It was a tough start for Canadian Brooke Henderson, who shot a 3-over 75 in the first round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club on Thursday, but the 13-time LPGA Tour winner recovered nicely on Friday, carding a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to move inside the top 10 with 36 holes to play in Singapore.
Henderson began the day with pars on 10 and 11 and then recorded a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-4 12th and par-5 13th holes to get back to 1-over overall. She parred 14 and 15 before picking up her third birdie of the round on the par-5 16th hole, parring her next two holes to turn in 33, now at even par for the tournament.
She made another birdie on the par-4 3rd hole to move to 1-under and then birdied again on No. 5, parring holes six and seven before grabbing her final birdie of the round on the par-5 8th hole to post a 66 – her lowest round on the LPGA Tour since the day three of the CME Group Tour Championship – and sit at 3-under overall.
“Today was a lot of fun. It was really solid. No bogeys, six birdies, which was good,” said Henderson of her third bogey-free round of the 2024 season. “I was disappointed after yesterday. So, I just tried to go out today and tried to get some shots back, which I feel like I did, and I was able to climb up the leaderboard a bit, too, which is really exciting. Hopefully, just do more things like today the rest of the week.”
This is Henderson’s seventh time teeing it up in Singapore for the HSBC Women’s World Championship, and in her six previous starts, she has never finished worse than T48, earning five top-15 finishes, including a tie for second that came in 2018. This is her fourth start of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, and after a difficult 2023 that saw her struggle to find any consistency after winning the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, it appears that Henderson has returned to form as she has finished T16 or better in her first three starts of the year, most notably coming solo third in her title defense at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
And after an impressive turnaround in Singapore, Henderson will continue to ride that momentum over the weekend at the HSBC Women’s World Championship as she works to make up a four-shot deficit and fight her way to the top of the leaderboard at an event that she really enjoys, one that the winningest Canadian golfer of all time would love to add to her already impressive resume.
“I love coming here to Singapore,” said Henderson, who currently sits in a tie for ninth and four back of the lead. “It's one of my favorite stops on Tour. It's beautiful, it's so clean, and the people are so nice. The golf course, I feel like if I'm hitting it well, that it really suits my game. There's a lot of birdie opportunities out there, and hopefully, just play smart and give myself a lot of good looks.”