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TSN Senior Reporter

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If there was any doubt that Brooke Henderson has become the face of Canadian golf, the massive billboard-size poster of her on the course at Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club should put that to rest.

There’s also the matter of fans lining the holes where she played her pro-am round on Wednesday and the large number of Brookealikes in Calgary this week, the young women sporting PING visors much as boys (and a weirdly increasing number of grown men) in the U.S. wear Rickie Fowler-inspired orange. 

Henderson’s play since the last CP Canadian Women’s Open has vaulted her up the ranks of notable athletes who sport the Maple Leaf. With two more wins, one of them a major, and an Olympic run, she’s gone from rising star to risen. The race for Canadian athlete of the year, which Henderson won last year, is down to her and another teenager, swimmer Penny Oleksiak.

“I'm definitely looking forward to it, feeling their energy and feeling their support,” Henderson told a press conference in Calgary on Wednesday. “I know I'm going to hit a bad shot here and there, but they're going to be behind me the whole way. You know, it's an exciting week for me just like next week is, too, back in Canada.”

The two-week Canadian run that includes next week’s Manulife LPGA Classic in Cambridge, Ont., will essentially be a love-in for Henderson. Much like Sandra Post and Lorie Kane before her, the Smiths Falls, Ont., product will be front and centre, with her every move followed. 

And that might understandably affect her play on the course. There have been past occasions when Henderson’s game has been swamped by the adoration of fans and pull of sponsors and media.

A year ago, she came to Cambridge for her first tournament in Canada as a professional. She was riding the wave of great play and increasing notoriety and ended up missing the cut, still one of just two in her pro career. 

Earlier this summer, after notching a victory at the KPMG LPGA Championship, she arrived at the U.S. Women’s Open to play her first major as a major champion. Paired in the marquee group with Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson, her play was mediocre at best. She just survived the cut, ending up 64th. She later admitted to getting caught up in the glare of the spotlight.

Part of playing great golf and being a sporting icon is learning to deal with these expectations and requests. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Henderson is only 18 and just in her first full year as an LPGA Tour player. The distractions are many and they increase tremendously when she plays at home.

She is currently taking the crash course that every north-of-the-49th golfer must pass when playing in Canada. George Knudson, Dave Barr, Dawn Coe-Jones and Mike Weir all had to find out how to say no, how to gracefully turn down autograph requests and sponsor handshakes to make sure they did what they came for: play golf.

It’s not easy and doesn’t happen all at once. Henderson is also one of the most obliging and friendly players in golf. She has a hard time turning down posing for just one more selfie with a young fan. If she comes up with a wrist injury this week, it might be due to the number of autographs she signed after her round on Wednesday. She loves interacting and sharing with her fans, many of whom are just a few years younger than she is.

That’s part of what makes Henderson so popular: she’s an exceptionally wonderful person.

But first and foremost, her focus needs to be on golf. A Canadian hasn’t won at home since Jocelyne Bourassa did it in 1973 at the first edition of what would eventually become the CP Canadian Women’s Open. Triumphing here would only add to Henderson’s story, one that appears to be ready to grow and play out for a long time.