Henderson hopes to match Post’s Canadian LPGA win record at ANA Inspiration
Brooke Henderson Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
It’s no secret that Brooke Henderson wants to catch Sandra Post for most wins by a Canadian on the LPGA Tour. Matching Post’s record at this week’s ANA Inspiration – where the Canadian golfing great won twice – would be Henderson’s ideal event to do it.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp are the only Canadians in the field at the ANA, the first major of the LPGA Tour’s season, starting Thursday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Post won the event in 1978 and 1979 when it was known as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle. Post has eight career LPGA wins, one more than Henderson
“Tying Sandra would be amazing. I’m really looking forward to, and excited, that hopefully I will get this eighth win this year and to do it at a major would be incredible,” Henderson, 21, said. “Especially at ANA where she has won twice.
“I talked to her there before and she’s given me some hints on how to beat the course and hopefully I can put those into action and see what I can do.”
As winner of the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, Henderson qualified for the ANA Inspiration well before this season began. But her strong start to this year – three top-10 finishes and one top 15 – would also have qualified her.
Sharp qualified as one of the top 20 players on the LPGA’s 2019 money list not already in the field.
“I’m really happy with my start to the season,” said Henderson. “I feel like I have been in contention a little bit, I’ve felt the competitive juices flowing. It’s been fun, for sure.
“I feel like my game is in a good spot, I just think there’s some small things I’m continuing to clean up.”
Another highlight of Henderson’s season has been her prominent role in the LPGA’s Drive On campaign.
In the campaign’s 45-second introductory video released on March 20, Henderson is seen practising at a driving range and she is the first of several golfers to do a voiceover encouraging girls to overcome adversity and be true to themselves.
“It was pretty amazing to be a part of a film like that, that is so powerful and has so much meaning behind it,” said Henderson. “I didn’t really realize I was going to be one of the biggest people to kickstart it, but definitely an honour.
“Drive On’s just getting started and I think it will empower not only women and young girls but I think people of all genders and all ages, helping them to push past negativity and focus on what you’re trying to do and get there.”
Henderson 3 back after first round of LPGA Founders
Brooke Henderson (Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
Canadian Press
PHOENIX – Na Yeon Choi feared the worst Thursday in her return from a back injury. She ended up high on the Founders Cup leaderboard.
Choi shot a 7-under 65 at Desert Ridge in her first tournament round in 11 months, leaving her a stroke behind first-round leader Celine Boutier in the event that honours the 13 women who founded the LPGA Tour.
“ Golf is really funny game. I didn’t expect any good score today because this is first day,” said Choi, the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open champion and nine-time tour winner. “I practice hard, of course, but it’s hard to tell how I’m going to shoot. Less expectation, I think, always give you better result.”
Close friend Jenny Shin waited around for Choi to finish and threw a cup of champagne on her in celebration.
“I’m just happy be on the fairway and walking with friends,” Choi said.
The 31-year-old South Korean tried to play through the back problem before finally shutting it down last April, taking the advice of friends and former tour stars Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon.
“I just kept playing golf and my swing got worse and worse and hitting my ball going left and right,” Choi said. “My mentally is like totally broken, so I just need my body get ready first.”
She took a two-week European vacation to help clear her mind.
“I didn’t think about golf,” Choi said. “I didn’t set alarm every day, you know. I just wake up whenever I want and I just eat whatever I want. It was different life I think. I think I was kind of robot when I was growing up and then playing golf well in LPGA Tour. I think I was like living in the box. I couldn’t do anything besides golf. Only golf, only golf. Like 100 per cent focused ongolf.”
When she got the golf bug again, she took it slow and relaxed.
“I try to drink some beer and get a little tipsy and playing golf,” Choi said. “Because we always play golf in serious mode. I just like to play more fun.”
Boutier closed her late round with a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth. The Frenchwoman won the Vic Open last month in Australia for her first LPGA Tour title.
“It’s definitely made me more confident in my game, my ability to win out here,” Boutier said. “I feel like I was kind of lacking that confidence last year.”
Also Thursday, PXG announced it added Boutier to its tour staff.
“It’s super exciting because I’ve been playing their clubs a full year now,” the former Duke player said.
Alana Uriell, Charlotte Thomas, Jin Young Ko and Nanna Koerstz Madsen joined Choi at 65. Uriell won a Symetra Tour event two weeks ago in Florida in her pro debut, making an eagle on the first hole of a playoff.
