Golf Canada, in partnership with title sponsor Canadian Pacific (CP), has announced that many of the world’s top players have committed to compete in the celebrated return of the 2022 CP Women’s Open from August 22-28 at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ottawa.
 
Leading the charge is defending champion Jin Young Ko, currently ranked no. 1 in the world and no. 9 on the current LPGA Tour Money List, who won in 2019—more than 1,000 days ago—prior to the past two of cancellation due the global pandemic.
 
Local favourite and 11-time LPGA Tour winner Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., an honorary member of Ottawa Hunt currently ranked no. 10 on the LPGA Tour money list, will join Ko in leading a field of early commitments that include 16 of the top 20 players on the current LPGA Tour money list (10 of the top-10 & 41 of the top-50), seven past CP Women’s Open championships, and 11 in year winners including all 2022 Major winners.
 
The early player commitments to challenge for the $2.35 million USD purse—one of the largest prizes on the LPGA Tour—will include golf’s brightest stars along with rising talents in Canadian golf.
 
Henderson, a CP Ambassador who made history at the Wascana Country Club in Regina in 2018 becoming the first Canadian since the late Jocelyne Bourassa 45 years earlier to win Canada’s National Women’s Open, will be joined in Ottawa by fellow Canadians Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Maddie Szeryk, Alena Sharp, Jaclyn Lee, Rebecca Lee-Bentham and Selena Costabile, as well as a collection of talented Canadian athletes who are expected to receive tournament exemptions in the coming weeks to compete in Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.
 
Reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur champion Lauren Zaretsky of Thornhill, Ont. has also earned an exemption along with US amateur standout Anna Davis who won the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
 
Canadian golf legend Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, PEI, a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, Order of Canada, and recent inductee into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, will compete in her record 30^th CP Women’s Open. A four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Kane has confirmed that the 2022 event will be her final playing appearance in Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

The 156-player field will be returning to the national capital for a fifth time with Ottawa Hunt ready to host their fourth CP Women’s Open and first since 2017. The club is working its way back to premium form following a major storm back in mid-May which caused extensive damage to the golf course including the removal of 1,100 trees on the property.
 
The 2022 edition of the CP Women’s Open will be a be celebrated return to the LPGA schedule and the community is excited with a full roster of 1,300 volunteers confirmed for the event. Ottawa golf fans turned out in record fashion in 2017 to cheer on Henderson, the local sensation along with the stars of the LPGA Tour. Ticket sales are moving with great pace and one of the largest corporate build footprints in event history will see fan and hospitality structures located on holes 15 through 18.
 
“Together with our friends at CP we are very proud after two years of cancellation to be back in our nation’s capital in a big way for the celebrated return of the CP Women’s Open,” said Tournament Director Ryan Paul. “Golf fans in this community have gotten behind our National Women’s Open Championship in a major way and with the additional of fabulous new fan and partner activations as well as digital enhancements to the tournament experience, we can’t wait to get back to Ottawa Hunt and put on an can’t miss summer celebration.”
 
EARLY PLAYER COMMITMENTS:
Ko and Henderson are two of seven past CP Women’s Open champions confirmed for Ottawa Hunt including, Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), So Yeon Ryu (2014), Katherine Kirk (2008), Cristie Kerr (2006) and three-time winner Lydia Ko (2015, 2013, 2012) who will be chasing a record fourth CP Women’s Open title.
 
Ko and Henderson, currently ranked no. 9 and 10 respectively on the LPGA Tour Money List, will be among 16 of the current top-20 players (10 of top-10 / 41 of top-50) on the 2022 LPGA Money List confirmed for Ottawa Hunt including Minjee Lee (1), In Gee Chun (2), Lexi Thompson (3), Jennifer Kupcho (4), Hye-Jin Choi (5), Lydia Ko (6), Atthya Thitikul (7), Mina Harigae (8), Nasa Hataoka (11), Jessica Korda (13), Hyo Joo Kim (14), Celine Boutier (16), Xiyo Lin (17), Eun-Hee Ji (19), and Madelene Sagstrom (20).  
 
