DESPITE THE WIND, HENDERSON PLAYS A WINNING GAME
Canadian stands two shots off pace after weather-shortened Day 1 at Olympia Fields
OLYMPIA FIELDS, ILL. Bo Jackson, the greatest athlete of our time, hung a nickname on Brooke Henderson after he played in her group in the pro-am at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Tuesday: Showtime.
Henderson went out and lived up to it on Thursday with an opening round 3-under 68 at Olympia Fields Country Club in defence of her title, a spectacular up-and-down round that had an entertaining little bit of everything that, in the end, gave her the quick start she said she needed.
The 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., was in a group of six players two shots off the lead after play was suspended because of dangerous weather conditions. Sharing the lead were South Korea’s Chella Choi and Amy Yang, who each fired 66s (Yang still had one hole left when play was halted). American Brittany Altomare and Joanna Klatten of France both had a 67.
The other Canadian in the field, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, carded an even-par 71.
“It was really good,” Henderson, who won the 2016 title at Sahalee Country Club outside Seattle, said of her start. “I made a lot of really good putts on the front nine to keep myself in it and then on the back nine, getting those three birdies was really good. I’m not at the very top of the leaderboard, but I’m only a couple of shots back in the morning wave.
“It’s playing really tough out there, so I don’t expect the scores to go much lower in the afternoon. A great start, and hopefully I can repeat it tomorrow and we’ll see what happens on the weekend.”
Henderson went out with an even-par 36 (two birdies and two bogeys and one spectacular up-and-down for par on the fourth hole) and came back with a bogey-free 3-under 32 on the back.
Henderson, who won the Meijer LPGA Classic in her last start, continued her strong play off the tee and on the greens in the strong winds that buffeted Olympia Fields.
“With a morning tee time, I was really hoping it would be quiet and I would get out before the wind started,” Henderson said. “It started a few holes in and we really had to readjust and just stay patient in the wind because it is really tough. It gusts at times. You just have to get a really good number and be confident with it.”
Henderson continued her aggressive play off the tee. Playing with world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and American Alison Lee in one of the marquee groups, Henderson pounded the ball by them off the tee as she hit driver whenever she could.
Jutanugarn didn’t hit driver once (as is her custom) and Lee opted for a three-wood on a few holes. They were left in Henderson’s dust. On the 380-yard, par-4 second hole, Henderson was 61 yards by Lee, who hit three-wood. Henderson had less than 80 yards in and hit it to five feet for birdie.
On the wind-aided downhill fifth hole, Henderson drove it
295 yards.
On the 363-yard, par-4 14th hole, Henderson had 70 yards to the flag and hit it to about six feet for back-to-back birdies to get her to 2-under. She went for the par-5 18th in two from 230 yards and a shaggy lie in the first cut, wound up short left and pitched up to six feet for another birdie.
Henderson hit 14 greens in tough conditions and had 29 putts on the day.
None was bigger than the 60-footer she made to save a par on the par-3 fourth hole after she got in trouble off the tee and made an incredible upand-down. That gave her some momentum and she was 4 under par the rest of the way.
She made another difficult up-and-down on the par-3 17th, which was playing into a raging wind. All three players missed the green left as they tried to muscle their tee shots on the 207-yard hole. Henderson wound up in a bad lie in trampled grass, 25 yards from a downhill pin.
Her pitch with a 54-degree wedge (her caddy and sister Brittany said the lie was too iffy to attempt it with a 58-degree) bounced in the edge of the rough, trickled onto the green and rolled to 15 feet.
Jutanugarn appreciated the degree of difficulty and she joined the gallery in applauding the effort. Henderson rolled in the par putt to sustain her momentum and help put her where she needed to be after the opening round.
With a morning tee time, I was really hoping it would be quiet and I would get out before the wind started …