The tougher the course, better for Henderson

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Brooke Henderson plays her best when it means the most.

Since turning professional in December 2014, the 19-year-old has played in 11 majors and has six Top10 finishes, including a win at the 2016 KPMG PGA Championship and a solo second two weeks ago in that tournament at Olympia Fields Country Club.

With a win at the Meijer LPGA Classic three weeks ago, she’s feeling confident heading into the U.S. Women’s Open when she tees off at 7:07 a.m. Thursday with Lexi Thompson and Stacy Lewis at Trump National Bedminster’s Old Course.

The tougher the course, the better.

“I do like the courses tougher,” she said after a practice round. “I feel like this week does suit my game better. I don’t know if there are going to be too many birdies out here, but if you can stay away from bogeys, make pars, then knock in a couple of putts and get under par, I think that will be great and you’ll be near the top of the leaderboard. I don’t think the scores are going to be very low unless something drastically changes over the next few days.

“It’s going to test everything and it’s really going to test your patience.”

Trump National will play 6,732 yards with a course rating of 80.4 and a slope of 153. Yes, that means it’s hard.

The real test will be around the greens which are a big, heaving and whose edges quickly transition into big swales of closely mown chipping areas.

“It is all about the greens,” Henderson said. “There are a lot of slopes. They are very fast. They are holding pretty well right now and hopefully that will stay the same over the next couple of days. You need to have a really good wedge game.

“You want to be able to attack, but sometimes you can’t. Having a good short game gives you more confidence I can miss and get up and down. I think set up to get on the greens is important, too. You have to hit fairways because the rough is way too long. I tried to hit a couple today and I can’t reach the green if I hit the rough.”