SAMMAMISH, Wash. –

Through rain squalls of rain and wind gusts, Brooke Henderson and Mirim Lee maintained their composure and patience even as the weather deteriorated.

Henderson and Lee withstood the wild conditions Friday to share the lead at 2 under halfway through the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, the second major of the year on the LPGA Tour.

Playing in the afternoon, Henderson and Lee fought through a mix of heavy rain, wind and a significant drop in the temperature at Sahalee Country Club. After six straight pars, Henderson birdied the par-3 17th, but the 18-year-old Canadian bogeyed the 18th for a 2-over 73 that dropped her back into a tie with Lee.

“Definitely growing up, springtime, fall-time weather was very similar to this,” said Henderson, ranked fourth in the world. “Definitely it gives me a little bit of advantage. But I like to think I’m a good player in all conditions. Maybe it runs in my favor a little bit.”

Lee started on the back nine and surged when she got to the front, making three birdies before dropping a shot late and finishing with a 69. Lee had two top-10 finishes this year, but missed the cut at the ANA Inspiration, the first major.

And sitting just one shot behind the leaders was top-ranked Lydia Ko, who scrambled to a 70 in her bid to win three straight majors. Ko was in a group with Gerina Piller (69) and Brittany Lincicome (70), with only five players under par after two rounds.

“It was really tough out there,” Ko said. “I don’t know how many putts I had on the back nine, but the putter definitely saved me.”

The real winner the first two days was Sahalee. Cut between the towering pine and cedar trees the course was unrelenting in its difficulty. Only two holes played under par on Friday – the par-4 third and the par-5 11th. For the first two days there have been only 22 rounds under par and seven in the 60s. The course is playing nearly 4 1/2 shots over par.

“It has some teeth,” Piller said. “I think we had every element out here.”

Piller birdied two of her final three holes to become the first player to finish 36 holes under par, including a long birdie on the 18th. It was just the seventh birdie on the long, uphill par 4.

“I’m putting great, so I know if I can just get around the hole I have a chance to make par or birdie or save some shots there,” Piller said.

Lexi Thompson tried to get back into contention with three birdies in four holes to finish the front nine, but gave it all away with three straight bogeys to start the back side. She finished at 7 over along with Stacy Lewis (76), both barely making the cut and staying around for the weekend.

Heading home is three-time defending champion Inbee Park. A day after wrapping up an LPGA Hall of Fame spot, the South Korean star shot an 79 on Friday to drop to 9 over.

“Today’s round was going all right on the front nine. I felt like I was holding on pretty good. On the back nine I just couldn’t get a rhythm with the swing and I missed a lot of shots to the right, what I have been doing in the last month or so,” Park said.

Park has been dealing with inflammation in the tendons and ligaments around her left thumb. She shot a 72 on Thursday, the round she needed to complete the 10-year requirement for the LPGA Hall of Fame. At 27, she became the youngest player to accomplish the feat.

Park said she will reconsider taking an extended break to let the thumb heal, one that could bring the Olympics into question.

“I think now having tried three, four times with the injury, playing with the injury I kind of have to rethink and regroup,” Park said. “I might need some time to really get better and be back with the confidence. I’m just going to have to sit down with my team and discuss it.”

Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, the winner of her last three tournaments, was 3 over after a 75. Michelle Wie dropped out, shooting 78-80.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot 1-over 72 on the day and holds a share of 28th. Sherbrooke, Que., product Maude-Aimée Leblanc is T56. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., is T136.

SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Just three holes into her round, Brooke Henderson could tell she needed a spark.

Her fourth career hole-in-one and a new car – to be donated to her caddie sister – did more than enough.

Made good on my promise to Brit…she gets the hole-in-one car!! Thanks for the right yardage, sis @Titleist pic.twitter.com/TY71epKALA

— Brooke Henderson (@BrookeHenderson) June 9, 2016

Buoyed by the early ace and birdies on her final two holes, Henderson took the early lead Thursday in the Women’s PGA Championship, the second of the LPGA Tour’s five major championships.

