DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Canadian Alena Sharp is off to a solid start through two rounds at the season-ending Epson Tour Championship at LPGA International’s Jones Course. The 42-year-old opened her week in Daytona Beach, Fla., with a bogey-free, 7-under 65, a round that saw her card three sets of back-to-back birdies on holes 5, 6, 13, 14, 17 and 18.
It is her lowest round on the Epson Tour since she fired an 8-under 64 during the second round of the Champions Fore Change Invitational, an event Sharp went on to win by two shots over Gigi Stoll. The win in New Bern, N.C. was the second victory of her Epson Tour career and her first professional title since she won the 2014 Visit Mesa Gateway Classic. Sharp was pleased with her blemish-free, first-round effort, and during a week where she will have to go deep in the red to have a shot at regaining her LPGA Tour status, it was nice to see a low number out there early.
“I saw a leaderboard before I teed off and I was like, ‘Wow, 9-under is leading already,’” said Sharp. “I know I need a big week this week to make my card. A thought came in like, ‘Oh boy, I need to get my butt in gear right away.’ Then I was like, ‘No. We are going to stay present because you can't worry about what other people are doing.’
“Getting off to that good start, I was just in the moment. Then tried to do the same on the back nine. Missed a couple of greens but got up and down, and then left a couple of birdies out there that I maybe could have made. You can't make every putt, so happy with just solid play all day.”
The second round saw Sharp make one bogey and three birdies on the front nine to move to 9-under and turn in 34. She rattled off four consecutive pars from holes 10 to 13 before grabbing her fourth birdie of the day on the par-3 14th hole. Sharp then parred in to grind out a 3-under 69, a score she was proud of considering her putts weren’t dropping like they did on day one. With plans to hit the range and dial in her short irons so she’ll have some closer birdie opportunities tomorrow, Sharp is hoping to hit it closer and have more putts fall as she works to move up in the Race for the Card over the next 36 holes.
“I left a lot of putts on the edge today. Yesterday they went in, today they didn't, but I'm happy with how I hit it,” Sharp said. “I gave myself a lot of good birdie opportunities and drove it well for the most part. I think this week is all about making putts. It's not that windy, and the course is a little soft, so you can attack flags, and you've got to make putts to win this one.
“I'm going to go hit a few balls just to straighten out my 9, pitching wedge and gap wedge because I have a lot of those, so would like to get it closer to the hole. That's what I'm going to work on and then get some rest.”
A longtime LPGA Tour Member who joined the organization in 2005, Sharp hasn’t played a full season on the LPGA Tour since 2021, only teeing it up in 11 events in 2022 and four events in 2023. She has spent most of this year competing on the Epson Tour in an effort to regain full LPGA Tour status for the 2024 season, and with a win and four additional top-10 finishes, Sharp entered the week at the Epson Tour Championship at 16th in the Race for the Card, incredibly close to achieving her goal.
The Canadian will need to finish solo seventh or better to have a chance at one of the seven remaining LPGA Tour cards that will be awarded at the end of the week. While some players in their early 40s would have given up on professional golf by now, Sharp is hungrier than ever to get back to the LPGA Tour and will be playing her heart out as she works to have one of those coveted cards in hand come Sunday afternoon.
“I still love playing the game. Still brings me a lot of joy. I travel with my wife and our dogs and I'm not ready to give it up yet,” said Sharp after the first round. “I still really love the grind and trying to get better every day. It's given me joy to play again. Over a career of 18 years on the Tour, you have so much going on, and I've gone through putting yips and I fixed that, and then it's my swing went downhill.
“I feel like I got it all together now and want to hopefully finish this week strong. If it's not good enough, go back to Q-Series and get out on the Tour so I can finish my career the way I want to.”
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