When Brooke Henderson played her first LPGA Tour event at age 14, she marveled at Lydia Ko winning the Canadian Women’s Open at 15.
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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.
Brooke Henderson kept hearing the roar of fans echoing through the trees, leaving her to wonder what was happening elsewhere on the course. “And I got up there and it just looked closer and closer and closer, and I was like, ‘OK, this is really nice'”.
“For Brooke to shoot 65 on the final day at a major at a course like this, it’s very impressive”, Ko said.
With the pressure on at the second-to-last hole, Ko steps up with an unforgettable shot.
Henderson became the second-youngest victor in a major championship, with Ko the youngest previous year in the Evian Championship in France. Ko’s putt missed to the left, and Henderson tapped her birdie in to win the championship.
Henderson rattled in two long putts in the final two holes to card a six-under 65 and tie with Ko at a six-under score of 278.
“I think the first sign was her hole in one the first day”, Post said.
And if not, how about her ode to her love of hockey with this celebratory pose?
“I heard the crowd kinda go wild, and I was like, “OK, it must be pretty good.’ But I wasn’t getting too excited or too happy, because I knew Lydia hit a good shot in there, and she’s a really good putter”, she said. I knew it was possible coming from Canada where we can only play six months of the year so that was a big deal for me”.
“I was going, ‘OK, I’m not aiming at him anymore, ‘ ” Henderson said.
She took a one-shot lead into the final round and led for most of Sunday, before Henderson made a late move. So maybe I misread it a little bit. “I didn’t say that this week” – they didn’t realize it was the auto hole – “but I’m really happy to give it to her”.
Two of the best moments: as they prepared for the playoff, which would start on the 18th hole and continue on the 14th, 17th and 18th holes if necessary, there were two carts parked on the fairway side of the 18th green.
Ko missed, and Henderson calmly sank her winning putt.
An ace during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship won Brooke Henderson a vehicle. Her first victory came a year ago in Portland, Oregon.
“To think about all of the incredible players that have become before me”, Henderson said.
The eagle got Henderson within a shot of Ko, who had stiffed approaches on the first and fourth holes to set up easy birdies and added another one from eight feet on the hard par-4 eighth.
“As a person, she’s so mature, her game was ready, so I was all for her turning pro”, Brittany said. That is her nature: she goes for it.
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“You can see her confidence is really high”, Ko said. I feel like this whole week has empowered me so much. After becoming the world’s top-ranked amateur, she passed up a scholarship at the University of Florida, determined to find a way onto the LPGA Tour. Ko, 19, settled for par on the playoff hole. “The plan right now is to play as many events as I can and hopefully get a couple more wins”.
