Celebrating 10 years since turning pro, Smiths Falls golfer says the ‘best is yet to come’
BY LAURIE WEIR
It’s been a short off-season for Brooke Henderson as she jumped into the opening round today of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Fl., Jan. 18-21.
Henderson had an opening round of 69 to sit in a logjam in the No. 6 spot – tied with six others at 3-under par.
She opened with a couple bogeys on the front nine but played a flawless back dropping four birdies to jump back up the leaderboard.
Ayaka Furue of Japan shot a record low 65 to take the lead at 7-under.
“I love this event. It’s so fun, and so unique,” she told LPGA.com in a pre-tournament interview on Wednesday, Jan. 17. “To be able to play with the celebrities, I look forward to it every year.”
To come back as the defending champion, she said it’s a “cool feeling.”
With her left thumb taped, Henderson shared some of the struggles she’s been having since 2017. She’s been undergoing physiotherapy to keep it loose, and said it bothers her most while using her driver.
Henderson said this is a challenging golf course in Orlando.
“It’s a lot of fun to play, especially if you’re hitting it well,” she said. Knowing where she’s going and having a strategy is key to being successful.
With cold temperatures, windy conditions, and possible rain in the forecast, the 13-time LPGA Tour winner said, “It’s going to take a lot of skill to navigate. You need some good bounces. You’re going to have to be tough because it’s not going to be easy.”
Henderson said winning this tournament last year was a huge boost of confidence. She said she’s always wanted to win at this event.
The rest of 2023, she said, she “probably didn’t play quite as well as I would have liked,” but coming into the new season she’s excited to get it started again.
She’d said she’d like to lower her scoring average this year “which will hopefully put me in contention more times … That’s all you really want, is an opportunity to win, or an opportunity to be great.”
With a whole new bag of tricks up her sleeve — new irons late last fall, fairway woods, driver, and putter — she’s geared up for success.
“I really loved them a lot,” she said of the new irons, as she works to be more consistent.
“It’s been a really big change the last two months, but all very positive and I feel like they’re going to enhance my game. Hopefully I can start off by putting them to good use this week and throughout the rest of the season.”
She said TaylorMade came “with some stuff that is just so good. It was really easy for a quick change. I love being a part of Team TaylorMade. I feel like it’s been a great change for me and being alongside other amazing athletes has been pretty cool.”
She tried the new driver for the first time while doing a shoot for TaylorMade last November, alongside Tiger Woods, she said, and the first time she swung the club she said she was impressed.
“It went immediately into my bag,” she said, as it gave her a little more distance. After having to go down to a 46-inch driver two years ago, (from 48 inches), she said she was impressed with the yardage she gained with the new driver.
“Anytime I can try and gain a couple yards back, I’m all for that,” she said.
Henderson has a busy schedule this year with the Olympics this summer (July 26 to Aug. 11 in Paris) as well as the number of majors she’s going to take part in.
“It’s really exciting and I’m looking forward to playing in some different events, like the Olympics … it’s a great feeling to go and represent your country.”
She said it will take some planning and scheduling to ensure she will be “peaking for some of those top events.”
This is Henderson’s 10th season on the LPGA Tour and she’s just 26 years old.
“It’s been a lot of fun for me and hopefully the best is yet to come.”
