POSTMEDIA’S FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
WINNING NATIONAL OPEN CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT FOR POSTMEDIA’S FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Brooke Henderson grew up seeing a picture of her father Dave posing with the CP Women’s Open trophy — emblematic of Canadian golf ’s women’s national championship. The wait for a homegrown champion finally ended in August when the Smiths Falls, Ont., native broke the streak, becoming the first Canadian to hoist that trophy since Jocelyne Bourassa’s triumph in the inaugural 1973 tournament. Henderson’s 21-under par total earned her a four-shot victory. It was the defining moment of the season for Henderson, who is Postmedia’s 2018 Female Athlete of the Year. The 21-year-old golfer has dominated Postmedia’s annual awards in recent times with athlete of the year honours in three of the past four years. “I feel sort of like a veteran, and I’m only 21 which is pretty funny,” Henderson said. “I feel like now I can go into every tournament knowing that I could have a chance to win, which is a great feeling.” Sooner rather than later, the 21-year-old is poised to become Canada’s most decorated golfer.
Were Canadians too polite to win their national open? It would fit with an overused stereotype, but the truth is somewhat less charming.
Twice a year, the golf world showed up for Canada’s marquee events on the respective PGA and LPGA calendar, and twice a year someone would leave with our trophy. Without fail, fans would hear stories and see old photos of Pat Fletcher’s Canadian Open victory in 1954 and Jocelyne Bourassa’s triumph in the inaugural CP Women’s Open event in 1973.
These weren’t stories told in shame because after more than 100 national opens without a homegrown champion, we’ve had plenty of time to come up with excuses: Professional golf in Canada is as healthy as ever. (Yes, it is.) This year’s fields were among the best in years. (They were.) Winters are too long in Canada (They are.) Golf is hard. (Well, duh.) Forcing foreigners to wear Mountie hats after winning is fun. (That one’s a maybe.)
For most Canadian sports fans, the curse was quickly forgotten as soon as players left town, only to be picked up again in glorious black and white a year later.
For Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., though, the drought wasn’t an unfortunate once-a-year side story.
“Every time I did a media day or when I was in Toronto, I always seemed to see the trophy and for some reason, it just was sort of haunting me there,” Henderson said from Florida before heading home for the holidays.
Years ago, Brooke’s father Dave had his photo taken with the CP Women’s Open trophy and, whether for inspiration or by circumstance, the print ended up displayed on a wall in the Henderson family home.
“It’s in my house, and I walked by that picture every single day when I was growing up,” she said. “That was the one (trophy) I’ve wanted the most for a real long time.”
The wait for a homegrown champion finally ended in August with a win at the CP Women’s Open at Wascana Country Club in Regina, Sask., where Henderson’s 21-under par total broke the drought and propelled her to a four-shot victory. She capped it off with a dominating 7-under 65 on Sunday.
It was the defining moment of the season for Henderson, who is Postmedia’s 2018 Female Athlete of the Year.
“It’s like my sixth major out on the LPGA Tour. It’s definitely a week that I want to peak for. And this year I did. There’s a lot more pressure playing at home, because there’s a lot more fans, and a lot more people pulling for you, and wanting you to do so well,” she said.
“It was definitely really emotional on the 18th green, just because I’d dreamt of this moment for so long.”
The 21-year-old golfer has dominated Postmedia’s annual awards in recent times with athlete of the year honours in three of the past four years.
Besides the historic win at home, Henderson also won the LOTTE Championship, giving her multiple LPGA victories in each of her three full seasons on tour.
With 11 top-10 finishes in 2018 and placing no worse than 11th in each of the season’s final three majors, Henderson finished the season with more than US$1.4 million in prize money and ninth in the world rankings.
“I feel sort of like a veteran, and I’m only 21 which is pretty funny,” Henderson said. “I feel like now I can go into every tournament knowing that I could have a chance to win, which is a great feeling.”
Henderson is hoping to take full advantage of golf ’s short off-season to recharge after an emotionally draining year in which she lost both of her grandfathers. In late May, Henderson withdrew from the U.S. Women’s Open after the first round to be with her family following the death of her maternal grandfather Bob Moir. Just over two months later, Henderson was grief-stricken again after the loss of Clem Henderson.
“This summer was really tough for myself and my whole family,” Henderson said. “I feel like I did a really good job of not letting the emotions from off the course affect me too much on the course. This rest in the offseason, at least in this little stretch, is really important because I was running on a lot of borrowed energy to try to separate those two things. I think during this off-season it will be good to rebuild my energy, and get me ready for 2019.”
