Hot putter gives Henderson lead at LPGA major

Brooke Henderson is playing crêpes golf at the Amundi Evian Championship in France this week.

Through two rounds, the Canadian golfer leads the LPGA Tour’s fourth major of the season by three shots after a second consecutive round of 64 on Friday.

The reason for her fast start?

"I've been having a lot of crêpes in France," she said, a smirk punctuating her comment. "To keep the momentum going, I'd better have some more.”

As she did in the opening round, Henderson got off to a fast start, making birdies on her first two holes. She bookended the day well, closing out her round with birdies on the last three holes as well. Overall, she had eight birdies against just a single bogey on her card.

“It feels really nice to get off to a fast start in a major championship. Feels like it's been a while. To get it this far under par is really awesome,” said Henderson. “And I feel like I'm hitting the ball really well, which is nice. Making some putts. So, two solid days, and I'm just really looking forward to the weekend.”

Henderson leads Nelly Korda by three shots. Sei Young Kim and So Yeon Ryu are five shots off the pace in a tie for third.

This marks the second time in Henderson’s career that she’s fired back-to-back 64s. The last time was at the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic, which she went on to win. While she’s giving lots of credit to the French delicacy for her play, it’s more likely her putting that is the reason for her 14-under-par score.

Over 36 holes, she’s averaged just 27 putts per round. Normally the putter is the weak link in Henderson’s otherwise stellar game. Two months ago, looking for some help on the greens, she elected to change her grip, reversing the position of her hands so her left hand is lower. That’s proved successful as she earned a win at the Shoprite LPGA Classic in June and has been inside the top 16 in her last four starts.

When the 24-year-old putts well, she is usually in the hunt for a win. In her 11 victories on tour, Henderson has averaged 28 putts per round. So far this week, she used her putter 26 times on Thursday and 28 on Friday.

“The putter has been hot for me the last couple months,” said the 24-year-old, “and it's a really great feeling. It's nice to have a little bit of momentum. I won a couple months ago, had some nice top finishes in majors again a few months ago. Had nice time off. I'm ready, back here, and looking forward to the rest of this week and the following two weeks. First time at the Scottish and then the British.”

Henderson has made it clear that she has targeted the majors on her calendar. Despite being one of the game’s top players, she’s only managed a single major title in her list of accomplishments. She’s hoping she can change that this week.

“It would be amazing to get my second major championship, and hopefully I get a few more before my career is over,” she stated. “I feel like this is a great position after two days, and it's only half over, so see what happens.”