The 18-year-old Canadian, ranked fourth in the world, had a 4-under 67 on a cool day at Sahalee Country Club. Henderson aced the 13th hole – her fourth hole of the day – hitting a 7-iron from 155 yards to the left side of the green. The shot caught the apron and funneled directly to the cup.

“It really helped out a lot and gave me momentum for the rest of the day,” Henderson said.

Henderson, form Smiths Falls, Ont., was at 3 under after making a birdie at the difficult par-4 18th – her ninth hole of the day – which yielded just five birdies among the early players. But she began to struggle with her driver, hitting the ball left off the tee on three straight holes to start her back nine and dropped two shots.

Henderson rebounded with birdies on three of her final four holes. She capped the run with a short putt on the par-3 ninth to take a two-shot lead.

“Making the turn I was a little shaky,” Henderson said. “Hit a couple of bad drives. But I was able to scramble, get up-and-down a couple of times that really saved my round and then finished really strong.”

Henderson won in Portland last year and has nine top-10 finishes this season.

Christina Kim and I.K. Kim followed at 69, with the afternoon wave still on the course.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko had an even-par 71 in a round that featured 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys. Both of Ko’s bogeys came after she missed the fairway and had to pitch out from the trees.

Christina Kim was at 2 over after three holes before rallying on her second nine.

“This place has absolutely drained me. I’m very, very thankful I was able to play early today,” said Kim, fourth last week in New Jersey after finishing second the previous week in Michigan.

After seeing above average temperatures earlier in the week that dried out the fairways and greens, players were treated to much cooler conditions on Thursday with rain showers popping up in the afternoon. The cooler, wet conditions are expected to last through the weekend.

Three-time defending champion Inbee Park was in the featured group in the afternoon. The 27-year-old Park will become eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame at the completion of the round, making her the youngest player in tour history to reach the eligibility threshold and the first since Se Ri Pak in 2007.

Pak withdrew after seven holes Thursday afternoon due to an arm injury.

No one caught Henderson’s ace on camera, but there is footage of the after scene. 

Thx to our Japan TV Partner WOWOW, they captured @BrookeHenderson on the green after her hole-in-one @KPMGWomensPGAhttps://t.co/Y9MKl6mKle

— LPGA (@LPGA) June 9, 2016

There is a rhythm, a tempo, to the sway of a regal train, particularly one grand enough to have carried Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth and other assorted royalty, dignitaries and celebrities, that the most successful, the most consistent of golfers can appreciate.

“Blue sugar!’’ laughs Lydia Ko, setting eyes on the icing of a mini-cupcake as a small lunch plate of salami, prosciutto and a mini-burger is dropped on the table.

“Where did they get that?”

There’s something comforting, even disarming, in seeing the world’s No. 1 female golfer, winner of 12 LPGA tournaments, including two majors, and over $5.9 million in career prize money, still being able to get charged up over something as you-and-me mundane as a dollop of blue icing.

Just an everyday, ordinary teenager jacked by a sugar overload.

Ko, of course, is anything but ordinary. She is, in actuality, a prodigy, in her field what Mozart was to a fortepiano or Bobby Fischer to a chess board.

The youngest-ever player to win a professional tournament, woman or man [a record since bettered by Canadian sensation Brooke Henderson];

• The youngest-ever Major winner, woman or man;
• The youngest ever to be ranked No. 1;
• The youngest ever to claim the Rolex Award as the LPGA’s player of the year;
• Named one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People for 2014.

Aboard the fabled Royal Canadian Pacific on this day, though, promoting the CP Women’s Open at Priddis Greens Golf Club outside Calgary, August 22^nd to 28^th, she’s not the woman to beat each and every weekend or a role model/idol to a new generation of ball-strikers, but a 19-year-old snapping selfies to post, kibitzing with her mom and sister.

That, too, draws us in.

Ko’s Canadian ties stretch back almost to the beginning. Her family immigrated to New Zealand from Seoul, South Korea when she was six years old. Raised in Albany, N.Z. and now living in North Harbour, the family very nearly relocated to Ontario.

“My sister was studying in Toronto at the time,’’ she’s explaining over the click-clack, click-clack of the Royal Canadian Pacific steaming down the tracks. “Our family was actually planning on moving to Canada but some little issues came up so we ended up going to New Zealand. Maybe that connection of me almost living in Canada might be a little spark that happens (when she plays here).”

