to finish with a 66 at 21 under.

“I really fought out there,” said Lee, who was looking for her fifth LPGA Tour win. “Just tried to make as many birdies as I could. Probably didn’t play probably 15 and 16 the way I wanted to, but I think overall, I had a pretty solid performance.”

Ciganda finished at 20 under after having eagled the par-5 first and the par-4 15th. She shot a 63 on Sunday, matching Eun-Hee Ji’s score from Thursday as the lowest of the event.

“I hit lots of greens, (was) hitting great shots, great numbers, and then today, the putting was hot,” Ciganda said.

Yang, who earned $240,000 of the $1.6 million purse, is expected to move from No. 37 to No. 2 in the Race to the CME Globe following the win.

CHONBURI, Thailand – Canada’s Brooke Henderson is three shots behind leader Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea after shooting a 6-under 66 in the opening round of Honda LPGA Thailand on Thursday.

The bogey-free day marked Henderson’s first competitive round since the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Florida ended on Jan. 20. The 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., sat out the last two events because of illness.

“You know, I felt look I did a lot of things really well today,” Henderson said. “Maybe just adjust the game plan a little bit going into tomorrow. But I’m just going to rest and hopefully come out tomorrow and get a couple birdies early.”

Henderson is in a four-way tie for fifth. Ji has a two-shot lead on Minjee Lee of Australia, Danielle Kang of the United States and Jenny Shin of South Korea.

Henderson tied for seventh at this tournament last year.

#CPWO champ @BrookeHenderson is 3 back after 18 holes @hondalpgath ?? pic.twitter.com/khc5h4ClTm

— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) February 21, 2019

Ji won her fifth U.S. LPGA Tour title in her previous event last month, the Tournament of Champions.

She picked up right where she left off, in Chonburi.

After an opening birdie and a bogey on the third hole, Ji birdied nine out of the following 14 holes on the Siam Country Club Pattaya’s Old Course.

“I felt really great. I didn’t miss any fairways and missed just two greens,” Ji said. “I have a lot of confidence.

Lee was bogey free as she eagled the 15th and birdied five holes on a humid day.

“I was little bit slow starting out. I finished with three birdies on the last three holes at the front nine, and got a little bit better momentum,” Lee said.

World No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, the 2013 runner-up, carded a 4-under 68, mixing an eagle and six birdies with two bogeys and a double bogey.

ADELAIDE, Australia – Nelly Korda added to her family’s impressive sports pedigree Down Under with a win Sunday in the Women’s Australian Open.

Korda led by three strokes after the third round, increased it to four with a tap-in birdie on the 10th and added a 25-foot birdie on the 11th to make it a lead of five.

She had a third consecutive birdie on the 12th to help claim a two-stroke victory with a 5-under 67 at The Grange Golf Club, finishing with a 17-under total of 271. Defending champion Jin Young Ko was second after a 64.

Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., finished with a share of sixth at 10 under par. The finish marks the second consecutive strong finish for Sharp, who collected a T17 the week prior.

Fellow countrywoman Jaclyn Lee, a Calgary native, made her first LPGA Tour cut as a professional with a T22 finish.

Korda’s father Petr was an Australian Open men’s tennis champion, winning the tournament in 1998. Her golfing sister Jessica won the Australian Open seven years ago.

And her tennis-playing brother Sebastian won the Australian Open boys’ singles title last year.

“I’m just happy to finally be a part of the club,” said the 20-year-old Korda at the trophy presentations. “There’s maybe something in the air here. We love coming down under and we really enjoy our time here.

“I just got off the phone with my dad and he’s like ‘well, congratulations, you’re part of the Korda Slam now’.”

Petr and mother Regina, also a pro tennis player who represented Czechoslovakia at the 1988 Olympics, watched their daughter’s triumph from their home on the west coast of Florida.

Jessica, currently sidelined from the LPGA Tour because of a wrist injury, watched from Florida’s east coast. And Sebastian tuned in from Turkey moments before he played a Futures Tour match.

“When I was left out (of winning in Australia) they didn’t try to rub it in too much,” Nelly Korda said. “Now that we all have a win down here, it’s going to be really special … obviously there was pressure but I think I finally carved my own way.”

The Women’s Australian Open tweeted before the final round began a photo collage of Petr, Jessica and Sebastian doing what they called the “Korda Kick” – actually a scissor kick – after winning each of their titles, and adding that they hoped they hadn’t jinxed Nelly.

