Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng, who started the day at 6-under, was at 11-under for the tournament after carding her seventh birdie of the day on the 16th hole, but finished bogey-double-bogey to finish the tournament tied for 18th at 8-under-par 280.
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I’m going to enjoy watching Brooke Henderson take her place in the Tour’s cadre of young powers.
The Cambia Portland Classic victor today will have to cut Henderson’s five stroke lead. “I was just trying to keep going low and tring to push further under par”. “It’s such an unbelievable thing”. Lexi Thompson won the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic at 16 years 7 months 8 days.
Masson, whose only professional win was in 2012 in the South African Women’s Open, will play with Henderson in the final group on Saturday.
Pressel sits second at 13-under with Germans Sandra Gal and Caroline Masson tied for third at 12-under. She arrived in Vancouver late Sunday ahead of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. She closed with a 74 and ended up finishing third.
She started out playing cautiously on Sunday, but with a wisdom that betrayed her youth.
“I feel very comfortable the last couple days of getting the ball on the right line and seeing the speed”, Pressel said.
“When I was a little girl, I always pictured the fans around the green and watching another player putt”, she said. “It was interesting in San Francisco”.
The win also means, in theory, that the LPGA would have no choice but to grant her membership immediately should she petition for it now, although Henderson, in typical fashion for her, demurred all attempts on Monday to determine her next move.
The private Coquitlam course is where Henderson played her first LPGA Tour event three years ago.
Brooke Henderson got her breakthrough LPGA Tour victory.
Henderson, 17, had to qualify for the tournament on Monday and continues to impress with strong LPGA performances this season. Kean accomplished the feat in the 2000 Rail Classic.
But she believes there are elements of her game she needs to improve upon in order to play up to such a high standard.
“I’ve been playing great all year”, said the Smiths Falls, Ont., native in a resounding understatement.
“I got a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum was built up off that”, she said. Take, for example, Henderson’s post-tournament media availability. Henderson credits, Sharp, who could be her teammate in the Olympics, with mentoring her during her transition to tour life.
Henderson pulled away on the back nine, starting with birdies on the par-5 10th and par-4 11th.
With a four-shot lead heading into the final round at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Henderson effectively secured victory with three birdies on the front nine. In the winter, Brooke played goalie through her teen years, which she credits for some of the leg strength that powers big drives off the tee.
“I haven’t even really thought about it yet”, Henderson said.
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She claimed the lead in Friday’s second round and never let go of it thanks to a sensational round of 65 on Saturday.