CP HAS HEART CHARITY CAMPAIGN TO BENEFIT THE CHEO FOUNDATION:
Canadian Pacific and Golf Canada are proud to support the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Foundation as the primary charitable beneficiary for the 2022 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Among the charitable engagements tournament week will be the Birdies for Heart hole on no. 15 at Ottawa Hunt with $5,000 donation made for every birdie made on the hole during the four rounds of the competition. In addition, CP is also proud to support a community beneficiary in the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital Foundation in support paediatric cardiac care. In the nine years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, more than $13 million has been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada.
 
CP WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT RETURNS TO KICK OF TOURNAMENT WEEK:
Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific will host the fifth annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday, August 23 at the Infinity Convention Centre as part of the weeklong excitement of the 2022 CP Women’s Open. The CP Women’s Leadership Summit will bring together like-minded businesspeople from across the country for a day of networking, empowerment, and philanthropy. The Summit will also raise awareness for the CP Women’s Open, with attendees receiving access to the tournament during the week. For more information about the CP Women’s Leadership Summit, including tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.cpwomensopen.com/wls.  
 
2022 CP WOMEN’S OPEN WELCOME “THE RINK” FAN EXPERIENCE:
Golf Canada is pleased to introduce the fan-favourite Rink hole spectator experience to the CP Women’s Open for the first time. The energetic hockey-themed hole, complete with fan-pounding rink boards, volunteers dressed as referees and a surrounding hospitality experience will be situated on par-3 17^th hole at Ottawa Hunt.
 
CP WOMEN’S OPEN BROADCAST:
The 2022 CP Women’s Open will feature four days of domestic and international television broadcast coverage including Canadian broadcast partner TSN as well as international coverage on GOLF channel. For the first time ever, the CP Women’s Open will also be broadcast on US network television with Sunday’s final round coverage on CBS.
 
KIDS 12-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 12-and-under get FREE admission to the CP Women’s Open for the entire week.

(Aurora – ON) – On Friday afternoon at Beacon Hall Golf Club, Wes Heffernan put a bow on a dominant performance at the BetRegal PGA Championship of Canada, going wire-to-wire to cement himself as the winner of the 100^th anniversary of the event by a margin of five strokes, shooting scores of 68-69-69-72 to do so. 

Full Results and Purse Breakdown can be Seen Here 

“I’m not sure it has sunk in yet. Today was a challenging mental day with the lead and trying to keep that lead, but I played really well, which was very fulfilling,” said Heffernan, who came into the week as the top player on the PGA Player Rankings and takes home $12,000 with the victory. “I didn’t make any mistakes until the end, and I had a nice cushion by that point.” 

It didn’t take long for those bearing witness to realize that there would be no coming back to the field for Heffernan on Friday. 

Off the tee this week, Heffernan was impeccable. The only thing perhaps more impressive was his ball striking, as he gave himself good birdie look after good birdie look on the firm and fast Beacon Hall greens. 

After knocking in a 12-foot birdie putt on the second hole, Heffernan cruised through the front nine with eight consecutive pars, with none of the par putts being further than three feet. 

As Heffernan noted, a bogey followed by a double on 16 and 17 put a dent in his lead, but by that point, there was nothing between the 45-year-old and the first P.D. Ross trophy of his career. 

“I know the tournament has had quite the history and there’s been some fantastic players at this event. I got to play with Jim Rutledge the past two days, who is a Canadian legend, and he is on the trophy as well,” said Heffernan – who’s five-stroke winning margin came over the runner-up Rutledge. “I was fortunate enough to share these past two rounds with him and I was fortune to come out on top.”

With the victory, Heffernan becomes the third-consecutive Albertan to win the event after Dustin Risdon’s victory in 2019 and Riley Fleming’s win last summer.  

“I have a lot of great family and friends to thank back home for their support,” said Heffernan, who teaches out of the Dynamic Motion Golf Performance Center. “Some people thought it was only three rounds, so I actually got some congratulations texts yesterday, so I was happy to be able to get it done today.” 

The 2022 tournament marked the second with BetRegal as title sponsor, and their support is certainly appreciated from the players in the field. 