“It’s given me a lot of confidence coming into the LPGA having a win under my belt,” Uriell said. “Feel a little more at home out here, so I don’t mind letting loose and seeing what I’m capable of.”
Top-ranked Sung Hyun Park, Shin, Carlota Ciganda, Pornanong Phatlum and Monday qualifier Cheyenne Knight shot 66.
Former Phoenix high school star Sarah Schmelzel opened with a 67 in her third tour start. She was the 2011 Arizona high school champion at Xavier Prep.
“It was very comfortable looking over outside the ropes and seeing my boyfriend, my mom, my dad, and my brother and people from my golf club that I grew up at here,” Schmelzel said.
In 2001, her golf-loving father – alerted by a friend that Annika Sorenstam was tearing up their home course of Moon Valley in the Standard Register Ping – pulled her out of elementary school in time to watch the final nine holes of Sorenstam’s tour-record 59.
“I just remember I got called up to the office,” Schmelzel said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no. That’s not good.’ I saw my dad standing at the front desk and he said, ‘All right, we’re going to Moon Valley.”’
Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., also shot 67.
Nelly Korda had a 68. She won the Women’s Australian Open last month for her second LPGA Tour victory and leads the money list.
Defending champion Inbee Park shot 69.
Xiyu Lin had a hole-in-one on the 17th in a 70. She used a 9-iron on the 142-yard hole.
Brittany Marchand (71) of Orangeville, Ont., was tied for 62nd, Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee (73) was tied for 90th, Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (74) was tied for 11th, and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (75) was tied for 128th.
CHONBURI, Thailand – Amy Yang won the LPGA Thailand for the third time after holding off Minjee Lee by one stroke on Sunday.
Yang, from South Korea, carded a final-round 65 and a 22-under-par 266 at Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course for her fourth overall LPGA Tour win.
Despite lightning stopping play for 50 minutes and a rain delay later in the round, Yang emerged from a three-way tie with Lee and Carlota Ciganda with a birdie from the fringe of the green on the par-3 16th to regain the lead at 21 under.
“I was honestly very nervous, especially last three holes,” said Yang, who also won the event in 2015 and 2017. “It was (a) tough hole to finish. I was really telling myself just (to) be patient, do (my) best at the time.
“I tried to stay calm and stayed patient out there. I just enjoy coming here. I love the golf course, which is why I always play well here.”
Brooke Henderson (68) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was sixth at 15-under 273.
With Ciganda already signing off at 20 under, Lee, on the 18th, had the chance force a playoff if she made a 14-foot eagle putt. She didn’t, and she had to settle for a birdie to finish with a 66 at 21 under.
“I really fought out there,” said Lee, who was looking for her fifth LPGA Tour win. “Just tried to make as many birdies as I could. Probably didn’t play probably 15 and 16 the way I wanted to, but I think overall, I had a pretty solid performance.”
Ciganda finished at 20 under after having eagled the par-5 first and the par-4 15th. She shot a 63 on Sunday, matching Eun-Hee Ji’s score from Thursday as the lowest of the event.
“I hit lots of greens, (was) hitting great shots, great numbers, and then today, the putting was hot,” Ciganda said.
Yang, who earned $240,000 of the $1.6 million purse, is expected to move from No. 37 to No. 2 in the Race to the CME Globe following the win.
CHONBURI, Thailand – Canada’s Brooke Henderson is three shots behind leader Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea after shooting a 6-under 66 in the opening round of Honda LPGA Thailand on Thursday.
The bogey-free day marked Henderson’s first competitive round since the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Florida ended on Jan. 20. The 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., sat out the last two events because of illness.
“You know, I felt look I did a lot of things really well today,” Henderson said. “Maybe just adjust the game plan a little bit going into tomorrow. But I’m just going to rest and hopefully come out tomorrow and get a couple birdies early.”
Henderson is in a four-way tie for fifth. Ji has a two-shot lead on Minjee Lee of Australia, Danielle Kang of the United States and Jenny Shin of South Korea.
Henderson tied for seventh at this tournament last year.
Ji won her fifth U.S. LPGA Tour title in her previous event last month, the Tournament of Champions.
She picked up right where she left off, in Chonburi.
