Henderson best when chips down
Ready to defend Women’s PGA championship
As Brooke Henderson finished off her last nine holes of preparation for the defence of her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Wednesday, the strong wind had the flags atop the clock tower at Olympia Fields Country Club snapping fiercely.
If the wind keeps up like that, conditions are going to be tough and that will be to Henderson’s advantage.
She is on a roll with both her game and confidence in good shape. She will tee off in the marquee group at 9:40 a.m. ET with world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and American Alison Lee.
Henderson, ranked 12th in the world, comes into her title defence riding a wave of confidence. She has won three times in a row when they’ve been keeping score.
She won her last start on the LPGA Tour, the Meijer LPGA Classic, two weeks ago, her fourth career win. Since then, she’s also won a couple of pro- ams: the CVS Health Charity Classic with Keegan Bradley and Billy Andrade and then Tuesday her group, which included two- sport all- star Bo Jackson, Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux and KPMG executive John Veihmeyer, won the pro-am here.
“I feel like my game is in a great place right now,” Henderson said after a final tune- up playing the back nine Wednesday afternoon. “I’ ve been saying that all year. When I won Meijer, I think I proved to some of the naysayers and I proved to myself I am in a great position. It always comes down to a few breaks to get the momentum going your way and hopefully I can start out fast on Thursday and get off to a good start and keep the momentum throughout the weekend.”
That was the formula last year at the KPMG at Sahalee Country Club in the Pacific Northwest where Henderson had a hole in one on her fourth hole of the tournament, had the lead after the first round and then hung around the top of the l eaderboard. She trailed Lydia Ko by two shots en- tering the final round Sunday, shot 65 to tie Ko and beat her in a playoff.
Sahalee, lined with giant Red Cedars and Douglas Firs, was a tough track. Given Henderson’s superior ball striking right now, tough conditions give her an advantage.
“I like it,” she said about Olympia Fields North Course. “It’s really tough and when the wind kicks up, I guess they call it the Windy City for a reason, this course will play really long this week and you’ve got to stay below the holes because the greens are very severe. Every lie and every slope, you’re going to have to think your way through this golf course.”
Olympia Fields has hosted four majors, the last being the 2003 men’s U.S. Open which was won by Jim Furyk with a record score of 272, 8- under par on the par70 course.
For the Women’s PGA, the North Course will play to a par of 71 ( the 18th hole played as a 460- yard par4 at the 2003 U.S. Open; it will be a 472- yard par- 5 this week).
“I don’ t think it’ s going to bea shootout by any means,” Henderson said. “I think it’s going to be pretty tight to even par. I tend to play better when t he courses get tougher which is exactly what this course is going to be. Hopefully I can be one of those people on Thursday to get a solid round in and keep it going through out the weekend.”
In Tuesday’s pro- am, Jackson gave Henderson the nickname “Showtime.” This is the time of year when Henderson’s game starts to round into form.
Maybe it’s the Ottawa Valley upbringing where it’s usually late June when the golf season really gets going.
“I heard a really interesting stat when I won Meijer,” Henderson said.
“That was my 15th start from the beginning of the season and winning t he KPMG last year was my 15th start to the season which was really neat.
Maybe there’s something to that.
“I definitely think that the courses I’ve won on so far have really suited my game, tree- lined, got to hit it straight, got to hit it long and bottom line, you need to make putts at the end of the day. All my wins have come on those type of golf courses, so hopefully this week will play into that, too.”