Much of the “borrowed energy” Henderson speaks of came from her sister Brittany, who fills the all-encompassing role as caddie/confidante/roommate.
When not on the road together or back home in Smiths Falls, the Henderson sisters share a condo in Florida outside of Naples. Brooke says she has had a lot of great mentors along the way, singling out fellow Canadian golfer Alena Sharp of Hamilton as a trusted friend, but it’s clear that Brittany is leaned upon heavily, especially when the going gets tough.
The storybook end to this year’s CP Women’s Open actually began with a bogey on the first hole. That might not seem like a big hole to climb out of but when you’re fighting history and trying to win a trophy that’s been trolling your country for longer than you’ve been alive, well, things can get out of control fast.
“She’s my best friend, and she works really hard for me on and off the course,” Henderson said of her sister. “I feel like the relationship that we have, it works really well. In moments like that, she was able to get my negativity out, and turn me to the positive.”
Top professional golfers are generally stoic on the course. With the amount of ups and downs during a round, let alone a tournament, it’s not an easy sport if you allow your emotions to rise and fall with your scorecard. Ben Hogan was coined the “Wee Ice Man” for his steely demeanour and unshakable confidence and we celebrate golfers who are able to bury their true feelings. But Henderson spent nearly as much time on the ice as a goalie growing up as she did on the course, and brought that attitude to the LPGA.
“I think a lot of that is probably just growing up being a hockey player,” she said of the fire she sometimes takes to the course. “The two sports are very different, but you can really learn a lot from each of them. I feel like maybe that part did come from hockey. I feel like I’m always trying to play my best, and so I’m a little bit disappointed when things aren’t going exactly my way.”
Henderson works on the mental side of the game with her father and the hockey attitude seems to be working just fine. Great athletes often speak of clarity of mind and avoiding mental clutter, and it seems Henderson has been able to achieve this optimal mental state while maintaining a more aggressive philosophy than golf is used to seeing.
“Usually on Sundays, I can pick a number that I need to either get top 10, or I need to climb up the leaderboard,” she said. “Then I feel like mentally I’m a lot better for some reason on Sundays, and can seem to get the job done, which is really a cool ability.”
Henderson is approaching a significant career milestone. Her next LPGA victory will tie her with Sandra Post for most wins by a Canadian with eight. Like every hockey player you’ve ever heard, Henderson is taking it one game at a time and not getting ahead of herself. But sooner rather than later, the 21-year-old is poised to become Canada’s most decorated golfer.
“Even just to be considered in the same sentence as the amazing players that have come before me in Canada: Mike Weir, Sandra Post, Lorie Kane. It’s all surreal. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I’m just trying to look to 2019, just continue what I’m doing and hopefully good things will happen.”
After winning the 2017 award, Henderson told Postmedia her goals for 2018 were to improve her putting and move back into the top 10 in the world rankings. Mission accomplished as her putting improved from 41st in putts per green in regulation in 2017 to 10th on tour in 2018, and she will begin 2019 as the ninth-ranked player in the world.
Henderson, who has kept a busy schedule during her career, will continue that trend to start 2019. She will start her season in the third week of January, at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, now an official LPGA event featuring winners from the past two seasons as well as celebrity participants. After a twoweek break, she then plans to play four weeks in a row, twice in Australia and twice in Asia.
A look at Henderson’s 2018 stats show a very complete player: Eighth in driving distance, fourth in greens in regulation, 10th in putts per GIR. It doesn’t take an analytics expert to figure out that if you hit it further than almost everyone, hit more greens than almost everyone, and make more putts than almost everyone, you’re likely going be in contention on Sunday afternoon.
After finishing the year fourth in scoring average at 69.99 and fourth on the money list, like most young players, Henderson will continue focusing on improving her short game heading into 2019.
“Bunker play and putting is where I’m going to put most of my focus,” she said. “Just try to improve those stats, to clean them up a little bit. My long game is really where I shine when I’m playing well.”
With her long, athletic backswing, Henderson is one of the best and most entertaining drivers of the golf ball in the women’s game. Should we expect any changes there?
“Just making sure that it stays consistent, and maybe try and get a little bit stronger, and maybe try and hit it a little bit further.”
Get stronger and hit it further. We wouldn’t expect anything less from Postmedia’s 2018 Female Athlete of the Year.