There was not an historic victory, like that of Nick Taylor at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in 2023, nor a major triumph, like that of Brooke Henderson in France in 2022. But Canadian golf had its share of memorable moments in 2024, highlighted by an awesome afternoon in Montreal. Here are the top 10 mom when it comes to the professional game in Canada this year.
10. Alena Sharp, Maude-Aimee Leblanc regain full LPGA Tour status at Q-Series
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp will celebrate 20 years as an LPGA Tour member in 2025 and she’ll do so with exempt status for the first time since 2021 thanks to an excellent performance at the tour’s qualifying school. In the five-round tournament, known as Q-Series, Sharp carded scores of 68-69-71-69-74 to tie for 21st, two shots clear of the full-status cutoff. She shared that position with Sherwood, Que.’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc, who has battled injuries on and off for several years and even briefly retired from competitive golf at the end of 2019 before a change of heart. Sharp and Leblanc will join Brooke Henderson and second-year pro Savannah Grewal as full-time LPGA Tour members next year.
9. Aaron Cockerill’s career year sends him to DP World Tour Championship
Somewhat quietly, Aaron Cockerill has become the most successful Canadian member of the DP World Tour (nee European Tour) since the late Jerry Anderson in the 1980s. In 2024, Cockerill played 20-plus events for the fifth straight season and registered his first top-50 placing on the Race to Dubai standings (49th). That earned him a spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship won by Rory McIlroy. The highlight of Cockerill’s season was a T4 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in February, a big-money event also captured by McIlroy.
8. Three Canadians take home titles on new PGA Tour Americas
The PGA Tour Americas era got off to a great start for Canadians with Mississauga’s Matthew Anderson winning the new circuit’s third event in Brazil and Vancouver’s Stu Macdonald taking the following week’s event in Peru. Later, Coquitlam, B.C.’s A.J. Ewart triumphed at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open after receiving a sponsor’s exemption to tee it up there. It was the second-year pro’s first play-for-pay victory. Anderson’s triumph in Brazil plus two ties for third in the tour’s first six events allowed him to capture the Latin Swing points title, which earned him a direct trip to the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He ultimately finished third in the season-long Fortinet Cup to earn 2025 Korn Ferry Tour membership.
7. Brooke Henderson makes run at Chevron Championship
It wasn’t a banner year for Brooke Henderson as Canada’s most successful professional golfer went winless on the LPGA Tour for the first time since the Covid-shortened season of 2020. She did, however, compile nine top 10s, including a tie for eighth at the CPKC Women’s Open, and was in contention for her third career major title at the Chevron Championship. At that tournament, Henderson fired a sizzling 8-under 64 in the third round to jump 20 spots up the leaderboard and into the final Sunday group with Nelly Korda and Hae Ran Ryu. That day’s scoring conditions proved tough thanks to extreme winds and Henderson could muster only an even-par 72 to finish third.
6. Stephen Ames keeps winning on PGA Tour Champions
The senior success of Stephen Ames the last two years has likely flown under the radar given the spotlight on Mike Weir and the Presidents Cup. However, Ames has emerged as one of the PGA Tour Champions’ best players and in 2024 he added three victories to the four he won in 2023 to bring his career total on the 50-and-over circuit to nine. Two of Ames’s wins this year — the Boeing Classic and Mitsubishi Electric Classic — were successful title defences. Ames, who is profiled in our revamped Annual Issue, finished fifth in the Charles Schwab Cup.
5. The CPKC Women’s Open sets attendance record in return to Calgary
The first CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary since 2016 delivered some serious midweek worry when a haze of smoke from Alberta wildfires forced players and pro-am participants off the course on Wednesday. Play began on time the following morning despite a smoky smell with Jennifer Kupcho voicing her displeasure about that decision. But sunny skies returned by that afternoon and the week was ultimately a big success. The event at Earl Grey Golf Club set an attendance record, and, like its men’s counterpart, delivered a first-time tour winner in Lauren Coughlin. The 32-year-old American has been something of a journeywoman until her win in Calgary, which preceded a victory at the Scottish Open and her making the U.S. Solheim Cup team.
