Superstar Brooke Henderson won’t be the only Canadian in the U.S. Women’s Open after all. At least two compatriots will join her at The Olympic Club in San Francisco in early June after grabbing berths at recent qualifying tournaments.
Noémie Paré, the 2020 Quebec Women’s Amateur champion, is the latest to gain entry, sharing medalist honours at a qualifier in Massachusetts this week to earn one of the two spots available there.
Paré, 23, of Victoriaville, Que., will play as an amateur as she makes her LPGA Tour debut in the major, but is no stranger to the pro game. She won the women’s division of the Bromont Invitational, a mini-tour event, in her home province in 2019.
The graduate of Barry University in suburban Miami and member of Canada’s national amateur team paced her berth with a five-under-par 65 in the opening round of the one-day 36-hole qualifier at Dedham Country and Polo Club on Wednesday, her lowest career score in competition. Her total of 137 gave her a share of top spot with U.S. veteran Christina Kim, who will be making her 17th career U.S. Women’s Open start.
Women’s national team coach Tristan Mullally said Paré's intense preparation for the qualifier paid off. “She shifted her practice to match the shots required for that venue and felt like she had an advantage before she even teed it up,” he said Thursday.
Mullally described Paré as a late bloomer who 18 months ago was usually shooting in the mid- to high-70s. “She has really progressed this past year, growing skills but also belief in herself.”
The U.S. Women’s Open, this year in its 76th edition, is considered by many to be the premier event in women’s golf. It’s also the most lucrative, with the winner receiving the only cheque for female players of US$1-million or more. Ten-time LPGA Tour winner Henderson, based on her world ranking, victories and other criteria, was Canada’s only player who automatically earned a place in the major.
Megan Osland of Kelowna, B.C., will also be in the field after finishing as runner-up at a qualifying tournament in Florida in late April. It will be the second start in the U.S. national championship for the 27-year-old lefty. Osland, who plays mostly on mini-tours and had a four-year, full-time stint on the second-tier Symetra Tour, also played her way into the major in 2019.
A fourth Canadian entrant is possible, too. Amateur Tillie Claggett, an Alberta teenager who relocated to Texas as a child and attends high school there, is an alternate for the field after tying for fourth place at another qualifier. She’ll get in if enough players already in the field drop out. It wouldn’t be her first LPGA Tour event. The long-hitting 17-year-old was invited into the Volunteers of America Classic last December in her adopted state after winning a prestigious junior tourney.
And others still have a chance as well. The United States Golf Association, which is holding a total of 22 qualifiers through May 13 to fill out the 156-player field, still has six qualifiers to come next week. The top two to four finishers in each typically earn berths.
Play on The Olympic Club’s Lake Course begins June 3. South Korea’s A Lim Kim is the defending champion.