PHOENIX – Mi Hyang Lee shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 on Thursday in the JTBC Founders Cup after playing her first nine holes in 9 under.

On a day when fellow South Korean player Se Ri Pak announced she will retire at the end of the season, Lee threatened to shoot the second 59 in LPGA Tour history after opening with an eagle and seven birdies on the back nine.

Needing to play the front nine in 4 under to break 60, Lee made only one more birdie – on the par-5 fifth.

Annika Sorenstam is the only player to shoot 59 in an LPGA Tour event, accomplishing the feat in 2001 at nearby Moon Valley.

Lee matched the nine-hole record of 9 under set by Amy Yang last year in South Korea.

Sei Young Kim and Brittany Lang shot 63.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson shot an opening-round 68. Fell Canadians Alena Sharp and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc had mating 1-over 73s.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Symetra Tour, the Road to the LPGA, in conjunction with The Evian Championship announced today that the top two finishers at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship will earn spots into The Evian Championship, the fifth and final major on the LPGA schedule. This is the first time in history players will earn spots in an LPGA major based off a finish at a Symetra Tour event.

The FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship will take place at Battle Creek Country Club in Battle Creek, Michigan the week of July 18-24. The top 156 players will be competing for the winner’s check and the top two finishers will receive entry into The Evian Championship and financial support from Société Générale, one of The Evian Championship’s Major partners, to help them through their season.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for a rising star in women’s golf to experience an LPGA major in a setting like Evian-les-Bains, France,” said Chief Business Officer of the Symetra Tour, Mike Nichols. “The vision of the Symetra Tour is to prepare the next generation of LPGA stars and we are grateful to Evian for giving two players this unique chance to experience the LPGA first hand before they are full-time LPGA players.”

In the case of a tie for second at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, there will be a sudden death playoff for the final exemption into the Evian Championship.

The Evian Championship, which became the fifth LPGA major in 2013, will be contested the week of September 15-18 at Evian Resort Golf Club. The total purse for the event is $3.25 million and the winner will earn $487,500. Last year, Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko won the Evian Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to win an LPGA major championship.  Canada’s Brooke Henderson tied for 25th.

The FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship is a third year event on the Symetra Tour. Past winners include Min Seo Kwak (2014) and Madeleine Sheils (2015).

Despite no LPGA Tour event this past week, Brooke Henderson has achieved another milestone in her young career.

The 18-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont. cracked the top ten in the Rolex Rankings – the weekly tabulation for female professional golfers – for the first time, sitting 10th.

Henderson, who started her year with four top-10 finishes in five events, three on the LPGA Tour and one on the Ladies European Tour, is in Phoenix this week for the JTBC Founders Cup.

The teenage sensation has had a meteoric rise up the Rolex Rankings since her victory last August. She has admitted in past interviews that her goal is to reach no. 1 in the world, but she’ll have to overtake fellow 18-year-old Lydia Ko to do so.

It’ll take Henderson a few more victories before she can eclipse Ko, but recently announced Canadian Golf Hall of Fame inductee Lorie Kane doesn’t feel like it’ll be too long before she finds the winner’s circle again.

“I just spent some time with her in Australia, and there will be another win coming soon, I don’t doubt it,” Kane told reporters during her Hall-of-Fame announcement conference call.

Henderson’s whirlwind world tour has taken her to both Australia and Singapore – “much different than Smiths Falls,” she admits – in early 2016, but she has also been able to take in the perks of a touring professional (and not something every Canadian teenager gets to do).

The Henderson sisters enjoyed the architecture of downtown Singapore, and both held a baby kangaroo and koala bear while down under.

Two special guests at the Welcome Gala tonight…baby kangaroo and koala!!! pic.twitter.com/rpop0zDRfb

— Brooke Henderson (@BrookeHenderson) February 16, 2016

She also managed to play some pretty good golf – finishing tied for ninth and eighth respectively in the two countries. She also visited Ping’s headquarters early last week to receive a solid-gold putter – a token that each Ping-sponsored player gets after a victory – and spent some time in nearby Phoenix with fellow Canadian Alena Sharp, playing some golf together with sister Brittany.

