	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OWENS CORNING AND O-I

July 13, 2016

Brooke Henderson

Toledo, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: We're here with the world No. 2 player, Brooke Henderson. This is your first year playing in this tournament. What are your initial impressions of the course here?

BROOKE HENDERSON: I love this golf course. You know, walking in, seeing the trees and the bentgrass, it kind of reminds me of home a little bit, and courses that I tend to play well on are those tree-lined courses like the three that I've won on on the LPGA Tour. Definitely good vibes coming here. Like I said, beautiful, I loved it, and I'm really excited to get up tomorrow morning.

THE MODERATOR: On Monday they announced the Olympic qualifiers. Your name was on that list. Is that whole process, is it starting to feel real now, that you'll be going to the Olympics next month?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, for sure, it's really exciting that I'm officially an Olympian, officially going to be playing for Team Canada alongside Alena Sharp and two awesome men on the men's side. It's a really exciting time. Hopefully we'll go down and defend the championship that we won over 100 years ago when golf was last in the Olympics.

THE MODERATOR: Two wins in your last five starts and 11 top 10s in 2016. What has been different this year for you just as a whole with your golf game?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Not too much is different, but I think everything is just kind of starting to click a little bit. A little bit more confident playing against the best in the world, and seeing my ranking move down from 70th about a year ago down to No. 2 in the world, and just kind of chasing after my dreams and goals, and it's been a really, really awesome something having my dad as a coach and my sister on my bag. My mom recently retired, so she's able to travel a little bit more, so it's a real team effort and a real family effort.

THE MODERATOR: You said your mom recently retired. What's she doing now?

BROOKE HENDERSON: She's following us a lot and doing a ton of organizing.

THE MODERATOR: You lead the Tour in events played, rounds played. Does it take a toll on you? Do you feel like you're playing every single week, or do you like that? Do you like playing all the time?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I like that, and I've actually squeezed in another event in between all of those. Technically this could be my 10th week in a row because I went to Rhode Island to play a charity event two days. But it's a lot of fun. I love to play, and I feel like my game just keeps on getting better the more I play. Sometimes I might feel a little bit tired, but luckily on Mondays I can usually take off, I can usually rest up, and I'm just trying to pay attention to where my body is at, fatigue levels, and just tightness, everything like that, just trying to pay attention and go about it the right way.

THE MODERATOR: You were telling me a little bit about a charity tournament you have set up, kind of an Olympic send-off. Just talk generally about what it is, where it is, when it is, all that good stuff.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I was recently given honorary membership to the Ottawa Hunt Club, which is going to be home to the 2017 Canadian Women's Open, which is a huge deal. It's an amazing club, pretty close to downtown Ottawa, and on August 5th we're going to have an Olympic send-off for me and make some money for charity and just have a lot of fun with tons of people coming up to watch and some people are playing. It'll be a lot of fun.

THE MODERATOR: What's the charity you're raising money for?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Right now we're still thinking about it. We have a couple in mind, but really just going to try to pay attention to what's happening locally in our communities and seeing where we can help out.

Q. I remember talking to you last year when you attempted to qualify for this tournament. It was a Monday afternoon. You got in the car. You had to go off to another tournament after you found out you didn't qualify. What was that like for you last year to have to leave and make some money elsewhere but to return this year as a pro knowing your spot is secure in this field?
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it's really cool. Like you said, I played the Monday qualifier last year and shot a pretty good score. I think it was 3-under, and I had to wait until late last year to come in. That kind of knocked me out to play this week. But I know I talked to the girls coming into this week just trying to get a feel for what the course is like and what the overall atmosphere was like, and they all said really good things. I was looking forward to, like you said, having a secure spot here, coming in, and being able to play hopefully all four rounds.

Q. And back with the Olympics, you're representing Canada. There's been a lot in the news about the Zika virus possibly being a threat in Brazil. Why continue to maintain your spot and go? Why is this not a fear for you?
BROOKE HENDERSON: I mean, I think it's a fear for everybody. It's definitely a health concern and safety thing, but right now we're just trying to listen to all the factors and everything what everybody was saying and kind of just filter out what is true and what is not. Just try and make the best decision that we can. You know, it's really cool to become an Olympian, have a chance to win a gold medal for your country, have a chance to go play four rounds of golf down in Brazil. It's definitely a very neat experience, and overall it's just another tournament, so hopefully everything will be safe and healthy and I'll make it home.

Q. When I think of somebody being ranked second in the whole world, I mean, that's hard to wrap your mind around, at least for me. How do you do that?
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, that's a good question. It's definitely been a long time. I mentioned that a year ago I was ranked 70th in the world, and before a year and a half ago I was ranked like 220 or something like that. It's definitely been a long journey getting here, but it's been a lot of fun. I still have got one more spot to go, so looking forward to the rest of the season on the LPGA Tour and playing against the best in the world every single week.

Q. Have you become to yourself noticeably that much better?
BROOKE HENDERSON: I don't think necessarily that much better, I've just had more opportunities. Previous to last year I don't think playing a couple LPGA Tour events, the ones that I could Monday qualify for or the ones that I could get sponsor invites for, and same with last year, I pretty much played the max I could at 11 events without being a member, and then when I was granted membership, things kind of took off for me a little bit. I have been given a lot more opportunities to play. I've learned a lot more about myself and really been able to take advantage.

Q. You said one more spot to go, and I know who occupies that spot. That narrative has already started. Is there a developing rivalry, even a friendly one, with you and Lydia?
BROOKE HENDERSON: I mean, hopefully there's always going to be a little bit between us both, but we're not trying to necessarily beat each other, we're just trying to be the best that we can be every single week. You know, she's an amazing player and definitely an inspiration to me and I think every other girl out here and every other person in the world watching on TV. Like I said, it's not really necessarily against her, it's just I'm trying to be the best that I can be and improve my ranking.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297