EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France _ Canada’s Brooke Henderson is two strokes back at the halfway mark of the Evian Championship, the final major of the LPGA Tour season.
The 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for sixth at 6 under after a 2-under 69 on Friday. She’s two strokes behind Maria Torres of Puerto Rico, Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea and Americans Mo Martin and Amy Olson.
After two birdies in a row on Nos. 4 and 5, Henderson had a bogey at No. 6 and a double bogey at No. 7. But she bounced back on the back nine with four birdies and one bogey.
“I feel like my game is in a really good spot,” said Henderson. “To be able to rebound like that mentally I think is really key. On this golf course you got to stay patient, and I feel like we were able to do that even though it’s very difficult at times.
“I’m really excited for the next few days, so we’ll just see what happens.”
Tour rookie Torres, the first Puerto Rican to earn an LPGA card, shot a 2-under 69 before Olson (65), Martin (66) and Lee (66) matched her 8-under 134 total.
“It’s something new and it’s exciting (to lead),” said the 23-year-old Torres, who is ranked No. 184. She missed the cut at 10 over in her only previous major, the Women’s PGA Championship won in July by the South Korean world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park, who won’t play this weekend.
Park (71) started and finished play Friday at 6 over at the sun-soaked Evian Resort Golf Club and missed the cut by three shots.
Olson had seven birdies and secured a share of the lead with an 18-foot par-saving putt on the 18th.
“That was huge,” said the 26-year-old North Dakota native, whose career-best finish in a major is tied for ninth at the ANA Inspiration this season. “Seeing it drop, that’s a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.”
Olson’s working week in France meant she needed a replacement to bake cookies for the Indiana State linebackers coached by her husband, Grant. The Sycamores play Saturday at Eastern Illinois.
“The head coach’s wife made them for the linebackers this week,” Olson said. “She got me covered.”
Lee made an eagle at her final hole, the par-5 ninth, to be the highest ranked co-leader, at No. 59. The South Korean’s two career LPGA wins are more than the other three combined, though Martin won the 2014 Women’s British Open.
One shot back, Carlota Ciganda of Spain carded 70 to follow a 65 that only Torres equaled Thursday.
A seven-woman group on 6 under included Georgia Hall (68), last month’s Women’s British Open champion, plus former major winners Henderson (69) and So Yeon Ryu (69).
Austin Ernst (70) is also two shots back, completing her round minutes before Hurricane Florence made landfall close to her home state South Carolina.
“I’ve checked the weather app every day and talked to my family back home,” said the Seneca native. “It’s more flooding (risk) where I am. Let’s see what happens.”
American amateur Rachel Heck, who is only 16 years old, safely made the cut at her second major. A 73 got her to 1 over.
The top-ranked American, world No. 5 Lexi Thompson, was in tears on the 18th green and missed the cut by one stroke. She swiped her club in frustration after a scuffed chip that led to a bogey-5 and a round of 75. The 2014 ANA Inspiration winner had also dropped a shot at the 17th.
Brooke Henderson tied for 4th at Evian Championship
Brooke Henderson (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Canadian Press with files from Golf Canada
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Aiming to stylishly cap a rookie season that Hurricane Maria almost denied her, Maria Torres shared the first-round lead on 6 under at the final women’s golf major Thursday.
Torres, the first Puerto Rican player to get an LPGA Tour card, went birdie-birdie-eagle from the 13th to 15th holes in a 65 that tied her atop the Evian Championship leaderboard with Carlota Ciganda of Spain.
“I just want to come here and play, and whatever happens, happens,” Torres said.
Carefree laughs flowed from the 184th-ranked Torres, who last September was on her home island when the hurricane struck.
In the aftermath, the University of Florida graduate struggled to register for the second part of tour qualifying school. Finally, at Daytona Beach in December, Torres won a three-way playoff to claim the last tour card on offer.
Nine months later, the 2016 Southeastern Conference college player of the year is relishing her first competition in France.
“It’s awesome to be here,” Torres said. “I love it, I’m like almost rolling down the par-3s with all I’ve been eating here.”
Torres matched a target set by the 21st-ranked Ciganda, who had six birdies and no bogeys on the 6,523-yard Evian Resort Golf Club course.
Both excelled on the par-5s. Torres played the four long holes in 5 under, including her eagle at No. 15, against three birdies for the 28-year-old Ciganda, who previously helped Arizona State win a college title.
