Tillie Claggett’s summer just keeps getting better.
The Calgary-raised amateur golfer secured a spot in next month’s CPKC Women’s Open — Canada’s lone LPGA Tour event — with a dominant win on Thursday at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada in Burlington, Ont.
Claggett, 21, finished at 13 under in the 54-hole event for professionals and amateurs, seven strokes ahead of runners-up Jasmine Ly of Windsor, Ont., and Casey MacNeil of Massey, Ont. The Vanderbilt University student had a six-shot lead entering the final round following an 8-under 63 on Wednesday.
Claggett, who was raised in Calgary before moving to Texas in her young teenage years with her family, has played some of the best golf of her career this summer in the aftermath of her third NCAA season at Vanderbilt.
The Team Canada member was a semifinalist at the 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn in Scotland. Claggett then went on to finish runner-up at the Texas women’s amateur championship.
The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada was the final stop of the three-event She Plays Golf Championship Series, which awarded CPKC Women’s Open spots to each tournament winner.
Fellow Team Canada members Clara Ding, 14, and Shauna Liu, 16, won the previous two tournaments to book their tickets to the LPGA Tour event, Aug. 21-24 in Mississauga, Ont.
Claggett, meanwhile, joins an impressive list of winners at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada. Previous champs include Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, Lorie Kane, Nancy Harvey and Gail Graham.