“Without their sponsorship we couldn’t play an event like this,” said Heffernan. “I was fortunate to play with Mike (Mirtle, CEO of BetRegal) and Aly (Lelani, Head of Marketing) during the pro-am and it was a great time. Without sponsors that support golf in Canada we can’t have these great championships.” 

In addition to BetRegal, it was incredible to have support from BioSteel, CaddyTime and adidas Golf Canada at the event. 

Beacon Hall Golf Club served as an exceptional test of golf as players raved about the conditions all week long, mentioning that the layout had a ‘major feel’ to it. 

While Heffernan turned in a score of 10-under par, only three other players were able to break par for the tournament – Rutledge, Gordon Burns, and Fleming. And while Heffernan broke 70 in three of the four rounds, no other player was able to do it more than twice – and the only player to do that was Fleming.

The PGA of Canada is quickly back on the road next week as the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada kicks off on July 28 at Chateau Bromont in Quebec, where some of the top amateur and professional players from both Canada and the world will vie for a victory and exemption into the CP Women’s Open. 

TSU, Japan – Canada Day is still a week away but there was reason to celebrate early for Team Canada’s National Junior Squad in Japan on Friday.

The Canadian Junior Boys team – made up of Félix Bouchard (Otterburn Park, Que.), Ethan Wilson (St. Albert, Alta.), Cooper Humphreys (Vernon, B.C.) and Eric Zhao (North York, Ont.) – captured the 2022 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup with a two-stroke victory over Japan in the seven-team competition.

Canada’s team victory at the World Cup is its first in the 28-year history of the event. Rob McMillan (1994) and Corey Conners (2009) have previously been crowned individual champions of the tournament representing the Maple Leaf.

Consistency was the key to success for the Boys team, who each recorded top-10 results or better in the individual competition. Bouchard and Humphreys spearheaded the Canadians, the pair finishing at eight-under par for T5, while Wilson closed the tournament at seven-under par for T8 and Zhao wrapped up his World Cup in T10 at six-under par.

None of the members of four-man squad carded a score higher than 73 over the course of the three-day event at the Hakusan Village Golf Club in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Bouchard earned the low score of the week amongst the Canucks, firing a six-under par 66 in the second round of the international competition.

Team Canada’s Junior Girls – made up of Nicole Gal (Oakville, Ont.), Michelle Liu (Vancouver, B.C.), and Yeji Kwon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) – secured a well-deserved top-3 finish of their own. Gal’s T4 result in the individual competition charged the Canadians to a podium finish, totalling an eight-under par score as a team, just one stroke shy of the Japanese in second place.

Kwon’s opening round three-under par 69 was matched by her teammate Gal the following day, and stood as the low scores of the week for the Canadian girls.

Canada’s third place finish matches their best result (T3 in 2018) since the Girls division was added to the global golf tournament in 2014.

Spain ran away with the Junior Girls division, winning by seven strokes over Japan. The Spaniards were lead by Andrea Revuelta, Cayetana Goicoechea and Fernández Garcia-Poggio, who finished tied atop the individual female leaderboard at seven-under par.

Conners, Adam Hadwin, Adam Svensson and Nick Taylor are other names to have previously represented the red and white at the marquee international event. Master’s champions Scottie Scheffler (USA) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), along with John Rahm (Spain) and Cam Smith (Australia), have also sported their countries colours at the World Cup since it began 1992.

2022 marked the 28^th playing of the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup and the first since 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top-5 Junior Boys – Team

Top-5 Junior Girls – Team

For full results click here.

For photos of the 2022 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup click here.

Jackie Roberts-Amos remembers sharply the details of the day she learned about her daughter Aurora’s broken heart. She had been sent to CHEO for a fetal ultrasound 24 weeks into her pregnancy. Ultrasounds were nothing new to Jackie; she already had two young boys at home, a three-and-a-half-year-old and a two-year-old. But this one would be different. 

She and her husband, Rob, were seated in a stark room, waiting and wondering. And waiting.  

