When Brooke Henderson said last week her game was close, she wasn’t kidding.

Thursday in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Henderson carded her low round of 2017 with an eight-under par, 63 to take the early lead on day one. The three-time winner on Tour holds a one-stroke lead midway through round one, ahead of a group at seven-under par, which includes Shanshan Feng, Jennifer Ha, Giulia Molinaro, Holly Clyburn and Lexi Thompson.

“I felt great right from the start. I felt like today was going to be a really good day,” Henderson told the media. “Got off to two birdies on 10 and 11, my first two holes. Then it was pretty steady.”

Henderson, who started her day on the back nine, jumped into the pack at seven-under par with an eagle at the par five, third hole then backed that up with a birdie at her final hole of the day, the par four ninth hole, to take the outright lead.

“It's beautiful here, I feel like this course suits my game really well. There's a couple tee shots where you need to hit it really straight, which I think is kind of my advantage or my strength. And like I said, once the putts start dropping, then really good things can happen.”

The Canadian burst onto the LPGA Tour in 2015 with her victory in Portland, which she followed with her first major victory in 2016 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She successfully defended her title in Portland last season further fueling the high expectations that have surrounded Henderson since joining the Tour. She’s coming off a tie for 11^th last week at home in Canada at the Manulife LPGA Classic, where she said her game was close to returning to form. She made it around in 27 putts on Thursday, missing only two greens and three fairways.

“Everything was just kind of going my way. I was hitting the ball really well and some putts were dropping, which is kind of a change from the last few weeks,” Henderson said. “So it's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to the next three days.”

World No. 2 Lydia Ko fired an opening round 65 to sit tied for seventh with Simin Feng and two-back of Henderson.

Click here for current scores from the opening round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

Henderson Cards Low Round of Year, Takes Early Lead On Day One in Michigan

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