One shot back, Austin Ernst of the United States made eagle-3 at the 13th in a 5-under 66 to stand alone in third place.
A three-player group on 67 included Brooke Henderson of Canada, winner of the 2018 CP Women’s Open and 2016 PGA Championship; Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who won the qualifying school tournament, and two-time major winner So Yeon Ryu of South Korea.
Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., opened with a 2-over 73 to share 56th place. Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., sits right on the projected cut line of 3 over par.
Georgia Hall, a homegrown British Open champion last month, had a bogey-free 68 to stand in a big group on 3 under which included seven-time major winner Inbee Park of South Korea.
Top-ranked Sung Hyun Park had a tough day, shooting a 6-over 77 playing in the same afternoon group as Hall. The South Korean player, who won the PGA Championship in July, dropped shots at four of the first five holes.
“Nothing went well,” Park said through a translator. “It was a very disappointing day.”
Defending champion Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and fifth-ranked Lexi Thompson of the U.S. shot even-par 71s among the early starters, who enjoyed the best of 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees F) heat.
Forecast stormy rain held off just until the last groups completed play, including 16-year-old American Rachel Heck who had a 1-under 70 in her second major.
“I was looking around thinking I can’t believe I am actually here,” said Heck, a native of Memphis, Tennessee who got a wild-card entry.
LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam full of praise for Henderson ahead of major
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Adam Stanley/ Canadian Press
Annika Sorenstam has learned a thing or two about what it takes to be the best.
So when the World Golf Hall of Fame member says Canada’s Brooke Henderson is well on her way to becoming one of the top players on the LPGA Tour, it makes sense to pay attention.
Henderson’s emotional win at the CP Women’s Open last month in Regina could be just the beginning, the 72-time winner on the LPGA Tour said in an interview ahead of the final major of the season – the Evian Championship, starting Thursday in Evian-les-Bains, France.
“What Brooke did was an amazing display of golf,” Sorenstam said of Henderson’s triumph, which ended a 45-year drought for Canadians at their national championship.
“If this continues, she will soon be one of the best in the world.”
Sorenstam, who in 2014 was named the best Swedish female athlete in history, won three times in Sweden during her career.
She’s also a two-time winner of the Evian Championship, where Henderson will try to put an exclamation mark on a memorable year.
Sorenstam said she likes Henderson’s game, which mixes an aggressive approach off the tee with a nice short game.
The combination, she said, is going to be beneficial for the native of Smiths Falls, Ont., for years to come.
“She has gotten off to a quick start in her young career,” Sorenstam said of Henderson, who turned 21 on Monday. “I am sure there will be many more wins to follow.”
Henderson has unfinished business at the Evian. She finished tied for ninth and tied for 25th in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Last year’s tournament was shortened to 54 holes due to weather, and she finished tied for 58th.
“It’s a beautiful golf course – usually challenging with the weather – but I think it suits my game well, particularly with how I’m striking the ball right now,” said Henderson.
“Hopefully all the pieces come together for the week and I can play well again.”
With more than US$1.2 million earned this season, Henderson sits second on the LPGA Tour money list with seven tournaments left. She’s also third on the year
that points list after the CME Group Tour Championship, the final event of the year, she’ll win a $1-million bonus prize.
Henderson’s CP Women’s Open victory was her second of the year. She also captured the Lotte Championship in Hawaii in April.
“I think it’s finally starting to sink in that I won our national championship, and it’s just such an amazing feeling and a dream come true to know that my name will always be on that trophy,” said Henderson.
With her win in Regina, Henderson figures to be a strong candidate for the Lou Marsh Trophy, given to Canada’s athlete of the year.
The award has been claimed by a golfer only three times: Marlene Streit (1956), Sandra Post (1979), and Mike Weir (2003).
“It’s something that would be an incredible achievement and honour to be in the conversation for,” said Henderson. “Hopefully my game and my achievements on the course can put me in that position some day.”
Henderson now has seven victories since turning professional. The most by a Canadian – male or female – is eight, a record held jointly by George Knudson, Post, and Weir, all of whom accomplished the feat much later in their careers.
Henderson celebrated her birthday at home with her family and said the week off was “definitely needed” after her win and then playing in the Cambia Portland Classic the week after, where she tied for 21st.
