Brooke Henderson’s misadventure on Ko Olina Golf Club’s 16th green on Friday injected doubt into her quest to win the Lotte Championship.
Back on the same patch of turf on Saturday, she snuffed any hope her pursuers harbored of denying the 20-year-old Canadian her sixth LPGA Tour title.
Henderson was cruising through her third round on Friday before a four-putt double-bogey on the par-3 16th lowlighted a late stumble that left her with a one-shot lead entering the final round.
Henderson managed to grind through her first 15 holes on Saturday and returned to No. 16 with a two-shot cushion. Standing 191 yards away, she fired a 5-iron into the green and her shot settled inside of 10 feet from the pin. She then buried her birdie putt — giving a fist pump as the ball dropped — to effectively end the drama.
“It was a really tough hole for me (Friday), but to hit that great shot in there to the back pin and then to be able to make that birdie, yeah, that was really huge,” Henderson said with the trophy beside her in the media tent.
“From four putts to one putt, that was a great feeling. … I felt like I was in the driver’s seat. I was really taking control of my round at that point.”
She remained in command the rest of the way and a par at No. 18 capped her round of 3-under 69, leaving only the celebration after closing out a four-shot victory at 12-under 276 and earning the $300,000 first prize.
Henderson entered the week 14th in the world, claimed the lead with a 6-under 66 on Thursday and remained at the top of the leaderboard for the final 36 holes.
“To lead the tournament after 36 holes is a lot of fun, but a little bit of a difficult position as well,” Henderson said. “You might add a little bit more pressure on yourself. I think I felt that a little bit more yesterday than I did today.”
The experience of five previous titles also helped ease her nerves while playing in Saturday’s final group.
Henderson won her first title on tour at 17 with an eight-shot victory at the 2015 Cambia Portland Classic. She became the second-youngest player to win a major when she captured the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in a playoff with Lydia Ko.
With two wins last year and Saturday’s victory — which she dedicated to the victims of the bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team in Saskatchewan on April 6 — she’s now just two away from Sandra Post’s record for LPGA wins by a Canadian player in only her third year on tour.
“To be in the final group I feel not as nervous anymore; (I’m) more confident in that position,” she said after holding off a pack that included world No. 1 Shanshan Feng and No. 3 Inbee Park. “I also think because I’ve been playing such great golf this whole week it gave me a little bit (of) extra confidence.
“I think winning a major championship two years ago and winning twice last year, it really gives you that little bit of confidence knowing you’ve done it before and you’re capable of it. You’ve just got to bear down and do it again.”
Brooke credited her sister and caddie, Brittany, with helping her manage the wind at Ko Olina, which returned in force on Saturday to challenge the field. The duo began the surge to the title in the aftermath of Friday’s struggle on the back nine.
“I think we just had to just take a step back and look at perspective and realize we still had a one-shot lead and (were) still right in there in the tournament,” Brittany Henderson said. “So even with finishing poorly yesterday, just putting that behind us and realizing what a great position we were in and taking advantage of that today.”
Brooke kept the field at arm’s length throughout Saturday’s round, but after she bogeyed the par-3 12th Park closed to within a shot when she curled in a birdie putt on No. 15 to move to 9 under.
But at the par-5 14th, Henderson hit drivers on her first two shots, chipped to inside of 4 feet and made her birdie putt to regain a two-shot lead and her momentum.
“I almost made that chip for eagle (on the par-5 13th) and then ended up walking away with par. I was a little bit disappointed, so 14 I definitely wanted to make birdie just to give myself that little bit extra boost,” Henderson said. “Then to make that 3-footer — which this week hasn’t really been my favorite putt — but to make it gave me that little bit (of) extra momentum through the rest of the round.”
Azahara Munoz began her round six shots back and tied for 15th, but turned in the low round of the day, a 5-under 67, to rocket into second place.
Park entered the final round with a shot at returning to No. 1 in the world with a win or a solo second, but a bogey-bogey finish left her tied for third — her fourth top-four finish at Ko Olina — with Feng and Ariya Jutanugarn at 7 under.
Mo Martin began the day one shot behind Henderson, but struggled to a 78 to slide into a tie for 16th.
