Brooke Henderson Ready To Make A Charge After Latest LPGA Win
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2017-06-22
OTTAWA, Ontario (Gord Montgomery/iG)— Patience is a virtue. But at the same time, perseverance pays the bills.
That’s the sort of philosophy Brooke Henderson has adopted during her second full year on the LPGA TOUR and it appears to be paying off.
Coming off her fourth title in two years on tour, and then a win at a charity event, Henderson told a media teleconference of the previously mentioned attributes “Both are highly important,” to success at the highest level of golf.
Henderson’s latest LPGA win came this past weekend at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan. She noted that the past week has been a great one and she now looks forward to continued success going forward.
The 19-year-old who has her family deeply involved her pro career, said a solid opening round at the Michigan tourney sent her in the right direction.
“Seeing my name on the top of that leaderboard after a 63, in knew it was going to be a fun week for sure and to finish it off the way I did … gives me a lot of confidence. With four majors left in the season (the win) was very good timing.”
A couple of changes in her approach to tournament play, Henderson said, were keys in helping post the win. She realized it was time to become more aggressive in her tournament rounds thanks to some advice from her dad, who acts as her coach, while her sister totes her luggage around the course.
“The main thing was just making the one or two extra putts on Thursday and Friday. I made six birdies and one eagle in one day,” she remarked of what helped her to the title. At the same time, she also saw that a different style of play helped pave the way to that solid round. Part of the reasoning for attaining those low numbers was listening to her dad who told her to become more aggressive off the tee.
“He had me cutting corners over trees. I hit my driver almost perfect. If he hadn’t told me in practice rounds last week to do this, I wouldn’t be in this position right now.”
Henderson agreed that her game was perhaps a little “too conservative,” early in the season “but in the last few weeks I’ve been playing great golf.”
On the LPGA TOUR this year it seems that any given golfer can win any given week. To illustrate that point, in 15 events so far, there have been 15 different winners, including Henderson who pocketed $300,000 for her victory. To that point, she agreed the parity in the upper echelon of women’s golf at this time is great for the game and for spectators.
“Everybody’s fighting for the No. 1 spot right now … and I think that makes the game really exciting. To have 15 different winners, I think, also adds a lot of excitement for fans, media, TV coverage. Anybody can really take that championship that week.
At the same time though, she continued, “It’s also a great opportunity for somebody to step up and take a dominant role,” and establish themselves as the top dog in the sport. “I think somebody will, but I think the main thing is how strong your game is.”
And right now, Henderson feels her game is strong, given her patience and perseverance, and now an newly found aggression as she sets her sights on an upcoming major and further down the road, the CP Women’s Open, to be played on one of her home courses, the Ottawa Hunt Golf and Country Club.