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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— LPGA (@LPGA) August 27, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

Dustin Johnson faced long odds all day against Jordan Spieth until the longest drive led to an unlike playoff victory Sunday in The Northern Trust.

Johnson rallied from a five-shot deficit on the front nine. And on the final hole in regulation, after one of the most powerful players in golf chose to lay up from the rough, his 18-foot par putt swirled around the cup and fell in the back side for a 4-under 66 to force a sudden-death playoff.

So clutch. It’s been almost 2 hours and we still can’t believe it.@DJohnsonPGA on the 72nd hole to force a playoff … pic.twitter.com/K9DL8ZPT0N

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

Returning to the 18th hole, Johnson felt the wind switch and took on the lake with a 341-yard tee shot – the longest of the week on that hole – that left him a lob wedge that he hit to 4 feet.

Spieth, who already made his share of big putts along the back nine at Glen Oaks, hit 7-iron to the back collar and missed his 25-foot birdie putt. Johnson rolled in his short birdie putt for his fourth victory of the year.

Spieth, who closed with a 69, lost for the first time in six tries when leading by at least two shots. There wasn’t much he could do except take back that tee shot into the water on the par-3 sixth hole after building a five-shot lead. Johnson played bogey-free in the final round, and played his final 29 holes at par or better.

“I didn’t lose the tournament,” Spieth said. “He won it.”

The opening FedEx Cup playoff event featured two of the biggest names in golf who put on an amazing show on Long Island.

“I thought that was a fun show,” Spieth said. “I was hoping it wasn’t going to be that much fun.”

Johnson made up a five-shot deficit in five holes, and they battled along the back nine with big shots and big moments. They were tied on the par-3 17th when both hit into a bunker, and Johnson blasted out to 4 feet with an easier shot and angle to the hole. Spieth had 18 feet for par and knocked it in, like he always seems to do.

On the closing hole, Johnson showed the kind of golf I.Q. that belies his simple outlook on life. After he sliced his drive up the hill and into a nasty lie in the rough, he chose to lay up instead of trying to hammer a shot to an elevated green.

Winning approach.
Winning reactions.

Paulina Gretzky and the fans approve. ? pic.twitter.com/gN6SCPp1Qw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

But he made it pay off with a par, that got him into the playoff after Spieth lagged a 75-foot putt perfectly to get his par.

They finished at 13-under 267.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished in a tie for 62nd place.

Johnson won for the first time since he wrenched his back during a spill down the stairs that knocked him out of the Masters and derailed his dominance in golf. He had won three straight tournaments against strong fields until that injury.

“I feel like the game is finally back in form like it was before the Masters,” Johnson said.

Of his 16 victories, this was the first time Johnson faced a must-make putt on the final hole, and he delivered a par putt that even Spieth thought was going to miss on the high side of the hole.

The Northern Trust never looked as though it would contain so much drama.

Spieth began with a three-shot lead. He two-putted from long range for birdie on the par-5 third hole when Johnson, from closer range but putting from off the green, took three to get down for a par. And then the fifth hole felt like a dagger – Spieth poured in a 30-foot birdie putt, and Johnson missed his birdie from 8 feet.

That gave Spieth a five-shot lead – no one else was closer than seven – and it seemed even larger because Johnson wasn’t making any putts.

A couple gutsy pars on No. 17.

We head to the 18th with Spieth, DJ still tied. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/MbqYLcxpPC

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

Five holes later, they were tied.

Spieth’s tee shot on the next hole banged off the rock wall and into the water on the par-3 sixth, and he made double bogey. On the ninth hole, Spieth took three putts from just off the left side the green, and Johnson made a 7-foot birdie putt for another two-shot swing.

Johnson began the back nine with an 8-foot birdie, and they were tied.

The closest Johnson came to taking the lead was a 15-foot eagle attempt that narrowly missed. Spieth regained the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th, and Johnson tied him again from 18 feet on the next hole.

It was great theatre, even before a crowd not nearly as large as other courses used in the rotation, and it lasted all the way until the end.

No one else really had a chance.

Jon Rahm ran off three straight birdies early on the back and briefly was one shot behind, though he had stronger holes ahead of him and fell back. Jhonattan Vegas was within two shots after playing the scoring holes.

Otherwise, it was a matter of who finished among the top 100 in the FedEx Cup to move on to the TPC Boston next week for the next playoff event.

Bubba Watson shot a 70 and tied for 10th, to become one of eight players to qualify for the second playoff event all 11 years of the FedEx Cup. David Lingmerth, who started at No. 103, overcame a 40 on the front nine for a 73 to tie for 29th and move into the top 100.