“Dr. Jane Lougheed came into the room, along with a nurse and a social worker,” Jackie recalls. “Nobody brings in a team to give you good news. I just remember looking around for something to brace myself physically. There weren’t any arms on the chair, so I remember grabbing the bottom of my chair to steady myself.” 

What followed was a blur. The cardiologist had two diagrams and began with, “This is a normal heart… and this, is your daughter’s heart.”  

“Until that moment, I didn’t know that something could be so fundamentally wrong with someone’s heart and that they could survive! We felt helpless. I did everything right during my pregnancy and could not protect my baby from this.”  

Aurora was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called truncus arteriosus type 1. The baby has one large artery, instead of the usual two arteries, for blood flowing in and out of the heart. These babies also have a single truncal valve instead of two valves to control this blood flow. For Aurora, the wall separating the two ventricles never completely closed, leaving a large hole between the two chambers.  

The only option: open heart surgery.  

“But Aurora has always been feisty,” Jackie says with a smile, recalling when Aurora was in her belly. “After months of hearing the rumbling noises of Aurora moving around, her brothers Liam and Connor were disappointed to learn they were going to have a human sister, and not the baby dragon they had been hoping for,” she says with a laugh.  

So, the CHEO team got to work. “It was incredible,” Jackie recalls. “Dr. Lougheed laid out the path.” Aurora would be born at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus and be transported to CHEO, where Dr. Gyandeeo Maharajh would fix her tiny heart.  

“Having a plan gave me something to hold on to, to feel a little less lost in the overwhelm,” Jackie says. “Having CHEO meant we didn’t have to move to Toronto, and I could still protect my boys and spend time with them.” 

At two weeks of age, Aurora had her first surgery. She would spend most of her first five months at CHEO, except for a short ten days at home, before being readmitted to CHEO for a life-threatening blood infection that required specialized IV antibiotics.  

Aurora bounced back and grew into an active kid who loves sports. Limitations weren’t in her playbook. Aurora has had a lot of cardiac catheterizations, a procedure in which a thin, flexible tube is guided through a blood vessel to the heart to diagnose or treat the heart. These tweaks allow more time for her between surgeries. The very nature of her heart condition is not something that is ever truly fixed. She outgrows her previous repairs and new ones need to happen.  

She would need another open-heart surgery in 2017. Jackie saw it coming as she noticed Aurora slowing down on the ice while playing hockey, becoming winded and short of breath. They would once again entrust their daughter to Dr. Maharajh, who is beloved by the family.  

“We love how he is a man of precision and science, but a spiritual person as well,” Jackie says. “We know there is someone protective in there. It is like he has his own special superpowers. You can tell he is not your average person, but he is so humble and unassuming. He cares and you can feel it.” 

Jackie remembers sitting in the cardiology family room while Aurora underwent an 11-hour surgery. “The thing about that room is,” Jackie begins, “The walls are covered with photos of families who have been through it. Those pictures are so reassuring when you’re waiting for that update, waiting for it to be over; they give you hope that it’s going to be OK for you, too.” 

Aurora will need at least one more surgery. Jackie and Rob will sit in that room again. 

But for now, at age 12 Aurora is thriving. She is a self-described ‘sporty’ kid. Raven haired, with clear blue eyes, she knows what she wants. She stretches herself between school, sports, drawing and being whisked away through the magic of her Harry Potter books. She is a natural athlete and is excited to be the ambassador for the CP Has Heart campaign. She figures it is the perfect segue into learning how to play golf from the absolute best! “I’ve only ever played mini golf,” she says, laughing. “But I want to learn!” 

“She’s got this quiet strength and determination,” her mother says. “She focuses on what she needs to do and just goes for it!” All of this happens under the watchful eyes of big brothers Liam and Konnor, now 16 and 14. “Most of the time they treat her like one of the guys,” Jackie laughs. “But then suddenly they become protective of her. They are being cautious with masks and things like that to keep her safe from COVID-19.” 

That protection extends to the CHEO family, too. “Dr. Lougheed, the technicians, nurses, the people who book the appointments. Everyone,” Jackie says. “Aurora was never ‘just a patient’ or ‘some procedure’ that you do and move on. We are eternally grateful for that.” 

