Brooke Henderson Keeps Enthralling Canadian Golf Fans
Brooke Henderson Has Clearly Established Herself As The Darling Of The Fans In Vancouver - Image Credit Bryan Outram
by Alfie Lau
By all rights, Alena Sharp should be the Canadian story at the CP Women’s Open at the Vancouver Golf Club. Sharp is currently the low Canadian, at (-2) 214 after a (-1) round of 71 which included a workmanlike two birdies and one bogey to go with 15 pars.
“I had a lot of good opportunities,” said Sharp of her round. “I just didn’t make putts. I found the pins were pretty tough. I was above some of them today. It was hard to stop it below. . . It was a really good round. I played solid all day.”
But it’s Smiths Falls, ON’s Brooke Henderson, sitting four strokes behind Sharp, who continues to garner all the attention.
Henderson shot an even-par round of 72 early Saturday morning and is at (+2) 218, but it’s her tenacity in scrapping out a decent round despite a horrible start that has golf fans continuing to cheer for her.
“It was a really rough start this morning,” said Henderson. “I had an easy birdie putt on 1, missed it and went bogey, double. . . I think after I saved maybe five feet for par on the fourth hole to avoid going 4-over after 4 holes, that was a big putt there.”
Henderson could only laugh when asked to describe her double bogey on the short par-3 3rd. “Hit in the water, took a drop, chipped on, two-putted, nothing too special,” said Henderson with a smile. “I was able to come back on 6 and 7 and make two birdies and make it somewhat respectable.”
It would be pars all the way until the last hole for Henderson, as she sunk a solid 12-foot birdie putt to get to even for the day. “I’m happy to finish with the birdie on 18,” said Henderson. “It sort of makes you feel good about the round, even though I shouldn’t be.”
Henderson was helped by having older sister Brittany on the bag after big sis missed the cut. “She probably knows me better than I know myself sometimes,” said Brooke. “Having someone that tells me what to do, when I’m not playing well and tells me what to do when I’m keeping it on a roll, I think that’s really important to have someone like that.”
And the Henderson sisters had to have felt the energy from the hundreds of golf fans who came out on a cool August morning to watch Henderson’s round, which began at 8:30 a.m. “I had a huge crowd,” said Brooke. “They were pretty much from the get-go, an amazing crowd. It makes it exciting being able to play in front of your home crowd, even though you’re not playing your best. You still have the whole country behind you.”
It was a little different for the fans following Sharp. “I think it’s shaping up to have a nice crowd (Sunday),” said Sharp. “Not as big as the last two days because Brooke was behind me, but lots of people out on every hole, so it’s nice to see that.”
The third Canadian who made the cut, Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, ON, had four bogeys and just one birdie for a round of (+3) 75 and is at (+4) 220 after three rounds of the tournament.
A fourth player, SooBin Kim of Coquitlam, but playing under the South Korean flag, shot a (+3) round of 75 and now sits at (+3) 219 for the tournament.