REGINA – It’s a golf swing that is by no means of the textbook variety.

Brooke Henderson uses a long driver, grips down on it and rotates her body quickly, using impressive core strength to maintain the necessary stability and balance as she brings the club down.

The torque is intense, but it’s a motion that allows her to get every last bit of energy and power from her slight, yet taut, five-foot-six frame.

It can sound like a gunshot when the clubface meets the ball, which usually rockets down the fairway.

Henderson’s power game has always been there. Her short game has not been as consistent, but is showing signs of improvement entering this week’s CP Women’s Open.

“I feel it’s in a really good place right now – at least the last few weeks,” Henderson said after Tuesday’s practice round at the Wascana Country Club. “Golf is sort of weird and (the) short game is really weird. You can putt great one day and putt terrible the next.

“It’s all about energy and staying positive and kind of believing that you can make everything. I feel like I’m getting closer to that spot, so I’m excited.”

Henderson’s putter was hot at last week’s LPGA Tour stop in Indianapolis. She closed with a 9-under-par 63 to finish tied for seventh.

It was her eighth top-10 result of the season.

“(I) made a lot of putts and it was cool to make a lot of birdies and kind of get that feeling back again,” she said.

The 20-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., averages almost 270 yards per drive, good for seventh among all LPGA Tour players. Her driving accuracy is so-so at 71.79 per cent (69th overall) but she hits over 75 per cent of greens in regulation (third overall).

However, she averages 29.70 putts per round (54th) and her sand save percentage is a mediocre 40.98 per cent (104th).

Henderson will have plenty of opportunities this week on the 6,675-yard course, which plays long in spots, but can reward players who are aggressive.

Home sweet home ??? #CPWO

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That could work into Henderson’s hands as she tries to become the first Canadian to win this tournament since Jocelyne Bourassa won at Montreal in 1973.

“The way (Henderson) scores is she can go on a tear of like four of five birdies in a row,” Canadian golf legend Sandra Post said in a recent interview. “She’s not afraid to go low when she plays.”

Henderson earned her lone win of the season last April in Hawaii for her sixth career LPGA Tour victory, leaving her two behind Post for most all-time wins on Tour by a Canadian.

She has managed to maintain a solid world ranking position of No. 14 even though it has been a challenging season at times. Both of Henderson’s grandfathers died earlier this year.

“It’s been a really crazy and weird and kind of tough summer, for sure,” Henderson said. “But I feel like once I get inside the ropes I can kind of let that go and know that my two grandpas that did pass away, they’re always cheering me on and looking on from heaven. That kind of gives me that little bit (of an) extra boost.”

Henderson leads an impressive field that includes defending champion and world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park of South Korea, second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, American Lexi Thompson and China’s Shanshan Feng.

On the coaching front, Henderson works with her father, Dave, and gets tips from her sister, Brittany – who also serves as her caddie. She has also worked with Golf Canada’s national women’s head coach Tristan Mullally in the past.

Kevin Haime, a past winner of the PGA of Canada national teacher of the year award, hosts a junior golf event in the Ottawa area that has featured Henderson and her sister. He regularly uses a video demo of Brooke’s swing for his students.

“There’s about six different things that you could say don’t make a lot of sense there,” Haime said. “But she’s such a wonderful athlete with wonderful timing, she drives the ball better than (almost) anybody on the LPGA Tour.”

As strong as Henderson can be off the tee, she can really be a force when the putter is going.

“When it’s on, she really goes low,” Post said. “But she’s got tremendous spirit, tremendous desire and will. I always find that’s the one thing that can’t be taught. You have to have all those other things.

“But it’s almost like that unknown – if you’ve got that in you – to sort of step up.”

Henderson said the friendly competition with her sister – who’s now 27 – during their formative years in the sport also helped give her game a big boost.

“I was always trying to beat her, be as good as her,” she said. “She was always a lot taller, a lot stronger, so I tried to hit the ball, outdrive her, which didn’t happen for a long time. But I think that’s why I didn’t have that unique strength, because I was just trying to use every ounce of my body to get the ball out there.

“I feel like she really pushed me to be better at a younger age.”

Henderson will return to the par-72 course on Wednesday for the championship pro-am competition. First-round play begins Thursday morning.

Saskatoon native Bobbi Brandon picked up one of four final exemptions in Monday’s qualifying to boost the number of Canadian players in the field to 16.

