Brooke Henderson hoping Carnoustie experience will provide an edge in Women’s Open

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This article was published 18/08/2021 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brooke Henderson is hoping to cash in some serious travel miles for a major championship, something that has been eluding her since 2016.

Henderson, who will play this week in the AIG Women’s Open, said her summertime sojourns have forced her to take care of her physical and mental health more than ever.

“It’s been crazy, to be honest, the last few weeks,” she said.

Since mid-July, the 23-year-old from Smith Falls, Ont., has gone from the U.S. to France for the Evian Championship, back to the U.S. for a break, to Japan for the Olympics, back to the U.S., and now to Scotland for the Women’s Open.

Henderson, who missed the cut at the Women’s Open last year — her first event after the pandemic put golf on hiatus — said she is excited to play at Carnoustie Golf Links, the Scottish course that has hosted the men’s Open Championship eight times and the women’s tournament once, in 2011. Carnoustie is regarded as the toughest of the Open layouts but Henderson played in the Ladies British Amateur there in 2012 and is hoping that will serve her well this year.

“I don’t remember a whole lot,” she said, “but I’m sure when I step on the tee things will come flying back, and it’ll be a little easier tournament prep because I’ve played it before.”

The Women’s Open is the final of five major championships on the LPGA Tour schedule, and the most lucrative. AIG and the R&A announced a purse Wednesday of $5.8 million (U.S.), with the winner earning $870,000.

Sophia Popov won last year’s Women’s Open at Royal Troon in Cinderella fashion, becoming the lowest-ranked player (304th) to win a major championship. She will defend her title against one of the toughest fields in the game, led by world No. 1 and Olympic gold medallist Nelly Korda, who has won three times this season.

“You have to … just kind of mentally prepare yourself because you’re going to hit bad shots,” Korda said of playing at Carnoustie. “The wind is just going to take it. Just make sure you’re OK with that.”

Henderson agreed. The challenge of links golf lies in the unpredictability of the terrain.

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“You can hit the ball great and end up in brutal spots or mis-hit shots and end up in good ones, so you really have to take what the course gives you and try to make the best of every situation,” Henderson said. “Just the way the courses are set up, you’re going to have to get up and down a lot, and when those birdie opportunities come around you better capitalize.”

By her own admission, the 2021 season hasn’t been Henderson’s best, although the stats show otherwise.

She won her 10th LPGA Tour title in April and has 10 top-25 finishes in 16 events, including at each of the first four majors. And she continues to be one of the best ball-strikers in the women’s game, ranking eighth in driving distance, third in greens in regulation and ninth in scoring average.

Henderson is grouped with 2021 U.S. Women’s Open winner Yuka Saso and American Lexi Thompson for the first two rounds. The trio played the first two rounds together at the Olympics.

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