“Whenever I come to Canada it feels a lot like New Zealand. Even just driving here this morning, I see these houses and it feels like a neighbourhood in New Zealand. It feels a lot like home. I feel a really huge welcome.”

Someone should really make her an honorary Canadian.

As a 15-year-old amateur Ko gobsmacked the golf world at the Vancouver Golf Club, winning the CN Canadian Open by three shots over Inbee Park. She defended that title, again as an amateur, at the Royal Mayfair in Edmonton a year later, then returning to the scene of her B.C. triumph last fall and chalking up a third, besting American Stacy Lewis in a playoff.

No wonder she’s developed a love-in with this land.

“Coming to play in that first Canadian Open, it was two weeks after I won the U.S. Amateur. As an amateur you always dream of winning that tournament.

“So afterwards I was so emotional, so happy. I think it took me a couple days to settle down a little bit. Christina Kim ran up to me and said ‘Hey, congratulations on the win.’ And that’s when I felt,’ Hey how amazing is this sport?’

“For me that week the goal was just to make the cut. I wasn’t expecting anything else. After two days I put myself in good position, after three days I put myself in a really good position. Then the fourth round was one of the best final rounds I’ve had in my career.’’

For someone so young, the expectations people have for her are mighty; the bar she herself has set, dizzying.

“There is pressure and stress, especially the higher you go,’’ she admits. “But if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it. You’ve got to have fun to have a long career. And golf is a sport where you can play for a long time. And there’s so much more than the results and the trophies.”

“To be honest, when I was 15 or 14, I did say ‘Hey, I want to go out on a Friday night and, you know, watch a movie with my friends or have a sleepover.’ Now I’m learning you get these rewards afterwards. After our season finale, I go to Korea. Last year I went on a three-four day trip with my friends. Just us.”

“The younger you are, you’re really in the moment, you want what you want and you want it right then. I still do, but I’m slowly learning that at the end of the season, you can enjoy all these things. Go to concerts, etc., etc. I’m having this experience of a lifetime being here, in Calgary, from a small-town in New Zealand. I’m going all over the world, seeing all these places, meeting all kinds of people.”

That balance, between being a happy teenager and the world’s best at what she does, is a

At 19, most kids are still trying to figure out how to parallel park properly.

“Well, I can’t parallel park, either,’’ Ko admits.

“Being 18 or 19 years old now,’’ says her mom, Tina, “is different than being 18 or 19 when we were, our generation. The (golf) field is getting younger. They develop; grow up, faster and faster, because of technology. Same as when she was 15, I do my job as a mom.”

“She played well in amateurs. She’s used to the attention. But not so many tournaments. I’m trying to get her to skip a tournament. But she says ‘I’m a professional. I can’t take a week off because I’m tired.’

“I don’t know what’s happening inside her but she feels pressure, at almost every tournament. She thinks she has to play well, better, best. I tell her ‘You don’t need to get stressed. Relax.’ But it doesn’t help sometimes.”

Like most kids, Ko loves sports, one of her passions being the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. The night she arrived in Calgary, the Warriors played Game 7 of their semi-final series against Oklahoma.

“On the flight from Minneapolis to here there was no TV. None of those little screens. I was getting excited so I decided to sleep through the last two-and-a-half hour flight. When I got off the plane there was like 14 minutes to go so I was refreshing my Twitter account every single minute.”

“I was getting so nervous. I was trying to refresh, refresh. You’re not allowed to have your phones on around customs but fortunately the game just finished before I got there. What a comeback. For them to be down two and win the next three games. It was a lot of fun just to refresh the Twitter. I think I would’ve gone crazy if I was actually watching it.”

Golf people go crazy watching Lydia Ko. Her poise. Her precision. Her beguiling combination of veteran savvy and teenage exuberance.

Imagine. Already tied with Hall of Famers Meg Mallon and Pat Bradley for most Canadian Open wins in a career. And not yet 20. With the chance to move on top, alone, three weeks into August just outside Calgary.

Lydia Ko may hold a foreign passport and live 13,000 kilometres away, but in a staggeringly short period of time this honorary citizen has written a Canadian sporting history that Pierre Berton would appreciate.