No worries there. Her lead was reduced to two strokes at one stage late on the front nine and again at the end, but Korda held on for the win after receiving help from afar from her sister.

And sure enough, keeping it in the family, Nelly was photographed doing a scissor kick after the trophy presentations.

Jessica Korda tweeted to her 81,500 followers just before Nelly made the turn at The Grange, at about 11:30 p.m on the East Coast of the U.S: “Who else is staying up with me?”

Jessica’s first reply came from someone who said “we might be needing a quadruple Korda-Jump picture.”

Nelly Korda said she spoke to her 25-year-old sister by phone not long after she finished her round.

“I couldn’t really hear what she was saying, she was screaming so much,” Nelly Korda said.

BARWON HEADS, Australia – Celine Boutier of France claimed a two-stroke victory in the LPGA’s Vic Open on Sunday while Scotland’s David Law made eagle on the par-5 18th to win the men’s title by a stroke over Australians Brad Kennedy and Wade Ormsby.

Boutier shot a final-round 72 to finish at 8-under 281. Australians Sarah Kemp (65) and Su Oh (74) and England’s Charlotte Thomas (69) were tied for second.

Law’s final-round 66 left him a stroke ahead of Kennedy (67) and third-round leader Ormsby (70) at 18-under 270 on the 13th Beach Golf Links to win his first European Tour tournament.

Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., closed at 2 under par for a share of 17th place. Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City was T32 at 1 over par.

The Women’s Australian Open, also sanctioned by the LPGA, will be played next week at The Grange in Adelaide. The men’s European Tour is co-sanctioning the Perth World Super 6 in Western Australia next week.

On the men’s side, Canadian Austin Connelly finished T49 at 5 under par.

BARWON HEADS, Australia – Felicity Johnson made a late move up the leaderboard Thursday at the LPGA’s Vic Open to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round.

The Englishwoman shot an 8-under 65 on the Creek course at the 13th Beach Golf Links, where men and women played in alternate groups in the unique tournament format also sanctioned by the men’s European Tour.

“Anytime you shoot 8 under, it’s pretty good,” Johnson said. “To do it bogey free is a bonus. I’m going to sound a bit cocky, but it was really easy. I hit 17 greens in regulation, birdied three of the par 5s, so there’s kind of a couple of almost gimme birdies.”

Su Oh of Australia had a hole-in-one and had held the lead for most of the day with Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Anne-Catherine Tanguay, both at 6 under.

“I thought my front nine, I came out like pretty hot. I was hitting some solid iron shots. And then I would say the back nine is a little bit more shaky, like the wind picked up and I think I didn’t have as much commitment as on the front, so I didn’t hit perfect, to be honest, but it was enough,” said Tanguay, who recently became an ambassador for RBC.

I am excited to be joining Team RBC.@RBC is a big supporter of Canadian golf and has played a leading role in the support of @GolfCanada ‘s National Teams.

I am fortunate to have been a part of these initiatives and I am looking forward to continue this journey with #TeamRBC. pic.twitter.com/WcTmeWwpo0

— AC Tanguay (@ACTanguay) February 6, 2019

The 28-year-old Quebec City native is prepared to take on any challenging weather conditions in the rounds to come.

“You know, just whatever happens, happens. I’m going to just focus on what I can control because obviously the weather is out of my hands. I’ll definitely try to prep as best as I can. Yeah, new course tomorrow, so it will be a lot of fun.”

Fellow Canuck Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., carded a 4-under 69 to share 10th place.

Oh aced the 138-meter par-3 15th hole with a 6-iron. Tanguay played the par-72 Beach course and shot 66.

Minjee Lee began her title defence with a 1-under 72, while seven-time major winner Karrie Webb shot 73, both on the Creek course. Morgan Pressel was 3-under after a 70 on the Creek layout, as was Georgia Hall.

Nick Flanagan, an Australian who won the 2003 U.S. Amateur, shot a 10-under 62 on the Creek course to take a two-stroke lead in the men’s tournament.

Among those tied for second were Flanagan’s roommate, James Nitties, and Kurt Kitayama, Hugo Leon and Callum Shinkwin. Andrew (Beef) Johnston shot 66, also on the Creek course, as did former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogivly on the Beach course.