The US$2.25-million tournament will wrap up Sunday.

REGINA – Canadian golfer Alena Sharp will be supporting the Humboldt Broncos this week.

The LPGA Tour veteran has a special golf bag and towel this week for the CP Women’s Open, featuring the Broncos’ logo.

Sixteen people were killed after the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team’s bus collided with a transport truck in April.

The Hamilton golfer said she’ll donate the bag to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatchewan after the event.

Excited to show my support for @HumboldtBroncos and @theSJHL with my new bag for the week @cpwomensopen ! This tragedy really hit home as it did for so many. I will be donating my bag to @PattisonKids after this week. Thanks @rbc for teaming up on this and Ken Hill @jukasaradio pic.twitter.com/LuwCQArcq4

— Alena Sharp (@AlenaSharp) August 21, 2018

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England – Brooke Henderson, who managed a hole on 9th hole, a par 3, finished the day with a round of 70 and she finds herself tied in eighth place 5-under at the Women’s British Open.

Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand is standing out for more than just her pink golf ball.

The 97th-ranked player has yet to drop a shot in two straight rounds of 5-under 67 that will give her a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend at the year’s fourth major.

While first-round leader Minjee Lee and Mamiko Higa encountered problems down the stretch at a rainy Royal Lytham to give up two-shot leads on Friday, Pornanong played a steady hand and put her pink ball in all the right places _ explicitly, out of the many bunkers that define the course.

The 28-year-old Thai missed a 10-foot putt for birdie in front of the clubhouse on the 18th green but that didn’t get her down. She was 10 under par overall.

“I’ve had a game plan,” Pornanong said. “I try to plan every shot, every hole.”

It’s given her a great chance of winning a first major title, and claiming a first victory on the LPGA Tour. Her last win was on the Asian Tour in January 2015 and she has only one top-10 finish all year.

Pornanong’s only top-10 at a major was a tie for seventh at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014.

She has already put some distance between many of the big names in women’s golf.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., aced the par-3 ninth hole on her way to a 70, which put her in a six-way tie for eighth place on 5 under. Brittany Marchand (73) of Orangeville, Ont., is projected to miss the cut line.

Top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn was seven shots back after rounds of 71 and 70, No. 6 Shanshan Feng (71-71) was one stroke further back, and No. 2 Inbee Park (76-74) missed the cut.

Only six players were inside five shots of Pornanong. They have pedigree, though.

In a three-way share of second place on 9 under is Lee, who was clear at 12 under before she double-bogeyed No. 16 and dropped another shot at No. 17 to post a 70.

Lee, the Australian at a career-high ranking of No. 8, was runner-up on the Gullane links in the Ladies Scottish Open last week.

Home favourite Georgia Hall (68) was in the tie for second place along with Higa, who was leading by two strokes on 11 under when she lost her ball in a gorse bush at No. 17 and wound up with a double-bogey 6.

Third-ranked Park Sung-hyun, who won the Women’s PGA Championship last month, is lurking in sixth place on 7 under after rounds of 67 and 70. Seventh-ranked Ryu So-yeon, a two-time major champion, is on 6 under after two rounds of 69.

LYTHAM ST ANNES, England – For Brooke Henderson, learning to navigate the Ricoh Women’s British Open has been a learning process. In her three prior starts, she had yet to crack the top 40. The statistic comes as a surprise to anyone who regularly follows the major champion and six-time LPGA Tour winner. But the Canadian took a huge leap forward in her progress on Thursday, when she posted a 3-under par, 69 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. It is her first sub-70 round at the Women’s British Open.

“Every time you’re over here you learn more and the experiences that you really need,” Henderson said. “It’s very different than what I grew up playing on.”

Henderson grew up playing in Smiths Falls, Canada and found she needed to adjust her game in order to play better on the links. When she won for the first time on a links-style course in 2017 with her victory in New Zealand she was vindicated in the changes she adopted.

“It was crazy conditions, so I think that was really a good learning curve for me,” Henderson said about the windy conditions she encountered in New Zealand. “It gave me a lot of confidence moving into links courses that if something goes wrong, like it kind of did this morning, I just kind of relaxed and was able to come back from that.”

Henderson got off to a rough start with two bogeys in her first three holes after getting caught up in the pot bunkers riddled throughout the course. She credited her caddie and sister, Brittany, for helping turn around her day and record five birdies on the back nine.

