Sometimes the days spent away from the game make all the difference. Brooke Henderson had not spent any serious time back home in Canada since before the pandemic. COVID-19 scared her. She and her sister/caddie, Brittany, didn’t break their self-imposed bubble on the road for well over a year. Because they live close to each other in Florida between Fort Myers and North Naples, the two were able to work on Brooke’s game without much outside interference or interactions.
But that wears on you. Humans are social creatures, and the Hendersons, some of the kindest and most gracious people in the game, needed to get out and about again, whether they realized it or not.
That made Brooke’s four-week visit to Ontario this spring the perfect answer for an ailing game.
During that month, she hung out with her mom, Darlene, ate some home cooking, and goofed around in a late-season snow. When she did work on her game with her coach and father, Dave, it was to gain confidence with the shorter driver she was forced by a rules change to put into play this year, and experiment with a left-hand-low putting grip that allowed her to stroke 6- to 16-footers with more authority.
“Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Being able to spend time with family and just connect back to where I grew up and relax for a couple weeks was really key.
Brooke Henderson
The result was not just better scores, but a much happier player. Henderson came from behind to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic last month in New Jersey upon her return and, in France, she let a lead slip away and then rallied with three birdies in the last five holes at the Evian Resort Course to win her second major championship at the Amundi Evian Championship.
“You know, sometimes you just need to gain perspective again and kind of work on the correct mindset to be out here week in and week out competing at such a high level in all sorts of conditions,” Henderson said after her win in France. “Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Being able to spend time with family and just connect back to where I grew up and relax for a couple weeks was really key.
“Then I was able to come back out and get two victories pretty quick and some top finishes. I think that I just really needed it earlier this year.”
Even while struggling in the early part of the final round on Sunday, Henderson never looked rattled. She and Brittany continued to smile and chat. You couldn’t tell whether she was ahead or behind, under par or well over.
“Brit was really key in just reminding me that we're still in it,” Brooke said of her sister. “Just relax and hit good shots. Try to hit fairways, greens. Just keep it simple. Then I was trying to make as many birdies as I could coming down the stretch.”
Three birdies down the stretch turned out to be the magic number. The first came at the par-3 14th after playing a perfect hop off the left embankment with her tee shot and having the ball roll to within 10 feet. Then she two-putted for birdie on the par-5 15th. Two crucial pars on 16 and 17 set up the drama on 18, where Henderson missed her tee shot left, laid up to 85 yards, hit a wedge to 12 feet and poured in the winning putt.
She shot even-par 71 on the day, 17-under 267 for the week, one clear of Sophia Schubert and two shots better than five other players including past Evian champions Lydia Ko and Hyo Joo Kim.
“On 18, after I made that putt, I said (to Brittany), ‘Did we really do this?’ ” Henderson said. “It was such a weird day. Just to celebrate with her later is going to be really fun.”
Steve Eubanks