“As I said, playing in Canada is like being home for me,’’ she says. “I feel comfortable here. I feel the support here. Winning this tournament again … it would be … would be …Pretty sweet.”

Every bit as sweet, perhaps, as a dollop of blue icing sugar atop a mini-cupcake.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Anna Nordqvist successfully defended her ShopRite LPGA Classic title Sunday, closing with a 7-under 64 in breezy conditions for a one-stroke victory over Haru Nomura.

The 28-year-old Swede became the oldest tour winner this year by more than five years and the first to successfully defend a title since Inbee Park won the KPMG Women’s PGA for the third straight time last year.

“It feels really special, because I’ve been playing pretty good all spring,” Nordqvist said. “I just haven’t really got any results, and it just really got frustrating. … I’m very proud of myself for sitting here again. Just any time you can win on tour, it’s a special moment. It’s just getting tougher. The competition is getting really tough.”

Nordqvist finished at 17-under 196 on Stockton Seaview’s Donald Ross-designed Bay Course to tie the tournament record that Annika Sorenstam set in 1998 and matched in 2005. The 6-foot former Arizona State player earned $225,000 for her sixth tour title. She opened with rounds of 64 and 68.

“My team deserves a huge credit for just keep pushing me to stay patient and keep believing in myself, because there were times where I was hitting it really well and just couldn’t get anything out of it,” Nordqvist said. “Sitting here now, it almost feels even sweeter, being back in the winner’s circle, just knowing that I’ve been playing well, I have been staying patient, and it finally paid off.”

Nomura, a two-time winner this year, was second after a 66. The Japanese player birdied the par-5 18th.

“Today I played good,” Nomura said. “Still 5 under. Today, Anna, 7 under. Yeah, my play today is good.”

Nomura was the previous oldest winner this season at 23.

Nordqvist birdied three of the first four holes and added birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn in 5-under 32. She also birdied the par-4 12th and 16th.

“You’re just trying to hit a lot of greens,” Nordqvist said. “I hit 17 greens and I just missed the last one. Just tried to control the ball in the wind, hitting fairways, hitting greens, and I think that’s always been one of my keys on this course.”

Projected to jump from 19th to 16th in the world ranking, Nordqvist is the first European winner on the tour since Suzann Pettersen won the Manulife LPGA Classic last June.

“I was a couple shots behind, so I knew I had to post a really good score,” Nordqvist said. “After a good start, I just tried to keep my focus, and can’t really take anything for granted. You lose your focus a little bit, and that’s when you are going to start missing shots.”

In seven starts on the Bay Course, Nordqvist has five top-five finishes. She tied for fifth in 2011 and 2012 and tied for third in 2014.

“It just fits my eye,” Nordqvist said. “I think smaller greens, it narrows down my focus a little bit. You really get distinct fairways here. I like wind and I like challenges. I wish I knew what the recipe was, or is, but I just feel very comfortable coming here and I feel very confident.”

Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished the tournament with a 4-under 209 and tied for 45th. The 18-year-old was coming off a third-place tie last week in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., was the top Canadian at 7-under 206 and tied for 14th. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., tied for 31st while Quebec City’s Anne Catherine Tanguay tied for 55th.

France’s Karine Icher, the second-round leader after matching the course record with a 62, birdied the 18th for a 69 to finish third at 14 under. She’s winless on the tour.

Christina Kim was fourth at 13 under after a 65. She finished second last week in Michigan, five strokes behind winner Ariya Jutanugarn.

Stacy Lewis, the winner in 2012 and 2014, had her second straight 74 after an opening 66 to tie for 67th at 1 over. The 31-year-old Lewis is winless in 50 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th tour victory. She tied for second last month in Alabama, her 10th runner-up finish during the drought and 23rd overall.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko and the streaking Jutanugarn skipped the tournament to get ready for the KPMG Women’s PGA, the second major championship of the year that starts Thursday at Sahalee near Seattle. Jutanugarn has won three straight events.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Karine Icher matched the Bay Course record with a 9-under 62 on Saturday to take the second-round lead in the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

The 31-year-old French player, winless on the tour, had nine birdies in a 13-hole stretch in the round that started on No. 10 at Stockton Seaview. She tied the record on the Donald Ross-designed course set by Laura Davies in 2005 and matched by Jimin Kang that year and Jennifer Johnson in 2014.