“I got into some of the pot bunker and found that they were very difficult to get out of,” Henderson admitted after her round. “But after that I kind of settled down a little bit. The back nine was great.”

Henderson put herself in contention at the season’s last major, too, at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship where she faded on the weekend with rounds of 70-74 and settled for a T6.

After a tough summer, Brooke Henderson is hoping a change of scenery will do her some good.

The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., took last week off of the LPGA Tour to prepare for this week’s Women’s British Open. The break came following a rough stretch that began with Henderson’s withdrawal from the U.S. Women’s Open in June to be with her ailing grandfather, who passed away.

Four weeks later, Henderson fell out of the lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after shooting a final round of 2-over 74. She told The Canadian Press in mid-July her other grandfather is now sick as well.

But she said she feels good about her game this week after finishing third at her last event, the Marathon Classic. And she said golf is a nice way for her to stay focused and ignore outside distractions.

“Once I’m between the ropes, I can flip that switch and work towards my goals for that week,” said Henderson, who has won six times on the LPGA Tour.

Although Henderson is no stranger to having to play the type of bad weather that often accompanies the British Open, it hasn’t yet translated into a good finish at the third major of the year. Her best result at the event is a tie for 49th.

But the 19-year-old won in New Zealand last year, and it came during rough weather conditions on a links-style course. She said she’s hopeful she can parlay that into success this week at Royal Lytham & St. Annes GolfClub in Lancashire, England.

“The style of golf is different, but I’ve learned that it really is about patience and just trusting your swing over there,” said Henderson.

“As is the case with any major, you just need to stay focused and be able to bounce back through tough breaks, weather delays, and harsh conditions.”

Henderson, who’s ranked 16th in the world, said she’ll keep all the same clubs in her bag like a usual, but said the Women’s British Open forces her to use them in different ways. She may end up using a fairway wood around a green for a short shot, or will try to fly her irons lower than usual, she explained.

Henderson is one of the statistical leaders on the LPGA Tour in driving, but her putting has been her weakness this year. She said she can’t pinpoint one specific thing she’s been working on mechanically, but she’s tested a few different putter options and has stuck with one for the last two months.

She said she’s enjoyed coming up with a different kind of strategy for this week versus a normal LPGA Tour tournament.

Annika Sorenstam, who won the Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham in 2003, said it takes time to learn to play links golf. She said Henderson would need a little luck with the weather, as sometimes you can get “all four seasons in one day.” But she said Henderson’s creative game plan is a solid one.

Sorenstam said she is a “big fan” of the young Canadian.

“She has a great mind and is a true competitor. She certainly knows how to win tournaments and even majors,” she said. “It seems to me when she is driving the ball well, she gets good momentum and rest of the game falls into place.”

Henderson is just two wins away from tying the all-time record for wins by a Canadian professional _ male or female _ and is hopeful one of those wins comes in three weeks at the CP Women’s Open in Regina.

Although her main focus is on this week in Europe, she admitted she’s got the Canadian event “circled on her calendar.”

“(The course) looks like it will be set up really well for our national championship and I’m excited to see how the fans out there embrace the LPGA,” she said. “I can’t wait to get there and try to put on a show for the fans.”

LANCASHIRE, England – Brooke Henderson will have some Canadian company at the Women’s British Open.

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., earned the 17th and final spot in qualifying in a playoff on Monday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club.

Marchand was one of 12 golfers battling for seven spots in a playoff after those dozen players shot 3-under 69 in the 18-hole qualifier.

It came down to Marchand and Paula Creamer for the final spot on the fourth playoff hole. Marchand parred the hole, while Creamer bogeyed, giving the spot to the Canadian.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton missed the playoff by one shot, settling for a 70. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., carded an 80.

Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Marchand will be the lone Canadians in the field for the fourth major on the LPGA Tour schedule, which starts on Thursday.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Canadian Brooke Henderson has struggled in her past two appearances at the Marathon Classic.

The 20-year old from Smiths Falls, Ont., finds herself tied for the lead after two rounds of the tournament following a bogey-free 5-under par 66 on Friday to move into a tie with Caroline Hedwall. Both are at 9-under 133 through 36 holes.

“It’s just fun to be in contention again and to see your name at the top of the leaderboard, it’s exciting, and hopefully good things will happen,” Henderson said.

Henderson, who won earlier this season in Hawaii and has six career victories, missed the cut last year at Highland Meadows and finished tied for 38th in 2016.