After an opening birdie and a bogey on the third hole, Ji birdied nine out of the following 14 holes on the Siam Country Club Pattaya’s Old Course.
“I felt really great. I didn’t miss any fairways and missed just two greens,” Ji said. “I have a lot of confidence.
Lee was bogey free as she eagled the 15th and birdied five holes on a humid day.
“I was little bit slow starting out. I finished with three birdies on the last three holes at the front nine, and got a little bit better momentum,” Lee said.
World No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, the 2013 runner-up, carded a 4-under 68, mixing an eagle and six birdies with two bogeys and a double bogey.
VICTORIA, Australia – Canada’s Brooke Henderson has pulled out of the ISPS Handa Vic Open due to an undisclosed illness.
Henderson made the announcement on Sunday, four days before the opening round of the first full event of the LPGA Tour’s season.
I’m sad to announce that I unfortunately must withdraw from the ISPS Handa Vic Open due to illness. While I am disappointed that I am unable to compete this week, I wish all the best to the tournament staff, sponsors, and competitors. Thank you for your ongoing support.
The Smiths Falls, Ont., tied with Stacy Lewis for sixth at 8 under at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions on Jan. 20, an event limited to winners over the last two seasons.
It’s the first time the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Victoria, Australia is being held.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea left the mistakes to everyone else down the stretch in the LPGA Tour season opener.
Ji managed a strong wind and temperatures in the 50s on Sunday by making three birdies on the back nine to pull away and close with a 1-under 70, giving her a two-shot victory in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
Ji got her mistakes out of the way early, opening with two bogeys to fall behind Lydia Ko. The 32-year-old South Korean took the lead for good with a birdie on the 10th hole at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons, and she stayed in front the rest of the way.
“It was a little bit chilly for me today. My body was a little bit tight on first tee, so I just pulled a little bit, and I made a bogey,” she said. “I made a bogey again second hole. I was like, ‘OK, wait a minute. I need to play this.’ But I have like 16 more holes, and I just trust my swing after that.”
Ko was one shot behind when she pulled her tee shot on the par-5 13th and never found it, and then compounded the error with a three-putt for a double bogey. Ko made double bogey on the closing hole for a 42 on the back nine and a 77.
Ji finished at 14-under 270 to win by two over Mirim Lee, who made only one bogey in her round of 68. Nelly Korda (71) finished third.
“I just enjoyed my game with my celebrity partners,” Ji said. “It makes it more fun and I relaxed more. So I didn’t get nervous.”
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., started the day a shot behind the leaders but struggled on Sunday, shooting a 4-over 75 on the round. That put her into a tie with Stacy Lewis for sixth at 8 under for the tournament.
“I actually hit it great today,” said Henderson.
“I gave myself a lot of great opportunities and just the putter, you know, wasn’t working, which sort of sucks. But overall I feel like I hit it really well and I battled, which is nice.”
The LPGA opener was limited to winners over the last two seasons. It also included a celebrity field of athletes and entertainers who competed for a $500,000 purse using the modified Stableford scoring system.
Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz had 33 points in the final round for a three-point victory over former pitcher Mark Mulder. Smoltz was busy doing math with the Stableford system, trying to hold on for the victory.
“I played really defensively knowing I could get two points for par,” Smoltz said. “I never thought the bogey I made at 17 would be the difference.”
Lewis, in her first competition as a mother, shot 70 and tied for sixth.
Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 1 player in women’s golf who captured every major award last year, went into the weekend two shots out of the lead and closed with a pair of 75s to tie for 18th. Her sister, Moriya Jutanugarn, managed a bogey-free round for a 69 to tie for fourth with Shanshan Feng (70).
Ko says her problems on the 13th started with thinking she had to hammer her tee shot.
No one could find it in the marsh area left of the fairway, though Ko was at least consoled to see “like a million balls in there, so it makes me feel better that I wasn’t the only one that hit there.”
She hit another tee shot and easily carried the bunker, and then hit a stock 3-wood onto the green.
“I was like, ‘Well, that was stupid.’ Because I could have just hit a normal driver, and I probably wouldn’t have duck-hooked it and it would still be able to be in play,” Ko said. “I guess there’s moments I thought it was necessary, but then it wasn’t. But, hey, you’re always going to have some of these failures along the way.”
