Brooke Henderson is one off the lead after the opening round of the U.S. Open

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This article was published 03/06/2021 (1950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brooke Henderson took 67 solid shots Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open. She wished she didn’t need the 68th.

The Smiths Falls, Ont., native was tied for the lead late in the first round at San Francisco’s Olympic Club but missed a short par-saving attempt on the par-4 18th. Still, a 3-under 68 has her just one shot back of the lead heading into the Friday’s second round.

“They moved a lot of tees up. So, when I saw that, I was like, ‘Wow, as long as you hit the fairway, you’re going to have a short iron in,’ ” said Henderson. “Just (tried) to take advantage of some of those holes that were moved up, and then once you start playing well and start making some birdies, then you get a little bit more confident.”

Englishwoman Mel Reid and 17-year-old amateur Megha Ganne shot 4-under 67s and were tied for the lead.

Despite much of the conversation early in the week about the Olympic Club’s difficulty — the course has hosted five men’s U.S. Open championships and only four golfers in history have broken par over four rounds — Henderson was one of 15 golfers in red figures after Thursday.

She used her length to her advantage while making made six birdies, tied for the most of anyone in the first round. “Gave some more birdie looks than everybody was expecting. I feel like (caddy Brittany) and I, we capitalized on those quite a bit. Made a lot of birdies, which was fun.”

Even though Henderson has just one major victory — at the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — she has notched 10 top-10 results in majors since 2015.

She said earlier in the week that patience would be key at Olympic Club, as it is at most U.S. Women’s Open championships, and followed that plan Thursday. “I just tried to stay smart and stay calm, and I hit a lot of fairways, which I think you have to do here, and a lot of greens.”

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This is Henderson’s ninth U.S. Women’s Open start. Her best result is a tie for fifth, in 2015.

Henderson started her day with a birdie on the opening hole but gave it back immediately with a bogey on the par-4 second. She added two more birdies on her front nine and three on the back nine before making bogey on the final hole.

The other three Canadians in the field — Rebecca Lee-Bentham, of Toronto, amateur Noémie Paré, of Victoriaville, Que., and Megan Osland, of Kelowna, B.C. — were all well over par in their first rounds.

Lee-Bentham fired a 5-over 76, Paré had a 9-over 80, and Osland shot a 19-over 90 before withdrawing.

Adam Stanley is an Ottawa-based contributor to the Star’s Sports section and the host of golf podcast Next Round’s On Me. Follow him on Twitter: @adam_stanley