Golf is in an intriguing phase as the Canadian Women’s Open kicks off tomorrow in Edmonton, coinciding with the men’s FedEx Cup playoffs in St. Louis, while the controversial LIV league seems to be nearing its conclusion. Here’s what you need to know:
Canadian Women’s Open
Known currently as the CPKC Women’s Open, this is the only Canadian event on the LPGA Tour, returning to Edmonton’s Royal Mayfair for the first time since 2013.
The tournament boasts a purse of $2.75 million USD, with $412,000 awarded to the champion. Six of the top 10 golfers globally will be competing, including the world’s number one, Nelly Korda from the United States, who has claimed two major titles this season. Notable absences include third-ranked Haeran Ryu of South Korea, who also won two majors; second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand; and popular English players Lottie Woad and Charley Hull, positioned fifth and sixth, respectively.
Ranked 12th in the world, Lydia Ko from New Zealand is aiming for a record-breaking fourth Canadian Open title. She previously won at Royal Mayfair in 2013, successfully defending her title from the previous year in Vancouver as a 15-year-old amateur. Ko has since won three major championships and secured three consecutive Olympic medals, culminating in a gold at the 2024 Paris Games.
As always, the crowd favorite is Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who claimed victory in this event for the second time last year in Mississauga, Ontario. Henderson’s first LPGA Tour win in two and a half years brought her career total to 14—more than any Canadian man or woman on a major tour—along with two major titles.
Canada’s top golfer is gearing up to defend her title this week at the Canadian Championship. Brooke Henderson, from Smiths Falls, will be competing in Edmonton, alongside top talent from around the world. Emma Weller has that story.
Now sitting at 11th in the world rankings, the 28-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ontario, is still in search of her first victory of 2026, although she was in contention during two major tournaments last month. Henderson finished tied for third at the Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota, just three shots behind Ryu, and lost in a playoff to the Korean at the Evian Championship in France after shooting consecutive rounds of 64 over the weekend.
Among the other 14 Canadians competing this week are three promising teenagers.
Sixteen-year-old amateur Aphrodite Deng made headlines last year in Mississauga by sharing the clubhouse lead after the opening round, ultimately finishing tied for 20th—the best result by a non-professional since Ko’s consecutive victories. Deng also performed well at the U.S. Women’s Open this past June, tying for 17th, and she has committed to join the golf team at Stanford University in 2028.
Another amateur, Clairey Lin, also 16, recently won the prestigious U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship last month, following Deng, who was the first Canadian to achieve this in 2025.
However, the standout Canadian teenager in Edmonton this week may be Anna Huang. The 17-year-old from Vancouver has been excelling on the Ladies European Tour, where she recently became the youngest player to achieve four career victories, breaking Ko’s previous record. At the Euro Tour’s London Championship earlier this month, she triumphed over Charley Hull by two strokes.
Huang tied for 22nd at the Evian Championship last month and currently holds the 45th spot in world rankings, despite being too young to compete on the LPGA Tour.
Learn more about Huang and check out this preview of the Canadian Women’s Open from the Canadian Press.
FedEx Cup playoffs
As the women’s season extends into November, the PGA Tour is down to its final two weeks.
After last week’s 70-man FedEx Cup playoff opener in Memphis, the field has been narrowed to 50 for the BMW Championship, which starts Thursday in St. Louis. Following this event, the top 30 participants in the season-long points competition will qualify for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, where all scores reset, and the winner will earn a hefty $10 million from the enormous $40 million purse.
Want to hear some impressive figures? With his remarkable eight-shot victory at the St. Jude Championship last week, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler secured the top position in the points race and a whopping $23 million in bonus money. However, there is still a significant amount of money on the line in St. Louis, as the runner-up will take home $13 million in bonuses, in addition to their tournament earnings. The third-place finisher in the Cup standings will receive $8 million, fourth place $6.5 million, and fifth place $5.4 million—nearly a million more than what any major champions earned. Even the player finishing in 30th place will walk away with a check for $460,000.
Regrettably, no Canadians will be able to claim any additional bonus money after the three who qualified for the playoffs—Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Corey Conners, and Nick Taylor—were unable to progress past the St. Jude. Nevertheless, each walked away with around $180,000 in bonuses.
LIV (and let die?)
The LIV Golf season—and possibly the league itself—is poised to conclude this weekend. Following the withdrawal of support from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the troubled tour has canceled its championship event in Michigan next week and will instead finish the season in Indianapolis. Jon Rahm has already secured his third consecutive individual title, but the team championship is still up for grabs.
The future of LIV is uncertain. CEO Scott O’Neil is seeking new investors for a downsized tour after the Saudis reportedly spent around $5 billion on extravagant player contracts and other expenditures over the past five years in an effort to take over men’s professional golf. However, after high-profile players like Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed departed from LIV earlier this year, it remains unclear whether Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and the few remaining stars will choose to remain or attempt a return to the PGA Tour.