Brooke Henderson admitted Thursday at the Amundi Evian Championship that, over the last few years, her mindset inside the ropes hasn’t been the best.
But for the second major in a row, Henderson has returned to what plenty in Canadian golf are used to seeing from the 14-time LPGA Tour winner. It may take a Herculean effort Sunday at the Amundi Evian Championship to win this particular event, but Henderson will be in the final group on the final day yet again, after also doing so in last month's KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Progress is progress, and Henderson is feeling good about all facets of her life right now — especially after becoming an aunt for the first time just two weeks ago.
“I feel like off the course my life is really great, so I feel like it's starting to come over into on the course, too, which is really awesome,” Henderson said earlier this week.
Henderson shot a solid 7-under 64 Saturday at the Evian Championship and sits tied for third after 54 holes.
Three bogeys were sprinkled in to an otherwise impressive third-round effort that featured two eagle chip-ins — one on the par-5 seventh and the other on the par-5 15th. Henderson also had a run of three birdies in a row to start her back nine, from Nos. 10-12. Thanks to the two chip-ins, Henderson needed just 23 putts on Saturday.
“A bonus to be able to chip in on two par-5s today (and make) two eagles. Definitely helps out the scorecard a lot, and momentum, too. You know, on both of them I was in pretty good spots, and so to see them go in is definitely very exciting,” Henderson said. “But I feel like the par-5s are pretty key here, so hopefully have a good day on them tomorrow.”
Henderson may be in the final trio for the final round, but she sits seven shots back of the lead held by Haeran Ryu, who shot the lowest round in major-championship history, an 11-under 60. Ryu had a chance to become just the second woman in history to shoot a sub-60 round, but her eagle attempt on the 18th hole at Evian-les-Bains just slid by.
Ryu is up three on second-place Aki Iwai. Like Nelly Korda earlier this year, Ryu is now looking for her second consecutive major title after winning the Women’s PGA, where Henderson also finished tied for third.
“It's very exciting to be back in a good position near the top of the leaderboard. Know there is a lot of ground and work to do, which is kind of exciting. Can just go out and try to be assertive, try to make lots of birdies, and see what happens,” Henderson said.
Even without a victory Sunday, Henderson is trending towards recording her second top-10 major finish this season, with the AIG Women’s Open still to come. The last time the native of Smiths Falls, Ont., had two major top-10s in the same season was 2022 (she had a sparkling major record that year, with all five results being inside the top 16, including her win at the Evian Championship). Henderson has posted two major top-10s in the same season four times in her career, and in 2016 she had three major top-10s including her win at the Women’s PGA.
It’s been well documented that this year hasn’t been Henderson’s best, results-wise — and she’d be the first to say as such. Prior to the Women’s PGA, she had just one top-20 finish, a third-place result at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. But this week, again, Henderson said she’s managed to find happiness with both golf and life and the results are showing.
While she may fall short this week up against Ryu, the game’s hottest player, there is still plenty of season to go on the LPGA Tour, with Henderson seemingly hitting her stride at a wonderful time. Her title defence at the CPKC Women’s Open is just around the corner along with one final major.
“I'm feeling a lot better out on the course mentally and physically. I'm back hitting it better too, which is really exciting,” Henderson said. “I feel like all parts of my game are helping the other one out if one slides a little bit. It's nice to be out there right now, which is cool. And, yeah, hopefully it's a good day tomorrow.”
Fellow Canadians Lauren Kim and Anna Haung are also playing the weekend at the Evian Championship, with Kim — an amateur — making her first-ever cut at an LPGA Tour event. Huang, a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour including once already this year, shot a tidy 6-under 66 Saturday and sits tied for 16th after three rounds.
