Victory in Portland last weekend vaults Henderson to No 17 in world rankings
By Mark Schadenberg
After not earning a LPGA playing card
earlier this season due to her age (LPGA would not let her attend
Q-School tourney), Brooke Henderson of Smith Falls has now been
awarded full-time playing privileges after winning the Portland
Classic this past Sunday by eight shots – on the world's top-tier
for women professional golfers.
The amazing footnote in her resume is
that Henderson is just 17 years old (Turns 18 on Sept. 10).
Besides receiving a cheque of $195,000
this past weekend, during the 2015 LPGA season, Henderson has tied
for 5th at the U.S. Open to earn about $140,000, and has a
bank roll equivalent to 14th on the LPGA money list with
over $660,000 this season. Due to LPGA guidelines, that
cash total will apparently be deemed unofficial earnings.
Her 8-stroke win was the
largest on the LPGA since 2012.
Her 'official world
ranking' has quickly leaped all the way up to 17th even
though she only gained entry to the Portland tourney by competing in
a Monday qualifier because of her previous LPGA status. Her world
ranking is higher than Michelle Wie (20th), Morgan Pressel
(23), Karrie Webb (22) and Paula Creamer (37).
Henderson is the first
Canadian to win a regular LPGA event since Lorie Kane in 2001. There
have been many top-level female golfers from Canada besides
Kane, including Sandra Post, Jocelyne Bourassa (LPGA rookie of year
in 1972), AJ Eathorne, Gail Graham, Marlene Stewart Streit, Lisa
Walters, Dawn Coe-Jones, and current contender Alena Sharp (60th this year in the CME Globe point standings, and ranked 154th in world rankings).
There is a true significance in
Henderson gaining her card this week as the next tour stop is the
Canadian Open in Vancouver this week. Last year at this tourney,
Henderson was both the top Canadian and top Amateur.
Brooke Henderson's press release after
receiving her LPGA credentials
“Since
I was a little girl in Smiths Falls, Ontario, my dream has been to
play on the LPGA Tour. I am so grateful for the opportunity to join
the Tour as a member and play alongside so many of my role models.
Realizing this dream here at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in
my native Canada is even more amazing and I am so proud to be an
ambassador for golf in this amazing country. I would like to thank
Commissioner Mike Whan, the LPGA Tour staff, and all my sponsors,
fans, friends and my amazing family for all the support I have
received.”
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Without her Tour admittance granted by
commissioner Michael Whan, the only way Henderson would be able to
compete in the LPGA beyond this weekend is by attending every Monday
qualifying event as she had utilized all available 'sponsor
exemptions' she could use.
Henderson's meteor-like rise to the top
is actually more like a four-year process as the highly touted
amateur competed in the Canadian Open for the first time in 2012 as a
14-year-old.
BACK TO PORTLAND
At 17, she becomes just the third ever
LPGA winner before the age of 18 – a short list which includes
Lydia Ko, who won the Canadian Open at age 15.
Let's quickly look back to 2012 as
Henderson earned both national and Ontario junior amateur titles.
Henderson in 2013 won the Canadian
Amateur at just 15.
Last summer – in 2014 – the
Canadian Amateur was at Craigowan just north of Woodstock, and
Henderson was third behind fellow Canadian and winner Augusta James,
and runner-up Su-Hyun Oh of Australia. She was second at the U.S
Amateur.
At the 2014 U.S. Open, Henderson was
tied for 10th and was the major's top amateur. She ended
2014 as the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, and the first Canadian
to ever accomplish that feat.
Team Canada would win silver at the
world amateur championships in 2014 as Henderson was the medallist
(winner) with a 19-under 269 to beat the previous best-ever score
posted by Lydia Ko in 2012.
Keep her age in mind, as Henderson
graduated high school and instead of honing her skills on the NCAA
circuit as a student-athlete for a couple years, she turned
professional. Playing in the minor leagues of pro golf at the
beginning of this calendar year, Henderson won in January on the
Suncoast Series.
OLYMPIC GAMES in 2016
Looking forward, all world ranked pro golfers – male and female – will be attempting to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, which will feature both individual and team standings.
Looking forward, all world ranked pro golfers – male and female – will be attempting to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, which will feature both individual and team standings.
Brooke Henderson has arrived, but if
you follow golf you know she had really already arrived, but this
past weekend with her inaugural LPGA trophy, it was a moment to
remember with a celebration on the 18th green at the
Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon.
Twitter:
@BrookeH_Golf
LINKS:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/07/25/augusta-james-won-the-canadian-amateur-championship-at-craigowan-golf-and-country-club-shooting-a-four-day--14
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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