These players climbed into the #FedExCup top 100 and advance to next week:@HV3-Golf 123➡️91@bubbawatson 113➡️72@dlingmerth 103➡️87 pic.twitter.com/vD5T4VzXZp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 28, 2017

Harold Varner III, not even among the top 125 going into the final regular-season event last week, made it to New York and then tied for 20th to crack the top 100.

The three players who moved into the top 100 were the fewest since two advanced in 2007 when the FedEx Cup began.

Click here to view the full leaderboard.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Lexi Thompson set the tone by rallying from four holes down. The rest of the Americans took it from there and restored their dominance in the Solheim Cup

“I was just, like, ‘I just have to go all in and go for it all,”’ Thompson said.

Her U.S. teammates followed her lead and the Americans finished off their most-decisive Solheim Cup victory in over 20 years, beating Europe 16 1/2-11 1/2 on Sunday at Des Moines Golf and Country Club.

Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer won key matches, and Gerina Piller sealed it with a birdie putt that put her 3 up over Florentyna Parker with three to play in a 4-and-2 victory.

“They just bonded. They believed in each other. They played for the person behind them and in front of them. And they played some amazing golf,” said Juli Inkster, who joined Judy Rankin as the only U.S. captains to win the Solheim Cup twice.

The Americans are 10-5 in the biennial tournament after their biggest win since a 17-11 triumph in 1996 in Wales. They rallied to win in Germany in 2015, and have taken five of the last seven matches.

Kerr beat Mel Reid 2 and 1 for her record-extending 21st point in the competition, and Creamer edged Georgia Hall 1 up to raise her total to 19 1/2 – second on the U.S. career list.

Thompson ended up halving with Anna Nordqvist, and Angel Yin halved with Karine Icher as the teams split the 12 singles matches. Lizette Salas and Danielle Kang also won for the U.S. Salas edged Jodi Ewart Shadoff 1 up, and Kang beat Emily Pedersen 3 and 1.

For Europe, Catriona Matthew beat Stacy Lewis 1 up, Caroline Masson topped Michelle Wie 4 and 2, Charley Hull edged Brittany Lang 1 up, Carlota Ciganda beat Brittany Lincicome 4 and 3, and Madelene Sagstrom defeated Austin Ernst 3 and 2.

“We just got outplayed, no doubt about it,” European captain Annika Sorenstam said. “I’m just so proud of how hard they fought. What can I say? Just congratulate the USA because they played some awesome golf.”

Her team five points down entering the day, Sorenstam tried to keep the mood light by dressing up in a blue and yellow Viking hat and wig and dancing for the cameras before play began.

Nordqvist did her best to set the tone for the Europeans in the opening match, winning the first four holes.

But after a birdie on No. 10, Thompson holed out from 112 yards for eagle on the 11th hole – a shot so impressive that even Nordqvist was compelled to high-five her.

The 22-year-old Thompson followed with an eagle putt on the 15th hole, and a birdie on 16 put her ahead for the first time. Though Nordqvist rallied, earning the half-point by sticking her 154-yard approach on No. 18 within a foot, an American win was inevitable after Thompson’s run.

“To me, that was like six points,” Inkster said. “It’s probably fitting they both got half a point. Both played amazingly. It just shows the heart of her and her determination. You think she’s out of it and then the switch goes off.”

Nordqvist went 3-0-1 during the week to lead the Europeans.

Creamer was 3-1 filling in for the injured Jessica Korda, matching Kang and Salas for the top U.S. records. Creamer kept her celebration muted following Hall’s missed 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole. But this was a huge bounce back event for Creamer after her recent struggles kept her off the U.S. roster until Korda got hurt.

“For Juli to play me four matches, you know – I knew my game was there, but obviously it didn’t look like it was,” Creamer said.

The 47-year-old Matthew was 3-1 after replacing the injured Suzann Pettersen.

Henrik Stenson kept making birdies on the back nine Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. They added up to a tournament record – and his first victory of the year.

Stenson closed with a 6-under 64 for a one-stroke victory in the final event of the PGA Tour regular season.

The 2013 FedEx Cup champion finished at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, breaking the course’s 72-hole record set by Carl Pettersson in 2008 and matched last year by Si Woo Kim.

The Swede earned $1,044,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points for his sixth win on tour and his first since the 2016 British Open.

“It’s certainly a good time to start firing,” Stenson said. “We know the kind of damage you can do in the playoffs. … If you get hot and keep on playing well, you have a chance to challenge.”

.@HenrikStenson meets with the media after winning @WyndhamChamp! https://t.co/WntSozh2Mj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 20, 2017

Stenson said he left his driver in his locker all week – “he’s a little anxious to get out there and start getting some air time next week,” he quipped of the club – and certainly didn’t need it on the par-70 Sedgefield course.

