Oct 9, 2020
Patient Henderson moving up the leaderboard
After a bumpy opening round, Canadian Brooke Henderson is just three shots off the lead at the halfway point of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the difficult Aronimink Golf Course, Bob Weeks writes.
By Bob Weeks
There is an old saying, “trust the patience and enjoy the journey,” and so far, Brooke Henderson seems to be doing just that.
After a bumpy opening round on Thursday, Henderson posted a 1-under 69 on Friday to sit at even par at the halfway point of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She’s three shots off the lead and in a tangle of 18 players who are even or better over the difficult Aronimink Golf Course.
Her day was somewhat up and down with five birdies and four bogeys but she credited her patience with staying steady.
“I feel like today I played the course a little bit better than yesterday,” said Henderson, “I understood where the misses and everything were on each hole, so that was nice. It was a little bit up and down, as you said, but it was nice when I made a bogey, I seemed to bounce right back, which was nice.”
On three occasions, the Smiths Falls, Ont., product followed a bogey with a birdie. The only time she was unable to do that was on the par-4 18th, where she hit a booming drive that left her just 130 yards from the green but needed four more swings to get the ball in the hole.
Henderson’s putter led to her improved play. She took 30 putts – five less than the opening round -- but her bunker play once again let her down. She failed to get up and down from greenside bunkers on the fourth and 14th holes, both times leading to bogeys.
She’s now zero for four in sand saves in the tournament.
“I feel like you definitely have to have a great strategy around here and just be patient,” Henderson stated. “The greens are so big, and sometimes you can't really chase a lot of pins, so for me I feel like I'm patient a lot of time and just hitting it to the middle of the green.”
In front of the Canadian on the leaderboard is a six-way tie for top spot T-3. That group includes Jennifer Kupcho, who fired a 5-under 65, equalling the lowest round of the tournament, two-time major winner Anna Nordqvist and 2017 champion Danielle Kang.
Right behind are Lydia Ko, at -2, and Brittany Lincicome, at -1. Both are two-time major champions.
Alena Sharp, the other Canadian in the field, fired a 3-over 73 and heads to the weekend tied for 38th.
Henderson predicted the next 36 holes could change the leaderboard drastically with the potential for lots of movement. However, she feels comfortable where she sits.
“I feel like if you can get two solid rounds of golf in the first two days, then anything can really happen on the weekend,” she observed, “and so it's nice to be at even, know that I can go low out here and hopefully just have two great rounds Saturday and Sunday and see what happens.”
So far the Aronimink course has proven to be a beast with the cut coming at six over par, the highest since 2016. Big, undulating greens have made it difficult to get the ball close to the hole and gusting winds, which are expected to continue on the weekend, have made it difficult to pull the correct clubs. The weekend could bring even more challenges.
“I think it depends a lot on how tucked the pins are tomorrow and Sunday,” Henderson stated, “but for the most part I think everything will be pretty similar. Maybe they might make it a little bit longer tomorrow. I'm not sure. But yeah, I feel like just patience and hopefully stick to our strategy.”