Can memories of youth give Brooke Henderson a boost at home?

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – We’re always hopeful for the next big thing from Canada’s athletes – whether it be Olympic medals, world championships, or big titles. This week at the CPKC Women’s Open, Brooke Henderson is hoping a look back will inspire future results.

Henderson, Canada’s top-ranked golfer and the 2018 winner at the CPKC Women’s Open, said Tuesday she spent a little time Monday afternoon – after getting off a red-eye flight from Portland in the morning – seeking out old highlights of her efforts at Canada’s national open when she was just a teenager.

“I was actually watching clips when I was 14 playing in my first Canadian Open event just to see the progression, and to look back on that was super fun. I just learned so much since that event, especially playing here at home and how to handle things a little bit better and how to use the energy of the crowd to my advantage,” Henderson, 27, said. “I’m just trying to kind of lean into some of those things that I learned and try to do that the best I can.”

By her own admission, Henderson has called the 2025 campaign a weird one. Statistics-wise, it certainly has been. The Canadian sits a jarring 112th on the LPGA Tour in strokes gained: approach, with ball-striking being her usual top effort. She sits No. 53 in the CME Points list, with only the top 60 making the season finale in November – something that Henderson hasn’t even sniffed as a problem at any point in her career.

Henderson, too, hasn’t finished in the top 10 in a stroke-play tournament yet this year, with her lone top-10 finish coming at the T-Mobile Match Play in April. For the first time in her career, the native of Smiths Falls, Ont. also didn’t notch at least a top-20 finish at any major championship in a single season.

Simply, Henderson said what any top player has oft repeated about this crazy game – golf is hard.

“(My season) just hasn’t been up to my standards I guess, not really what I’m used to. But I feel like I’ve been saying it for a really long time … I am definitely trending in the right direction. And it is super close to being really good again, which is really exciting,” Henderson said. “I think just getting four solid rounds of golf together in a row is really key. Just being a little bit more consistent. For a while the ball striking was a bit of an issue. I feel like we worked diligently on that and it’s back to a better spot. So just piecing everything together.

“Golf is hard, and I found that out more recently than I ever have.”

Henderson said she’s been working on the mental side of things with her team, while firmly realizing that her chosen profession is a pretty good one. Henderson also – to borrow a piece of Gen Z parlance – ‘hard launched’ a new relationship on Instagram with baseball player Ricky Castro, a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins’ minor-league system.

“It’s just really nice to have a great group of people that are surrounding you and can make you feel loved and make you feel like golf is obviously very important and they all want me to succeed, but it’s also not like your identity,” Henderson said “I think that’s really important to remember especially when you’re out here for so long. At the end of the day everybody is just trying to support me and help me chase after my dreams and goals. I think\\ I that’s really awesome.”

While Henderson is far-and-away Canada’s top female pro (in fact, there are no other female professionals inside the top 300 in the world rankings) there is a generation coming up fast that all count Henderson as their biggest inspiration – not unlike what we’re seeing on the PGA Tour with this current group all pointing to Mike Weir as their hero.

“I definitely looked up to Brooke,” said Savannah Grewal, who is Canada’s second-highest ranked female golfer. “I personally think she’s the greatest Canadian golfer to ever play the game.

“As we can see, there are a lot of up-and-coming girls – and I think she’s had a really big part of that.”

Henderson still does, however, have lots of golf ahead of her. The good news for her – despite the fact that the season hasn’t been all that solid, results-wise – is that there are still 12 events left in 2025. A late-season surge could be ahead, she said. Last week in Portland, Henderson had the best round of her season so far to open, a 65 that featured a run of five straight birdies at one point and just 25 putts.

The CPKC Women’s Open has often been happy hunting ground for Henderson over the last 10 years as she has finished in the top 15 every year save for one – somewhat ironically, it came when the tournament was contested near home in in Ottawa in 2022. She finished tied for eighth last year in Calgary and was tied for third the last time it was in the Greater Toronto Area, in 2019 in Aurora, Ont.

Henderson, who is playing her 12th CPKC Women’s Open, knows exactly what she needs to do to have success this week. She’s got the whole crowd on her side. She had some flashes of brilliance last week. And out of all the tournaments on the calendar, this is the one she feels the most comfortable at – especially these days.

Maybe that 14-year-old she watched on Monday will inspire her this week.

“I want to learn every day so that I can be better tomorrow. I feel like I did that really well when I was younger and in my teens,” Henderson said. “There are so many cool things that have happened at this event, so I’m just trying to take positive energy from that and use it this week.”