“It was nice having a tournament to just roll straight into to try and act as normal as possible, but to just be able to relax for a few days and reflect on everything has been great,” she said.
Canadian Henderson two back as Marina Alex shoots 10 under 62 to take LPGA Tour lead
Brooke Henderson (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Canadian Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — Marina Alex matched the course record with a 10-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead over Canadian Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee in the Cambia Portland Classic.
With Stacy Lewis unable to defend her title as she prepares for the birth of her first child, Alex is using her friend’s caddie, Travis Wilson, at Columbia Edgewater.
“It’s been a blast,” Alex said. “The timing was great. He wanted to work a couple more events before the season ended and I was looking. Trav is awesome. So much fun, really lighthearted.”
They had a lot of fun Thursday morning on the tree-lined layout.
“The course is in perfect shape,” Alex said. “So, if you’re hitting your lines, you’re going to make a ton of putts. … I’m going to have to come out and make as many birdies as I can the next three days.”
Winless on the tour, the 28-year-old former Vanderbilt player birdied the last four holes and five of the last six in a back-nine 30.
“Got my ball-striking together and it was awesome,” Alex said.
Henderson, the 2015 and 2016 winner from Smiths Falls, Ontario, birdied five of the last six holes for a 64. The 20-year-old star is coming off a victory Sunday in the CP Women’s Open on home soil in Regina.
“I could see the scores were really low today, so I wanted to go low on the back nine,” Henderson said. “And I was able to get five birdies. I’m really happy with this round.”
Lee closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth. The Australian birdied her first five holes and six of the first seven.
“I think it was a combination of everything,” Lee said. “Most of the day I struck it pretty well with my iron shots. I had pretty good control of the yardages and I hit some solid putts.”
Robynn Ree was at 65 after a closing bogey. After a last-minute putter change, the 21-year-old former Southern California player played the first 10 holes in 7 under. She had 10 birdies _ five in a row on Nos. 2-6 _ and two bogeys.
“I was like maybe I’ll get the new putter vibes,” Ree said. “Luckily, that worked out today and my shots were so much better. I was really fortunate that I was hitting well and putting well.”
Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall matched Su Oh at 66.
“It’s an amazing golf course,” Hall said. “It’s in great condition.”
Anna Nordqvist, Brittany Lincicome, Angela Stanford and Mariah Stackhouse topped the group at 67.
Lexi Thompson eagled the par-5 seventh in a 68. She missed the cut last week in Canada after tying for 12th in Indianapolis following a three-week break for emotional and mental fatigue.
Inbee Park, playing for the first time since the Women’s British Open, opened with a 69 playing alongside Thompson and Shanshan Feng (72).
There are five other Canadians in the field.
Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., opened with a 3-under 69. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (72) are even while Charlottetown’s Lori Kane (76) and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., (78) are well back.
Karen Stupples had a 69 in her first tour start in more than two years. The 45-year-old English player is a commentator for Golf Channel.
“I was pretty nervous,” Stupples said. “I started to get nervous last night. But managed just to play and have fun with it today. It was really fun, actually. I enjoyed it and the challenge. One-under par, that was pretty good. It was way above my expectations.”
PORTLAND, Ore. – It took a while for Brooke Henderson’s win at the CP Women’s Open to sink in.
The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., made history on Sunday when she became the first Canadian to win the national women’s golf championship in 45 years. Speaking a day before teeing off at the Cambia Portland Classic – a tournament she has won twice in her young career – Henderson said last week’s win at Regina’s Wascana Country Club felt like it was “meant to be.”
Or maybe it seemed too good to be true.
“Sunday night when I was trying to fall asleep I had like a nightmare that it wasn’t over and I didn’t actually win, so I kind of woke up like panicked,” Henderson said.
“It’s starting to sink in a little bit more now. It’s just incredible, and to have the amount of support that I did, not only from the fans, but also from a lot of my friends out on tour. When I finished on 18, to get showered in champagne and just have them there waiting for me was really special.”
Henderson, who said winning in Canada was “a big check mark” in her career, can now turn her focus toward a strong finish to the LPGA season. Henderson sits second in the Race to the CME Globe, a season-long points contest that awards a US$1 million bonus to the winner.
Henderson trails Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn by 1,098 points with eight events left.
