MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – With a laugh, Alena Sharp said something she may never have expected to in her golfing career — she’s now preparing for the option to play the senior tour.
Sharp, who turns 45 next March, is still competing on the LPGA Tour (and the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s feeder circuit), but as she knows she’s competing on the back nine of her career, she’s got the Legends Tour in her sights.
Just because she’s close to the senior circuit, however, don’t expect her to be resting on her laurels.
“I still have a lot of drive and grit. I want to get better every day. I still love the game,” Sharp said. “I think you get a sign, and I'm just not ready to be done yet.”
It’s been a tough year for Sharp so far, having missed seven cuts in 11 starts on the LPGA Tour, with her best finish a tie for 34th at the beginning of the year. She did notch one top-20 finish on the Epson Tour earlier this month.
Off the course, however, Sharp was feted with an introduction to the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame Tuesday night in Mississauga, and this week marks her 20th start at the CPKC Women’s Open.
“It's hard to believe that it's already been 20 years,” Sharp said with a smile. “Feel very honoured to be in that Hall of Fame with a lot of other great players from Ontario. It also makes me feel a little bit old because these things happen towards the end of your career.
“I've also realized I have had a great career, so it's been kind of almost like a wake-up call because this year has not been the greatest for me. But something (like this) it's really kind of boosted my level of confidence for this week.”
Sharp knows that the Canadian generation following her upwards is impressive, and she’s just as excited as anyone to see what’s to come from this group now and moving forward — if a little extra motivated, too.
“I've been through some rough years lately, and last year I got through, got my card. Started out well this year and have not played well. I thought maybe this would be my last year,” Sharp said. “Well, I don’t want to end like this — but I still have a few events left.”
Sharp is one of 16 Canadians in the field this week, led, of course, by Brooke Henderson.
Eight of the Canadian contingent are amateurs, amongst them is Joline Truong — who is a sponsored junior member at Mississaugua and won the Ontario Junior Girls Championship in 2023 — along with Tillie Claggett, who won the PGA of Canada Women’s Championship earlier this summer to earn a spot in the field, and Anna Huang who is just 16 but turned professional at the beginning of the year and competes on the Ladies European Tour.
OTHER CANADIANS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Savannah Grewal – This is an extra special week for Grewal, who is from Mississauga and is set to play in front of a hearty collection of friends and family dubbed ‘Savannah’s Squad.’ While this is an important week for Grewal, personally, professionally this week comes at a great time, too. After missing six of her last seven cuts, Grewal — who is Canada’s second-ranked female golfer after Henderson — found the weekend last week in Portland and will need another good week in Canada as she sits No. 137 in the Race to CME Globe (with only the top 100 re-earning LPGA Tour status for next season).
Aphrodite Deng – It has been an unbelievable 2025 for Deng, who is just 15. Deng became the first Canadian in history to win the U.S. Junior Girls Championship earlier this summer and was also the winner of the Mizuho Americas Open (part of the week of the LPGA Tour event of the same name) and the Junior Invitational, which takes place the week prior to the Masters at another club in Augusta, Ga. Deng, who is from Calgary but is based now in Florida, is a star-in-waiting — just ask multi-time PGA Tour winner Billy Horschel, who posted on X when she won the U.S. Junior, “She’s a stud and a future star on the LPGA Tour!” She is Canada’s second-ranked amateur at No. 22 in the world.
Vanessa Borovilos – Borovilos, who is going into her second year at Texas A&M, won her first collegiate event of her career in the spring at the Chevron Collegiate. She also competed in the U.S. Women’s Open and finished tied for fifth at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada. The native of Etobicoke, Ont., won the Drive, Chip, and Putt National Final at Augusta National when she was 11.
Lauren Kim – Kim is Canada’s highest-ranked female amateur golfer at No. 16. She had three top-3 finishes this collegiate season while at the University of Texas, including a win at the Betsy Rawls in March, and in April, she became just the second Canadian in history to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur two years in a row.
