Canadian Brooke Henderson stays within range at Women’s Open, the LPGA season’s final major test

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This article was published 21/08/2021 (1833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brooke Henderson is hoping some new confidence with an old putter will help her to win another major championship title on Sunday.

Henderson is 6-under through 54 holes of the AIG Women’s Open in Carnoustie, Scotland and sits just three shots back of the lead shared by Nanna Koerstz Madsen and two-time major winner Anna Nordqvist, who shot a tournament-best 7-under 65 in the third round.

Henderson, who often uses a mallet-style putter, reverted to blade style for the Open. The Cadence TR Anser from Ping is the same one she used when she won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii in 2018.

Putting has been Henderson’s Achilles heel — while she ranks third on the LPGA Tour in greens in regulation, she’s 125th in putting average. The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., said she wanted to keep things simple at Carnoustie Golf Links.

“The putter feels good … I really like it,” said Henderson.

Henderson will be paired with world No. 1 Nelly Korda for Sunday’s final round. Korda has won three times this season including her first major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, plus Olympic gold in Japan. They’re friends, both with homes on the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida, and shot matching 2-under-par 70s in the third round.

The Canadian bogeyed her opening hole, but rattled off five birdies in a seven-hole stretch through the middle of the round. She battled rain and windy conditions late and made two bogeys in the final four holes.

“The closing holes are definitely the toughest holes out here, and especially when it started raining it got a little bit trickier,” Henderson said. “But I’m happy how I played today and how I battled coming in.”

Henderson hit only seven of 14 fairways, but 13 of 18 greens. She expected to stick with the same game plan Sunday as she looks for her second major win, and first since 2016.

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“It’s changing all the time, so you have to adapt,” Henderson said of the conditions at Carnoustie. “I feel like for the most part we are hitting quality shots and our game plan is pretty solid … hopefully good things can happen.”

There are 39 golfers within seven shots of the lead heading into the final round of the season’s last major. Minjee Lee, who was paired with Henderson in the third round, came from seven strokes back on the final day to win the most recent major, the Evian Championship.

Lee will have a shot again Sunday along with two of the last three Women’s Open winners (Georgia Hall and Hinako Shibuno) and this year’s other major champions: Korda, Yuka Saso (U.S. Women’s Open) and Patty Tavatanakit (ANA Inspiration).

Tour rookie Yealimi Noh reached 10-under at one point on the back nine Saturday before going 4-over in her final three holes. She sits tied with Henderson at 6-under.

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