For the second straight day, he had four birdies in a five-hole stretch of the back nine.

Ollie Schniederjans shot a 64 to finish second. Webb Simpson was 18 under after a 67.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. were the low Canadians at 6 under. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was 3 under.

“I had to keep on making birdies,” Stenson said, “because Ollie was surely not backing down.

Stenson had three consecutive birdies on Nos. 15-17 – leaving a 20-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole about a foot short – after he and Schniederjans were both at 19 under.

Stenson’s 30-foot birdie putt on No. 17 moved him to 22 under.

He needed it, because Schniederjans kept the pressure on him. The 24-year-old former Georgia Tech player made a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and added another birdie on the par-4 18th hole after placing his second shot 2 feet from the pin.

Apex? 39 feet.
Distance? 341 yards.

(He hit iron.) pic.twitter.com/6ZFad5uUsd

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 20, 2017

“I thought I had a two-shot cushion … and as I walked over (to the 18th hole and) looked around, ‘Oh, OK, (Schniederjans) birdied it as well,” Stenson said. “So I better scramble a par here to get the win.”

With Schniederjans watching the television broadcast and hoping for a tie, Stenson rolled a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 18 off the right edge of the cup, then made a 3-footer to end it.

“When I stuffed it (on No. 18), I thought that’s probably going to be a playoff,” Schniederjans said. “And he birdied 17 and got par on 18. Hat’s off to him – he had a great finish, too. Just one short.”

Low scores and tight leaderboards once again were the norm at Sedgefield. With seven holes left for the final pairing, four players – Stenson, Schniederjans, Ryan Armour and Kevin Na – shared the lead at 18 under.

“It was anyone’s tournament on the back nine,” Stenson said.

Stenson moved to 19 under with a birdie on the 13th and Schniederjans joined him with a remarkable recovery for birdie on the 15th. His second shot careened off a canopy covering the gallery and landed in a greenside bunker, but he chipped to 2 feet of the flagstick and converted the putt.

The other subplot at Sedgefield was the push by the bubble players to qualify for the playoffs that start next week at The Northern Trust for the top 125 on the points list.

Geoff Ogilvy, who was at No. 125, finished at 11 under and earned enough points to move to No. 116.

And Martin Flores, who started at No. 139, jumped to No. 118 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after a 63 highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th. J.J. Henry, Harold Varner III and Rory Sabbatini also played their way into the top 125.

“I was very aware of where I was all day but I knew that I needed to be somewhere inside the top 10, have to,” Flores said. “So I was able to get off to a great start and I was able to just keep it going all day.”

Click here to view the full leaderboard.

Golf Canada in partnership with Canadian Pacific (CP) announced today the final field of competitors set to challenge for the 2017 CP Women’s Open taking place August 21-27.

Defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn, world no. 1 So Yeon Ryu and three-time winner Lydia Ko along with Canadian sensation and hometown favourite Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., highlight the 156-player field competing at Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

With one of the strongest fields on the LPGA Tour, Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship will feature 22 of the top 25, 44 of the top 50 and 92 of the top 100 players on the LPGA Tour’s Official Money List.

The field will also have a strong Solheim Cup presence as 19 of 24 competitors in this week’s biennial U.S. versus Europe contest have confirmed their intention to compete in Canada’s capital city.

Past CP Women’s Open champion Suzann Pettersen will lead 10 of 12 Team Europe competitors back to Canada following this week’s Solheim Cup in Des Moines, Iowa. Ranked no. 33 on the LPGA Money List, Pettersen will be joined by fellow European team members Anna Nordqvist (no. 20); Carlota Ciganda (no. 22); Jodi Ewart Shadoff (no. 23); Karine Icher (no. 36); Caroline Masson (no. 39); Charley Hull (no. 47); Madelene Sagstrom (no. 51); Emily Pedersen (no. 75); and Mel Reid (no. 95).

A trio of former CP Women’s Open champions – Cristie Kerr (2006), Michelle Wie (2010) and Brittany Lincicome (2011) – will lead Team USA to Ottawa. Kerr (no. 10), Wie (no. 12) and Lincicome (no. 27) will be joined by teammates Danielle Kang (no. 11); Stacy Lewis (no. 18); Austin Ernst (no. 32); Angel Yin (no. 41); Brittany Lang (no. 63); and Paula Creamer (no. 78).

Ottawa Hunt will challenge 10 past CP Women’s Open champions including Jutanugarn (2016), Ko (2012, 2013 & 2015), Ryu (2014), Lincicome (2011), Wie (2010), Pettersen (2009), Kerr (2006), Karrie Webb (1999) and Laura Davies (1996), along with Katherine Kirk who won in 2008 when Ottawa Hunt last hosted the stars of the LPGA Tour.

