Amateur Michelle Xing, 15, wins PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, breaking tournament record

The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada is big. Second only to the CKPC Women’s Open when it comes to the women’s game in this country, with the Canadian Women’s Amateur also in the mix.

Michelle Xing won the 54-hole championship on Friday at the TPC Toronto Heathlands course, shooting 70-64-70 for a 9-under-par total of 204. The clothing company ORORO sponsored the tournament. Xing turns 16 on July 24. She is the youngest winner in the tournament’s history, breaking the record previously held by Brooke Henderson.

“I was down two points after 14 holes,” Xing, who lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario, said over the phone as she headed to a dinner she was sure to enjoy.

But four holes later, she had turned the tide, winning by two strokes over teammate Katie Cranston, also an amateur. Josee Doyon finished three strokes behind Xing, a low pro, and won the $15,000 first prize. Xing and Cranston were given exemptions to next month’s CKPC in Calgary.

Xing had what she called a “tough” lip out for birdie on 14, and was a little discouraged because she couldn’t make up ground on Doyon, the player she had fallen two strokes behind and was playing with. The putts hadn’t fallen, she said.

But, she added, her sister Sarah, who was her caddie, kept her calm. Sarah is 12. “She played a big role in helping me,” Michelle said.

Michelle made a par of 15 and then came a key moment on the par-3 16th.

“I hit a bad tee ball and then I didn’t hit a great chip. I had to chip again and that wasn’t so good either. But I made a good save from nine feet for bogey,” Xing said.

Now she was a stroke behind Doyon as they played the par-4 17th. Doyon hit a bad tee shot, took an unplayable lie penalty and ended up with a double-bogey on the hole to Xing’s par. Xing was a stroke ahead on the par-4 18th. She had a putt from about 25 feet for birdie. Doyon was outside her and missed her birdie putt. Xing had two putts for the win. She made her birdie putt and won by two.

Xing is an honorary member at Maple Downs Golf and Country Club. Lauren Zaretsky, another honorary member, won the 2021 Canadian Women’s Amateur. I’m an honorary member, too, so I feel an extra dose of pride. Norm Mogil, the 1962 Canadian Junior Champion, is a longtime member of the club. He often sees Xing on the short game course.

There’s something appealing about the image of an 80-year-old former national junior champion practicing on the same short game area as a 15-year-old future PGA national champion. Two golfers trying to improve their short game, separated by 65 years and a common interest.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to play and practice at Maple Downs,” Xing said of the honorary junior membership.

Xing started playing golf when she was eight and a half years old. She works with swing coach Dong Hee Lee. He works out of Cardinal Golf Club in King, Ontario, during the season and has his own teaching facility in the off-season.

“We work on maintenance more than anything,” she said, and that’s understandable when you watch her fluid, elegant swing. “It’s just little tweaks, maybe a little grip change that affects my ball flight.”

Maple Downs pro Mike Moniz spoke with Xing during her honors interview process. He has followed her progress. She has won multiple tournaments this season.

“You can tell right away that she is dedicated to golf,” Moniz wrote in an email. “You can see it in the amount of time she spends practicing her short game. Michelle is very soft-spoken and seems like the type of person who can stay level-headed during a round of golf.”

That kind of perseverance was needed to cope with the fact that she was still a few strokes behind with four holes, especially when it didn’t look like she was going to make it.

“Yes, I was two holes behind with four holes to go, but four holes is still four holes.” She was not out of time.

Now she has a full tournament schedule ahead of her. She plays the US Junior Girls at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California, starting July 15. She plays the CKPC Women’s Open at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary the following week. Then comes the Canadian Women’s Amateur at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, starting July 30.

“Golf is a very difficult sport,” Xing replied when I asked her to explain her love for the game. “Every course plays so differently, and then there’s the mental side of it.”

And finally, I want to talk about her performance at TPC Toronto.

“It was such a fun week,” she said.

And a week of superior, winning play.