“I feel like it was a big move for my CME and also my world ranking winning last week, which is really exciting to see those numbers go closer to the top,” Henderson said.
“Hopefully I can just finish strong and put myself in a good position going into CME.”
Henderson picked up her first career LPGA Tour win at Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club in 2015 and defended her title in 2016. She hopes to take advantage of a course that suits her style to pick up valuable points this week.
“I just really like the tall trees, kind of narrow fairways. For a while I only seemed to win on courses like this,” Henderson said.
“But just the atmosphere here is a little bit different. The fans are always great. Very supportive. I think just getting the win in 2015 by I think it was eight shots, which was pretty cool for my first win out on tour, just since then I feel like coming back here every hole I have a good memory.
“And some bad ones – but I feel like the good ones overtake those.”
Even before her LPGA win, Brooke Henderson was a hometown ambassador
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Canadian Press
SMITHS FALLS, Ont. – Glenda Cooke started to get emotional when she sat, glued to her TV, while watching Brooke Henderson hit the golf ball off the 16th tee Sunday on her way to victory in the CP Women’s Open.
“That’s when I got up and got the Kleenex,” Cooke said Monday as she recalled witnessing Henderson, a fellow Smiths Falls, Ont., native, become the first Canadian to win an LPGA Tour crown on home soil in 45 years.
“And the happy tears started to flow and they just kept coming.”
By the time Henderson was walking comfortably toward the 18th, local fans of the 20-year-old were yelling “Go Brooke, yay,” said Anita Kerfoot as she and the others in her threesome were finishing their Monday morning round on the course at the Smiths Falls Golf and Country Club.
Henderson has had an immeasurable impact on young girls wanting to get into golf, even before she won in Regina, said Cooke.
“That started as soon as Brooke went on the (LPGA) Tour,” she said.
“Just the audience watching her (Sunday), there were a lot of young girls there,” Kerfoot added.
Club members who watched Henderson playing while she was growing up said they haven’t been surprised by her achievements.
“I did play a couple of rounds with Brooke when she was growing up and it was a treat to play with her then,” said Ken Closs.
“You could tell that she was going to be something special,” said Closs, adding that Henderson bested him on the golf course when she was just 10 years old.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said as his golfing buddies laughed.
The Henderson family has become synonymous with golf in the small Eastern Ontario town. Her uncle, Tom Henderson, is the current local course title holder.
“What she’s doing for golf in Smiths Falls, and for women in general, it’s really awesome,” Tom Henderson said of his niece.
There is, after all, a trophy case displaying Brooke Henderson’s achievements just inside the clubhouse.
A new junior locker room in her name also was built in the last year, displaying pictures from some of Henderson’s junior championships.
“It’s really there to help inspire our juniors to continue working hard and loving this game,” said club manager and senior pro Dan McNeely.
Henderson has, through her talents but also by virtue of her character, become an ambassador for not only Smiths Falls, but for the sport of golf and for her country, said the town’s mayor, Shawn Pankow.
“She’s our favourite daughter,” Pankow said as he stood on the sidewalk outside his office.
“When you look at the way she represents our community, the way she represents Canada, she’s still that humble small-town girl who has taken the golf world by storm,” he said.
“So much she’s done in such a short period of time, the whole town is incredibly proud of her.”
Pankow said Henderson’s victory was yet another shot in the arm for a town which was once struggling, despite being close to the nation’s capital. However, Smiths Falls more recently has experienced a boom in tourism and business development.
The future for the town of roughly 9,000 people appeared grim a decade ago when a major local business, the Hershey Chocolate factory, shut down operations and moved to Mexico.
But Smiths Falls has since benefited from the explosion in Canadian cannabis, which has brought a resurgence in jobs and tourism.
Pankow said Henderson’s victory Sunday appeared all the more remarkable, given her and her family’s own recent turmoil.
Both of Henderson’s grandfathers died this summer.
Weir says CP Women’s Open win could be only the start for Brooke Henderson
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Adam Stanley/ Canadian Press
Once a beacon of inspiration for men’s golf in Canada, Mike Weir believes Brooke Henderson can be the same for the women’s game – and she will “blow past” the all-time mark for top-flight tour wins by a Canadian in the process.
Weir returned to his hotel after hiking in southern Utah on Sunday to the news that Henderson had won the CP Women’s Open. That put the 20-year-old Henderson at seven LPGA wins, just one back of the record for most victories by a Canadian at a top-level tour held by Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post.
