Canada’s Brooke Henderson will have Korda, history to beat at season’s first major

Brooke Henderson has had a tidy start to her 2024 campaign with her top-10 results already numbering higher than the whole of 2023. With the first major of the LPGA Tour season starting Thursday, the Canadian is eager for more.

But in order to return to the winner’s circle at a major championship, Henderson will have to top a golfer who is having a run that can be measured only by history books.

At The Chevron Championship, Nelly Korda is looking to win her fifth straight event on the LPGA Tour. Korda won the LPGA Drive On Championship in late January, took seven weeks off while the tour headed to Asia, and then captured the Fir Hills Se Ri Pak Championship, the Ford Championship, and the T-Mobile Match Play in successive weeks.

Only four golfers in history have won four times in a row on the LPGA Tour and they are all legends of the sport — Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, Annika Sorenstam, and Lorena Ochoa.

Sorenstam won her fifth straight event (it was over two calendar years, however) by eight shots while Nancy Lopez also won five straight events as an LPGA Tour rookie in 1978.

Korda is trying not to let the weight of the moment — or the future of the women’s game overall — impact her efforts this week. The sporting world was recently locked into Caitlin Clark and the NCAA women’s basketball finale with tens of millions of viewers. Korda said she doesn’t feel a responsibility to continue to lift up women’s golf but did say what she thinks the LPGA Tour could use more of moving forward to get more eyeballs.

“Women’s sports just needs a stage. If we have a stage we can show up and perform and show people what we’re all about,” Korda said.

Korda finished just one shot out of a playoff at the Chevron Championship last year (won by eventual player of the year Lilia Vu) and said even though the golf course was restored year-over-year to its original design, and will play differently from 2023 to this year, her game plan likely won’t be changing, even with history hanging in the balance.

She said, too, that she’d be taking some inspiration from Scottie Scheffler, who is in the midst of his own historic run on the PGA Tour and who won the Masters Sunday by four shots.

“I don’t think anyone can ever say anything bad about Scottie. I love his morals, I love his attitude out there. I just love the way he goes about his business. He inspires so many around him, including myself,” Korda said.

“You can get lost in the articles, lost in the expectations, but I think if you just stick to your true self, I feel like you can live in your own bubble and enjoy it a lot more.

Brooke Henderson. (Lynne Sladky/AP)

The tournament moved to The Woodlands, Texas, last year after more than five decades in Palm Springs when the presenting sponsor changed to Chevron, whose headquarters is in nearby Houston. The oil and gas giant announced Tuesday it was raising the purse of the first major of the year to $7.9 million (U.S.) up from $5.2 million in 2023. It’s also extending its title partnership through 2029.

A year ago, Henderson finished tied for 23rd at the Chevron.

She was very much in the mix through 36 holes — sitting tied for fourth — after shooting rounds of 71-67, but fell down the leaderboard on the weekend. It was an impressive start out of the gate at the first-time major venue, something that Henderson said took a lot more work to prepare for. This week is one of the few she has circled on her calendar to make sure her game is peaking and she feels good heading into Thursday’s opener.

“I have found that managing energy and taking a consistent approach into these weeks is critical to maximizing performance,” Henderson told Sportsnet. “We’ll set out a good strategy based on our prior experience and current course conditions and then go out and try to execute that game plan this week.”

Last year Henderson won the first event of the season but couldn’t quite string together a run of good results that we’ve come accustomed to seeing from her. She finished 2023 with just three top-10 results.

In 2024, though, Henderson has come out of the gates quickly and through just seven events she already has four top-10s, including a third-place finish in her title defence at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and a tie for third at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Her ball striking is much improved from last year and that’s been the key, she said, to her steady start. Henderson has not missed a cut in 2024.

The product of Smiths Falls, Ont., sits fourth in greens in regulation so far this season. She was 28th in the same statistic a year ago after being inside the top five in each of the three prior years.

“Consistency has been a key for me starting off the year well. Ball striking has been solid, and I’ve put myself in good positions with some solid finishes,” Henderson said. “I’m looking to build on that early success as the major season gets underway and am really looking forward to an exciting few months.”

Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is the other Canadian in the field at the Chevron. She is making her major championship debut as a pro after finishing tied for fourth at the Blue Bay LPGA in March.

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