The 18-year-old Henderson won her first major title on Sunday by beating Lydia Ko on the first hole of a playoff at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Advertisement
Henderson then won on the first playoff hole, hitting a great drive, then a 7-iron second shot to 2 feet to set up the winning birdie putt. Ko missed to the left, and Henderson tapped in.
Henderson holed a three-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole, the par-four 18th, to become the second-youngest woman to win a major after New Zealander Ko.
Henderson became the second Canadian to win a LPGA Tour major. Henderson, who began the day two shots behind Ko, fired the low round of the Championship, a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65, to force the playoff.
“I was trying to take advantage of every opportunity I was given”, said Henderson, who earned full-time LPGA Tour status after winning Portland last August as a Monday qualifier and has had several top-10 finishes since. “And I think that’s the fun challenge about it”. Henderson’s 90-foot eagle putt from the front of the green at the 11th was just the third at the long par 5 all week and separated her from a large pack at 2 under.
That gave her a three-stroke lead over a group of five players, including Henderson.
Brooke Henderson, of Canada, reacts to making a birdie on the 17th hole in the final round at the Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament at Sahalee Country Club Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Sammamish, Wash. “The plan right now is to play as many events as I can and hopefully get a couple more wins”.
“For Brooke to shoot 65 on the final day at a major at a course like this”, she said, “it’s very impressive”. She shot 31 on the back nine.
You could not tell if you tuned in on Sunday, but Henderson, the well-spoken blond-haired kid from just outside Ottawa, swears she was a little nervous at times during her final round.
Ko, the world number one, started the day with a one shot lead.
“The Canadian support has really been unbelievable leading up to this championship, and then yesterday, text messages, Twitter messages, emails, it was all pretty insane”, she said.
Henderson reeled off three consecutive pars before her birdie on 17, while the 20-year-old Ariya reached five-under with birdies on Nos. But I’d like to say that I am the Canadian face to women’s golf. “And I got up there and it just looked closer and closer and closer, and I was like, ‘OK, this is really nice'”. She was on a streak that had echoes of Peak Tiger, but Henderson, who came into the tournament ranked fourth in the world, didn’t flinch at the enormity of the stage or the stature of her opponent.
“I knew it was possible”, she said. Henderson, a native of Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada, will receive $525,000 for her victory today, or the up-to-the minute equivalent of $672,078 Canadian dollars.
But Henderson is far from done defining her career.
Ask anyone who knows Henderson well, and they will say her defining strength is her ability to be mentally tough in the moment. Coming into this week I had really good vibes and I loved Sahalee Country Club.
Advertisement
“Looking forward, there’s still a few more major championships this year and a full schedule of LPGA Tour events, so I’m really excited, and maybe I’ll get another one”.