“We are thrilled to welcome the world’s best to Ottawa as the CP Women’s Open returns to our nation’s capital to coincide with the Canada 150 celebration,” said Golf Canada’s Chief Championships Officer, Bill Paul. “The CP Women’s Open will feature a strong LPGA tour field along with the very best rising talents in Canadian and international golf. Ottawa area golf fans are sure to be treated to an unbelievable showcase of world-class golf.”

Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson, an honorary member of host Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club and a CP ambassador who is no. 5 on the LPGA Money List, leads a strong Canadian LPGA Tour contingent. Joining Henderson are Tour regulars Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City, Jennifer Ha of Calgary, Augusta James of Bath, Ont. and Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., along with fellow CP ambassador and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Lorie Kane of Charlottetown.

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., who picked up her first Symetra Tour victory earlier this month at the PHC Classic, will also be in the field competing on a tournament exemption.

All four members of Golf Canada’s National Amateur Team will be competing, including Ottawa native Grace St. Germain, Jaclyn Lee of Calgary, Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C., and dual citizen Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont. Tanguay, James and Ha are also members of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad.

Each of the strong Canuck contingent have one goal in mind: to become the first Canadian to win an LPGA Tour event in Canada since Jocelyne Bourassa won La Canadienne in 1973.

The field of 156 competitors will vie for the US$2.25 million purse as the championship returns to Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club for the first time since 2008. The 2017 winner’s prize is $337,500.

On Monday, Aug. 21, an 18-hole stroke play qualifier will take place at Camelot Golf & Country Club in Ottawa to determine the final four exemptions directly into the CP Women’s Open.

The champion of the Data PGA Women’s Championship of Canada which concludes today at Scarboro Golf and Country Club in Toronto also receives an exemption into the 2017 CP Women’s Open.

Information regarding tickets and corporate hospitality for the CP Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com. A full field list of players confirmed to compete in the 2017 CP Women’s Open is available by clicking here.

 CP Has Heart charity campaign to benefit Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario…

Now in its fourth year, CP’s community investment program, CP Has Heart, is committed to raising funds in support of children’s heart health in the host community of the CP Women’s Open. The 2017 edition of Canada’s National Women’s Open is proud to have the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) as the beneficiary charity.

The CP Has Heart fundraising activities tied to the CP Women’s Open and CHEO are part of CP’s overarching “Beautiful Hearts” campaign across the Ottawa region which will also run during the CFL regular season, playoffs and Grey Cup
The “Beautiful Hearts” campaign will support the refurbishment of facilities that patients use every day at CHEO and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and celebrate the resiliency and spirit of the human heart.
Through August 27, 2017, CP will match all donations made towards pediatric cardiac at www.cheoheart.com. CP will also donate $5,000 to CHEO for every birdie made by a player on the 15th hole at Ottawa Hunt during this year’s championship. The 15^th hole will also feature the 15^th Green CP Fan Zone where golf fans can donate $20 to upgrade their grounds pass to access a covered greenside bleacher and viewing area with all proceeds to benefit CHEO.

Since 2014, the CP Has Heart charity campaign has raised more than $4.5 million in support of children’s heart health.

Kids 17-and-under Get in Free…

Golf Canada and CP are committed to offering a fan friendly, family event with the CP Women’s Open. 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.

Tickets…
Juniors – 17 & Under Free
Early Week (Mon-Wed) $11.30
Anyday Grounds (Thurs-Sun) $39.55
Weekly (Mon-Sun) $90.40

Television coverage…
Thursday, August 24        Golf Channel      10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Friday, August 25              Golf Channel      10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 26        Golf Channel      3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, August 27           Golf Channel      3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

NOTE: All times listed are in Eastern Time. Times are approximate and are subject to change without notice.

Click here to learn more about the CP Women’s Open

Jennifer Ha competing in the Bank of Hope Founders’ Cup in Phoenix in March, 2017

Jennifer Ha is proud to be representing Calgary, proud to be representing Alberta, proud to be representing Canada as a rookie on the LPGA Tour.

There are days, though, that she misses home a little less than others.

“Right now, I feel soooo lucky to be in Florida,” Ha admitted after a sun-drenched, short-sleeved range session in early March, a day that family and friends would have been shoveling sidewalks and scraping windshields back home.

“Because thinking back, I’m like, ‘Wow, it was really cold when I was out there practising.’ It would be like 20-below — you know how cold it gets in Calgary in the winter — but I’d still be on the range, and I would turn all the heaters on and I would be out there with my dad. I would have, like, four or five layers on. It would be hard for me to swing, but I’d still be out there.

“I was pretty competitive. I didn’t want anybody to have an upper hand, so I would grind it out in the cold, I guess.”