She shot a 3-under 31 on the front nine and then birdied the final two holes, both par 5s, to move into a tie with Hedwall.

“To finish birdie-birdie was really important, and it’s fun to see your name at the top,” Henderson said. “I’m excited to be in the final group.”

Hedwall, who played in the morning on Friday, is looking for her first LPGA Tour victory. This is the first time since the 2015 Handa Australian Open that she has held the lead after 36 holes.

“I’ve been in this situation, and I mean, it was a long time ago, though,” said Hedwall, who shot a 4-under 67 on Friday. “I’m just looking forward to the weekend. This is obviously what you practice and work hard for, to be in contention.”

The 29-year-old Swede has matched a career high for the lowest 36-hole score of her career, which was in Australia. Like Henderson, she also birdied the last two holes to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Thidapa Suwannapura was one shot back and defending champion I.K. Kim was three strokes behind.

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., is 4-under after a second-round 68 while Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is even. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., missed the cut at 1-over.

Sei Young Kim, who shot an LPGA Tour-record 31-under to win last week’s event in Wisconsin, was eight shots back after a 1-over 72 on Friday.

Daniela Darquea had a hole-in-one on No. 6 from 169 yards out. She joins Nasa Hataoka as the only players on the tour this season to record multiple aces.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Brooke sits in the top ten after Thursday’s round at the Marathon Classic. She recorded a 4-under 67 and sits T9 firing five birdies and a bogey.

For only the second time in her seven-year career, Thidapa Suwannapura took the overnight lead at an LPGA Tour event.

Suwannapura shot a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday at the Marathon Classic and led seven players by one shot. The Thai player grabbed the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 18th at Highland Meadows – her 10th birdie of the day.

“I’m really happy about the way I played today,” she said. “I didn’t really look at the leaderboard, and did not even expect anything. I have a chance, so let’s see how it goes.”

Suwannapura, who has three top-10 finishes in 120 career LPGA Tour starts, last had the overnight lead after the first round of the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, where she faded in the second round and finished in a tie for 65th.

The 25-year-old Suwannapura’s best career finish was seventh at the 2014 Kingsmill Invitational. That was also her last top 10. This season, her best performance was a tie for 18th three weeks ago in Arkansas.

Seven players, including defending champion I.K. Kim and former No. 1 Yani Tseng, were a stroke behind at 66.

Kim, who started her round on the back nine, said conditions were calmer once she made the turn. She birdied five of the final six holes, including the par-4 ninth.

“Not much wind out there. So I took that advantage on the front nine,” she said. “I had a good roll, all three birdies in a row. And birdieing the last two par-5’s was really fun.”

Tseng was the only player in the top eight to have a bogey-free round. She missed an eagle putt on the final hole that would have drawn her even with Suwannapura.

“I stayed patient all day. Just need to get that putting going a little bit,” Tseng said. “So today I dropped a few, I missed a few, and this is how golf is. I feel like this is the way I should play.”

Brittany Marchand (70), Alena Sharp (71) and Maude-Aimée Leblanc (72) all sit T43, T58 and T75, respectively.

ONEIDA, Wis. – Canadian Brittany Marchand from Orangeville, Ont., finishes tied for 7th after rounds of 64, 72, 66 and 69. She fired six birdies on Sunday to finish 17-under par at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.

Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., jumped up 12 spots thanks to a score of 68, finishing 23rd.

Sei Young Kim watched her 12-foot birdie putt break toward the hole and disappear into the cup, putting her in territory no one had ever been on the LPGA Tour.

She reached 30-under par.

And she wasn’t finished.

Kim added yet another birdie, closed with a 7-under 65 and wound up her historic week Sunday in Wisconsin at 31 under for a nine-shot victory.

“I never thought I’d shoot 31 under,” Kim said. “I really feel incredible.”

She was every bit of that in a week so dominant that she now has two LPGA scoring records all to herself.

Kim’s 31 under broke by four shots to par the record she had shared with Annika Sorenstam. Kim won the 2016 Founders Cup at 27 under, while Sorenstam won the 2001 Standard Register Ping at 27 under, the tournament where the Swede shot 59.

“After the Founders Cup, I got new goals,” she said. “I wish I could break up the (tour) record. It’s really unbelievable.”

Kim also set the 72-hole scoring record at 257, finishing with three straight pars to break the mark by one shot.

