It certainly wasn’t the way she wanted to exit. As a competitor, Canadian star Lorie Kane wanted to play the weekend of her last official tournament on the LPGA Tour, but that’s nothing new. Every retiring athlete hopes to go out on top, or at least with a good showing. Unfortunately, unless you are Suzann Pettersen or Sandy Koufax, that’s not how the world works.
“My golf was terrible,” Kane said after missing the cut on Friday morning at the CP Women’s Open, her 30th and final time competing in her national championship and likely her LPGA Tour swansong. “But today I think meant more about just doing what I needed to do to finish something that I wanted to finish."
That something was a capstone to a career that included 99 top-10 finishes to go with four LPGA Tour victories. But more importantly, throughout her playing days, Kane was regarded as one of the nicest people in the game and an ambassador for women’s golf wherever she went. One time at the Chick Fil A Charity Classic in the late 90s, she was the second-round leader and came into the media center, rightly assuming that reporters wanted to chat. But the LPGA media official was out on the course handling an emergency, so Kane ran her own press conference, calling on reporters by name and finishing up with, “Does everyone have what you need?”
“Why can’t every athlete be Lorie Kane?” legendary columnist Furman Bisher asked me that afternoon. It was a good question. Bisher had interviewed every golfer from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods. He was famous for getting Shoeless Joe Jackson to talk, and he saw Cy Young pitch and Gene Tunney box. But when it came to affable athletes, no one in his eyes beat Lorie Kane.
Little has changed. On Friday afternoon, she still called reporters by name, “Thanks for that, Bob…” “That’s a good question, Adam…”
No wonder she got wave upon wave of cheers as she finished her round at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. No wonder Stacy Lewis took time out of her pre-round preparation to celebrate Kane on the 18th green. No wonder nearly the entire Golf Canada staff gathered behind the final green to celebrate their ambassador.
“I want to thank the people who have supported me from the very beginning, from my family and friends at home, to right across this great country,” she said afterward. “As I said early in the week in a presser, I love what I do, and I love to share what I do. I hope I can continue to do that in some way, shape or form (in the future).”
She had her niece Charlotte on the bag this week. And while it has been some time since Kane played a complete LPGA Tour schedule, she has been active on the Legends Tour, winning five times, and has made welcome appearances at LPGA Tour stops here and there. But, in this last hooray, she was the same person veterans have known for decades – sweet, sincere and always deflecting attention away from herself.
“It's very humbling,” Kane said of the ovation she received. “I love to entertain, but when (attention is) directed totally at you, it's really, it's uncomfortable.”
Then, in typical fashion, she thanked her playing partners, Sarah Jane Smith and Alena Sharp, along with their caddies and spouses, whom she called out by name. “I can’t thank them enough for toughing it out over the last couple of days,” Kane said. “This morning was not fun. It was wet and tough to even see. You know, (my niece) Charlotte, to have her on the bag, I know Danny Sharp (Kane’s long-time caddie) would have very much liked to have been here. You know, he really helped me achieve all the things that I've achieved to date. But he had other commitments as I said.
“But that (last) walk, that was pretty dang cool.”
This isn’t the last time fans can see Kane. She’s playing in a Legends of the LPGA event in Boston in two weeks. “After that, I really hope that we can get some traction back with the seniors of the LPGA. I would very much like to win a Senior Open. I know I got a lot of work to do between now and next year's tournament,” she said. “Then I don't know. I really didn't want to think past playing this last round. I know I want to be in golf, and I want to be able to share what I’ve experienced over this wonderful 30 years.
“I want to continue to help see (the women’s game and the CP Women’s Open) grow. You know, I think it can be what it needs to be. It's our major championship, our Open Championship. Canadian Pacific has put stability into the women's game. We've got some work to do. We need to keep making it better.
“They keep taking us to the best golf courses. I have said on several occasions, if we could play the same rota as the men, like they do with the British Open or The Open Championship, that brings us to another level.”
Lorie Kane brought the women’s game to another level, not necessarily through wins, but by the standards she set. It’s hard to think of a nicer and more accommodating athlete. In that respect, she is a model. Hopefully one that will never be forgotten.
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