All that hard, sometimes shivery work has paid off.

Raised in the Stampede City but now based in the Sunshine State, Ha was one of the success stories of LPGA Tour Q-School last fall. Despite a bout with the flu at the worst possible time, she gutted out a tie for eighth at the final stage of the three-part qualifying quest, a result that guarantees full status for 2017.

“Being from a winter sport country, it definitely feels like I’ve achieved something that not a lot of people do,” said Ha, who fired a five-round tally of 8-under 352 at the final entrance exam. “I definitely have that sense of pride with me when I’m out there — just knowing that I’m from Calgary and I’m from Alberta and that’s where my roots are.”

Now 23, Ha was a junior member at Inglewood and later at Glencoe and Country Hills.

She collected hardware at several other courses close to home. At Lynx Ridge, for example, where she triumphed at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship, turning pro soon after. At Nanton, where she claimed her first provincial title as a bantam in 2008. And in between, at Canmore Golf & Curling Club and then River’s Edge, where she was crowned Alberta’s junior girls’ champion in 2011 and repeated the feat the following summer.

Before any of those trophy presentations, Ha was a star-struck spectator when the LPGA Tour stopped at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton in 2007 for what’s now known as the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. (She’s since teed off in her national open three times, including a missed-cut last August at Priddis Greens.)

“I don’t feel like it was that long ago for me since I was sitting on the range, looking up to all these players,” Ha said. “I was searching in my room the other day and I found a flag from the Mayfair Club and I had Michelle Wie sign it when I was maybe 12 or 13 years old. And then in Australia, at the second event of the season, I had dinner with her.

“I was sitting across the table from her thinking, ‘Wow, a few years ago, I was getting her autograph.’ That was pretty cool.”

It’s pretty cool, too, for aspiring and emerging birdie-seekers from Alberta to see one of their own on Golf Channel.

“I think it serves as motivation that it can be done,” said Luke Workman, one of the coaches to Team Alberta’s junior girls. “That, yeah, you can practise inside and deal with all the hindrances that come along with our climate and still make a go of it, still reach the LPGA Tour.”

“I think the fact that she’s there is going to make a statement,” echoed Laura Witvoet, the first woman from the Wild Rose Province to compete on the LPGA Tour and now the general manager and director of instruction at Wolf Creek Golf Resort. “This just solidifies that it can happen, that it’s a possibility, that it’s real.”

Ha is proof of it.

She is a past member of Team Alberta and has climbed the ranks with Golf Canada — from the development program to the national amateur team to the Young Pro Squad.

She played many of the same tournaments as the current wave of up-and-comers. She shared some of the same experiences.

She knows what it’s like to swing a golf club in an outfit better suited for skiing.

“She won the Alberta Bantam Championship when she was 14, and I have her golf bag in my office at the Edge School,” said Randy Robb, head coach of Team Alberta and also golf director at the Edge School for Athletes. “Students will ask, ‘What’s that?’ Well, that’s Jennifer Ha’s golf bag. She won the Bantam Championship and now she’s on the LPGA Tour.

“It’s a tremendously long process. She played well as a bantam, and then she went to the Western Canada Summer Games and the Canada Games and then four years at Kent State.

That’s 10 years of competitive golf.

“There was a lot of hard work put in, for sure. And there was success at every level — bantam and then junior and college, and then trying to figure out the next level and then working hard towards that.”

Ha will compete in the 2017 CP Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt Golf Club from Aug. 21st to 27th. View her current LPGA profile and follow her on Twitter: @JENNIFERHA0201.

On Tour with Jennifer Ha

This article was originally published in the 2017 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

For long-drive champion Jamie Sadlowski, turning lightning-strike drives into consistent birdies is the key to earning a spot on the PGA Tour.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s not unusual for one of Geoff Ogilvy’s practice sessions at Whisper Rock Golf Club to be interrupted by a sound akin to a lightning bolt splitting a tree. He might stop what he’s doing, but he will not run for cover. The only freak of nature that regularly pounds the range here is Jamie Sadlowski, a whippet-thin Canadian whose power can turn the major winners in his midst into wide-eyed fans.

“His ball-striking is incredible, not only the distance but how well he hits it,” said Ogilvy, the 2006 United States Open champion. He added, “It’s Dustin Johnson-, Rory McIlroy-level talent the way he strikes it.”

The comparisons end there. Sadlowski, 29, a two-time long-drive champion who once launched a shot 445 yards, has played fewer competitive rounds in his life than the top-ranked Johnson has logged this season. Ranked 1,967th in the world, Sadlowski has a long way to go to catch Johnson and McIlroy, who between them own five major titles and have spent a combined 120 weeks at the top of the rankings.