Tournament officials said Nitties, who started on the back nine at the Beach course, tied a record for consecutive birdies with nine, equaling Mark Calcavecchia’s record at the 2009 Canadian Open. Unfortunately for Nitties, he double-bogeyed his fifth hole before making birdie on the last four holes of the back nine and the first five on the front.

“I don’t hold any other world records that I know of so to be a part of one is pretty cool,” Nitties joked.

The 62 was Flanagan’s lowest tournament round.

“I have had a few 9-unders on tour,” he said. “It felt super uncomfortable but it kind of came easy if that makes any sense, which it doesn’t really. A couple of early putts dropped and I just wasn’t trying too hard essentially.”

Canadian Austin Connelly opened with a 2-under 70 to sit T88.

The start of play was delayed for more than an hour by early-morning fog.

The Beach course is being played as a par-72 for both men and women; the Creek is par-72 for men and 73 for women. Both courses will be used for the first two rounds of the tournament.

The Women’s Australian Open, also sanctioned by the LPGA, will be played next week at The Grange in Adelaide.

It took weeks for Jaclyn Lee to really absorb that she had become a professional golfer. The Canadian announced she was joining the LPGA Tour on Dec. 7 but it wasn’t until classes at Ohio State University had resumed that it really clicked for Lee.

“I was at the indoor facility having a chipping competition with a few of my former teammates and guys from the men’s team and we were all talking smack. One of the guys said ‘ohh I’m trying to beat an LPGA player,’ and it kinda just hit me,” said Lee. “That kinda sounds weird, but it’s true.

“It’s just been little moments here and there where your whole lifestyle changes. Just to hear other people say it out loud is weird, but it’s my reality.”

Lee, from Calgary, will make her professional debut on the LPGA Tour on Thursday at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia. She made the cut at last year’s Meijer LPGA Championship, finishing at 10-under 278 to tie for 35th but did not keep her winnings to maintain her amateur status. Turning pro meant giving up her spot on the Buckeyes’ golf team, but allowing herself to claim winnings at LPGA events.

She will be joined at the inaugural Vic Open by fellow Canadian Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., pulled out of the event on Sunday due to illness.

Lee expects that transitioning from the NCAA to the pro game won’t be too difficult, at least on the course. Sorting out the logistics has been difficult, whether it was changing her U.S. visa status, finding an agent, or contacting her professors at Ohio State so they know that she’ll be out of the country weeks at a time as she wraps up her degree in finance.

“It was a lot of busy work and work in which I was the middle man in communications,” said the 21-year-old Lee. “It got a bit overwhelming at some points but it was all worth it in the end, for sure.

“It’s a situation that I wanted to be in, but it’s a lot more than just saying ‘I want to turn pro’ and that’s it.”

Lee sank a 10-foot putt for birdie on the final hole of the Q-Series LPGA qualifying tournament on Nov. 3, finishing the eight-round event in sixth place at 7 under to earn her card. After that she consulted with her family and coaches – both at Ohio State and with Golf Canada – on whether or not she should make the leap of faith and turn pro.

Tristan Mullally, Golf Canada’s women’s head coach, was part of Lee’s decision-making process and he believes she’s ready for the next chapter of her playing career.

“I wish everybody was like Jaclyn,” said Mullally, who reviewed all of Lee’s recent tournaments with her to underscore just how ready she was to turn pro. “She works really hard, she’s a smart kid, she’s honestly just a pleasure to be around. I don’t say that about everyone, I know you may think that.

“She’s just a great kid who has earned everything she’s got and is very appreciate of all the help.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea left the mistakes to everyone else down the stretch in the LPGA Tour season opener.

Ji managed a strong wind and temperatures in the 50s on Sunday by making three birdies on the back nine to pull away and close with a 1-under 70, giving her a two-shot victory in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Ji got her mistakes out of the way early, opening with two bogeys to fall behind Lydia Ko. The 32-year-old South Korean took the lead for good with a birdie on the 10th hole at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons, and she stayed in front the rest of the way.

“It was a little bit chilly for me today. My body was a little bit tight on first tee, so I just pulled a little bit, and I made a bogey,” she said. “I made a bogey again second hole. I was like, ‘OK, wait a minute. I need to play this.’ But I have like 16 more holes, and I just trust my swing after that.”

Ko was one shot behind when she pulled her tee shot on the par-5 13th and never found it, and then compounded the error with a three-putt for a double bogey. Ko made double bogey on the closing hole for a 42 on the back nine and a 77.

