Prior to teeing off in the Lotte Championship, Brooke Henderson noted some of Ko Olina Golf Club’s new features — including the Mickey Mouse-shaped bunker on No. 10 — gave the course a more inviting look.
The 20-year-old Canadian has made it appear all too easy over her first two rounds in west Oahu.
Taking advantage of calmer conditions and riding a hot putter, Henderson heads into moving day with a two-shot lead, a share of the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record and still without a bogey to her name after firing a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday to move to 10 under for the tournament.
“I have to thank my putter for that, which is a really nice feeling,” Henderson said of her bogey-free start through two rounds. “That’s kind of where I’ve struggled early this year when I haven’t played my best.
“I feel really confident right now the way I’m putting it. I’m seeing the line, which is always nice as well.”
She needed just 24 putts to get through Thursday’s round — a total of 50 through 36 holes — and became the tournament’s sixth player to post a 36-hole total of 134.
Henderson tees off with Mo Martin in today’s final pairing at 12:55 p.m. Martin enters the third round tied for second at 8 under with first-round leader Shanshan Feng, who also went bogey-free in a 69.
While Ko Olina offered the 144-player field more benign conditions compared to Wednesday’s gusting trades, higher winds are expected to return for the 74 who advanced to the final two rounds.
“That’s what I really want,” said Feng, who is seeking her first win since ascending to No. 1 in the world last November. “When I saw the wind dying down I was like, ‘No, keep blowing.’ So that’s going to be an exciting weekend for me because I like the wind.”
Henderson is also pursuing her first win of the season after claiming her fourth and fifth career titles last year. She came close in Singapore in early March, when she tied for second at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, one shot behind Michelle Wie.
Amid her jaunt through the first two rounds, Henderson also played for the memory of lives lost in her home country. Henderson has worn a green and yellow ribbon on the side of her visor, a gesture suggested by fellow Canadian Alena Sharp’s caddie, Sarah Bowman, to honor the victims of the fatal bus crash on April 6 involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team.
A former hockey player herself, Henderson has certainly played inspired golf through two rounds. Thursday’s score was her lowest in 10 rounds at Ko Olina.
“I knew what worked the past years; I was just trying to go with that,” said Henderson, who tied for 10th in her Hawaii debut in 2016 and 11th last year. “There are a lot of birdie opportunities out here — it’s a really fun course.
“Just tried to be stress-free, kind of more relaxed, and just try to chase after some birdies.”
Henderson birdied four of her first six holes Thursday morning, eased off the gas a bit over the middle of her round, then circled two more late birdies on her card.
“Going birdie-birdie to start allowed me to be kind of more aggressive, knowing that I already made up two shots,” she said.
“(On her second nine) I started to not be as aggressive, kind of laid back a little bit. I kind of got into more trouble, so I went back to my aggressive ways.”
After breaking a string of nine consecutive pars with a birdie on No. 7, Henderson’s tee shot on the par-3 eighth hole ricocheted off the flag stick into the fringe behind the green. She calmly rolled in the 21-foot birdie putt to move to 10 under.
“I was just trying to get good pace on it,” Henderson said. “It was a little bit tricky putt, but read it perfectly and it went in. Just kind of a bonus.”
Martin, fresh off a pre-tournament scuba-diving excursion, carded a 5-under 67 to put together her lowest two-round score of the season.
“My scuba instructor came and watched,” she said. “He’s watched every hole I’ve played so far, so I need to keep him around. He’s going to miss a few dives unfortunately. I’m going to make him stay.”
Feng fired a 67 in the wind on Wednesday and kept pace Thursday afternoon. She maintained the tie with Martin with a nifty up-and-down from the bunker behind the 18th green. With the pin in the front of the tiered green, her shot crawled over the ridge at just the right speed to settle inches from the cup.
“The third shot was actually into the wind, so it helped the ball to stop a little bit,” she said. “I actually practiced from the same spot, from the bunker to the front pins in the practice rounds because I knew that those might happen and those are the tougher ones. … So I kind of had the feeling about its distances and how to get the ball there. I think the practice was worth it.”
Wie and defending champion Cristie Kerr danced around the cut line, but made it safely into the third round.
Wie enters the third round tied for 31st at 1 over after a roller-coaster back nine featuring four birdies and three bogeys that left her with a 73. Kerr is one shot behind Wie following her round of 75 and chucked her ball into the pond after a closing bogey on 18.