Surely a golfer who drives the ball longer than anybody else is teed up beautifully to compete on the Tour, right?

Think again. Any weekend duffer will tell you that one of the most frustrating aspects of golf is converting length into low scores. That is the challenge facing Sadlowski: to turn his lightning-strike drives into consistent birdies, enough to become an everyday touring pro. It is a butterfly dream in which no previous golf-ball bomber has emerged from the chrysalis stage.

Sadlowski’s metamorphosis continued apace in May when he made his PGA Tour debut at the Dean & Deluca Invitational in Fort Worth, Tex. His first shot traveled 365 yards, effectively wiping the frown from Colonial Country Club’s 565-yard downturned mouth of a first hole.

If hitting it long and straight off the tee was the winning combination for a touring pro, Sadlowski’s potential would have been unlocked then. Playing in a group with Kevin Tway and Brandon Hagy, both among the top eight on the tour in driving, Sadlowski routinely outhit both, even when he had a 2 iron in his hands and they had 3 woods.

But he struggled with his feel around the greens and his club selection in windy conditions. In 36 holes, Sadlowski posted six birdies — but also 10 bogeys, a double and a quadruple-bogey 7, resulting in a 10-over total.

He took solace in the fact that the more controlled, compact swing that he has been working on with his coach, Peter Kostis, held up. Since his PGA Tour debut, Sadlowski has made two cut in six starts on Canada’s Mackenzie Tour.

“I’m comfortable enough now I just get up there and I see the shot and hit the shot,” Sadlowski said in May.

Before his transformation, Sadlowski’s only concern was crushing the tee shot. In long-drive competitions, competitors have six attempts to put one ball in play on a football field-like grid, and they do not have to find the ball and hit it again. The transition that Sadlowski is trying to make, from one-hit superstar to consistent scorer, is so unusual that those in golf had a hard time coming up with a comparison.

Jordan Spieth, a three-time major winner, likened it to a home-run slugger morphing into a singles hitter; Ogilvy said it is like Usain Bolt turning his attention from the sprints to the marathon; Kostis related it to the Olympic sprint champion Bob Hayes, who turned himself into a N.F.L. receiver with the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s a whole different sport,” Kostis said recently between assignments for his other job as a golf analyst and on-course reporter for CBS. “I can get him to strike the ball quite nicely. There’s more to being a PGA Tour player than hitting long and straight. He’s 15 years behind in playing experience. I’ve got to figure out how to help him accelerate that learning process.”

Sadlowski has a couple advantages over others who have tried to make the transition. At 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, he is wiry, with a graceful swing. He takes full advantage of the unusual flexibility he possesses in his wrists and shoulders to generate a peak club speed of 148 miles per hour (30 m.p.h. more than Tiger Woods averaged in 2013, when he won five Tour events).

Because Sadlowski did not grow up playing golf competitively, his learning process includes calculations — like how to read the wind when the tops of the trees are swaying one way, the water in a hazard is rippling the other way and the pin flag is not moving — that are second nature to those his age who came up through the junior ranks.

Neither history nor time is on his side. Sadlowski, who had a birthday last month, is older than five of the players ranked in the men’s top 10.

“If anyone can do it, Jamie can,” Ogilvy said, adding, “Physically, the tools are there and mentally, the tools are probably there, too. It’s a thousand-piece puzzle and he’s got 200 pieces put in.”

Sadlowski grew up in St. Paul, Alberta, and the cornerstone of his childhood was hockey. He spent three years as a defenseman on the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and was known for his shot from the point on the power play.

“The aim wasn’t always good, but it was going to get shot hard,” Sadlowski said.

The balance, footwork and hip rotations through impact on a slap shot and a golf shot are similar, so it is perhaps not surprising that Sadlowski made a seamless transition to golf in the summers. He was a recreational player in his late teens, squeezing in 18-hole rounds around his job picking up roadkill. He accompanied a friend to a long-driving contest in 2003, and upon finding out there was a junior division, he entered on a lark. In 2005, he won the first of consecutive junior world titles. Three years later, he won the first of two consecutive open titles.

For more than a decade, Sadlowski earned upward of half-million dollars each year launching 400-plus yard drives in competitions and 300-yard drives using his putter in roughly 600 exhibitions.

His manager, Art Sellinger, a former long-drive competitor, insisted that Sadlowski possessed the skill set to become a touring pro. But it was a hard sell. Practicing alongside the likes of Ogilvy was a sobering exercise for Sadlowski, who said, “I know how good these guys are.”

Plus, he had found his niche. “When you’re so good at something, it’s hard to walk away,” he said. “You’re one of the best and it’s been that way for 10 years.”

Last summer, Sadlowski realized it was time for a new challenge. The decision, a few years in the making, to leave his long-drive comfort zone was motivated by the feeling that he had become a trained seal performing on command.

