Henderson seeks edge on home soil
Canadian hopes cool conditions play in her favour
CAMBRIDGE, ONT. She may be the face of women’s golf in this country, but the Manulife LPGA Classic has never provided Brooke Henderson with much of a homecourse advantage.
The best result the Smiths Falls, Ont., native has ever had at the tournament was as a 15-year-old amateur when she finished tied for 35th in 2013.
The three-time LPGA Tour winner hasn’t topped the mark since and even missed the cut in 2015.
But the 19-year-old is hoping to change that this week when the sixth instalment of the tournament begins Thursday at Whistle Bear Golf Club.
Henderson took to the media room stage on a damp and dreary Tuesday and joked maybe, being Canadian and all, the cool conditions would give her an advantage.
“The weather is kind of crazy right now, so maybe that will work to my advantage. It’s cold,” a smiling Henderson said.
Henderson is going to need some kind of advantage. Not only hasn’t she had great results at this event, this year she hasn’t matched the form that gave her two wins on the tour by this time last season.
“I haven’t had a great finish here yet, especially since it’s moved to Whistle Bear (the tournament was originally held at Grey Silo), but I really like the course and I think it’s going to set up well for my game this week,” said Henderson, who finished tied for 36th at last week’s Shoprite LPGA Classic. “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 leaderboard.”
Henderson is one of 13 Canadians in the field — which also includes fellow LPGA Tour members Alena Sharp and Maude Aimee Leblanc — looking to win on home soil, something that hasn’t happened since 2001.
Joining the Canadian contingent are defending champion Caroline Masson, as well as past winners Brittany Lang (2012) and Suzann Pettersen (2015).
Henderson, ranked 15th in the world, will tee off on the 10th hole Thursday at 1:32 p.m. with world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn and world No. 6 Shanshan Feng.