Maude-Aimée LeBlanc (born 14 February 1989) is a Canadian professional golfer and LPGA Tour player.
| Maude-Aimée LeBlanc | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | 14 February 1989 Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada | ||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Sporting nationality |  Canada | ||||
| Career | |||||
| College | Purdue University | ||||
| Turned professional | 2011 | ||||
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 2012) | ||||
| Former tour(s) | Symetra Tour | ||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships | |||||
| Chevron Championship | CUT: 2017, 2022, 2023 | ||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | T31: 2018 | ||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T26: 2016 | ||||
| Women's British Open | 69th: 2016 | ||||
| Evian Championship | 63rd: 2016 | ||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||
| |||||
Early years, education and amateur career
editLeBlanc was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec and started playing in golf tournaments at age 9. She was a member of the Canadian National Team for six years and participated in the Canadian Women's Open as an amateur in 2006, 2008 and 2009, notably paired with fellow teenager Michelle Wie in 2008.[1]
She represented Canada at the 2008 Espirito Santo Trophy in Adelaide, Australia, helping her team to a fourth-place finish and finishing fourth individually, 8 strokes behind Caroline Hedwall. She reached the quarterfinals of the British Ladies Amateur in Scotland, and finished fourth at the Canadian Women's Amateur.[2]
LeBlanc enrolled at Purdue University in 2007 as a psychology major and played with the Purdue Boilermakers women's golf team, alongside Paula Reto and Laura Gonzalez Escallon. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. As a junior, she earned the Mary Fossum Award for lowest stroke average in the Big Ten Conference, and led Purdue to victory in the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships.[2]
Professional career
editLeBlanc turned professional in June 2011. She finished tied for 7th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, and joined the LPGA Tour for the 2012 season. In her rookie season, she led the tour in driving distance with an average of 282.6 yards.[3]
In 2016, she tied for 26th at the 2016 U.S. Women's Open, and in 2017 she finished tied 7th ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, again leading the tour in average driving distance with 279.26 yards.[3]
Struggling to fully establish herself on the LPGA Tour after sustaining a back injury in 2012,[1] LeBlanc also played on the Symetra Tour, where she was runner-up at the 2015 Guardian Retirement Championship and the 2019 The CDPHP Open.[4]
On the 2021 Symetra Tour, she was runner-up at the IOA Championship, Copper Rock Championship and Island Resort Championship to finish sixth on the Race for the Card money list and earn LPGA Tour membership for 2022.[5]
On the 2022 LPGA Tour, she recorded three top-10 finishes, including a tie for 4th at the JTBC Classic. She finished tied 8th at the Women's Scottish Open after starting the day a stroke behind leaders Céline Boutier and Lydia Ko, and playing in the final group on the last day of the tournament.[6]
A year ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, LeBlanc sat second in the qualification rankings for Canada, on course to represent her country alongside Brooke Henderson, but utlimately lost the spot to Alena Sharp.[7]
Amateur wins
edit- 2006 Pacific Junior Championship, Quebec Junior Championship, Royal Canadian Junior Championship, Junior Orange Bowl International
- 2007 Quebec Amateur Championship, Quebec Junior Championship
- 2008 Quebec Amateur Championship
- 2009 Big Ten Championship (tied), Ladies Midwest Shootout
- 2010 Lady Northern Invitational, Windy City Collegiate
Source:[2]
Results in LPGA majors
editResults not in chronological order.
| ! Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||||||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T50 | T26 | 70 | T58 | |||||||||
| Women's PGA Championship | T36 | WD | T58 | T31 | T71 | ||||||||
| The Evian Championship^ | 63 | NT | CUT | ||||||||||
| Women's British Open | 69 | CUT |
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament
T = tied
Team appearances
editAmateur
- Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Canada): 2008
References
edit- ^ a b "Maude-Aimée LeBlanc: Looking to breakthrough". Golf Canada. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Women's Golf Roster:Maude-Aimee Leblanc". Purdue University Athletics. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Maude-Aimee Leblanc Bio". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Maude-Aimee Leblanc Bio". Epson Tour. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Maude-Aimee Leblanc clinches top 10 spot for her 2022 LGPA Tour card". Golf Canada. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Kopp, Steve (26 August 2022). "Maude-Aimee Leblanc – A Successful Return to Golf". Radio Western. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "IGF – Paris 2024 Olympic Golf Ranking Women's Competition" (PDF). International Golf Federation. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
External links
edit- Maude-Aimée LeBlanc at the LPGA Tour official site
- Maude-Aimée LeBlanc at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site