“I don’t realize,” Icher said after her lowest round on the LPGA Tour. “I just like try to play easy and not look at the scoreboard, because it doesn’t serve me. I know that. So, try to play shot after shot, and then it’s becomes like a game to make as many birdies as possible.”

Icher began the run on Nos. 14 and 15, added two more on 17 and 18, ran off four straight on 3-6, reached 12 under on the eighth and closed with a par. She had only 23 putts.

“I made a lot of second shots close to the hole, so made some birdie easier to do,” Icher said. “The greens are difficult to read, and to get the right speed with the right slope. So, the closer you are, the easiest it is. It was a good round. I putted well. I had good wedges. So, quite happy.”

She chipped in on the par-4 sixth.

“I had to do like a rescue hybrid,” Icher said. “That one was lucky because it was quite hard. Dead straight in the hole.”

Japan’s Haru Nomura, a two-time winner this year, and South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi were a stroke back at 11 under. Nomura had a 66, and Choi birdied five of the last eight in a 64.

“I just remind myself like, ‘Hey, you can go aggressive a little bit more. You can shoot lower,’ So, I kind of motivate myself,” Choi said. “And just back nine, my shot was great and I got a lot of birdie chances, too. Seven under, I still feel like I left a couple out there.”

Nomura eagled the par-5 third and rebounded from a bogey on 14 to birdie three of the last four.

“Everything good,” Nomura said. “Driver, woods, irons, putting not bad.”

Defending champion Anna Nordqvist, tied for the first-round lead after a 64, had a 68 to drop to fourth at 10 under. The Swede bogeyed the first two holes, eagled the third and had five birdies and two bogeys the rest of the way.

“I feel I played pretty good,” Nordqvist said. “It was really tough wind this afternoon. A little hard to judge the direction. And then 17, 18 played dead into the wind. Made those holes a little tougher. But I shot 3-under today and I’m two shots out of it, and I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe had a birdie-eagle finish for a 65 to reach 8 under. She holed out from 35 yards on the par-5 18th.

“It landed like 5 yards short and it just went in on the second bounce, an eagle,” Uribe said. “It’s a pretty nice way to finish.”

Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., leads the Canadian contingent at T15 after matching her first round 68. Sherbrooke, Que., resident Maude-Aimee Leblanc shot 72. Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson was 3 under after a 70. The 18-year-old Canadian is coming off a third-place tie last week in Ann Arbor, Michigan, her ninth top-10 finish of the year.

Québec native Anne-Catherine Tanguay also recorded a 70, while Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., will not be moving onto the final round.

Stacy Lewis, the tournament winner in 2012 and 2014, followed her opening 66 with a 74 to drop to 2 under. Down to sixth in the world, the 31-year-old Lewis is winless in 49 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th LPGA Tour victory. She tied for second three weeks ago in Alabama, her 10th runner-up finish during the drought and her 23rd overall.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko and streaking Ariya Jutanugarn skipped the tournament to get ready for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the second major championship of the year, next week at Sahalee near Seattle. Jutanugarn has won three straight events, the last a five-stroke victory last week in Ann Arbor.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Anna Nordqvist and Stacy Lewis know their way around the Donald Ross-designed Bay Course at Stockton Seaview.

Nordqvist opened her ShopRite LPGA Classic title defense with a 7-under 64 on Friday for a share of the lead with Ai Miyazato and Paula Reto. Lewis, the tournament winner in 2012 and 2014, had a 66.

Nordqvist bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12, the second and third holes of her round, then birdied nine of the last 12 holes. The Swede twice made four straight birdies – on Nos. 16-1 and 6-9.

“I think it was just a little rust,” said Nordqvist, playing alongside Lewis and Lizette Salas the first two rounds. “It was early in the morning. I’m not a morning person. But 11 and 12, they weren’t really bad shots, but they just ended up in places you really couldn’t want to be. I just kept my head high and started giving myself better chances.”

