Even Brooke Henderson, the winningest professional golfer in Canadian history, can still learn on the job.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., climbed 33 spots up the leaderboard on Friday at the CPKC Women’s Open, shooting a 5-under 66 to sit in a tie for fifth at 5 under after two rounds.
It’s not the first time Henderson has put together a solid second round at the Canadian national women’s golf championship and she’s beginning to see a pattern.
“Getting used to the crowd and the fans and the energy and learning the golf course a little bit more, just getting a little bit more comfortable with myself,” said Henderson on what was working for her at Mississauga Golf and Country Club. “I also think I had to go low today to get away from the cut line, so that was a big goal of mine was to shoot minus-5 and I was able to do that, which is cool.
“I just wanted to get away from the cut line as fast as I could and I’m in a good spot.”
Brooke Henderson moves up leaderboard with 2nd-round 66 at CPKC Women’s Open
Japan’s Akie Iwai was the second-round leader, building a three-stroke lead over the pack after she had a solid 2-under 69 round to improve to 9 under.
Despite her sizable lead, Iwai felt she let some scoring chances slip between her fingers.
“I had many birdie chances, but I just didn’t get any,” said Iwai. “I left many short putts, no distance, short. That’s why tomorrow I need more.”
Australia’s Minjee Lee (66), Ireland’s Leona Maguire (70) and world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (70) shared second at 6-under overall.
Henderson and her group at 5-under was next on the leaderboard.
“Any time you can see your name near the top of the leaderboard it’s always a great feeling,” said Henderson. “I’m so excited to be playing the weekend in front of these amazing fans, and just hopefully I can give them some more to cheer about tomorrow.”
Lee said that having to chase a player like Iwai — who won her first-ever LPGA Tour title on Sunday at the Standard Portland Classic — changes her mindset.
“When you have the lead, I’m sure you’ll be in like a really good condition and you’ll be hitting it well. But I do think you feel like you need to keep the lead more than when you’re chasing,” said Lee, an 11-time LPGA Tour champion. “You can kind of be a little more aggressive and you’re trying to chase and make as many birdies as possible.”
Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng, a 15-year-old amateur, was the low Canadian after Thursday’s first round. She shot a 2-over 73 on Friday to drop into a tie for 15th at 3 under.
“She’s been playing amazing. I don’t know if she needs any advice from me,” said Henderson, who won her first LPGA Tour event when she was 17. “It’s cool she’s playing so well and just to see her name up there yesterday it was like, ‘oh, I need to get playing better here.’
“I am looking forward to seeing what she does the next couple days.”