Today @BrookeHenderson received her gold putter from her victory at the 2015 @PortlandClassic. Congrats, Brooke! pic.twitter.com/8yhKPwP6ez — PING GOLF (@PingTour) March 10, 2016

The reigning Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year is also set to represent Canada at the Olympics this summer, in all likelihood with Sharp as a teammate.

Sharp and Henderson are expected to participate in the closing ceremonies before flying directly to the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, the first of two back-to-back LPGA events on Canadian soil this summer.

Henderson sits 8th on the LPGA’s money list so far through 2016, earning just over US$207,000.

She spent two months as the world’s no.1-ranked amateur before turning professional at the end of 2014.

Here are the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as of March 14, 2016.

There’s an old saying in golf, attributed to Bobby Jones, that the game is mainly played on a five-and-a-half inch course: “the distance between your ears.”

And few people know that better than Canadian Alena Sharp.

Now in her 11th year on the LPGA Tour, she began working with Tony Robbins mental coach Mimi Peak last year, and it was her best as a professional. She played in 26 events and only missed five cuts. She also recorded her first top 10 since 2010, and her first-ever top five finish, earning more than $270,000 in the process.

So what was different?

“I had a few rough years. The older you get the more you think, and the more bad crap is in your head,” says Sharp, laughing. “I’m just getting rid of all that stuff and believe that I’m good enough to be out here.”

Sharp had a strong debut on the LPGA Tour, but had a blip in the middle of her career where she bounced around on some mini-tours. Although she wishes she didn’t have that happen, she says she learned a lot during that time.

She also bounced back with a Symetra Tour victory in 2014.

“Obviously I’d love to be further along (in my career) than I am, but I know that this is my path. As long as I keep getting better, that’s the one thing I want to keep doing,” explains Sharp.

Sharp states that she used to put a lot of pressure on herself and focused too much on end results, getting her in trouble. Her work with Peak and Golf Canada’s National Women’s Team Coach Tristan Mullally – which began in 2015 – have inspired her to take things one shot at a time.

“I do put a lot of pressure on myself, and I do try too hard sometimes,” admits Sharp. “I’m setting process goals now and watching the results come from them, instead of always thinking about results.”

She has also found some inspiration in a fellow Canadian.

On the final hole of the LPGA’s Portland Classic in August, it was Sharp who was one of the first people to reach Brooke Henderson and spray the then 17-year-old with non-alcoholic champagne.

Watching Henderson grow as a person and a player has been exciting and motivating for Sharp.

“I think I read something last week that she doesn’t think she’s a feel player, and that’s something I used to do. Then I started thinking too much,” says Sharp. “Being around her has brought that back in me a little bit. It’s helped me. We’ve played practice rounds together and talk a lot, so it’s been a nice relationship.”

That relationship is probably going to extend into the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, where Sharp and Henderson are the likely pair who will represent Canada in the golf competition.

But Sharp’s revitalized mental attitude hasn’t let her get ahead of herself.

“I don’t want to get too high hopes, but it’s a big goal in the back ground. I would love to represent Canada and I know it would be an amazing experience,” she says. “I think it’s going to be something every athlete obviously wants to go through, and to be down there with other Canadian athletes – not just golfers – would be amazing.”

Before that, though, Sharp has to continue building off 2015. She’s in the field of two majors without having to qualify and is looking forward to playing the tougher courses.

“I made the cut (at the majors) but I was near the bottom. I want to challenge, I want to be one of the contenders out there,” she says. “I like the courses that are longer, they play more into my game. I really think I can excel more at those tournaments.”

Sharp has had a fair-to-midland start to 2016, making one cut and missing another. She’s back in the LPGA Tour field when it comes to Arizona in a few weeks and she says she may play in a couple of Cactus Tour events before then.

