Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

Maude-Aimee Leblanc hopes to finish LPGA season strong at Manulife Classic

Sep 1, 2016 | 6:44 PM

CAMBRIDGE, Ont. — Maude-Aimee Leblanc is hoping for a strong finish to her season in front of Canadian fans.

Leblanc, from Sherbrooke, Que., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp were the low Canadians at 3-under 69 on Thursday after the first round of the LPGA Manulife Classic.

The 27-year-old Leblanc missed the cut six times and withdrew after a round of play twice in her first 10 tournaments of the LPGA year. But since pulling out of the Volvik Championship in late May, she’s seen steady improvement, making at least the third round of every tournament she’s played in.

She tied for 11th in the Marathon Classic in mid August and tied for 14th in the Canadian Women’s Open in Calgary last week.

“Playing in Canada is always my favourite thing,” said Leblanc on playing back-to-back tournaments on home soil. “So these are by far my two favourite tournaments. So yeah, I was definitely looking forward to it. And it’s towards the end of the season, so gotta make every shot count.”

Leblanc qualified for her full-status Tour card for the 2016 season back in December at the final stage of LPGA Q-School in Daytona Beach, Fla. She won’t have to qualify for 2017, having earned her card for next year already.

“I wouldn’t call it a break-through season,” said Leblanc. “But definitely keeping my card for next year, that was a big thing. Yeah, coming back after a terrible first half of the year feels really good mentally.”

World No. 3 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane were 2 under on Thursday. Although she struggled with the wind, Henderson was pleased with the support of the fans.

“Par saves were like birdies with the noise of the crowd, which is always really exciting,” said the 18-year-old Henderson, who was followed by large crowds all afternoon. “And I was very happy with the crowds today, and hopefully they’ll just continue to grow over the next three days.”

Calgary’s Jennifer Ha was 1 under, amateur Josee Doyon of St. Georges-de-Beauce, Que., and Anne Catherine Tanguay tied for 70th at even par. Amateur Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., was 1 over, Vivian Tsui of Markham, Ont., was at 2 over, Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., and Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., shot 3 over.

Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont., finished the round 4 over and amateur Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., was 9 over.

___

Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

©2016 The Canadian Press