“Deep down I felt like I could be doing much more,” he said.

The roster of long-drive winners since 1975 does include two PGA Tour winners, Lon Hinkle and Dennis Paulson. But unlike Sadlowski, they came from tournament golf backgrounds. Hinkle was a multiple champion on the Tour when he emerged victorious in the 1981 long-drive competition. Paulson won four years later as an amateur in what he described as a fun diversion from his full-throttle pursuit of a Tour membership.

From 2011 to 2016, Sadlowski made three cuts in four starts on the Web.com Tour, a level below the PGA Tour, and his path became clear. Last summer, he put away the driver with the extra-long shaft and lower loft that he used in long-drive competitions and committed the next three years to pursuing his PGA Tour playing privileges.

His old clubs may be gathering cobwebs, but it is hard to shake off his past.

Sellinger recalled a recent conversation with Bob Tway, a major winner and the father of Kevin Tway, one of Sadlowski’s playing competitors in his PGA Tour debut.

“He flat-out said if it wasn’t for the fact that Jamie has all this raw talent, trying this would be a very serious waste of time,” Sellinger said. “If we can refine that talent, hone those skills and get the learning curve to speed up quickly, then there’s a chance.”

Under Kostis’s tutelage, Sadlowski has made his swing shorter and more balanced. Navigating courses and conditions is a skill that Sadlowski has to learn himself. At Kostis’s urging, Sadlowski will play at least nine holes after he is done with his lengthy range sessions.

“Just go hit golf shots,” Sadlowski said, “and if I hit an awful one, try to figure out what happened and hit it again and learn that way.”

He is inspired by the success of Wesley Bryan, who had a background in tournament golf but until recently was more famous for his trick shot exhibitions. Last season Bryan won three times on the Web.com Tour, and he earned his first PGA Tour title in April.

“It’s there, it can happen,” Sadlowski said. “People say, ‘Hit with the putter’ and I’m like, ‘I’m so over that.’ I just want to be a normal guy that shows up at the golf course and tries to win a golf tournament.”

Original story

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  – In a joint announcement, the PGA of America and the PGA TOUR today announced that beginning in 2019, the PGA Championship will be played in the month of May – while THE PLAYERS Championship will be contested in March at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“In weighing the complex evolution of the golf calendar, the PGA of America’s key objectives were to promote the best interests of our signature spectator Championship, do what is best for the game and its great players, and find the most advantageous platform to fulfill our mission of serving our nearly 29,000 PGA Professionals and growing the game,” said PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Pete Bevacqua. “Our analysis began in 2013 and included an extensive list of factors, including having to shift the date every four years to accommodate the Olympic Games. In the end, we determined that playing the PGA Championship the week prior to Memorial Day in May, making it the second major championship of the golf calendar, will achieve those three objectives.

“The golf calendar is dramatically different, especially in the latter portions of the schedule, than it was in the 1970s when our PGA Championship took up residence in August. We are excited about this move to May. It provides our PGA Championship a strong landing spot on the calendar and a consistent major-championship rhythm that golf fans can embrace. For nearly 85 percent of our Membership, May is also on the front-end of the golf season. This date change will allow them to engage new players and introduce various Growth of the Game initiatives entering the heart of the golf season across much of the country.”

“We are thrilled to announce these two significant changes, which will greatly enhance the professional golf calendar starting in 2019,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Our thanks to the PGA of America for its partnership in what will allow both organizations to meet our short- and long-term objectives, while delivering incredibly compelling golf to our fans around the world.

“The calendar for the PGA TOUR season is among the most important and challenging aspects of our business, and the changes we’re unveiling today give significant flexibility to create a schedule including the FedExCup Playoffs that is in the best interests of players, fans, tournaments, communities and our partners, from start to finish.

“THE PLAYERS Championship has grown in stature since we moved to May in 2007 and, regardless of the date, is clearly one of the premier events in all of golf – the best players in the world, a premier venue in THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, an unmatched fan experience and a significant charitable component that benefits the Jacksonville-area community. THE PLAYERS moving to March in 2019 will enhance an already strong Florida portion of our calendar and play a significant role in an overall improved schedule.”

From May 16-19, 2019, Bethpage Black in Farmington, New York, will host the 101st PGA Championship, which will be the first conducted in May since Sam Snead’s triumph in 1949.

A total of four PGA Championships have been held in May. Ben Hogan claimed the second of his two PGA Championship victories in May of ‘48. Denny Shute also hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy in May 1937, as did Snead for the first time in May ’42.

Since its inception in 1916, the PGA Championship has been played in nine different months. It has been the final major championship of the year from 1959-70, and from 1972 through 2017.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Lucas Glover walked off the 18th fairway at Quail Hollow still feeling slightly underdressed.

