Henderson says New Zealand win was her highlight of 2017

Brooke Henderson’s victory at the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open came with more than a cash prize and a trophy.

Henderson was given a traditional Maori cloak after winning her first tournament outside North America, and the young Canadian golfer counts that honour as a major highlight of her successful second season on the LPGA Tour.

“That cloak represents that I’m part of that family and it’s hard to think about,” Henderson said from her home in Naples, Fla. “I’m really proud to own it and be considered part of their family.”

The September victory at the inaugural New Zealand Women’s Open was her second of the season — her first win came at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June — and was a big part of her favourite two weeks of the year. She said she enjoyed New Zealand more than any other of the 11 countries she played in in 2017 and made time for a week’s holiday with her sister (and caddie) Brittany.

Although she admitted she was slow out of the gate this year on the course, Henderson still notched top-15 finishes in 16 of the 30 events she played. She earned more than US$1.5 million and finished sixth on the money list.

She also finished top-10 in two key statistics this year, greens in regulation and scoring average.

“I know my long game has always been my strength, but to see those numbers on weeks when I played well — and some weeks that I didn’t — and to be that consistent? I’m really happy with that,” she said. “Moving into 2018 I definitely want to keep that up, work on my ball-striking this off-season but hopefully improve my short game (and) putting stats. If I can make that happen, hopefully I’ll see even better results.”