Henderson cruises to win
Brooke Henderson sets a goal of winning multiple LPGA Tour titles at the outset of each season. She didn’t wait long to collect her first trophy of 2023.
Henderson was dominant throughout and delivered a 2-under 70 on Sunday at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the season-opening Tournament of Champions.
In windy and sometimes difficult conditions, the 25-year-old Canadian played steadily, making sure not to give much hope to a group behind her trying to mount any sort of challenge. She began her day leading by three and eventually won by four, finishing the event at 16-under 272. It was her 13th LPGA victory.
“It is so exciting,” Henderson said. “I always try to win a couple times each year, so to get one right way out of the gate takes a little bit of pressure off . ... It’s exciting to be in contention, and even more exciting to hoist trophies.”
Henderson has had her eye on a Tournament of Champions title for a while. She hadn’t finished outside of ninth in the event the last four seasons, and she was a runner-up a year ago. Sunday marked her 16th straight round under par dating to 2022, and her 16th consecutive score under par in this tournament.
Winning also helps her put to rest a frustrating end to 2022. She withdrew with a back injury in her second-to-last start at the Pelican Women’s Championship in November, and managed the pain enough to tie for seventh in the season-ending Tour Championship.
From there, it was rest and rehab before switching into new clubs. There were 14 new clubs in the bag at Lake Nona, including the putter, which helped to produce 19 birdies on a very strong test of golf.
Henderson entered the week at No. 7 in the women’s world ranking. She was asked if her season-opening triumph might open the door to other big goals, such as being No. 1, or being the LPGA’s player of the year.
“That would be awesome,” Henderson said. “Obviously, I had the dream start.”
Second-year LPGA pro Maja Stark of Sweden showed a nice finishing kick by shooting 5-under 31 on her final nine. She tied for second alongside England’s Charlie Hull. Both shot 69, Hull doing so for the fourth consecutive day.
Perez wins 3rd European title:
The best shot of Victor Perez’s life has set up likely the biggest year of the Frenchman’s golfing career.
Perez span a bunker shot back into the hole for birdie at No. 17 and celebrated wildly on the way to shooting 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday, earning him his third and easily biggest European tour title.
“It was probably the greatest shot I’ve ever hit,” Perez said.
Min Woo Lee, playing in the group behind, needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff and his third shot raced just past the hole then rolled slowly back down the hill to settle within a foot of the cup.
Sebastian Soderberg (67) and Lee (68) tied for second place.