One of the world’s most exciting new talents in women’s golf, Brooke Henderson, will make her first appearance at the RACV Ladies Masters at the RACV Royal Pines Resort from February 25-28.
RACV Ladies Masters tournament chairman Bob Tuohy said the 18-year-old Canadian, ranked 17th in the world golf rankings, would light up the tournament.
“Brooke Henderson is a sensational player,” he said. “We are delighted she is playing at RACV Royal Pines Resort.”
Over the past 27 years, Tuohy Associates has made a habit of introducing bright, new talent to the tournament.
“The Ladies Masters has long been a stepping-stone for golf’s future stars,” Tuohy said. “We have a reputation for unearthing new faces that have plenty of golfing ability.
“Karrie Webb played her first professional event at Royal Pines and went on to become the world’s best player. Then there was Annika Sorenstam, who won here in 1995 and again in 2002 and 2004.
“We introduced Yani Tseng in 2010 as an amateur and a year later she won the tournament. Lorena Ochoa was another who played in the event before becoming the world’s top ranked player.
“New Zealand’s Lydia Ko played in the event before she became the best player in the world and Minjee Lee finished runner-up as an amateur in 2014.”
The RACV Ladies Masters is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and promoted as part of the It’s Live! in Queensland calendar of events.
Henderson said she was thrilled to be playing in the event. “This will be my first time visiting Australia and seeing the Gold Coast,” she said. “I have heard wonderful things about the event, golf course and the resort.”
Last year, Henderson burst onto the scene when she won the LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic by eight shots and finished in the top-five at the Women’s US Open and Women’s PGA Championship.
She was an amateur at the time and her victory was the first by a Canadian since Lorie Kane in 2001. Henderson is only the third player under the age of 18 to win on the LPGA Tour after New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and American Lexi Thompson. A happy go-lucky person, Henderson is a creative player who has the ability to adapt her game to any golf course – especially long and challenging golf courses. That’s because she hits the ball long and can comfortably draw and fade the ball when required.
Henderson, who made the Canadian national golf team at age 14, had a stellar amateur career winning the Women’s Canadian Amateur in 2013 and was runner-up at the 2014 Women’s US Amateur Championship.As an amateur, she won three tournaments on the Canadian Women’s Tour and tied for 10th in the 2014 Women’s US Open at the age of 16.
Henderson was the top-ranked woman amateur in the world before turning professional at the end of 2014.
Canada’s female athlete of the year in 2015, Henderson carries a 47-inch driver, which helps her generate plenty of power. She is in the top-25 in driving accuracy (79.91 per cent) and greens hit in regulation (78.13 per cent) and ranked in the top-50 in putting average.