Ji finished at 14-under 270 to win by two over Mirim Lee, who made only one bogey in her round of 68. Nelly Korda (71) finished third.

“I just enjoyed my game with my celebrity partners,” Ji said. “It makes it more fun and I relaxed more. So I didn’t get nervous.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., started the day a shot behind the leaders but struggled on Sunday, shooting a 4-over 75 on the round. That put her into a tie with Stacy Lewis for sixth at 8 under for the tournament.

“I actually hit it great today,” said Henderson.

“I gave myself a lot of great opportunities and just the putter, you know, wasn’t working, which sort of sucks. But overall I feel like I hit it really well and I battled, which is nice.”

 

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@BrookeHenderson locks up her first top 10 of the 2019 @lpga_tour season with a T6 finish at #DiamondLPGA ????

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The LPGA opener was limited to winners over the last two seasons. It also included a celebrity field of athletes and entertainers who competed for a $500,000 purse using the modified Stableford scoring system.

Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz had 33 points in the final round for a three-point victory over former pitcher Mark Mulder. Smoltz was busy doing math with the Stableford system, trying to hold on for the victory.

“I played really defensively knowing I could get two points for par,” Smoltz said. “I never thought the bogey I made at 17 would be the difference.”

Lewis, in her first competition as a mother, shot 70 and tied for sixth.

Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 1 player in women’s golf who captured every major award last year, went into the weekend two shots out of the lead and closed with a pair of 75s to tie for 18th. Her sister, Moriya Jutanugarn, managed a bogey-free round for a 69 to tie for fourth with Shanshan Feng (70).

Ko says her problems on the 13th started with thinking she had to hammer her tee shot.

No one could find it in the marsh area left of the fairway, though Ko was at least consoled to see “like a million balls in there, so it makes me feel better that I wasn’t the only one that hit there.”

She hit another tee shot and easily carried the bunker, and then hit a stock 3-wood onto the green.

“I was like, ‘Well, that was stupid.’ Because I could have just hit a normal driver, and I probably wouldn’t have duck-hooked it and it would still be able to be in play,” Ko said. “I guess there’s moments I thought it was necessary, but then it wasn’t. But, hey, you’re always going to have some of these failures along the way.”

The LPGA is now off for two weeks before resuming in Australia for the Vic Open. The tour returns to the United States on March 21-24 for the Founders Cup in Arizona.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Lydia Ko could only think about the putts that didn’t go in, perhaps because she was used to making so many.

Ko ran off four birdies on the front nine Saturday for a 30, and it was enough to carry her to a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Eun-Hee Ji going into the final round of the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions on the LPGA Tour.

Ji also was hot early, and a pair of birdies early on the back nine gave her a 66.

They were at 13-under 200.

But the big story for Canadian golf is Brooke Henderson. The Smith Falls, Ont., native was poised to make it a three-way tie at the top until she made bogey on the par-3 closing hole for a 69, leaving her one shot behind.

“Hopefully things go my way, but it’s really cool to be in this position going into Sunday,” said Henderson.

“I feel like I have a positive things to take. Hopefully, do something similar tomorrow and hopefully the putts will drop.”

With seven LPGA victories, Henderson entered 2019 one back of the all-time win record by Canadian professionals held by Mike Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post. She’d tie the record with a win Sunday.

The LPGA Tour season opener is limited to winners each of the last two seasons for a $1.2 million purse. It also includes a 49-player field of celebrities and athletes competing for a $500,000 purse. Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz had 39 points in the modified Stableford format, giving him a four-point lead over retired pitcher Mark Mulder. Mardy Fish from the world of tennis was five points behind.

There are eight different countries in the top-10 heading into Sunday’s final round of the #DiamondLPGA.

Lydia Ko and Eun-Hee Ji share the lead at 13-under par. pic.twitter.com/IhrcnrTeT1

— LPGA (@LPGA) January 19, 2019

The forecast for the final round was cooler temperatures in the upper 50s and 20 mph wind with gusts even stronger. Henderson hopes that works in her favour.

“I think I can grind it out, and a lot of my wins have come in windy conditions,” Henderson said. “I tend to play a little bit better. Hopefully, things go my way, but it’s really cool to be in this position going into Sunday. I feel like I have a lot of positive things to take.”