“I hope it makes a difference in Canadian women’s golf,” Weir said in a phone interview. “She’s such a young person herself, so hopefully that means young girls and teenagers will take up golf and we get the women’s game growing even more.”
Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was the last Canadian to win a PGA or LPGA event on home soil when he picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the now-defunct Air Canada Championship in 1999. The native of Brights Grove, Ont. had an infamous near miss at the 2004 RBC Canadian Open, losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh.
Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 7-under-par 65 Sunday at Wascana Country Club in Regina to beat Angel Yin by four shots. At one point in the back nine, Yin made three birdies in a row. Henderson matched her shot-for-shot, making four straight birdies.
PGA Tour golfer Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., took to Twitter on Thursday to say Henderson was “single-handedly changing the game of golf for young girls in Canada” like Weir did in the early 2000s.
Weir said Henderson’s strong mental approach complements her athleticism.
“The way she swings the club and how dynamic her movement is with her swing, she may be the most athletic woman out there from what I’ve seen,” said Weir. “But it’s the mental side. A girl makes three birdies on her and she makes four? That shows something not only with her athleticism but what’s inside, and what she thinks about the game, how she’s able to handle herself in a tough situation.”
Weir said he still remembers the roars from his Air Canada Championship victory, and outside of the Masters it was as loud a crowd he’s ever had cheer him on. He called it an incredible feeling.
“When I won in Canada, it wasn’t the Canadian Open but it felt like a major because the crowd is so big and so behind you. The energy feels like a major,” he said. “I’m sure (Henderson) felt that.”
Weir’s life changed after his Masters victory in 2003, as he climbed as high as No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He said he’s not sure Henderson’s life will change that much after the CP Women’s Open victory – since she’s already got a major win and is an established player, he said – but it will be important for her confidence.
“This is huge for her for sure, and her game going forward,” he said.
Henderson returns to action this week on the LPGA Tour at the Cambia Portland Classic, an event she’s won twice in her career. She also said Sunday she’s got a lot of confidence as she heads into The Evian Championship, the LPGA Tour’s final major.
“I’ve had two wins the last couple seasons, so I wanted to keep that streak going, so I’m happy that I did,” she said. Hopefully I can look forward to getting a third win this season.“
Weir believes Henderson’s win on the biggest stage in Canadian women’s golf could be the start of a “special” run.
“I want her to keep having fun, play aggressively, and not take it as pressure but ‘let’s just see how good I can get.’ Whether that’s two or three wins a year or seven or eight or nine, maybe she’ll rattle off one of those years like one of the all-time greats Tiger (Woods) or Annika (Sorenstam),” said Weir.
“She has the talent, and that’s a real possibility.”
Brooke Henderson takes her golf game management next level in Canadian victory
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Canadian Press
Feeding off the energy of fans in the galleries, but not letting it overwhelm her, is now a skill in Brooke Henderson’s toolbox.
Labelled the face of Canadian golf at age 14 when she played in her first CP Women’s Open, Henderson had to learn how to manage her own intense desire to win on home turf, and the fervent, vocal wishes of home fans that she do so.
The 20-year-old from Smith Falls, Ont., solved that puzzle at Regina’s Wascana Country Club on Sunday where she became the first Canadian in 45 years to win the CP Women’s Open.
“I played my first CP Women’s Open seven years ago. I just felt like I was slowly getting better, getting used to the attention,” Henderson said Monday in Calgary.
“This year, something just sort of clicked. Just being able to feed off the energy of the crowd, that was the first time ever I was really able to manage that.”
Less than 24 hours after hoisting the trophy she superstitiously wouldn’t touch until she won it, Henderson was at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country club for a women’s golf clinic and panel discussion.
The course is hosting the men in the PGA Tour Champions Shaw Charity Classic starting Friday.
Henderson’s visit was a stopover en route to Portland, Ore., and the Cambia Portland Classic, which she won in both 2015 and 2016.
Seeing England’s Georgia Hall claim the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in early August inspired Henderson as she headed to her own national championship.
But she was taken aback by the size of Wascana’s galleries when she stepped to the first tee box for her opening round.
Henderson still engaged with spectators, however. She smiled, waved and high-fived for three rounds until Sunday when her game mask was firmly on.