The LPGA is now off for two weeks before resuming in Australia for the Vic Open. The tour returns to the United States on March 21-24 for the Founders Cup in Arizona.
Henderson has historic win in sights at LPGA opener
Brooke Henderson (Getty Images)
Canadian Press with files from Golf Canada
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Lydia Ko could only think about the putts that didn’t go in, perhaps because she was used to making so many.
Ko ran off four birdies on the front nine Saturday for a 30, and it was enough to carry her to a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Eun-Hee Ji going into the final round of the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions on the LPGA Tour.
Ji also was hot early, and a pair of birdies early on the back nine gave her a 66.
They were at 13-under 200.
But the big story for Canadian golf is Brooke Henderson. The Smith Falls, Ont., native was poised to make it a three-way tie at the top until she made bogey on the par-3 closing hole for a 69, leaving her one shot behind.
“Hopefully things go my way, but it’s really cool to be in this position going into Sunday,” said Henderson.
“I feel like I have a positive things to take. Hopefully, do something similar tomorrow and hopefully the putts will drop.”
With seven LPGA victories, Henderson entered 2019 one back of the all-time win record by Canadian professionals held by Mike Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post. She’d tie the record with a win Sunday.
The LPGA Tour season opener is limited to winners each of the last two seasons for a $1.2 million purse. It also includes a 49-player field of celebrities and athletes competing for a $500,000 purse. Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz had 39 points in the modified Stableford format, giving him a four-point lead over retired pitcher Mark Mulder. Mardy Fish from the world of tennis was five points behind.
There are eight different countries in the top-10 heading into Sunday’s final round of the #DiamondLPGA.
The forecast for the final round was cooler temperatures in the upper 50s and 20 mph wind with gusts even stronger. Henderson hopes that works in her favour.
“I think I can grind it out, and a lot of my wins have come in windy conditions,” Henderson said. “I tend to play a little bit better. Hopefully, things go my way, but it’s really cool to be in this position going into Sunday. I feel like I have a lot of positive things to take.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson vaults in front at LPGA Tour season opener
Brooke Henderson (Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
Canadian Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson kept out of trouble and kept bogeys off her card Friday on her way to a four-under 67 and a two-shot lead in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, the winners-only start to the LPGA Tour season.
The 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., had the only bogey-free round at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons and is now 10 under for the tournament.
Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 1 player in women’s golf who captured every major award last season, made two bogeys, including the par-3 closing hole. The Thai is not sure how she didn’t make more, considering how she hit the ball.
She mixed in six birdies over an 11-hole stretch and it added up to a 67, leaving her two shots back and tied for second along with Lydia Ko (68) and Eun-Hee Ji (67).
“I didn’t expect to finish 4 under today at all because I hit everywhere. I keep missing fairways and greens, and I’m at 4 under,” Jutanugarn said. “I’m going to say my short game helped me a lot today because I keep missing the green – and I’m not missing by two yards, I’m missing by like 10, 15 yards.”
No matter. She was poised going into the weekend to get her encore season off to a big start.
Henderson was at 10-under 132 as the seven-time tour winner tries to match Sandra Post, George Knudson and Mike Weir for the most pro titles by a Canadian. Henderson has had at least a share of the 36-hole lead in five of her seven victories.
“It’s always fun to be in the final group and be in contention,” Henderson said. “It’s what we play for pretty much every single week. It’s nice to be here. It’s only the halfway point, but I still need to make a lot of birdies and keep hitting it to win.”
She didn’t make as many birdies as she wanted in the second round, but it was enough. Henderson began the back nine with two straight birdies, and closed with seven straight pars to stay in the lead.
Stacy Lewis, in her first tournament as a mother, followed her opening 66 with a 74. That dropped her to 17th place in the 26-player field limited only to LPGA Tour winners each of the last two seasons.
The field also has a strong celebrity component, with 49 athletes and entertainers competing in a modified Stableford format for a $500,000 purse. Former tennis player Mardy Fish posted 39 points for the second straight day, but with bogeys over his last two holes, his lead was down to one point over former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz.
Jutanugarn played the second round with former NBA star Ray Allen, and even though she was hitting shots all over the course, she found plenty of time to talk.
“I asked him how to manage when you’re like the best player, like how to manage everything,” Jutanugarn said. “We talked all 18 holes, and he helped me a lot with like how to manage, be like a top player. … It means so much to me. Ray is so nice to me. I kept asking him questions.”
