Even the best look to improve in every area they can.
Brooke Henderson is coming off an incredible 2016 season during which she played more than any other player on the LPGA Tour, registered 15 top-10 finishes and won twice – including her first major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Even though she climbed to as high as No. 2 in the world rankings, the 19-year-old spent the off-season looking for ways to get better, including making a big change in her green-game.
"[I worked on] a little bit of wedges and distance control and just overall consistency in my game," said Henderson in an interview with Amy Rogers at LPGA.com. "I switched putters, hopefully to just have a little bit more energy and positive feelings going into the rounds. I switched irons as well but they are pretty much the same as last year. Just little things but hopefully it makes a big difference."
"I made the switch three or four weeks ago to a blade putter and traditionally I’ve always been a mallet user. So, it’s a big change and I really like it. It’s the Ping Voss and it’s been working really well for me."
The move to a new putter makes sense as the promising young Canadian ranked 33rd and 44th respectively in putts per green in regulation and putting average during the 2016 LPGA Tour season, but it’s surprising that she made the switch so close to her first 2017 event.
Henderson, however, thinks that the transition will go smoothly.
"Everything is a little bit different so it does take you a few days, but the switch was really natural and it happened really quickly, which I was really happy about and I saw results really quickly," she said. "Hopefully I did that successfully over the last few weeks and I am really excited to start here in the Bahamas and to get 2017 started."
The new season officially starts for Henderson on Thursday when she tees off at the Pure Silk Bahamas Classic. She’s coming off her best year in her young career (she turned pro in 2015) but she slowed down near the end of last season and dropped to No. 8 in the rankings.
Moving forward she has her sights aimed on turning that dip around and repeating last year’s success.
"I’d love to get a few more wins and move my world ranking up a little bit," she said. "Being number two last year, you know, and then slipping back to eight kind of, it’s a good feeling to be number two so I’m trying to get back there and repeat that."