What does CHEO mean to Aurora? “For me, my team takes such good care of me, and I appreciate them all so much. But for our community, CHEO means help for kids. No matter what, we get the specialized care we need, in a place that’s meant just for us.” 

For Immediate Release:

After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the East Coast Junior Championship is set to return to Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club in Hartland, NB. Play is set to take place on June 28th & 29th, with a talent-filled field of 40 Junior Boys and 7 Junior Girls.

Given the two-year absence, there are no returning champions in the draw this year. The field is not short of talent, however. Fresh off his win at this year’s Under-15 championships, Elliott Mullen of Truro Golf Club will look to continue his run of success in the Under-15 division. Older brother Simon Mullen is also in the field in the Under-19 division, as the reigning NB Under-17 Champion. The 2020 Under-17 champion Julien Babineau is also set to take on Covered Bridge.

In the female division, reigning NB Under-17 & 19 champion Addison McClune of The Riverside Country Club will look to take the vacant crown against the likes of 2020 Under-17 champion and Golf NB Public Player Stéphanie Roy. Neve Miller of Fox Creek is also in the field, following her win at this year’s Under-15 championship.

After two years of cancellation, the Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club is set to host its first championship since the 2019 Canadian Junior Boys Championship.

For more information on the 2022 Covered Bridge East Coast Junior Championship CLICK HERE.

For more information on the Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club CLICK HERE.

For Immediate Release:

Moncton, NB – The New Brunswick Team captured the Maritime Senior Challenge (MSC) for the Sparrow Cup on June 20/21st at the Moncton Golf Club.

On Monday, in windy, rainy conditions, the NB Squad amassed a perfect 6-0 record in best ball play, while NS finished with 2 1/2 points and PEI with 1/2 point.  

In Tuesday singles, The NB Team finished with 18 1/2 points for a total of 24 1/2.  NS was second with 15 1/2 points in Singles play for 18 points total, while PEI was third with 2 1/2 points in total.

The NB Squad pictured above consisted of:

Denis Beaulieu, Mike Breen, Darren Ritchie, Shawn Branch, Mike Shannon, Mike Hosford, Bob Brown, John Brown (non playing captain), Dan Coulombe, Sonny Phillips, Tom Cameron, Eric Hildebrand and Mark Armstrong.

The NB team is chosen from GolfNB Senior Player of the Year points (10 players) with two captains picks.

The Sparrow Cup is named after George Spare, a long time high level competitive golfer and golf administrator who founded the event 18 years ago.  Each year an Honorary Captain is named for the event to recognize someone who has contributed significantly to the Golf fraternity.  This year’s honorary Captain was Doug Sullivan, owners of Country Meadows Golf Club, who was recognized for his entrepreneurship, support for golfers of all levels, including his fellow APGA professionals, as well as his competitive skills.

The 2023 event will be played in PEI.

By: John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press

Myles Creighton has always wanted to wear the Maple Leaf on his golf gear. Now that he can as a member of Golf Canada’s young pro squad, he’s having a career season.

The product of Digby, N.S., was named to the national sports organization’s roster in mid-March and has proudly represented Canada on the PGA Tour _ Latinoamerica since. He’s the highest ranked Canadian heading into the third-tier tour’s championship tour this week and the highest ranked golfer from the Maritimes on any tour.

“I take huge pride in representing that part of the country and Canada in general,” said the 26-year-old Creighton. “I’ve always wanted to be on Team Canada’s growing up and I was just shy in junior golf and just left off the team in amateur golf.

“That’s something that’s been really cool for me this year just to have the Golf Canada logo on all my shirts and all my golf bag and stuff.”

MYLES CREIGHTON

Creighton is 32nd in the TotalPlay Cup rankings, dropping two spots after taking two weeks off Latinoamerica for the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto and a week of vacation. That ranking makes him the only Canadian in the field this week at the Bupa Tour Championship at PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico.

“I love this golf course. I’ve been looking forward to playing it all year,” said Creighton, who noted that the fairway. “I’m just going to try and play my best but I feel like this is a great course for me.”

