EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | Defending champion Brooke Henderson found some magic on Saturday at Evian Resort Golf Club, carding a 4-under 67 on Moving Day to put herself in the mix with one day to play at The Amundi Evian Championship. The 13-time LPGA Tour winner shot out of the gate, making back-to-back birdies on the first two holes. Henderson then rattled off four consecutive birdies from holes six through nine to turn in 29 and tie the lowest nine-hole score in major championship history, becoming the 11th player ever to shoot 29 on nine holes. After parring Nos. 10 and 11, the 25-year-old slipped up on the par-4, 12th hole with a double bogey and made a bogey on the par-3, 14th hole to drop three shots in a three-hole stretch. But Henderson recovered with a birdie on 15 and parred in to hang on to a 67 and put herself four back of the lead at 7-under with one round left in Evian-les-Bains.
"The front nine was a lot of fun. I was really enjoying myself out there," said Henderson, who has made 17 total birdies this week. "Felt like I was doing everything properly. I was hitting a lot of fairways, greens, giving myself good looks. Then I made a couple of really long putts which was a bonus. Unfortunate to drop a few shots on the back nine, but I guess that's what makes it a major championship. This course can jump up at any time so you have to stay patient. It was nice to get a birdie on 15 to get one shot back."
This is Henderson's eighth appearance in The Amundi Evian Championship, and along with last year's victory, she has five additional top-25 finishes, the most notable of which is a tie for ninth that came in 2016. This is her 16th event of the 2023 season, and she has one win and four additional top-20 finishes, including a solo 12th that came at the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. While on paper, it doesn't seem like it's been too rough of a year, Henderson will be the first to tell you that things have really felt up and down this season. But as the Canadian is wont to do, she's reset, re-focused, and now given herself a shot at her third major title as well as the third successful title defense of her career.
"I'm really excited for tomorrow because I feel like my ball striking is in a really good spot, so I feel like I can give myself a lot of good birdie looks and hopefully capitalize on a few of them," said Henderson, who has successfully defended her title at the Portland Classic (2015, 2016) and LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei (2018, 2019). "If I could get the start I had today, that would be amazing. So try that and be stronger on the back nine.
"I think today, doubles are going to happen. It's major, it's Saturday, people are trying to push. That makes mistakes. This golf course is just hard sometimes so doubles, bogeys they're going to happen. You just got to shake it off the best you can and make some birdies."
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