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SCOREBOARD

Henderson fades but is still the star attraction

Brooke Henderson Brooke Henderson - The Canadian Press
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Anyone who has ever played golf knows all too well that it’s a slippery game. One day, you can do no wrong and the next you’re swinging as if you’re scything wheat.

And it’s not exclusive to weekend hackers; even Canada’s greatest golfer has felt that sting as she did on Saturday in the third round of the CP Women’s Open. Brooke Henderson was looking for a low round to climb the leaderboard and perhaps get back within shouting range of the top. She did that in 2017 when the tournament was here and set the then-course record in the process.

This year? Not so much.

Although she was teetering on having a tremendous round, Henderson battled a balky putter and some frustration en route to a two-over 73. It was just her second over-par round in this tournament in her last 16.

Henderson started well, rolling through the front nine in two under. She looked to be on the cusp of something big with a smooth approach to four feet on the 10th and another one to eight feet on the 11th. Both times, however, she missed the putt and the start of frustration began to show, even though she smiled at the massive crowds as they cheered her every step of the way.

But the struggles continued. Her approach on 12 landed just short of the green and she needed three whacks to get it in the hole from there. Still kicking herself from that mistake, she compounded it with a poor swing on the par-3 13th – a hole she admitted does not fit her swing -- and watched her ball sail into the water leading to a double bogey.

If there were still any hopes that she might pull off a late charge, they went to the bottom of that hazard along with her ball.

Henderson put another bogey on the card at the par-3 15th with a three-putt and then, as if the golf course was trying to laugh one more time at the 12-time LPGA Tour winner, her birdie putt on the final hole made a hard lip-out, forcing her to tap it in for a par to end the day.

“You know, golf is funny,” said Henderson. “I could have been minus-9 through 11 today, like total score minus-9 so easily if I make those putts on 10 and 11. Instead that rattles me a little bit and then I go onto have not a memorable back nine, that’s for sure.”

Henderson ended up with 33 putts on the day, the most of her three rounds. While her putter has never been the strongest club in her bag, this year she has been much improved on the greens. A new grip and lots and lots of time learning to read the putting surfaces has paid off handsomely. But on Saturday, the club just refused to perform.

“It is tricky to read and being an honourary member here, you would think I would be reading them a little bit better,” Henderson said, adding a smile to her comment. “But they do have the pins in some tricky spots and I feel like once you get it rolling, you get confident. When you lose a little bit of confidence, on the greens it’s no good, here especially.”

Even though she’s just 24, there is a maturity in Henderson that wasn’t there back in 2017. She clearly sees the world from a wider perspective and understands a bad round or week does not a person make. Sure, she wasn’t happy with her score, but she understands it’s just one day.

After all three rounds this week, Henderson has left the media scrum, pulled out a Sharpie and headed to the rope line to sign autographs. Meticulously, she worked her way along, signing balls, shirts, hats and posing for selfies. She didn’t have to do it and after a frustrating round, no one would criticize her for wanting to head home, put her feet up, put on some Reba McIntyre and forget about golf for a few hours.

But that’s not Henderson. She knows just how many people are counting on her, pulling for her and want just a brief moment with her. Several times in the media scrum after her round, she mentioned that it was an honour to play in front of the massive crowds and how it was pretty cool to be this well-loved. The fan interaction is almost an elixir.

“Most days I’ve been a little frustrated leaving my rounds,” she said, “and then talking to everybody makes me a lot happier. Especially the little kids and the 'Brooke Brigade' area over there that they have set up. It’s pretty special.”

It’s a lot to ask one player to be the main attraction of a golf tournament. That’s been the request of Henderson this week. For one week a year, she plays at home and the adulation and the attention is magnified to a level seen by perhaps just one or two other athletes in Canada, especially those who compete in individual sports.

So throw away the scorecard, forget the three-putts and the wayward tee shots. Instead remember the smiles and the waves and the way she makes everyone’s day with some sort of brief moment of contact. That’s who Henderson is and that’s what makes her special and loved, far beyond anything she does with her golf clubs.