4. Taylor Pendrith breaks through at Byron Nelson for first PGA Tour win
Prior to May, Taylor Pendrith hadn’t performed well in the final Sunday pairing on the PGA Tour. Three times he’d been in the last group out with a good chance to win the tournament and three times he’d been unable to break par. At the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Pendrith held a one-shot lead after 54 holes and fashioned a steady 67 on Sunday. But, trailing on the 18th tee, he needed a final-hole gaffe from Ben Kohles and got it when the local boy who played inspired golf got sloppy with his short game and carded a six to close. That opened the door for Pendrith, who reached the final green in two and lagged his eagle putt within three feet of the hole. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native knocked that putt in to claim his maiden PGA Tour title, which paved the way for his first Tour Championship appearance and a career-best 14th-place finish in the FedEx Cup.
3. Robert MacIntyre wins RBC Canadian Open with father by his side
The 2024 RBC Canadian Open was never going to top what occurred in 2023, when Nick Taylor made history as the first Canuck to win the tournament in nearly 70 years. Then again, few folks thought 2023 could outdo 2022, when Rory McIlroy held off Tony Finau and Justin Thomas in a star-studded final group at St George’s G&CC. And while there was a moment on Sunday when Mackenzie Hughes, who grew up in nearby Dundas, shared the lead at Hamilton Golf and Country Club before fading down the stretch, the eventual winner proved to be a darn good story of his own. Scotsman Robert MacIntyre won the tournament with his father Dougie as his caddie. MacIntyre had reached out to his dad shortly before the event after sacking his previous looper. An admittedly fiery lad, MacIntyre said his father helped him keep a cool head and overcome adversity throughout the week and the two in an embrace on the 18th green was one of the best moments of the entire golf year.
2. Nick Taylor wins WM Phoenix Open in another dramatic playoff
Mention the name Nick Taylor to Canadian sports fans and they’ll immediately think of the 72-foot eagle putt he miraculously made on the fourth hole of a playoff at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club to win the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. Avid golf fans, however, know Taylor is no one-trick pony and his victory at February’s WM Phoenix Open once again proved his mettle. At golf’s rowdiest event — which this year reached new levels that forced tournament organizers to make big changes — Taylor birdied three of his last four holes to chase down Charley Hoffman and force a playoff. The Abbotsford, B.C., boy, who’d opened the tournament with an 11-under 60, then made two more birdies with clutch mid-range putts on the TPC Scottsdale’s 18th hole, the second of which was to win his fourth career PGA Tour title. Strangely, Taylor struggled for the rest of the season and ultimately was passed over for a Presidents Cup captain’s pick by Mike Weir.
1. The Friday of the Presidents Cup
The return of the Presidents Cup to Canada for the first time since 2007 was in itself a huge story for golf in this country. As was the International Team captaincy of Mike Weir. An obvious choice, the 2003 Masters champion and five-time Presidents Cup player made history as the first Canadian to take on the role. Things ultimately didn’t go the way Weir and his charges wanted them to, but the International Team’s sweep of the Friday foursome matches — after being shut out by the Americans in the opening four-ball session — was the high mark for Canadian golf this year. What had been quiet crowds at Royal Montreal on Thursday turned raucous on Friday with the all-Canadian pairing of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes thrashing Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau 6 and 5. Up ahead, their pal Taylor Pendrith teamed with Adam Scott to dust Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa 5 and 4. Three more International wins that day marked the first time in a team event that each side had swapped session sweeps. The Internationals couldn’t keep the momentum going despite — or perhaps because of — Weir’s decision to ride the hot hands, including all three Canadians, in both of Saturday’s sessions and they ultimately fell for the 10th straight time. However, the atmosphere around Royal Montreal as the Internationals stormed back into the competition on Friday was fantastic.