Sharp feels she has an edge despite schedule

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This article was published 24/08/2010 (5849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE opportunity to get some momentum from a stop-and-start LPGA Tour schedule in 2010 is music to the ears of Hamilton’s Alena Sharp.

Sharp, the highest-ranked Canuck on the LPGA Tour’s money list this season, is 53rd with $113,340 heading into this week’s Open.

“I’ve been fortunate to play well and I don’t have to worry about anything now,” Sharp said. “I can just go out and play and I don’t have that extra pressure of trying to keep my card, which is nice.

“Momentum’s been tough. At the beginning of the year especially. We had three months off, then two tournaments, then a couple of weeks off. When you’re starting the season and your second tournament’s a major, that’s kind of tough.”

Sharp says little things have improved her results.

“I’ve struck the ball well the last three years,” she said. “My putting’s been more consistent this year and my short game’s gotten better. That’s where you make your money…”

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PLAYING two LPGA tournaments in a row is a rush for one Canadian who returns to her home country for this week’s CN Canadian Women’s Open at St. Charles. And she’s happy about returning to Winnipeg, where she’s had good vibes in the past. Montreal’s Lisa Meldrum won her first of three Canadian Amateurs at Niakwa in 2001.

“I haven’t played the Canadian Open the last two years; I was focusing on the Futures Tour,” Meldrum said. “Previous to that I played five Canadian Opens. This will be my first one as a full-time member of the Tour so I’m pretty excited about that.

“And obviously I have good memories of Winnipeg.”

Meldrum, who has made just three of nine cuts this season on the tour, is pretty sure she’s going to like St. Charles.