He’s had two top-10 finishes on tour this season, tying for ninth at the JHSF Aberto do Brasil on May 24 and then tying for third at the Jalisco Open on May 29. He also tied for 19th twice this season.

“I know that I can win on this tour,” said Creighton, who is targeting a card on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I would love to win this event it would do a lot for me because it’s an increased amount of points and 600 points. It could get me in the top 10.”

Creighton’s season won’t end at the Bupa Tour Championship, as he intends to return to the Maritimes and compete in the Prince Edward Island Open on the PGA Tour Canada. That event begins on June 30 at Dundarave Golf Club in Cardigan, P.E.I.

“I was really looking forward to it because my family is going to come up and I was going to get the chance to see them,” said Creighton. “I was able to see them at the Canadian Open, which was great, but they’re still going to come out so it’ll be a great week.’

For Immediate Release:

Oromocto, NB– The best Junior golfers from across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia met in Oromocto for the Under-13 and Under-15 Championships. Taking place as a standalone event for the first time in recent history, the juniors were at the front and center of the spotlight as play took place over the weekend at Gage Golf & Curling Club.

Elliott Mullen, of Truro Golf Club, captured the Under-15 boys crown, turning around a 4-shot deficit after Round 1. Mullen improved on his first-day score by 5 strokes to finish the second round 5-over, 76, for a two-day total of 15-over, 157. Runner-up was Tristan Frenette of The Riverside Country Club, who finished with a 2-day total of 24-over, 166. A two-way tie for third saw Grady Cohen of Abercrombie and Kyle McClune of The Riverside both sitting at 30-over, 172 at the end of the weekend.

On the Under-13 side, Nathan MacDonald of Oakfield Golf and Country Club followed up his strong first-day score of 6-over, 77 with a second-round score of 15-over, 86. His two-day total of 21-over, 163 was enough to take the crown by 4 strokes. In the second place, Carter Lavigne of Moncton Golf Club finished with a 25-over, 167, one shot ahead of third-place Golf Canada Public player Adrien Breault at 26-over, 168.

In the Under-15 girls’ division, Neve Miller of Fox Creek won the title, improving her first-round total of 21-over 92, with a strong second-day score of 10-over, 81, for a weekend total of 31-over, 173. Defending champion Avery Cohen of Abercrombie was runner-up with a weekend total of 46-over, 188.

In the Under-13 girls’ division, Frédérique Doiron of Fox Creek took home the title. After a first-round total of 61-over, 132, she improved greatly on the second day of play, finishing with a second total of 44-over, 115. She finished with a weekend total of 105-over, 247.

For more information on the 2022 NB Under-13&15 Championships, including results and tee times, please CLICK HERE.

For more information on the Gage Golf & Curling Club, please visit: CLICK HERE

By: Adam Stanley/ Golf Canada

Whether it was Adam Hadwin earning his best-career major championship result or Roger Sloan and Ben Silverman playing in their first-ever majors, the 2022 U.S. Open was quite the week for the Canadian crew on the PGA Tour.  

And it was extra special in 2022, as it followed the return of the RBC Canadian Open.  

Hadwin led the way – his tie for 7th came after he held the first-round lead, and he ended up just five back of Matt Fitzpatrick’s 6-under 274 winning effort – but the six-pack of Canadians at The Country Club all took plenty away from the major stage.  

Six Canadians in the field at the U.S. Open was the second-most of all time. Seven teed it up at Torrey Pines in 2008, while five were in the field at Merion in 2013. Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes found the weekend, with Hughes hanging tough and finishing tied for 24th.  

While Conners, Silverman, Sloan, and Nick Taylor had early exits, there was still much to take away from the week.  

“There is a lot going on around here,” said Silverman with a big smile on Thursday. “This is a massive venue. I’ve never seen crowds like I did on Tuesday and Wednesday… you’re getting applause for shots on those days. It’s just a ton of people, all the top players in the world are here.”  