Miyazato and Reto were paired together in the afternoon.

“First time playing with her in a tournament, actually, but she’s a really nice girl and she hits it really long,” Miyazato said. “It was a good atmosphere. Just a good chemistry, I guess.”

Japan’s Haru Nomura, a two-time winner this year, was a stroke back along with Casey Grice and Catriona Matthew.

Lewis and Sherbrooke, Que., native Maude-Aimee Leblanc each shot five birdies in bogey-free rounds to join Beatriz Recari, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Christel Boeljon, Katherine Kirk, Stephanie Meadow and Amelia Lewis at 66.

“A little bit frustrating because I left some out there, but I think that’s the best first round I’ve had all year,” Lewis said. “So, first round’s kind of been my thing and to get off to a good start is a really good thing. … Maybe a round like this will break the trend a little bit.”

Down to sixth in the world, the 31-year-old Lewis is winless in 49 starts since taking the North Texas LPGA Shootout in June 2014 for her 11th LPGA Tour victory. She tied for second three weeks ago in Alabama, her 10th runner-up finish during the drought and her 23rd overall.

“It’s a shootout,” said Lewis, a 10-stroke winner in 2014. “Especially as soft as the greens are and the course this year, there’s a bunch of low scores.”

Salas had a 67 in the strong group.

“We had a bunch of holes where we all made birdies,” Lewis said. “Anna, I think, is the only one that got off to a slow start, but then she just made everything the last 12 holes or so. She made nine birdies in 12 holes or something. It’s cool and fun to watch. Especially on these greens, it’s nice to see other people making putts because then you feel like you can make some, too.”

Miyazato had an eagle, six birdies and a bogey. The Japanese player won the last of her nine LPGA Tour titles in 2012. She won at the Bay Course in 2010.

“I can’t believe it has already been six years last time I won this tournament.” Miyazato said. “But still, I love this golf course, and the local people are so supportive of this tournament.”

Reto birdied four of her final five holes. The Spanish player is winless on the tour.

“I’m really excited,” Reto said. “I played good today, steady, especially with irons and putting, but not so much off the tee. So, I got away with a couple of the shots. I told myself, ‘One shot at a time, don’t focus and doubt yourself.’ Everything paid off and I’m really happy.”

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the second major championship of the year, is next week at tree-lined Sahalee near Seattle. Straight driving also is important on the Bay Course.

“I think it’s a ball-striker’s course,” Nordqvist said. “Greens tend to get a little bumpy. It’s poa, so you just have to give yourself a lot of chances. Iron play has been one of my strengths and today I hit them close, and that’s how you’re going to make birdies out here.”

After the early bobble, Nordqvist put on an iron clinic.

“I didn’t get off to the best start, but then on 16, I hit it to about a foot and a half,” the five-time tour winner said. “Both 17 and 18, I had birdie putts from, I think, 6 feet. Hit a good one wedge shot to another foot on 1, so that was a good stretch. From there on, I seemed to hit really good shots. Made a good 3-footer on 6 and a little longer putts on 7 and 8 I didn’t expect, and then a good 3-footer on the last.”

Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson (Smiths Falls, Ont.) opened with a 69. The 18-year-old Canadian is coming off a third-place tie in Michigan, her ninth top-10 finish of the year. She won last year in Portland, Oregon. Henderson’s score was matched by Hamilton, Ont., resident Alena Sharp.

Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., shot 68, and Québec native Anne-Catherine Tanguay shot 71.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko and streaking Ariya Jutanugarn are skipping the tournament to get ready for the KPMG Women’s PGA. Jutanugarn has won three straight events, the last a five-stroke victory Sunday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the LPGA Volvik Championship.

Aurora, Oregon – Victoria, B.C., native Naomi Ko won the Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open, earning a spot in the Cambia Portland Classic.

Ko, who just completed her freshman year at North Carolina State and who is a member of Team Canada, carded a 1-under par 71 at Langdon Farms Golf Club.

The Cambia Portland Classic will be held June 30-July 3, at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR and will be Ko’s first LPGA tournament.

