Aphrodite Deng got to live out the dream of every competitive golfer, playing two rounds with the best in the world and excelling on the course, and she's just 15 years old.
Deng played alongside Nelly Korda of the United States at the Mizuho Americas Open, winning the junior tournament on May 11 while the American tied for fifth in the LPGA Tour's event of the same name.
"It was a really fun experience," said Deng, who also won the American Junior Golf Association's Junior Invitational in March by six strokes. "I was trying not to think too much about who's watching stuff, but it was fun."
Deng was born in Calgary and her family lived in Montreal before moving to New Jersey for her dad's work. She mostly lives in Orlando now but remains a Canadian citizen and plays for Golf Canada's junior program.
She said that she learned a lot from observing Korda, who won five consecutive tournaments and seven total last season to return to world No. 1 in the women's world golf rankings and earn the 2024 LPGA Tour's Player of the Year award.
"It was really cool to see how (Korda) carries herself on the course and in her game," said Deng on Wednesday. "I think she takes more time and puts in a lot of thought for each shot.
"I think I need some of that in my life."
Jeff MacDonald, head coach of Golf Canada's NextGen team, said that Deng has grown stronger over the course of the season and it's helped her improve her game.
"She's hitting the ball quite a bit further," said MacDonald. "She's always been a really consistent player, drives it great, but just in the last few months she's been getting a little bit of extra distance.
"That's helping her out a ton. She's just super steady."
Both Deng and MacDonald were at Weston Golf and Country Club in Toronto for Team Canada's media day, where media and other stakeholders could train like Golf Canada players for a day.
Deng, who has taught golf to younger children, said she was looking forward to instructing adults.
Golf Canada announced at the media day at Weston that it was adding 11 Canadians to the field at the RBC Canadian Open.
Korn Ferry Tour players Sudarshan Yellamaraju and Matthew Anderson, both from Mississauga, Ont., headlined the group. Ashton McCulloch of Kingston, Ont., earned his exemption as the top Canadian amateur player on the world rankings and Calgary's Hunter Thomson earned his exemption by finishing first on the individual leaderboard at the inaugural Canadian Collegiate Invitational last September at 脰viinbyrd Golf Club in MacTier, Ont.
Toronto's Richard T. Lee, Calgary's Wes Heffernan, and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., also accepted exemptions.
Three other Canadians earned exemptions through Canadian Open regional qualifying including Cougar Collins of Mono, Ont., Matt Scobie of Oshawa, Ont., and Brett Webster of Chilliwack, B.C. An additional exemption will be awarded at the Quebec regional qualifier, taking place at Griffon des Sources 鈥� Aigle Lion in Mirabel, Que., on Wednesday.
LPGA TOUR 鈥� Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., leads a group of four Canadians into the Riviera Maya Open at El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba this week. She's 104th in the Race to CME Globe standings heading into play in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Hamilton's Alena Sharp (119th), as well as Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., 鈥� both unranked 鈥� are also in the field.
PGA TOUR 鈥� Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., is ranked 43rd on the FedEx Cup standings heading into this week's Charles Schwab Challenge. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is 160th and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is 164th heading into the tournament at Colonial County Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
DP WORLD TOUR 鈥� Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., is the lone Canadian in the field at the Soudal Open. He is 127th in the Race to Dubai Rankings, the points list for the European-based tour, heading into play at Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp, Belgium.
CHAMPIONS TOUR 鈥� Calgary's Stephen Ames and Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., will represent Canada at this week's Senior PGA Championship. Ames is 21st in the Schwab Cup standings and Weir is 57th heading into play at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
KORN FERRY TOUR 鈥� Yellamaraju, Anderson and Sloan are all in action at the Visit Knoxville Open at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn. Yellamaraju is 11th in the second-tier tour's points list, Anderson is 43rd and Sloan is 112th. They'll be joined by Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald (31st), Myles Creighton (56th) of Digby, N.S., Etienne Papineau (137th) of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
PGA TOUR AMERICAS 鈥� Joey Savoie, also from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, is the top-ranked Canadian playing in the Inter Rapidisimp Golf Championship. He's 616th in the official world golf rankings and one of nine Canadians in the field at Club el Rincon de Cajica in Bogota, Colombia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
