Brooke Henderson has lost count of all the tweaks and adjustments that have been made to her driver heading into The Chevron Championship.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., estimates that she’s tried over a dozen different shafts ahead of Thursday’s first round at The Chevron, the first major of the LPGA Tour season. The switch was necessary as the women’s professional golf circuit changed its rules so that a 46-inch shaft was the maximum length allowed, while the 24-year-old Henderson has used a 48-inch shaft since she was 15.
Henderson said she has been practising with the new, shorter club leading up to The Chevron Championship, where the rule will come into effect. She said she has been holding the driver closer to the end of the grip, which has also had a weight added to it.
Henderson has been on a tear to start 2022, starting with a second-place finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Jan. 20. She followed that up with a tie for sixth at the Gainsbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on Jan. 27, a tie for 11th at the LPGA Drive on Championship at Crown Colony on Feb. 3, a tie for sixth at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on March 3, and finally a tie for fourth at the Honda LPGA Thailand on March 10 before taking a week off.
Starting 2022 with strong, consistent play was a priority for Henderson after last year which she said wasn’t her best. She said that she worked with her team in the off-season on adjusting several aspects of her play, beyond testing new drivers.
“Short game I think is where I felt like I could really make the biggest difference in my game,” said Henderson. “So spending a lot of time around the greens and just mentally, my mindset, was a big change as well.”
The Chevron Championship is also known as the Dinah Shore, the singer and actress, who founded the tournament in 1972. It has also gone by several sponsored titles including the Nabisco Championship, Kraft Nabisco Championship, and ANA Inspiration.
Regardless of its name, this year’s edition of The Chevron Championship will be its last at Mission Hills. It will move to a new location for 2023, likely near Houston.
Henderson said she hopes she can jump into Poppie’s Pond on Sunday, a tradition dating back to 1988 where the tournament’s winner splashes into the water surrounding the 18th green.
“It’s a little bit sad to leave behind the tradition and history that this course and Poppie’s Pond have,” said Henderson. “It would definitely be an amazing chance to have that last spot in history of making that leap into the pond. That would be very cool.”