TEEN TAKES LPGA BY STORM
AT AGE 18, CANADIAN HENDERSON CAUSING A STIR
Paul Bregman was easy to spot. His customized ‘ Canada l oves Brooke’ stood out in the modest gallery as the Ottawa resident watched from the edges of the fairways and greens of Wildfire Golf Club.
Maybe he’d have been there anyway, but Bregman and a trio from Stittsville, Ont., were definitely in this place at this time to watch Brooke Henderson play in a Wednesday pro-am event for the JTBC Founders Cup.
“A couple of her tweets and pictures that were posted on our website generated more media attention last year than many of the other players simply because Canadian golf fans are a little ... you say ‘crazy,’ I’ ll say, ‘fanatical,’” said Craig Kann, the LPGA Tour’s chief communications officer. “They are passionate beyond belief.”
The focus of all that attention as well as that of tournament sponsors seems to be well aware of the fuss she has caused since turning pro in December 2014 and last August becoming the first Canadian to win an event on the LPGA Tour since 2001.
Remember, she only turned 18 a month later.
“Every week I’m out here, I’m getting more requests and more exposure, which is awesome,” said Henderson, who has finished in the top 10 in four of her five tournaments this season, including two weeks ago in Singapore. “So, just being able to work through that and make sure that I’m taking the appropriate time to practise and time to rest. This last week has been kind of crazy because I’m still trying to work out my sleep patterns, so to rest is really important.”
It’s even more important when the rest of the season is considered, including not only the five major championships and the rest of a full LPGA Tour schedule, but also the golf portion of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Barring injury, Henderson is a lock to represent her country in Brazil.
Golf is only part of it, too. There are deadlines to apply for credentials for the Olympic Village and reports on her travel schedule in case anti-doping test officials drop by unannounced.
“The Olympics is kind of like the sixth major for me this year,” she said. “It’s not my ultimate goal, but it’s definitely a week that I want to peak for. I think it would be awesome to defend for Canada and hopefully bring home a gold.”
That, for the uninitiated, is a subtle reference to the fact a Canadian, George S. Lyon, won the last Olympic golf competition in 1904. Rio de Janeiro in 2016 marks its return to the Summer Games.
Another breakthrough for Henderson or any other female Canadian professional golfer would be winning on home soil, something that hasn’t happened since Jocelyne Bourassa won what was then La Canadienne in 1973.
Henderson has played the CP Canadian Women’s Open four times, starting when she was just 14 years old in Vancouver in 2012. That was where she first played with Morgan Pressel, another former teen golf phenom and someone the young Canadian has described as her golfing idol.
Pressel’s advice to Henderson, or any young player trying to break onto the tour, is not to sweat the small stuff.
“The goal is to have a long, successful career, and that’s a lot longer than any one tournament or any year or any season,” Pressel said. “When I first did play with her, when she was 14, it was obvious she was a special talent, so I’m definitely not surprised.”
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp has played some of her best golf on the LPGA Tour since the emergence of Henderson and acknowledges witnessing that soaring success has motivated her, too.
“This is my 11th year on the tour. I’m 35 years old. I just turned 35 last week,” Sharp said. “I have goals of my own, and definitely one of them is to get a win out here before I retire. Maybe when you get one, you get more.
“Being around Brooke, that has helped me a lot because I see kind of how I was when I was 18. Eager and no fear.”
On her way to Phoenix, Henderson picked up a loaner sedan from BMW — one of her corporate sponsors — and stopped by the headquarters of PING — another sponsor — to collect a gold putter in recognition of that eight- shot victory in the Cambia Portland Classic last August.
There was another milestone earlier this week, when Henderson became the first Canadian woman to crack the top 10 of the Rolex women’s world golf rankings. She began the year 18th on that list, but moved up thanks to four top10 results in five events, including second place in the Coates Golf Championship in Florida.
“I’m excited for this week, excited moving forward, and I will have nine spots to go,” she said.
“I’m working on that.”