Top Canadian golfers Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp headed to their 3rd Olympics

A busy summer schedule for Brooke Henderson will include two high-profile events where she'll proudly represent her home country.

After competing at the 50th playing of the CPKC Women's Open at Calgary's Earl Grey Golf Club, the 26-year-old superstar from Smiths Falls, Ont., will quickly turn her attention to preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

"I have a really exciting summer coming up and then to add Paris to that list is super cool," said Henderson, who was in Calgary on Monday at a press conference ahead of the LPGA Tour's CPKC Women's Open.

"To become an Olympian as an athlete I think is one of the most special things and probably the highlight of being an athlete is becoming an Olympian. To go and represent Canada is such an honour and I'm very proud of that."

Henderson and veteran golfer Alena Sharp, 43, of Hamilton, qualified to represent Canada at the Paris Olympics as the top two Canadians in the world rankings when the qualification window closed Sunday.

"I always feel, like Brooke said, a lot of pride in wearing the red and white and you go there and you're part of Team Canada," said Sharp, who will be competing at her 19th Canadian national championship in Calgary. "You're playing for yourself, yes, because you want to win a medal, but you're representing your country and there's no greater honour."

It will be the third Olympics for Henderson and Sharp.

Henderson, a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour who is ranked No. 14 in the world, finished tied for seventh when golf returned to the Olympics after a 112-year absence at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. She finished tied for 29th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Sharp, ranked No. 292 in the world, was 30th in Rio and 40th in Tokyo. She is coming