He wasn’t alone.

“I don’t recognize some of these guys out here, and I’m sure they probably don’t recognize me either,” Glover said.

For the first time in its 99-year history, the PGA Championship allowed players to wear shorts during practice rounds this week , in part to combat the August heat in North Carolina. But on a rain-soaked Tuesday, only about half of the players took advantage of the change, with many like Rory McIlroy choosing to stick with long pants.

But like Glover, Scotland’s Martin Laird couldn’t resist.

“This feels great,” Laird said following his practice round. “It gets a little hot out here during the summer.”

Still, it was different, if not odd, watching Jim Furyk practicing bunker shots wearing shorts and seeing Dustin Johnson chilling in the interview room with bare legs.

The running joke leading up the PGA Championship was that no other major championship course had so many white stakes – except they weren’t boundary markers. They were legs.

“Everybody is razzing each other a little bit,” defending champion Jimmy Walker said. “Some guys look good in shorts and some guys don’t. It’s pretty funny. There are a lot of untanned legs out there. You can tell those Florida boys, they have been soaking the sun up. I’ve been up in Utah and overseas for a few weeks so my legs are kind of untanned.”

Johnson, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, wore long pants on Monday out of habit, later saying he completely forgot about the rule. But he wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice, throwing on shorts for Tuesday’s practice round.

“Hopefully we can do this a little more,” Johnson said.

Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler wore shorts as well on Tuesday.

Never one to miss a fashion statement, John Daly broke out some red, white and blue shorts with stars. And Pat Perez donned bright cherry red shorts that matched his high-top Jordan golf cleats.

Even Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, who are gearing up for their 100th majors this week, opted for shorts on the practice tee.

“I love that they took a risk and did something with the players in mind and I think it’s turned out well,” Mickelson said. “I hope that their example gets followed by the tour. I think it would be a great thing.”

McIlroy, the odds-on favourite to win the tournament, said he opted for long blue pants when he looked outside in the morning and saw dark skies.

“Hey, if it was sunny it would be great,” McIlroy said with a laugh. “Obviously it’s raining out. So I don’t get why people are wearing shorts.”

Still, McIlroy is one of many golfers who likes that the rules have been relaxed.

While the look Tuesday was in stark contrast to a century ago when golfers wore coats and ties on the course, McIlroy said the game needs to adapt because tournaments are being held in warmer climates during summer months.

“I know walking 18 holes around there, if it was hot and humid and in the 90s, as it is here sometimes this year, shorts are very much appreciated,” McIlroy said.

Some traditionalists have criticized the move, saying it’s inappropriate and lacks class. Others point to the LPGA Tour, where women have worn shorts and skirts for years.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with professional golfers showing the lower half of their leg,” McIlroy cracked.

PGA of America president Paul Levy announced in February that players would be allowed to wear shorts during practice rounds of its championships. The European Tour approved a similar rule last year, allowing players to wear shorts during practice rounds and pro-ams.

Italy’s Francesco Molinari called the change “a step in the right direction” for golf.

He’s among many professional golfers who’d like to see the PGA Championship allow players to wear shorts during competition, not just practice rounds.

“Hopefully one day we will get there,” Molinari said.

Ryan Yip, a product of Calgary, Alta., was T5 after two rounds and carded a 2-under-par 70 in round three. He is looking for his second top-10 finish of the 2017 Web.com season.

A member of the inaugural Team Canada National Team in 2005, Yip came to Findley Lake ranked 100th on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad’s Corey Conners carded a 5-under-par 67 in round three of at the Web.com Tour’s LECOM Health Challenge to sit T6 at 11 under par alongside fellow Canadian Ryan Yip at the Peek N’ Peak Resort Upper Course in Findley Lake, NY.

Conners, from Listowel, Ont., had six birdies and just one bogey to card his third consecutive round in the 60s and sit five shots back of Chesson Headley (Raleigh, N.C.) who’s bogey free 8-under-par 64 put him in solo first at 16 under par.

The six-year Team Canada veteran has two top-10s this season on the Web.com Tour. He made his U.S. Open debut at Erin Hills in June. He is currently ranked 43rd on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit.

Here’s the first “I made it” walk of the day. Birdie on 1. Good start for @coreconn. Photo credit to Jamie Stirling! pic.twitter.com/YgWXlKZbv6

— Listowel Golf Club (@lgc1920) July 8, 2017

Team Canada Young Pro Squad golfer Albin Choi (Toronto, Ont.) is T15 after a 4-under-par 68 in round three. His best finish this season was a T5 at the rain shortened BMW Charity Classic presented by Synnex Corporation.

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