“Heading into Sunday, I just wanted to give it everything that I had and I wanted to keep that focus from when I first teed off until the 18th hole,” Henderson explained.
“I definitely did show my appreciation, but I was much more serious and much more focused.
“I just figured it would all be worth it if I was able to hoist the trophy on the 18th green and celebrate with everybody then. So, I feel it was a smart decision.”
The mask slipped as she walked to the 18th green for a birdie putt and she let the moment in.
“It was the first time all day I could really take a deep breath and realize that I’d actually just won,” she explained.
“That feeling of being able to let go, because I’d been not stressed, but just wanting to win it so badly. This was probably number one on the tournaments I wanted to win.”
What followed was whirlwind of media, autographs and fielding congratulatory messages on her phone, including one from Wayne Gretzky.
Henderson admitted not sleeping well after her four-stroke victory in part because she dreamed she hadn’t won and had to keep playing.
Only three other Canadian golfers since 1954 have won an Open at home is a testament to how difficult it is.
Henderson took her game management to a new level to achieve it. It is now in her skill set at just 20 years old.
She vaulted into world’s top 10 to No. 8 this week and sits second on the LPGA’s 2018 money list.
Henderson now targets a second career major Sept. 13-16 at the US$3.8 million Evian Championship in France.
She was just 18 when she won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Having checked a Canadian win off her career bucket list, Henderson says she now feels less pressure in her game.
“There is definitely a lot more pressure playing here at home in Canada, but it’s amazing I know I have that much support and people are cheering for me so hard,” she said.
“I definitely was a little disappointed with the way I’d played previously, but I feel like it was all a stepping stone in the right direction leading to this win.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson shoots 65 to win CP Women’s Open by four strokes
Brooke Henderson (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
REGINA – Brooke Henderson ended Canada’s long drought at the CP Women’s Open on Sunday, firing a final-round 7-under-par 65 to win the national championship by four strokes.
Henderson finished with a 21-under 267 total, sealing the win with a short birdie putt on the 18th hole at the Wascana Country Club.
“It’s amazing, just surreal,” Henderson said. “The crowds here have been so amazing all week, and to finish it off the way I did is really a dream come true.”
American Angel Yin was alone in second place after a 68 and American Jennifer Song (67) was six shots behind at 15 under. Australians Minjee Lee (68) and Su Oh (69) were seven strokes off the pace in a fourth-place tie with South Korea’s Amy Yang (68) and American Austin Ernst (69).
It was the first time a Canadian has won this tournament since Jocelyne Bourassa took the 1973 event – then called La Canadienne – at Montreal.
Henderson earned US$337,500 of the $2.25-million purse for her second victory of the season. It was her seventh career LPGA Tour win, moving her one behind Sandra Post’s record for all-time victories by a Canadian.
Henderson, who started the day with a one-shot lead, was aggressive from the start on an overcast, chilly morning in front of a vocal group of adoring supporters.
Displaying a steely focus and no sign of nerves, she found the fairway with her opening drive and cleared a greenside bunker with her second shot, sticking the ball 12 feet from the pin.
Henderson is one of the biggest hitters on the Tour but her short game can be inconsistent at times. The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., set the early tone by sinking the birdie putt for a two-shot lead.
She gave the stroke back on the second hole after her drive found the rough. A line of fairway-hugging trees forced her to chip out on the fairway and Henderson would settle for bogey.
Back-to-back pars followed, allowing Oh to briefly pull even with the Canadian. However, Oh missed a 10-foot par putt on the fifth hole and Henderson drained a 25-footer for birdie to regain the lead.
After a birdie-bogey run, Henderson showed her form on the par-3, 206-yard eighth hole. With a challenging pin placement, she elevated her tee shot perfectly to clear a greenside ridge and bunker to leave herself an 18-foot putt.
She hit the birdie to move to 16-under for a three-shot cushion on Oh and defending champion Sung Hyun Park of South Korea.
Henderson was playing to win and not to just hang on.
A steady rain started to fall as the last few groups made the turn. Some of the Tour’s biggest names were chasing Henderson but no one could get hot enough on the back nine to get close.
Yin hovered a few shots back but Henderson wouldn’t budge.
“It’s great for golf in Canada, women’s golf, and it’s great for her too,” Yin said. “I mean, people shouting her name left to right since the first hole, like (since) nine in the morning. I bet you she feels pressure.
