Brooke Henderson returns to Ko Olina Golf Club within sight of a couple of landmarks.
A year after pulling away late to win the Lotte Championship, Henderson will take her shot at becoming the first repeat —or even two-time — winner in the eighth-year event’s relatively young history.
At just 21, she is also one win away from catching Sandra Post for the most LPGA Tour wins for a Canadian player.
Since joining the tour in 2015, Henderson positioned herself to make quick work of Post’s mark of eight LPGA Tour wins. She’s won each year since becoming an LPGA member, picking up two victories in each of her three seasons. She reached six with her four-shot victory at Ko Olina last year and notched her seventh win back home in Canada at the CP Women’s Open in August.
Her quest for No. 8 resumes today when she opens defense of her Lotte title at 1:12 p.m. at Ko Olina’s 10th tee.
“It’s really amazing to be mentioned in the same sentence as Sandra Post and some of the amazing golfers that have come before me in Canada. To be one win away from tying the record is pretty sweet,” Henderson said Tuesday during the pre-tournament press conference.
“The talent is so incredible out here that you have to really bring your ‘A’ game and catch breaks along the way to have a win. I’m definitely excited to come back here where I have so many great memories, and hopefully I can rekindle some of the magic I had last year here.”
Post, the first Canadian to play on the tour, won eight LPGA titles between 1968 and 1981. She also owned the distinction as the only player from Canada to win a major until Henderson captured the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2016.
Henderson also made her Lotte debut that year and she’s played her 12 rounds at Ko Olina at 33 under par.
She has improved by a stroke in each of her three visits, with her total of 12-under 276 last year leaving her four shots ahead of Azahara Munoz.
“I felt like I’ve always really loved this golf course and I feel like I can play well here, which is a great feeling to have when you step out on a course. I don’t really get that every week, so I especially like coming here,” said Henderson, who enters the week ranked 12th in the world with three top-10s is six starts this season.
“I feel like when you win a tournament on the LPGA Tour everything has to be working for you. Definitely ball striking is a strength of mine, and I feel like on this course if you can get that then eventually the putts will roll in. I feel like the biggest challenge is definitely the winds, and if the wind is low then scores will be really low.”
The winds that whipped through West Oahu over the weekend calmed a bit on Tuesday, and Henderson will be among the headliners in a 144-player field that features eight of the top 10 players in the world, led by new No. 1 Jin Young Ko.
Ko has finished in the top three in five of her six starts this season with wins at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the season.
“I still can’t believe what I did two weeks ago (at ANA), but many, many people have said ‘congrats’ and ‘good job,’ so it’s starting to sink in,” said Ko, who will make her Ko Olina debut today at 12:39 p.m.
“So I’m just thinking about the same goal, being the happiest golfer on the course. So I will try to focus on my game, on my body, on my mind, not other people’s expectations.”
The field also includes five past champions, including Hawaii’s Michelle Wie, who starts at 1:12 p.m. at the No. 1 tee.