Mirim Lee had a 69 and was alone in fifth place, while Lexi Thompson (69) and Marina Alex (67) were another shot behind.
Henderson won two times last year, including the CP Women’s Open in Regina. She won the KPMG Women’s PGA for her first major in 2016. Despite shutting it down for two weeks over the break while in Canada, she likes the mix she had of rest and practice when she got back to the work.
“Overall, I’m really happy to be in double digits after two rounds. That’s pretty cool, minus 10,” she said. “So I feel like there’s not too much wrong, but just maybe a little bit of inconsistency. Some putts, I wasn’t hitting them quite as well as I would have liked.”
Henderson looks to set Canadian golf record in 2019
Brooke Henderson (Golf Canada/ Bernard Brault)
Adam Stanley/ Canadian Press
On the airplane from Ottawa after her Christmas holidays, everyone recognized Brooke Henderson.
“That was just kind of different, but kind of cool,” said Henderson with a laugh from Naples, Fla., as she prepared for the LPGA season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions this week in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
While the 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., insists life hasn’t changed much as she’s rocketed up the golf rankings the past few years, the airplane scene shows just how far Henderson has come in the general Canadian sport landscape.
With seven LPGA victories, Henderson enters 2019 one back of the all-time win record by Canadian professionals held by Mike Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post.
To match or eclipse that mark, the reigning Canadian Press female athlete of the year (an award she has won three times in the past four years) said she’s focused on keeping her scoring average below 70. Her 2018 average of 69.99 was good enough for fourth on tour and if she meets that goal again, she said everything else would fall in line.
The key to her success will be her putting, as it’s the one area of her game that has held her back in the past. She said she’s been working hard with her father Dave (who is also her coach) on speed.
Having good pace on the greens, she said, would be a difference-maker this year.
“I’ve been working on consistency and make sure I’m ready for 2019,” she said. “And I feel like I am.”
Henderson earned a legion of new fans at least year’s CP Women’s Open in Regina, when she won by four shots and became the first Canadian woman to win on home soil in 45 years. She also won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii in April.
“I feel like I’ll be in contention a lot of the time and hopefully that leads to getting at least one win this year,” said Henderson. “But I’d love to keep that streak going of having at least two (she’s won two tournaments each of the past three years).”
Adam Hadwin, Canada’s top-ranked male golfer, certainly wouldn’t doubt that possibility. He calls Henderson “a force.”
“With someone like her, with her being so young, the world is her oyster,” said Hadwin. “My hope is that she continues to enjoy the game and she stays the young, happy kid that she is and she continues doing what she’s doing. If she can do that, she’ll have an extremely long, successful career.”
Despite the money (she’s earned more than US$1.4 million the last three years in a row and counts Rolex as one of her sponsors), and the fame (a bobblehead doll made in her likeness has become a collector’s item), Henderson doesn’t feel like her life is that much different.
It’s been a big adjustment going from a town of 9,000 to being recognized around the world, she admitted, but Henderson remains close to the people who have been by her side for years.
After dropping the ceremonial puck before an Ottawa Senators game in December and receiving a standing ovation, she watched the game in a box surrounded only by family and some friends she’s known since grade school.
“The people that have always been there for me and always been important to me ? they haven’t changed at all,” she said. “I feel like I’ve just grown friends around the world. I’ve brought things in, in addition to those people from my life in Smiths Falls.”
Henderson, who joked at the 2017 CP Women’s Open about retiring early, said she’s not looking too far ahead these days.
The 2019 season is her main focus.
“I feel like I’ve handled everything pretty well so far,” said Henderson. “I’m just trying to get a little bit better every day, and have a great year.”
Henderson is the lone Canadian in the winners-only event this week. The first full-field event of the LPGA Tour season goes Feb. 7-10 in Australia.
CANADIANS TO WATCH ON THE LPGA TOUR IN 2019
Brittany Marchand– Marchand, 26, managed to secure LPGA status for 2019 after finishing tied for seventh at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in July, her best result of the year. The native of Orangeville, Ont., is Canada’s second-ranked female golfer behind Henderson.
Alena Sharp – Sharp, 37, said in 2018 she battled depression as she struggled on the course. But a run of solid results to end of her year secured LPGA Tour status once again in 2019 for the native of Hamilton. She’s looking for her first win.