Sydney Maluenda of George Fox University finished second with a round of 72 and UCLA signee Mariel Galdiano finished third at 74 earning opportunities to compete in the tournament’s Monday qualifier alongside professionals.  The qualifier will be held on Monday, June 27.  The top two finishers from the Monday qualifier will earn entry into the tournament proper.  2015 Tournament Champion Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., earned a spot in the event through the Monday qualifier last year and went on to win the event by eight shots over a strong field, for her first LPGA victory.

Ko recently qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open which takes place the week after the Cambia Portland Classic.  She finished 5th in the ACC tournament this season.

Ko, who knows Henderson from Team Canada, has actually roomed with her on occasion.

“I’m really excited to be playing in the Portland Classic,” said Ko.  “I know Brooke (Henderson) won it last year and look forward to seeing her here this year.”

Last year’s Amateur Open winner, Gigi Stoll, a Beaverton High School graduate, who just completed her freshman year at the University of Arizona, was unable to defend her title, shooting a 77 to finish three shots out of contention.  In 2015, Stoll set a course and tournament record with a 9-under par 63 at Langdon Farms.

The Cambia Portland Classic will take place at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR, from June 30-July 3, 2016.  The 72-hole tournament features a purse of $1.3 million and broadcast coverage on the Golf Channel for all four rounds.  Brooke Henderson won the 2016 tournament, setting a new 72-hole tournament scoring record at 21-under par. Henderson became just the second player and first since 2000 to Monday qualify for an LPGA Tour event and go on to win. One of the hottest rising stars on the LPGA, Henderson has moved up to the 4th spot on the Rolex Rankings list of the world’s top women golfers.

Volunteer applications and Tickets to the Cambia Portland Classic are available now at www.portlandclassic.com.

Calgary – She’s only 19 years old, but this August 22-28 at the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in Calgary, Lydia Ko will be looking to make history when she defends her title at the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

A 12-time winner on the LPGA Tour and the no. 1 ranked player on the Rolex Women’s World Ranking, Ko will try to claim her record fourth Canadian Women’s Open title when she leads the stars of the LPGA Tour back to Calgary.

The New Zealand teen sensation won her first Canadian Women’s Open title in 2012 as a 15-year old amateur at The Vancouver Golf Club to become the youngest player (15 years, four months, three days) ever to win on the LPGA Tour. She would defend her title a year later—again as an amateur—with a victory in Edmonton at the Royal Mayfair Golf Club. Last August, she returned to The Vancouver Golf Club to claim her third title in four years—along with the $337,500 USD winner’s prize—and tie the record for most wins at the Canadian Women’s Open shared by Pat Bradley (1980, 1985, 1986) and Meg Mallon (2000, 2002, 2004).

As the defending champion, Ko feels a great sense of pride competing in front of Canadian crowds that have embraced her as a three-time winner of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of success in Canada both as an amateur in 2012 and 2013 and then again last year back at The Vancouver Golf Club,” said Ko, whose impressive 2016 season already includes a pair of victories and six top-10 finishes. “Any time you win a LPGA Tour event, especially a national championship like the CP Women’s Open, it’s a huge accomplishment. The fans, volunteers and sponsors have made me feel so welcomed and I am proud to be returning to try and defend the title.”

“What can you say about Lydia Ko that hasn’t already been said—world-class talent, fierce competitor and an amazing global ambassador for golf,” said CP Women’s Open Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin. “She’s become a special part of our event’s history winning three times in four starts. Together with our partners at CP, we are proud to welcome Lydia back to Canada as our defending champion and I know she’ll once again be a fan-favourite.”

Related:

CP Has Heart Charity Campaign:
Now in its third year, the CP Has Heart charity campaign is committed to raising funds in support of children’s heart health in the host community of the CP Women’s Open. The 2016 event is proud to have the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation as the host charity with a goal to raise more than $1.2M for heart health in the name of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship. Between April 1 and August 28, 2016, CP will match all donations made towards pediatric cardiac care and research. CP will also donate $5,000 for every birdie made by a player on the 18^th hole at Priddis Greens during the championship. A special bleacher – the 18^th Green CP Fan Zone – will offer spectators a premium seating area for a $20 donation upgrade that CP will match. Since 2014, CP Has Heart has committed more than $6M to heart health, including $2.3 million raised in support of children’s heart health in the first two years of CP’s title sponsorship of the event.

