JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 25, 2023

Brooke Henderson

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with Brooke Henderson at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. I know this is a new event, but you've won at Wilshire Country Club before, so how happy are you to be back at a place that you've had so much success at in the past?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I played the back nine today and I was just going through some of the holes how I played it on that final Sunday a couple years ago, and just lots of great memories. I was impressed by a couple shots. I was like, I'm not really sure how I pulled that off. It's great to come back to a place where you have won before and you do have that success and those memories. Definitely looking forward to the week here.

I'm coming off not my best weeks but solid weeks, and I feel like I'm making a lot of progress, so just hopefully that continues.

Q. How much has changed from maybe that time in your life in '19, I want to say, to now? You've had a lot of different changes. You're with a whole new club company. How much has changed, and is it funny for you to be back somewhere like this and think of quite a few years ago?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I've been on Tour for a long time now, so it is cool coming back here to a place that -- I think this will be my fourth time playing here. I have two missed cuts, but I have two top 10s including a win. So it is a really tough golf course. You just kind of have to stay patient and hit the ball in the right spots.

I feel like when you come back to a course that you know, it's a little bit easier to get a strategy together, which makes it nice and a little bit less work for Brit and I on these practice days leading up to Thursday's round.

But it's fun and it's cool to kind of be a veteran out here, I guess, and I just look forward to the rest of the summer and years to come.

Q. Looking back a little bit, I know it wasn't the golf you were really looking for from yourself but you still finished solid and scraped it together even though you didn't have your best stuff. How are you resetting this week, putting Chevron in the past and going forward?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, this year is kind of funny, right out of the gate win and on a high and then some time away from golf, a couple weeks off before the Asia Swing, clubs didn't show up right away in Thailand, and then didn't play my best over there, came back, missed cut, which is -- I like to say unusual, so that was a little bit heartbreaking, and then to come back to Hawai'i, T11 and then T23 last week. We're getting it back. Like I said, we're kind of slowly making improvements and sticking to the process. That's all you can really do.

Golf can be really hard sometimes. It's a tough game. So just try to stay even through the highs and the lows.

Q. How do you give yourself grace in those moments when things aren't going your way? Do you kind of lean on all the success you've had in the past as you look ahead?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it is nice to kind of reminisce a little bit and realize that you're not that far away. Out here there's so many talented players. It's such a fine line between missing the cut and getting a top 5. Just trying to get on the right side of momentum and keep the energy up so that hopefully have a good week here this week and just keep on riding it the rest of the summer.

Q. Obviously a lot of experience here at Wilshire. What is it about this golf course that you like so much? I was talking to some people earlier, it's very quirky, tiny greens, tricky tee shots, bunkers in odd places. What's the strategy?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You have to think around here, and even though you have a strategy together, it changes while you're out there. That's kind of where the patience comes in.

At the end of the day, you can plan it all out, but the ball-striking has to be there. You have to hit it to the right spots because otherwise you can be in a lot of trouble really quickly.

Hopefully all parts of the game are on fire starting Thursday because you really need it around this place.

Q. You touched on this a minute ago. You've had the highest of highs and kind of the lowest of lows, all in LA. Why do you think that is?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Honestly, I think it's just such a tough golf course, and if you're a little bit off, you can be punished really quickly here. But if you're playing really well and your ball-striking is really good, you're hitting a lot of greens, then you can kind of get it rolling, and it's kind of that momentum that you need to keep riding it.

But I think it just comes down to it's a tough golf course, and you've got to have a good strategy and hopefully it works.

Q. You mentioned also kind of the ups and downs you had to start this season. What do you point to as kind of what has been the challenge for you finding your momentum after that big win to start the year?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, that was great. Still makes me smile a lot to think back on that. Then I've kind of went down a little bit of lows, but I feel like we're on our way back up now. The T11 in Hawai'i was really nice, a nice feeling to kind of get it back near the top of the leaderboard, and then I was in contention last weekend -- not last weekend but early in the week last week, which was really nice, especially at a major championship. Obviously not the weekend I was looking for, but just to be in those final groups again is really exciting, and I feel like the momentum is shifting and hopefully will be just good from here on out.

Q. I think it's been like 13 of your last 15 majors or something like that you finished in the top 25. Just absolutely remarkable on the consistency side of things. As you look back on the body of work on the biggest stage in the sport, what are you most proud of in terms of that consistency at majors?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You know, I love major championships. You just get excited, and I'm like nervous on Monday when I show up at those places. It's just a different feel. It's really exciting.

That's a pretty cool stat. I'm pretty proud of that because major championships, they test everything about you, mentally, physically. You really have to grind it out, and they are the most challenging weeks out here.

That is a really nice stat, and hopefully -- it was really nice to get my second major victory last summer, and hopefully I can do something similar this year.

Q. In terms of this week, I think on Sunday you said it yourself, you were struggling a bit on the ball-striking side of things. With respect to the work that's going to go into that this week, is this week one of those weeks where you know you've got some work that needs to be done, or are you looking at this week as a tournament that you're going to go in and you're going to try to win?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Honestly, I think it's a little bit of both. I definitely have stuff that I'm working on, and the big long game plan, I'm making small steps towards that. But at the same time, I can still win this week, and I can get a top finish. I think that's the way you have to go into it is thinking with my best stuff, I can compete and I can be in those final groups, and hopefully hoist a trophy on Sunday.

But I also realize that there are things that I'm working on, and it's just small progress, small steps, and hopefully it'll pay off in the long run.

Q. Obviously JM Eagle and Plastpro a couple new sponsors for the LPGA Tour this year. Coming off Chevron last week which did a lot to elevate the women's game, they've increased the purse this year. As somebody that's played at Wilshire before and won an event here in the past, how cool is it for you to see these new sponsors coming in and raising the purse like they have?

BROOKE HENDERSON: It's amazing to see the support that women's golf is getting and to have these new sponsors come and support the LPGA is really exciting. To see those purse increases is awesome. Hopefully it just keeps on improving and getting better.

I think the Tour is in an incredible place right now, and I'm just excited for what the future holds.

Q. Despite the challenges we just talked about with obviously Sunday not going as you'd hoped at Chevrons and ups and downs to start the year, you still seem so positive and you kind of just take it in your stride. Where is that coming from?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You know, my coach, who's my dad, and my sister, who caddies for me, they just always try and keep me even keel, and I'm trying the best I can to do that through the highs and the lows.

I think negativity doesn't really help anything, and things are always going to get better, so just trying to keep that positive mindset. It's a journey. Golf is tough, and life is tough sometimes. You've just got to ride it out and come out the other side.