ORLANDO, Fla. — One of Brooke Henderson’s goals for the new season of the LPGA Tour was to get into contention more often. The Canadian golfer got off to a strong start, finishing Friday at the Hilton Grand by four strokes at the Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Playing alongside Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, Henderson birdied four off the second hole, went 9-under on the way to the 6th tee, and posted an error-free 6-under. 66 at Lake Nona.
The 28 other LPGA pros in the winners-only field quickly went into scramble mode to keep track of her. Henderson’s closest pursuit to reach the third round is Nelly Korda, the runner-up in the field, England’s Charlie Hull and Taiwan’s Wei Ling Su. They shot 69 shots each.
Henderson was sensational early on, hitting several wedges near the tight hole, setting up two early birdies, and nearly holed in a 6-iron to an ace on the 171-yard fourth. What made the start special was playing with Sorenstam for the first time.
“I feel like I’ll never forget it,” said Henderson, who only bogeyed once in 36 holes. “Just one of her once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We all look up to her on her tour. I think you can learn a lot from it.”
Korda finished the round to work on putting after missing some good looks on the front nine, but scored four birdies after the 10th hole.
Meanwhile, Hull, who escaped the cold weather in England and prepared for three days of practice in Morocco, said his swing was not good and he worked hard to get his score below 70. Five shots behind Henderson, alongside Sue in rounds of 69.
“Obviously I play in frost, so it bounces for miles. Our greens are thick. “Yeah, I thought the Americans definitely had a big advantage today, but I love England too much to move anywhere else.” “
Sue, who got here after winning the 2021 Pure Silk Championship, made 6 birdies, but didn’t make a single birdie after the 13th hole, completing 69 at 5 par.
Tennis player and Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish has taken the lead among celebrities and athletes, scoring the equivalent of 67 on the modified Stableford scoring system.
He scored 78 points, nine ahead of Lake Nona resident Sorenstam and veteran Chad Pfeiffer. Fish and Korda started the day in the dark hours and got up early to watch Nelly’s brother Sebastian Korda win the Australian Open.
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