WATERLOO, Ont. — Canadian amateur Brooke Henderson is already showing she can hang with the top golfers on the LPGA Tour.
Imagine the possibilities when she reaches adulthood.
Henderson closed with a 67 on Sunday for an impressive 10-under-par 274 total at the US$1.3-million event. Not bad for a youngster still a few months shy of her 16th birthday.
“I’m just out here to try to get as much experience as I can and I think I did that this week,” Henderson said. “I had so much fun throughout the whole week and I tried to play my best.”
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., is Canada’s top-ranked amateur golfer and sits at No. 19 in the world amateur rankings.
She entered the 144-player field on a sponsor exemption and made the cut with a 70-66 start.
Henderson played with Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane on Sunday to adoring crowds along Grey Silo Golf Course. After the round, they posed for photos draped in the Canadian flag before signing autographs outside the scorer’s tent.
“She’s definitely a huge role model for me,” Henderson said. “I look up to her. Just being able to talk with her like that throughout the whole course and throughout the whole game today was a pleasure.”
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (65) took the low Canadian honours by finishing one stroke ahead of Henderson. Kane closed with a 68 to sit at 9 under overall with Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., who had a 69.
After a number of wins at the junior level, Henderson won the CN Canadian Women’s Tour pro event in Beloeil, Que., last year and also became the youngest golfer to play at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
Henderson has continued her rapid development this year.
She made the jump from the development squad to join Team Canada’s national amateur squad and won the South American Amateur Championship last January in Colombia. Henderson also made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open last month in Southampton, N.Y., and finished tied for 59th.
“She’s a great talent at 15,” Kane said. “She hit some really great shots and if she’s what we have at 15, our country and women’s golf is going to be very healthy.”
Henderson was paired with Michelle Wie on Saturday and the American also had high praise for the Canadian youngster.
“When I heard she was 15, I was like, ’What?’ I didn’t believe it,” Wie said Sunday. “She’s a great girl. She’s really talented and she plays really well.
“I can’t wait to see what she does in the future.”
Wie was a teenage phenom herself and is now in her fifth season on tour. When asked what advice she might give Henderson, she said it’s important to enjoy the process.
“I would just say to her just to have fun, like I say to everyone,” Wie said.
“Just do what you want to do, don’t let other people make you do what you don’t want to do and just have fun with it.”
Henderson averaged an impressive driving distance of 266 yards over the week. She only found the sand on two occasions and hit 46 of 56 fairways in regulation.
As an amateur, she won’t get a paycheque for her performance on the southwestern Ontario course. But the many gains from this type of experience are difficult to quantify.
“I’m getting more and more comfortable on the big stage here,” Henderson said. “Hopefully down the road I’ll have it perfectly comfortable.”
Both Kane and Henderson capped the round with birdies on No. 18 as fans in the surrounding grandstand and along the final hole roared their approval.
“To experience it and to have Brooke experience it, I told her this is what her future holds,” Kane said.