Brooke bubbles up the leaderboard
Two weeks ago, Brooke Henderson had just finished the worst three-week stretch of her LPGA season when she opted for a course of rehabilitation familiar to all Canadians.
She went to her cottage to unwind.
On Thursday, a rejuvenated Henderson shot a 7-under-par 64 to jump into a tie for third at the Olympic golf tournament. The two developments, she advises, are not mutually exclusive.
“I took a couple days and just kind of hung out at my cottage (near her Smiths Falls home),” said Henderson, who played 10 straight weeks on the LPGA Tour before a break. “But then I also worked really hard those two weeks to try to get my game back to where I knew it could be. The weeks that I wasn’t playing very well, I wasn’t far away from being really good. It was just a few small things, but I think I have it figured out now.”
Playing with LPGA stars Lexi Thompson and Suzann Pettersen, Henderson started her round with a tidy 2-under turn on the front nine before she erupted on the back, beginning with a birdie on the par-4 13th and ending with four-straight birdies from 15 through 18. She moved up 16 spots to a tie for third with Great Britain’s Charley Hull.
South Korea’s Inbee Park leads the first-ever women’s Olympic tournament at 10 under. American Stacy Lewis, who shot 63 Friday, is alone in second at 9 under.
Hamilton, Ont.’s Alena Sharp, the other Canadian in the field, is tied for 32nd after a 2-under 69.
“I was hoping to get a few more birdies on the back nine and I definitely was able to do that,” Henderson said. “I kind of got momentum and putts drained for me and I was able to hit some really good shots.”
The 18-year-old already has two wins on the LPGA Tour this year, including a major in the Women’s PGA Championship. She’s also made no secret about her fondness for the Olympics and everything it represents, but she knows all she did Thursday was pack her bags for moving day.
“There’s still lots of golf left and lots of people around the leaderboard,” said Henderson. “I have a lot of work to do, but so does everybody else here.”