(Vancouver) Brooke Henderson – and her fans – can breathe a sigh of relief after confirming her appearance in the weekend rounds at the Canadian Women’s Open.
Henderson is the star of the show at the Women’s National Golf Tournament, but was in danger of missing the weekend rounds after going 75 (plus-3) through the first 18 holes.
The Ontarian rebounded with a round of 68 on Friday to tie for 11th with a minus-1 overall score.
“It’s not a good feeling,” Henderson said of starting the day in a position to miss the weekend rounds as the icon of Canadian women’s golf. I think the key for me today was just trying to get off to a good start and hitting a lot of fairways and greens. »
Ranked 10th in the world, Henderson holds the highest total of wins by a Canadian professional golfer. Her face graces much of the Canadian Women’s Open promotional material.
“It was so much better today,” said Henderson, who won the tournament in 2018. “It feels really good to be back below par. I feel like I fought hard to get there and I’m very happy about that. »
Henderson and fellow NAFTA Sharp (76) are the only two Canadians to earn their right to play the weekend rounds. Sharp completed the course at Shaughnessy Golf Club in 76 shots to post a plus-1 aggregate score.
“The thing with golf is I feel like it’s 95 percent mental,” Henderson said. It hasn’t been my best asset this year, especially in the last few weeks. Sometimes golf is tough mentally. Sometimes it seems very easy and other times you have to really persevere. »
American Megan Khang took the lead with a minus-7 score. She was tied for 13th after the first round, and turned in 66 (-6 down) on Friday.
No golfer in the afternoon groups was able to catch up.
“Every day is different, but my shots were very good. Then my putter was just as bad, analyzed Khang. I remain patient in the field. The front nine seemed monotonous, but on this type of course, it can definitely help you. »
Sweden’s Linn Grant shot 71 to maintain second place, one stroke off the lead. Japan’s Yuka Saso (73), who led after the first round, and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko (70) tied for third at 5 under.
Grant hasn’t finished lower than 20th since winning the Dana Open on July 13. She said her first win on the LPGA Tour boosted her confidence.
“I would like to see my name up there,” she said. That’s why I play. Obviously, I’m just trying to get used to that feeling because that’s where I want to be. »
An air quality advisory for Metro Vancouver was issued in the morning, due to smoke from ongoing wildfires in British Columbia.
The advisory was for Shaughnessy Golf Club, but its oceanside course remained rather far from the smoke.