Henderson gets nod as Canada’s top female athlete
Teen golfer ran away with award besting Buchanan, two-time winner Bouchard
Red-eye flights, pre-tournament qualifiers and last-minute travel plans were often the norm for golfer Brooke Henderson in her first season as a professional.
At the start of the year, she hoped to post some decent results and use her rookie campaign as a learning experience. Henderson did much more than that in 2015 — she became the first Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour in more than a decade and rocketed into the top 20 in the world rankings.
Not bad for someone who just celebrated her 18th birthday a few months ago.
Henderson capped her impressive season Monday by winning the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year. She picked up 21 votes (37 per cent) in the annual survey of editors and broadcasters from across the country.
“I’m hoping this is just the start of a pretty long career, and one where I can chase after some bigger dreams and goals that I’ve set for myself,” Henderson said. “Really I think that there are no limits and I think anything is possible. My 2015 year proves that it’s true — that anything is possible.”
Soccer player Kadeisha Buchanan was well back in second place in the voting with 10 votes (17 per cent). Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard won the award the last two years.
Henderson is the first golfer to capture the honour since Lorie Kane in 2000. Kane was also the last Canadian to win on the Tour until Henderson blew away the field at the Cambia Portland Classic in August to end Canada’s 14-year victory drought.
The youngster from Smiths Falls, Ont., needed to play in a qualifier just to enter the tournament field that week. She showed she belonged by finishing with a whopping eight-shot victory.
Henderson, who also posted fifthplace ties at two major events last season, was granted immediate LPGA Tour membership by commissioner Mike Whan after the win. “The LPGA Tour win — that was really the pinnacle of the season,” she said. “It was when I was playing my best and I was able to secure my LPGA Tour card and get my first LPGA Tour victory. “It was just a miracle year really.” Henderson finished the season ranked 18th in the world — a jump of more than 200 positions from a year ago — with more than $100,000 (U.S.) in official LPGA earnings and more than $700,000 in combined earnings as a pro.
Henderson hopes to start strong early in the 2016 season with a goal of cracking the top10 in the world rankings. She’s also a virtual lock to play for Canada when golf makes it return to the Olympic program at the Rio Games in August.