Stars of the LPGA Tour Return to Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club…
The 44^th playing of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship will return to the formidable venue which had previously hosted in 1999 and 2009. The 2009 edition of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship saw Norway’s Suzann Petersen card a final-round one-under par 70 and tournament-total 269 (15-under) to claim the title. Among those in the five-way tie for second that year was World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb, who claimed victory in 1999 when Priddis Greens hosted the LPGA Tour for the first time.

Hall of Fame calls CP Ambassador Lorie Kane…
LPGA Tour legend and CP Ambassador Lorie Kane will have her career deservedly acknowledged in 2016 with induction into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame during the week of this year’s CP Women’s Open.  The four-time LPGA Tour winner and Order of Canada recipient will have her Hall of Fame induction ceremony take place in Calgary during tournament week as part of the CP Women’s Open Pro-Am Draw Party on August 23^rd.

Canadian Pacific and WestJet Honour Moms’ Unconditional Love In Video…
Canadian Pacific along with CP Women’s Open partner WestJet released a mother’s day video earlier this month celebrating Canadian golf idols, Lorie Kane and Brooke Henderson, and the love they have for their mothers. Journey to the LPGA: #LoveMom witnesses the unconditional love between mother and daughter and inspires the golfers to thank and recognize the one person who’s been with them every step of the way to the top – mom.

Kids 17-and-under Get in Free…
Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific are committed to offering a fan friendly, family event with the CP Women’s Open. In an effort to introduce more juniors to the sport, children aged 17-and-under get FREE admission to the CP Women’s Open for the entire week.  Click here to download a FREE Junior Pass

Tickets…
Juniors – 17 & Under                                                      Free
Early Week (Mon-Wed)                                             $10.50
Anyday Grounds (Thurs-Sun)                                  $31.50
Weekly (Mon-Sun)                                                      $78.50

First conducted in 1973, Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship has allowed the brightest stars of the LPGA Tour to shine on Canadian soil and inspire the nation’s next generation of female golfers.

Additional information regarding tickets, volunteer opportunities and corporate hospitality for the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

Two more Canadians punched their tickets to the U.S. Women’s Open on Tuesday at sectional qualifying events in the United States.

Sue Kim, a Young Pro Squad member, closed at 5-under par (66-69) to tie for first at the Twin Hills Country Club event in Longmeadow, Mass., earning one of five available spots. The Langley, B.C. product will look to build on her T59 finish at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.

Fellow B.C. native Taylor Kim of Surrey topped the leaderboard to earn medalist honours with a 2-under par score (71-71) at the Green Valley Country Club event in Green Valley, Calif. The Team Canada graduate marks the third B.C. native to qualify for the event—Amateur Squad’s Naomi Ko qualified earlier this month. Quebec’s Maude-Aimée Leblanc is the fourth Canadian to secure a spot so far, winning medalist honours last week.

The Canadian quartet will tee-it-up at the U.S. Women’s Open from July 4–10 at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif.

Click here for all qualifier scoring.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ariya Jutanugarn became the first player to win three straight LPGA Tour events in three years, closing with a 5-under 67 for a five-stroke victory Sunday in the Volvik Championship.

The 20-year-old Jutanugarn is the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to win three consecutive tournaments and the first ever to make their first three career victories consecutive.

Jutanugarn finished at 15-under 273 at Travis Pointe after starting the day with a one-shot edge thanks to a closing eagle in the third-round.

Jutanugarn became the first Thai winner in tour history three weeks ago in Alabama and followed that up last week with a victory in Virginia. Jutanugarn doesn’t plan to play the next event in New Jersey, where she would have had a shot to become the first since Lorena Ochoa in 2008 to win four tournaments in a row.

Christina Kim was second after a 71.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot an impressive final round 68 to finish the tournament tied for third at 9 under.

“I missed some opportunities, but I also made up for a couple here on the back nine, so overall I’m happy,” said Henderson. “There’s definitely things I have to work on going into next week, some silly mistakes early in the week and even today a couple, but overall, I’m very happy with how things are going and hopefully, just be able to finish it off in the near future.”