“But she’s used to it and she handles it pretty well, and she finished the job.”
The Canadian was making almost every shot look easy. The greens softened up a touch and Henderson was going for the pins. Approach shots were usually in tight and the putter was working.
Yin rolled in her third straight birdie on No. 15, and Henderson answered by knocking in her fourth birdie putt in a row to keep her three-shot lead.
She maintained that cushion through the 17th hole, allowing her to fully enjoy the moment on No. 18 as the packed gallery roared during her walk up the fairway.
After a beautiful drive, Henderson’s approach shot from 69 yards out cozied up to the hole. She tapped in the short putt and the celebration was on.
Henderson raised her arms in the air and hugged her sister Brittany, who was on her bag all week. Their ecstatic father, Dave, ran on to the green and doused them in champagne.
Park (71), who finished at 13 under, will retain her No. 1 position in the world rankings. She was tied with three-time CP Women’s Open champion Lydia Ko (69) and several others.
American Mo Martin was another shot back at 12 under after firing a course-record 62.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (71) was at 6 under, two shots ahead of Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (73).
The 2019 CP Women’s Open will be held at the Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson moves one shot off clubhouse lead at CP Women’s Open
Brooke Henderson (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)
Greg Strong/ Canadian Press
REGINA – Sung Hyun Park emerged from the scorer’s tent after a masterful round of 64 at the CP Women’s Open to a swarm of golf fans.
Few seemed to notice the defending champion and world’s best women’s golfer as she strolled undisturbed down the path, fresh from tying a course record at the Wascana Country Club.
This crowd had only one person on its mind. Canadian star Brooke Henderson is the star of this show, especially after a second straight 66 left her just one stroke behind clubhouse leader Amy Yang of South Korea.
“Brooke is almost like Canada’s Tiger Woods,” said Park, who played with Henderson and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist. “I was really surprised at how many fans came out to support Brooke today. To witness that was pretty awesome.”
Dozens of fans – many clad in red and white and waving small Canadian flags – let out a roar when Henderson chipped in on her opening hole and they were just as vocal when she capped her round with another birdie.
The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., was at 12-under-par 132 and right in the mix for what could be a very exciting weekend.
“I hit the ball in good spots and made birdie putts when I had them,” Henderson said. “I feel like I made the most of today’s round, which is always a great feeling.
“To be close to the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend is awesome, especially when you’re here in Canada.”
Henderson has managed to score in different ways over the first two rounds. She took advantage of her impressive length on Thursday and had her short game working when the wind picked up Friday.
Yang shot a 65 to move into top spot at 13-under-par 131. American Angel Yin (67) joined Henderson in second place with several groups still on the course.
“I was hitting it pretty solid out there,” Yang said. “But I gave myself a lot of good chances and I think I made most of them out there.”
Park, from South Korea, was three shots off the lead after her 64, a score that three players attained a day earlier. She was joined at 10 under by first-round co-leader Nasa Hataoka of Japan (70) and Maria Torres of Puerto Rico (66).
Starting on the par-4 10th hole, Henderson had four birdies over her first six holes before missing a three-foot putt on the 16th for a bogey.
She started to spray the ball a little bit after that miscue, but the six-time winner on the LPGA Tour had some luck on her side too.
Her drive sailed well right on the 18th hole, hitting a grandstand post on a bounce before settling in the rough. Henderson found the green with her next shot and two-putted for par.
Five pars followed after the turn before Henderson found a late groove. She hit a tricky four-foot downhill putt on the sixth hole and drained a 22-footer from the fringe for another birdie on the seventh.
“Definitely have a lot of confidence in (my putter) this week, which is always amazing when you can depend on that club,” she said. “But I think overall, everything is kind of going really well.”
The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., closed her round by going up-and-down from the side of the ninth green for birdie to the delight of the partisan gallery.
Americans Mariah Stackhouse (69) and Austin Ernst (69) were at 9-under-par 135, one shot ahead of Nordqvist (66) and several others.
It was hot and sunny again on the 6,675-yard course and the wind really started howling later in the day. First-round co-leaders Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe had late tee times.
Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City (71), one of 16 Canadians in the field, was a good bet to make the cut at 3-under 141. The early projected cut line was 2 under.
Play continues through Sunday at the US$2.25-million event.