The 25-year-old from South Korea opened with a 63, followed with a 65 and shot a 64 on Saturday to reach 24 under, which tied Sorenstam’s 54-hole record in 2003 at the Mizuno Classic in Japan, a 54-hole event.

“In a word, phenomenal,” said defending champion Katherine Kirk, who finished 15 under and tied for 20th. “We knew that you could go low around this golf course, but she’s taken it to a whole other level. It’s pretty exciting to watch, really. She’s going to break our all-time, 72-hole scoring record pretty easily. She’s a great player. She obviously knows how to win. She just kept the foot down.”

The only blemish for Kim all week at Thornberry Creek at Oneida was a double bogey in the second round Friday. She had 31 birdies and one eagle, another record for most sub-par holes in a tournament. Kim hit 67 out of 72 greens in regulation.

For all the birdies, Kim set the LPGA Tour record with a par on the final hole to finish at 257. Hee Young Park won a playoff after she and Angela Stanford each finished at 258 in the Manulife Classic in Canada in 2013 (par 71), while Karen Stupples shot 258 at the Welch’s/Fry’s Championship in Arizona in 2004 (par 70).

“I had the double-bogey on 17. That was the only one I had where I missed the shot. It’s crazy,” Kim said.

She reached 28 under with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 ninth. Kim began the back nine with another birdie when her wedge from about 100 yards stopped a few feet from the hole, setting up her birdie on the 12th.

Kim won by five over Lydia Ko when she shot 27 under in the Founders Cup two years ago. Sorenstam won by two over Se Ri Pak when she shot her 27 under at Moon Valley at a tournament that no longer exists.

No one had a chance Sunday.

Kim began the final round with an eight-shot lead and was close to flawless. Amy Yang, who played with Kim in the final round, made eagle on No. 3 to get within six shots. She couldn’t keep pace, however, and made a double bogey on the par-5 15th by hitting one shot in the water and another in a hazard..

Carlota Ciganda of Spain lost a ball and made double bogey on the 18th hole for a 64 to finish alone in second, nine shots behind. Yang, with a birdie on the final hole for a 68, tied for third at 20 under with Emma Talley and Anna Nordqvist, who each had a 67.

“I was thinking even not playing this tournament, going home and rest, so I’m happy the way I played,” Ciganda said. “Lots of birdies; lots of good shots. Today my putting was very good, so very happy with the way I played.”

Kim won for the first time this year and joined Brooke Henderson as the only players on the LPGA Tour with at least one victory in each of the last four seasons.

KILDEER, Ill. – Henderson – the KPMG winner at Sahalee in 2016 and runner-up to Danielle Kang at Olympia Fields last year – led most of the afternoon on Saturday at the Kemper Lakes in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. On a day when temperatures climbed well into the 90s, she was leading by two strokes at 10 under.

The back-to-back birdies by Ryu and two late bogeys by Henderson turned things in a hurry. Ryu also used a neat approach on 18 to set up a short birdie putt on the par-4 hole.

So Yeon Ryu broke away on the closing holes to take a three-stroke lead.

The 28-year-old South Korean star birdied the 14th and 15th holes to jump ahead of Canadian Brooke Henderson and finished with a birdie on 18. She shot a 5-under 67 on another scorching afternoon to get to 11-under 205 and move a step closer to her third major victory.

Henderson was second. She bogeyed Nos. 14 and 16 in a 70.

South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park was 7 under after a 71, and American Angel Yin had a 68 to get to 6 under.

Ryu won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and 2017 ANA Inspiration for her major victories. She won the Meijer LPGA Classic two weeks ago in Michigan for her sixth LPGA Tour victory.

Four strokes off the lead through the first two rounds, Angel Yin was making a push toward the top of the leaderboard. The 19-year-old from Arcadia, California, birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to get to 7 under before a double-bogeying No. 16.

Her 3-wood off the tee hit a bunker on the left side of the fairway and an 8-iron went to the water on the right. She also missed a bogey putt. But a birdie on 18 gave her a strong finish despite the heat.

“How difficult was it?” Yin said. “I don’t need to say much. You can just look. I’m wearing a skirt. I don’t do that. So legs are out, it’s hot.”

Michelle Wie was 1 over after a 72.

Quebec’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc slid to 41st place at 2-over. Canada’s Brittany Marchand (76) and Alena Sharp (80) occupy the 66th and 73rd spots, respectively.