Henderson skips Pan Ams to focus on LPGA
As expected, 17-year-old Canadian golf star Brooke Henderson dropped out of the Pan Am Games on Monday.
The news, first reported by Golf Digest last week, came as no surprise.
Henderson, who didn’t have any tour status until earning a Symetra Tour exemption for the rest of the year by winning on the LPGA’s feeder circuit earlier this month, has a fighting chance to avoid Q-school later this year if she earns good money on either tour the rest of the year. Most of the top eligible players in golf are not playing at the Pan Ams.
Henderson, a native of Smiths Falls, Ont., will try Monday to qualify for the LPGA’s Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, the week of the Pan Ams. If she doesn’t get in, she will play in the Symetra Tour event July 16-19 in Rochester, N.Y., which overlaps with the Pan Ams at Angus Glen in Oakville, Ont.
“I am now guaranteed a spot in a professional tournament the week of July 13. Based on my goals for the year, this is an opportunity I cannot pass up,” Henderson said in a statement. “As an ambassador for golf in Canada, I am disappointed to miss the Pan Am Games. I am so appreciative of the support I receive every week from Golf Canada and fans across the country.”
Golf Canada will name her replacement in the near future.