August 22-25
Magna Golf Club, Aurora, Ontario, Canada
$2,250,000
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

In 2017, Nicole Broch Larsen tied for the 54-hole lead at the CP Women's Open and ultimately tied for third. Two years later and the 26-year-old from Hillerod, Denmark, is again atop a Canadian leaderboard, shooting a 6-under 66 on Friday to lead the CP Women's Open at -12. She holds a one-stroke advantage over Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko and a three-stroke lead over Canadian favorite and defending champion Brooke Henderson, Yu Liu and Pajaree Anannarukarn.

Broch Larsen started the second round one stroke off the lead. Her rollercoaster round featured eight birdies to two bogeys, but it was enough to pull her into the lead for just the second time in her three-year LPGA career.

“I probably hit a couple more bad shots today but got away with them,” said Broch Larsen, who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but has one victory on the Ladies European Tour. “I, on the other hand, made a really good putts and made it from just short of the green on 1 and made like an 18 meter (putt) on 2. So, I mean, making putts like that helps.”

Broch Larsen was an LPGA rookie when she lost that lead at the 2017 CP Women's Open with a final-round 71 after three rounds in the 60s. She says she has grown so much since that week in Ottawa and hopes to use that experience as she moves into the weekend.

“I feel like I'm more confident in this position now than I was two years ago even though I haven't been here for a while,” said Broch Larsen, who has just eight top-20 finishes since the 2017 CP Women's Open. “I'm just trying to play as free as possible the last four events and see if I can make it to Asia. Whatever the next few days brings, I'm still really happy with my two rounds.”

First-round leader Annie Park struggled on Friday, shooting a 4-over 76 and falling into a tie for 38th at -3.

Ko just one stroke off lead

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko is quietly nipping at leader Nicole Broch Larsen's heels, just one stroke off the lead and looking for her fourth win of 2019. Ko is bogey-free through 36 holes, carding a 67 on Friday after finding 17 of 18 greens in regulation.

“I had a great round the first two days, and then also I had great putting,” said Ko, who was heading to Niagara Falls for some sightseeing after her round. “I had great shots on the front nine and back nine, too. I was happy.”

If Ko takes the win on Sunday, she would be the LPGA Tour's first four-time winner in a single season since Lydia Ko took four wins in 2016.

Defending champ henderson still in the mix

Canadian fans came out to Magna Golf Club in droves for a second straight day, all hoping for a glimpse of superstar Brooke Henderson. The 2018 CP Women's Open champion followed up a first-round 66 with a bogey-free, 3-under 69 on Friday and was soaking up the support from her red and white compatriots.

“It's pretty special to have all these people out there following you around and cheering you on,” Henderson said. “Try to be interacting with them a little bit. Also just trying to make sure I get the job done and play well the next two days.”

With windier afternoon conditions on Friday in Ontario, Henderson struggled a bit off the tee only hitting 8 of 14 fairways, compared to 12 on Thursday. 

“If the wind stays up like this I think it's definitely a factor,” Henderson said of Magna Golf Club. “I think you just got to make sure you're hitting it in the right places off the tee, the correct side of the fairways and then the correct side or correct places on the green to make it easier on yourself. I feel I have a good strategy for around here. I think if we can just judge the wind a little bit better tomorrow maybe I can post another low round.”

Altomare, Olson making Solheim Cup runs

For the Americans in the CP Women's Open field, there is a second trophy of sorts up for grabs at Magna Golf Club. The top eight players in the USA Solheim Cup points standings after Sunday's conclusion of play will automatically qualify for Team USA, with two additional spots determined by the Rolex Rankings and two wild-card picks selected by Captain Juli Inkster.

The competition for the eighth spot on the USA Solheim Cup points list is down to three players – Brittany Altomare, Ally McDonald and Angel Yin. Altomare holds the final spot by 7.5 points over McDonald, 40.5 points over Yin and 52.5 points over Lewis. Altomare and Yin are tied for seventh at -7 heading into the weekend, with McDonald tied for 59th (-1).

“It would be everything I've dreamed of,” said Altomare, who holed out for eagle at both 12 and 14 on Friday. “I was fortunate enough to play on the Junior Solheim Cup team when was in high school and that was incredible. I can't even imagine what it would be like as a professional.”

Amy Olson is one of several players who could earn one of the Rolex Rankings berths with a win at Magna. Heading into the weekend in solo sixth at -8, she is the highest American in the field, one stroke ahead of Altomare and Yin.

“I would love to play Solheim. That was the dream growing up as a kid, so it's in the back of my mind for sure,” said Olson. “But at the same time, Juli has a lot of really great (players), and I don't even know what I have to do in order to make the Rolex, make it through Rolex points. I'm kind of just playing my game, and however it pans out, it pans out. Either way I'll be cheering for the USA.”

USA Solheim Cup points standings scenarios

Three players can play their way into the top eight of the Team USA Solheim Cup points standings with a strong finish at the CP Women's Open.

Brittany Altomare, eighth with 257.5 points, has the most chances with many combinations.

Ally McDonald, ninth with 250 points, needs a 17th or better finish to have a chance.

Angel Yin needs to win, have McDonald finish fifth or worse and have Altomare finish 10th or worse. If Yin wins and Altomare finishes ninth, the tiebreaker would be Rolex Rankings.

Minor adjustments key for Yu Liu

Yu Liu opened the 2019 CP Women's Open with a bogey on the first hole. However, since that stumble, she has played bogey-free golf and rocketed up the leaderboard with rounds of 68-67 to head to the weekend just three shots off the lead.

Liu, who describes herself as a very technical golfer, said she went to the range after her first round to watch videos of her swing and make a slight tweak to her swing plane to straighten out her driver. Her hard work paid off as she improved from nine fairways hit during the first round to 12 of 14 on Friday.

“It was pretty solid compared to yesterday,” Liu said on Friday at Magna Golf Club. “Yesterday I wasn't hitting a lot of fairways, to be honest. Today was just fairways and I hit plenty of greens. It was pretty windy coming in, which made the front nine really tough. It's really gusty. It's hard to judge the club selection sometimes, but I think I did pretty good. Stayed patient.”

Liu is in her second year on the LPGA and has five top-10 finishes this season, including a runner-up finish at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and a T5 finish at the U.S. Women's Open.

“I improved a lot this year from last year,” said Liu, who recorded three top-10 finishes as a rookie. “I had a pretty nice rookie season, but I knew this year I just really want to achieve something higher. So, yeah, I worked pretty hard this off-season. Just nice to see my work paying off.”

Liu said her goal before the season was to finish in the top 25 on the season money list, entering this week's event in Canada she is 23rd on the 2019 LPGA Money List with $618,047 earned.