Jan 31, 2016
Budding star Henderson still has lessons to learn
Brooke Henderson finished up her first tournament of the season with a three-under 70 that left her in a tie for 21st. It was a respectable finish, but at TSN's Bob Weeks writes, it came with some key learning points.
By Bob Weeks
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Brooke Henderson finished up her first tournament of the 2016 season with a fine three-under 70 that left her in a tie for 21st spot.
Being under par on Sunday is always a good thing, but this was a day when the leaderboard was bleeding red. Only nine of the 80 players posted scores over par, so moving up required a bucket full of birdies.
Henderson made five of those, but an ugly double on the par-5 15th derailed what was an otherwise wonderful day.
“It was a good week,” summed up Henderson of her stay in the Bahamas. “I’m happy. It was kind of up and down every single day. It looked as though I was going to finish pretty strong here today but a double on 15 kind of hurt me a little bit. But a great week overall and I think I learned a lot moving into next week.”
The double came as a result of a bad drive – a rarity for Henderson – and perhaps a bad decision. After hitting her tee shot into a hazard, the 18-year-old tried to extricate it but failed. The ensuing shots added up to a seven.
In hindsight, taking a drop may have been the wise move, taking seven right out of the equation. But when you’re as aggressive a player as Henderson is, you feel you can make every shot.
And that may end up being the most important lesson for Henderson this year. She loves to play full out and has confidence in her abilities. But sometimes, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Last year at an outing in Toronto, Stacy Lewis mentioned the same thing, that Henderson still had to learn some of the nuances of when to dial back and when to take dead aim.
There were examples of that in Sunday’s round. On several occasions, Henderson’s playing partner, bomber Britany Lincicome used a fairway wood off the tee to take danger out of play. Not Henderson. She rarely hits anything other than driver off the tee. Granted Lincicome is longer than Henderson and, in the Canadian’s defense, she is one of the best drivers on the LPGA Tour so why not play to your advantage.
There’s another reason why the Smiths Falls, Ont. product may not follow the same game plan as a veteran. For many events this year, Henderson will be seeing the course for the first or perhaps second time. She still needs to learn about layouts that some LPGA golfers have seen for 15 or more years.
“A lot of these courses, the LPGA plays year after year, so it’s nice to get a feel for it my first year and hopefully learn for years to come,” said Henderson. “I was lucky, I got to play Ocala [site of next week’s event] last year so I know the course a little bit, so it’s just fine-tuning strategy and trying to make the best decisions I can.”
Sometimes the massive wave of Canadian golf fans forget that as good as Henderson is, she is still just 18 and still learning. The best part is that with the talent she’s showed so far, there’s no telling just how good she can be.
That fan support, by the way, has been growing like a tsunami. An LPGA official told me this week that the hits to the tour’s web site increase dramatically when Henderson is in the field. And the inquiries from media reached a crazy crescendo when she’s near the top of the leaderboard. The Tour has started a regular Henderson report to feed the hungry Canadian news sites.
If there is a lesson that Henderson has already learned very well, it’s this one, although it seems to be something that’s come naturally to her. She is gracious and polite with her fans. After her round on Sunday, she stopped to sign autographs for a gaggle of girls, really not that much younger than her. And she emptied her bag of golf balls, handing those as well as her glove to a lucky few. She treats every one with a personal interest, passing on a smile or a thank-you or posing for a picture.
“I think it’s great for me and also for the LPGA,” she said. “Almost every week, no matter where I am in the world, there’s a Canadian or a Brooke Henderson fan cheering me on and that means a lot. Last year at Evian, there were Canadian flags being waved. I didn’t see any here this week but I know there were a lot of Canadian fans so it’s just great support for us.”
With one tournament completed and another 25 or so to go, this could be the start of something very impressive.