“I had a decent start this year,” she explains. “But I feel like it’s going to be a good year.”

SINGAPORE – South Korea’s Ha Na Jang enhanced her growing reputation as one of the hottest players on the LPGA Tour by winning the HSBC Women’s Champions tournament by four strokes on Sunday.

Playing like a seasoned veteran, the 23-year-old South Korean fired six birdies and an eagle in a brilliant final round of 7-under 65 to finish at 19-under at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club.

Her playing partner, Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, closed with a bogey-free 68 to take outright second at 15-under while South Korea’s Amy Yang birdied the last hole for a 71 to take third place with 11-under, one shot clear of a group of five players.

Jang captured her maiden LPGA title at the Coates Golf Championship in Florida last month and has quickly made it two.

“I was very comfortable this week,” Jang said. “My target in 2016 was two wins but right now I’m there so I’m going to change my target.”

Not only is the South Korean emerging as one of the hottest players on the LPGA Tour but she’s also developing a cult following with her elaborate celebrations.

When she won in Florida, she impersonated a samurai swordsman, and on Sunday, she provided her own rendition of Beyonce by dancing on the 18th green.

We just can’t get over this epic celebration by Ha Na Jang! #HSBCWomensChamps pic.twitter.com/p68aMNZr2o

— LPGA (@LPGA) March 6, 2016

Jang said she had been thinking about copying some of Beyonce’s moves after watching her perform at the Super Bowl and winning her second title seemed like the perfect time to break it out.

“I’m trying to be like Beyonce, the single lady. I’m single right now, too, I try the single lady,” she explained.

Brooke Henderson also continued her impressive play, earning her fourth top 10 in as many starts. The 18-year-old Smiths Falls, Ont., native carded a final round 71 to finish at 9-under for a share of 9th.

Henderson’s previous top 10s include a tie for eighth at last week’s RACV Ladies Masters in Australia, a tie for ninth at the Women’s Australian Open and a second-place finish at the Coates Golf Championship.

SINGAPORE – South Korea’s Ha Na Jang shot a flawless 4-under 68 on Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the HSBC Women’s Champions tournament.

Chasing her second LPGA title this year, the 23-year-old racked up four birdies and her second straight bogey-free round to lead the tournament on 12-under 204 then headed back to the practice range for some more golf.

“My nickname is Enjoy Ha Na, Energizer Ha Na,” Jang told reporters. “It’s really good my nickname. I want to show every day, I enjoy playing golf.”

Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum knocked in six birdies in her 68 to end the third round in outright second at 11-under, one clear of the South Korean pair of Amy Yang and Mirim Lee.

Yang reeled off five birdies in her last eight holes for a 68 to charge up the leaderboard while the overnight co-leader Lee signed for a 70 after a mixed day where she made five birdies and three bogeys.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson carded a 5-under 67 Saturday to climb the leaderboard. She’s among a group of six players who finished two shots behind them at 8-under, setting the stage for an exciting finish on Sunday with the top 10 separated by just four strokes.

SINGAPORE – South Korea’s Ha Na Jang has developed a habit of making the extraordinary seem normal.

In January, she made a hole-in-one on a par-4 and last month she won her first U.S. LPGA Tour title, at the Coates Golf Championship in Florida.

Jang was at it again on Friday, holing a monster eagle putt from off the green on her way to a 6-under 66 to grab a share of the halfway lead with compatriot Mirim Lee at the HSBC Women’s Champions.

“I was very comfortable on the front nine,” Jang said. “I was talking to myself, ‘Don’t do too much thinking … just be patient.'”

Lee got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the last and shoot a 67 to join Jang in a two-way tie at the top of a congested leaderboard after a wet and windy second round at Sentosa Golf Club.

Thailand’s Pornaning Phatlum carded a 67 and Norway’s Suzann Petterson signed for a 69 to be equal third, a stroke behind the leading pair, with a group of four players lurking just one shot further behind and a total of 34 players under par.

