Brooke Henderson, Canada’s bright star, breaks victory drought by defeating Minjee Lee to capture her national championship

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[PHOTO: Vaughn Ridley]

At long last, Brooke Henderson is an LPGA winner again.

It took some home cooking in her home country and three good bounces to help propel her back in the winner’s circle, but she did just enough to earn her 14th tour title.

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Oh, Canada.

Henderson, who is adored in Ontario where she grew up, shot a four-under 67 to win the CPKC Women’s Open… in Ontario. It was her first victory in more than two years, a span of 64 starts. Henderson raised a trophy in this tournament for the second time, this one at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club. Henderson, a two-time major champion, held a one-shot lead with four holes to play and while three-time major winner Minjee Lee had a share of the lead briefly, Henderson held her off.

The 27-year-old gave her fans the win they desired, one that she’d longed for.

“When I won in 2018, I woke up Monday morning thinking I still had to play the final round,” Henderson said. “I’m wondering if that nightmare will happen again tomorrow.”

The nightmare of not winning for such a long stretch is over, too. For all of Henderson’s talent, a drought of more than two years was mind-boggling. That’s over now and she’s bolstered with newfound confidence after shooting 71-66-65-67 for a 15-under-par total. She earned $US412,500 and became the first to win her country’s national championship twice since 1914.

“It’s been an amazing week,” Henderson said. “This year has not gone very well up to this point, and it just feels like this was meant to be. I felt like I got a lot of breaks out there today and this week, and I just felt it was meant to be. I’m just so happy that I can finally hold this trophy again.”

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She certainly had her doubts. Henderson hadn’t won since the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the first event of the 2023 season. Before today’s win, she had just one top-10 finish and had missed five cuts this season.

“There were some dark times, for sure,” she said. “I feel like my family was so supportive and just said to like keep going, just keep working hard. It’ll come around.

“Like I’ve been telling everybody for like a long time, it’s close, it’s close, it’s close. To finally break through again is so exciting. I’m excited for the rest of the season. I’m excited for what’s coming next. I’m super-pumped about International Crown, and with this win I think I’ll guarantee my spot into the CME [Group Tour Championship], which was a little bit in jeopardy before this. So that’s super-exciting as well.”

Henderson had quite the reception walking down the 18th fairway with a one-shot lead and Brooke’s Brigade – a passionate group of fans that encourage her at tournaments and on social media – were out in full force.

She made a putter change this week, and that helped. On the 17th hole, Lee drained a 15-foot putt for birdie to move to 14-under and a share of the lead. Henderson followed with a 12-footer to restore her one-shot lead heading to the final hole. Henderson then rolled a 54-foot lag putt to within a foot for her final par. She pumped her fists and later teared up, but didn’t cry, much to her surprise.

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Henderson becomes the 23rd golfer in 22 LPGA events to win this season – there was one two-person team event – the longest stretch to start a season without multiple winners in the tour’s 75-year history.

Asked how she would celebrate, Henderson said she hadn’t had a soft drink in years, so she took a sip of Sprite after her media conference concluded.

“It’s so cool that I was able to celebrate with thousands of fans and family and friends,” Henderson said. “I’m super-excited that this actually happened. It’s like a dream come true again.”