Henderson leads Canadians at Manulife LPGA Classic
Prize of US$1.7M attracts 150 golfers from near and far
NORTH DUMFRIES — Brooke Henderson appreciates the support.
A three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Henderson leads the 13-player Canadian contingent at this week’s Manulife LPGA Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Lorie Kane of Charlottetown are the other big-name Canucks in the 150-player field. The 72-hole, US $1.7-million tournament starts Thursday and concludes Sunday.
“It’s always great to be back home in Ontario, back in Canada. I think the fans always really look forward to it every year, to see me back here,” the 19-year-old Henderson said Tuesday.
“I’m really excited to have family, friends, and people and fans I’ve grown over the last couple years come up and watch this week. It’s such a great feeling knowing that the whole country is definitely behind me this week and every week that I’m out on the LPGA Tour.”
Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Augusta James, Samantha Richdale and Jennifer Ha are the other Canadians in the field, along with Grace St. Germain, Maddie Szeryk, Brittany Marchand, Vivian Tsui, Jaclyn Lee, and Manulife player ambassador Jennifer Kirby.
Henderson, who reached No. 2 in the world rankings last year, has slipped to No. 15 and currently sits 25th on the money list after 13 events with $263,374. She has recorded a pair of top-10 finishes and
finished in a tie for 36th spot at ShopRite LPGA Classic that wrapped up Sunday in New Jersey.
Last year, she became the second youngest player in LPGA history, behind Lydia Ko, to win a major championship with her victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She competed in 31 tournaments on the season and finished third on the money list with $1,724,420.
Henderson will be in one of the marquee groupings when play begins Thursday. She’ll start on the 10th tee at 1:32 p.m. along with Shanshan Feng of China and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, the world’s second-ranked player.
Henderson is making her third appearance at Whistle Bear and would like to improve on last year’s result, when she finished in a tie for 39th. She failed to survive the 36-hole cut in 2015.
“I haven’t had a great finish here yet at the Manulife Classic, especially since it’s moved to Whistle Bear (from Grey Silo), but I really like the course and I think it’s going to set up well for my game this week,” she said.
“The course will play long this week. It’s quite wet. The greens are maybe a little bit slower than they normally are here, but they’re in great shape. I feel like somebody that makes a lot of putts this week is definitely going to climb up the leader board.”
Sharp, who is currently the world’s 68thranked player, was the top Canadian at last year’s tournament, finishing in a tie for 26th place.
The LPGA Tour is in the midst of a hectic schedule with 12 tournaments in 12 weeks, including three major championships in the next two months.
In addition to the Canadian entries, notable participants include Minjee Lee, Danielle Kang, In Gee Chun, Shanshan Feng, Cheyenne Woods, Laura Davies and In-Kyung Kim, who won the Shoprite LPGA Classic. Lexi Thompson, Brittany Lang, Ariya Jutanugarn, Suzann Pettersen, and defending champion Caroline Masson will also compete.
This is the sixth year for the tournament, and will be the final with Manulife as the title sponsor.