The joint overnight leaders, Taiwanese veteran Candie Kung and Australian teenager Minjee Lee both finished strongly after mixed rounds to remain in contention.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson carded a sub-par round of 71 to put her two-day tally at 3-under-par 141. She’s 5-shots off the lead heading to the weekend.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH and DAYTONA BEACH, FL – The PGA TOUR and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced that they have formalized their longstanding cooperative relationship by entering into a long-term, written strategic alliance agreement designed to further promote the growth of golf.  This partnership between the leading men’s and women’s professional golf tours will include areas such as schedule coordination, joint marketing programs, domestic television representation, digital media and exploring the potential development of joint events.

“From our collaboration in bringing golf back as an Olympic sport as joint members of the International Golf Federation to our cooperation in helping to grow the game of golf as part of the World Golf Foundation, our two organizations have had a long history of working together for the common good of our sport,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.  “Extending our relationship with the LPGA into these new areas is a natural extension of this work and collaboration.”

“We believe the PGA TOUR has significant expertise in the areas that we will focus on together and working more closely with them carries with it the very real potential of positively impacting our members, our tournaments, and our ability to grow our sport around the world,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.  “We look forward to working with the PGA TOUR team to deliver a positive impact for our sport.”

Both organizations emphasized that while the alliance strengthens their relationship and the potential benefits of working together in these various areas are attractive for the overall growth of the sport, it involves no formal financial investment or transfer of ownership or control.  Both parties remain wholly separate and independent organizations.

SINGAPORE – Australian teenager Minjee Lee took a share of the lead with Taiwan’s Candie Kung at the LPGA’s Women’s Champions tournament in Singapore on Thursday.

Lee made four birdies and an eagle in her opening round of 5-under 67 to join Kung at the top of the leaderboard on a windy day at the Sentosa Golf Club.

The defending champion, South Korea’s Inbee Park, was among a group of four players tied for third at 4-under 68.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson carded five birdies compared to three bogeys to open with a 2-under 70. She’s tied for 12th with a slew of players including Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr and Sandra Gal.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko and in-form Lexi Thompson both shot rounds of 1-under 71.

Ko had a frustrating day, parring her first 10 holes before dropping a shot on the 11th but the New Zealander knocked in two late birdies to finish in red figures.

“I didn’t have that many birdie opportunities today, so unless my long putts were going to be hot, I wasn’t going to shoot extremely low,” she said.

Thompson, who won in Thailand last week, made four birdies but lost her momentum when she took a double-bogey on the 11th.

CHONBURI, Thailand – American Lexi Thompson won her seventh LPGA title after a final-round 68 that completed a six-stroke victory over In Gee Chun of South Korea in the final round of the LPGA Thailand at the par-72 course at the Siam Country Club on Sunday.

The 21-year-old from Florida hit an eagle on the 10th to go along with three birdies and a lone bogey for a 20-under-par total of 268 to become the first American winner of the tournament.

“I never like to count it as a win until it’s over. I just try to play aggressive and play my best out there,” said the No. 4-ranked player whose four-shot advantage at the start of the final round was reduced to one after the Korean opened with three straight birdies.

“I was just saying I had to make birdies to win this thing. She was playing unbelievable with a three-birdie start there, and I knew I had to make birdies to stop her. I was just trying to focus on my game and nobody else’s out there,’ added Thompson.

Chun, winner of the US Women Open last year, added four bogeys to her eight biridies on the final day to end with a 70 and a four-day total of 14 under 274.

No. 25-ranked Jessica Korda of the United States fired eight birdies for a 64 and a 13 under total of 275, giving her a share of third place along with defending champion Amy Yang of South Korea, who signed off with a 70.

“It would have been nice to not shoot three over yesterday and end up pulling myself totally out of the tournament, but it’s a good redemption around for sure,” said Korda, who recovered from a dismal 76 on Saturday.