Silverman, who is working his way back to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour this season, earned a spot into the U.S. Open via a qualifier (in fact, all the Canadians got through the same Dallas qualifier save Conners, who had already locked up a spot). But just because he isn’t teeing it up alongside the best in the world every week that doesn’t mean he felt out of place.  

“This is where I feel like I belong,” said Silverman. “Aside from just a couple of nerves I feel like I can compete out here and should be on a regular basis. I was more nervous qualifying to get here because I knew I could do it and playing around here I know I can play this golf course and I know I can compete.”  

Sloan, who missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open and ended up arriving in Boston a few days early (his family decided to follow him around the U.S. Open versus the Canadian Open and they did plenty of fun Boston things, like going to Fenway Park and seeing the Boston Red Sox from seats atop the ‘Green Monster’) and then got down to business on Wednesday. 

“Playing your first U.S. Open and seeing the magnitude of this… it’s been real neat,” said Sloan. “It’s been so much fun. I have family here and we’ve just been soaking it in.”  

Sloan rallied after a tough opening 6-over 76 to shoot an even-par 70 on Friday. He said he’s drawn inspiration from Conners, Hughes, and Hadwin and the success his countrymen have had recently on some big platforms in the game.  

“That’s what we’re working towards. I’ve been five years on the PGA Tour and that next step is following Mac and Adam and Corey and the guys who are playing 3-4 majors in a year and The Players Championship… that’s the next step for us,” said Sloan. “We’ll just kind of build on our game and get there.”  

Conners was a pre-tournament favourite as he made the semi-finals of the U.S. Amateur when it was contested in 2013 at The Country Club (he joked during a practice round that he didn’t remember much of 17, and certainly 18, because he never saw those holes during his matches). He missed the cut by a shot but still moved up to 29th in the world – his highest-ever ranking.  

“I feel like my game was much better than a 3-over-par round,” he said Friday. “You can do a lot of things well, but the course can still beat you up a little bit.”  

Hadwin, however, held on tight over the weekend.  

His top-10 was his fifth of the season. His previous best result at a major was a tie for 24th, which came at the Masters in 2018. Hadwin played with Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked male golfer, on Sunday in the third-to-last group.  

He rose to the moment and knocked in back-to-back birdies on No’s 16 and 17 late Sunday. He was disappointed to close with a bogey and finish at 1 under for the week, but on a tough course and on a big stage, he’ll happily take that.  

“Just based on the way I was playing I just wasn’t ready to go attack and start moving up the leaderboard so I just stayed patient and do the best I could. It was nice to get a couple there on 16 and 17,” said Hadwin. “Eighteen stings a little bit, but I’m under par at a U.S. Open for four days and that’s not too bad.”  

The 2022 U.S. Open was a Major week after a major week for the Canadians, but between Hadwin’s fabulous finish and the confidence-building debuts of Silverman and Sloan there was plenty of positives to take away from The Country Club.

Belmont, MI. – The LPGA Tour returned to Blythefield Country Club this week for the eighth playing of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

Coming off her victory last week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Brooke Henderson fired a 72 to finish at 15-under.

In addition to her win in NJ, Henderson now has five additional top-10s this season, including a solo second at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and a tie for fourth at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Though she struggled with her game after the Asian swing, a change in her putting grip seems to have made a major difference, which will be critical as she looks to add a third Meijer LPGA Classic to her resume.

“I started off the year really hot and I had a lot of great finishes, and kind of cooled off and I wasn’t feeling so well and things kind of went a little bit cold there for a little while,” said Henderson. “Definitely having the putting back in my corner and feeling a little bit more comfortable all the time is really key. I feel like left-hand low has made a big difference and so I’m excited moving forward.

Henderson is the only player to win the Meijer LPGA Classic multiple times; she was victorious in 2017 and 2019, on Father’s Day both years.

After missing a two-foot eagle putt on the first hole of a playoff, Jennifer Kupcho won the LPGA Meijer Classic when Leona Maguire’s three-foot birdie try lipped out on the second extra hole.

Fellow Canadian Maude-Aimee LeBlanc finished the weekend 8-under (T40), with Alena Sharp coming in at minus 6 (T56).

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