Henderson handed LPGA Tour card

He arrives at his hotel late Sunday and turns on the television to see his town’s favourite daughter, Brooke Henderson, winning by nine shots on the LPGA Tour.

Brooke Henderson’s first LPGA Tour win didn’t stop her from having to play golf on Mondays.

“After reviewing Brooke Henderson’s petition, I have granted her LPGA Tour membership beginning immediately”, LPGA commissioner Michael Whan said in a statement.

On Monday, when she was asked about the possibility of joining the LPGA tour as a full-time member, Brooke Henderson allowed the thought had crossed her mind but she hadn’t fully committed to a decision one way or another.

Henderson put together a string of impressive results in LPGA events this year despite having to rely on sponsors’ exemptions or qualification just to play. On Sunday, she became only the third player – atfer New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (15) and American Lexi Thompson (16) – to win an LPGA event before her 18th birthday.

“There are still players out here that I want their autograph and I want to take pictures with them”, she said.

“Realising this dream here at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in my native Canada is even more fantastic and I am so proud to be an ambassador for golf in this incredible country”.

Whan gets dozens of petitions for waivers every year, but he has firmly stood by his stance that an underage player needs to win an LPGA event before he’ll consider granting tour membership. The $661,234 Henderson has earned this season doesn’t count as official money, meaning that Henderson starts earning officially this week at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. It also means that Henderson is now officially a rookie for this season. “I can start living my dream today”.

The 17-year-old, whose name adorns the “Welcome to Smiths Falls” sign (along with her sister Brittany) would go on to win the tournament by eight. “We don’t have a system where I say in April, ‘You know what?”

She catapulted to No. 17 in the world rankings, boosted her earnings over $660,000 and secured her 2016 card, but because she’s exhausted all six of her sponsor’s exemptions she’ll have to continue playing Monday qualifiers to gain entry into tournaments for the remainder of this season.

Henderson set up her victory with bogey-free rounds of 66 and 65 on Thursday and Saturday.

But what really strikes me is Henderson’s resolve, and the mild-mannered composure she demonstrates at such a young age. That made her the first Canadian to win an LPGA event since Lorie Kane of Charlottetown in 2001.

“I think it’s possible”, she said.

“I got a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum was built up off that”, she said.

As for questions about handling pressure, her answer was nearly terse: “I’m not doing it for anybody else, but… myself”.

“There was a little bit of tree issue” on her second shot, “not much, but I was thinking about going to the right of the green because there was a bunker guarding the left side where the pin was”.