No. 1 amateur golfer, Canada’s Brooke Henderson, torn between school and LPGA.

Will it be school or the LPGA for Henderson?

Golf is a humbling sport. It is all the more humbling when you are playing with a 15-year-old girl who routinely sails her ball past yours.

Fortunately, your correspondent’s ego was salvaged somewhat by the fact that the 15-year-old in question, a smiling, braces-wearing Californian named Mika Liu, who was a playing partner in a pro-am at the World Junior Girls Championship at Angus Glen Golf Club, would go on to win the whole thing earlier this week.

It wasn’t just any old teen who was raving about the CN Tower and posing for midround selfies before striping another drive down the fairway: it was a really good one.

That Liu, 48th-ranked amateur in the world, would win the inaugural world juniors — three-girl teams from 16 nations competed on the course north of Toronto that will host the Pan-Am golf events next summer — was somewhat unexpected, only because the world’s top-ranked amateur, Brooke Henderson, was also in the field.

Henderson, the 17-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., finished fourth in the 72-hole event, helping Canada to third place in the team competition, won by the United States in a blowout. But although she finished seven shots back of Liu, Henderson was the tournament’s big star — no sooner had they handed out the medals than were players from other teams approaching her for autographs and photos.

Notoriety precedes Henderson for a reason. Her summer included a 10th-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open, a runner-up finish at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, a firstplace finish at the Canadian Women’s tour championship and most recently the low individual score at the World Team Amateurs in Karuizawa, Japan. She also made the cut at the LPGA’s Manulife Classic in Waterloo and CP Women’s Open in London and won three amateur tournaments. She has not finished high school, and yet is as sure a bet for LPGA stardom as anyone Canada has ever produced.

She even has the polished bearing of a veteran golfer, talking happily about what a thrill it was to have a busload of classmates make the trek to Markham to watch her in one breath, then smoothly deflecting questions about her future in another.

For months now, Henderson has been contemplating whether to turn professional. Asked about her plans after her round in Markham, she was as noncommittal as a seasoned pro.

“It’s a little unclear,” she said. “There are two great options. To go professional, which has always been my dream, and then the second option is to go to the University of Florida … and get my school paid for. Both are great options and just at the moment I’m not sure.”

Asked if there was anything in particular that will help her make the call, she demurred again.

“They are both really strong options,” Henderson said. “For me, I’m just trying to find the best fit.”

She did allow that she will likely make the choice in the “next two weeks or so,” so there’s that.

It would have been a simple decision had the LPGA granted Henderson’s request for an exemption from its 18-year-old age limit. But the women’s tour denied that application in July, meaning the teenager would have to manage a pro schedule next season that would likely include certain North American stops — she would certainly be given exemptions into the two Canadian events and already owns an exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open — and events in Europe, which doesn’t have an age restriction.

Henderson’s cagey responses aside, this seems the most likely route. How strong is her resumé? The moment Henderson turns pro, she will become the top-ranked Canadian professional. She sits at 202nd on the Rolex Rankings, despite having played in only seven qualifying tournaments. Jennifer Kirby, the second-ranked Canadian, is at 299, with 20 tournaments to her credit. Seven of the top 10 women in the rankings have played at least 50 qualifying tournaments.

That’s not to say that the amateur ranks hold no appeal. Henderson could play in all five LPGA majors if she holds the number-one amateur ranking through next season, which was the path chosen by Australia’s Minjee Lee, who took over the top spot last February, played in all the majors in the summer, then turned professional in September. It was that move that handed Henderson the position at the top.

Whatever she decides, Henderson is sure to be Golf Canada’s top pick to return to Angus Glen next July for the Pan-Ams, and almost certainly

They are both really strong options; for me, I’m just trying to find the best fit

will represent Canada when golf returns to the Olympics in Rio in 2016. She is young, yes, but she has all the shots. In the final round of the world juniors, Henderson pushed her drive on the par-3 12th to the right, where it finished at the bottom of a slope more than 10 feet below the green. From there, she delicately flopped her ball up onto the putting surface, where it would have rolled into the cup had the pin not been in the way. Despite shots like these, Henderson said she had wished she had played a bit better, particularly for the 45 students — and three teachers — who came from Smiths Falls earlier in the week.

The group, she said, had to get up at three in the morning in order to get to Angus Glen for her early tee time.

“It’s unbelievable — they’re high school students, they like their sleep,” she said.

As should she, really. But Henderson has different things to do, and soon. Not that she will tell you what they are.

“I’m just going to finish grade 12,” she says, “and look forward to the future.”