Jaclyn Lee – Calgary’s Lee finished in sixth place at the LPGA Tour’s Q-Series (an eight-round qualifying tournament) to comfortably earn status for 2019. The 21-year-old announced in December she would be leaving Ohio State University to turn professional. While she’s still going to get her degree, she won’t play on the golf team.
Anne-Catherine Tanguay – The native of Quebec City is back on the LPGA Tour for the second year in a row after finishing eighth in Q-Series. She finished 126th on the money list last year.
Henderson repeats as Female Athlete of the Year for Canadian Press & Postmedia
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Canadian Press
There was a quiet poise to Brooke Henderson on that Sunday morning last summer in Regina ahead of her final round at the CP Women’s Open.
She had experienced big moments before: her first LPGA Tour win as a 17-year-old in 2015, her first major victory a year later, her first appearance at the Olympics.
This tournament was different.
No Canadian had won the national open since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973. Supporters who crammed the galleries could sense something special was happening.
Henderson would deliver in emphatic fashion, firing a closing-round 65 for a four-shot victory.
“The 18th hole, standing on that green, surrounded by family and friends and hundreds of fans and spectators cheering me on – it was sort of a surreal moment,” Henderson said. “To finally hold that trophy that I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl, it gives me chills just thinking back on it.”
It was one of two tournament titles and 11 top-10 finishes for Henderson last season. On Wednesday, she was rewarded for her stellar campaign by being named a repeat winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year.
Henderson, who has won the award in three of the last four years, picked up 30 of 54 votes (55.6 per cent) in a poll of broadcasters and editors from across the country.
“Especially this year being an Olympic year with all the great athletes that competed in the Winter Olympics, it’s a big honour and I’m just really proud to take home this award again,” said Henderson, who was also named Postmedia’s Female Athlete of the Year.
Figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond and short-track speedskater Kim Boutin tied for second place with 10 votes each (18.5 per cent).
The winner of the Lionel Conacher Award as Canada’s male athlete of the year will be named Thursday and the team of the year will be named Friday.
With wet weather in the forecast, Henderson had an early start for her final round at the CP Women’s Open. Showing no sign of nerves or timidity, she lashed her opening drive down the fairway and birdied the hole for a two-stroke lead.
Angel Yin, Sung Hyun Park, Su Oh and others tried to make charges that day but Henderson wouldn’t buckle. In fact, the Canadian found another gear.
Henderson pulled away with four straight birdies on the back nine and tapped in a birdie putt on the 18th hole to send the crowd into a tizzy. Her seventh career LPGA Tour victory moved her one behind Sandra Post’s record for all-time wins by a Canadian.
“The blinders were on,” Post said. “She was looking at the finish line and she just looked like it was hers. She wasn’t nervous. It was hers.”
It was an emotional summer for Henderson and her family. Her maternal grandfather died in early June and her paternal grandfather died in early August.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., remained steady and consistent throughout the year. She won the Lotte Championship last April in Hawaii, earned US$1.47 million over the season and finished ninth in the world rankings.
“Big performances on the biggest stage amongst stiff competition in one of the highest-profile sports in the world,” said Edmonton-based Postmedia editor Craig Ellingson.
Henderson was fourth in scoring average (69.99) on the LPGA Tour, eighth in driving distance (268-yard average) and fourth in greens in regulation (74.5 per cent).
Her short game statistics were middle of the pack. Henderson was 72nd in putting average (29.7 putts per round) and 87th in sand saves (43.7 per cent).
“It’s easy to get down on yourself when things aren’t going perfectly,” Henderson said. “I feel like I stayed really patient through the majority of the year. When things were not very good, they always turned around. You just have to wait them out and I did that.
“Even going into the CP Women’s Open, I was in contention a few times and wasn’t able to get the job done. But I feel like I learned from those experiences and then when I put myself in position in Regina, I wasn’t going to let it go that time. I was able to seal the deal.”
Bobbie Rosenfeld, an Olympic medallist in track and field and a multi-sport athlete, was named Canada’s best female athlete of the half-century in 1950.
The first winner of the Rosenfeld award was golfer Ada Mackenzie in 1933. Marlene Stewart Streit leads all golfers by taking the honour on five occasions (1952, ’53, ’56, ’57, ’63).