COGNIZANT FOUNDERS CUP

October 7, 2021

Brooke Henderson

Shirley Spork

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Brooke Henderson, 4-under 64. You putted out at 6:50 in pitch black. Have you ever made a par at 6: 50 p.m. before?

BROOKE HENDERSON: No, not when it's this dark, that's for sure. We tried to get our round finished and I'm glad we did, but it was definitely dark coming up 18 and on the putting green I was really just counting on the pace to know how hard to hit it.

Q. I heard you were the one that took the little run on 17 to tee off on 18.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, that's right. Our group, we -- none of us were really like confident we want to finish or confident we didn't want to, so I decided might as well get it done.

It feels good to walk away. Play is early tomorrow morning.

Q. Absolutely. It was a solid day and a solid par there on the end. Tell us the story of your round today.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I'm really happy to get 4-under par today. I feel like I hit the ball really well. Gave myself a lot of opportunities, which is always key.

I feel like couple putts could have maybe fallen. Hopefully tomorrow make a few more birdies, but it's nice to see I'm near the top of the leaderboard again. That always feels good.

Hopefully another solid round tomorrow and try to catch Jin Young.

Q. What are your thoughts on this golf course? We're just hearing major, major, major.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Absolutely. Soon as I walked in I was like, This looks like could be a U.S. Open or KPMG. I was like, This is a great golf course. It's in phenomenal shape and it's fun to play. You can definitely have a lot birdies out here which makes it fun, but makes it challenging as well.

Great test for all of us.

Q. What's the toughest part about finishing there on 18 for you?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You know, the reason I hit the tee shot is because I thought I could get there in two tonight where in the morning it would be a little cooler and I didn't think I would have the opportunity. Unfortunately I found the rough on the tee shot so that theory is out the window.

But I think just how dark it really was, it was difficult to see the ball, even on the approach shot in.

So happy to come away with par. Look forward trying to make birdie there tomorrow.

Q. What was the biggest key for your round?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Ball striking I think. I gave myself a lot of opportunities. That's always fun. A lot of birdie looks, which is great.

But hopefully tomorrow a few more putts fall and climb up the leaderboard a little bit more.

Q. Greens are very big out there. (Indiscernible).

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, there is a lot of slopes and the greens are very large, so you definitely have to hit the ball to the correct quadrant. You know, there are certain pins you can definitely attack; others you're best probably to hit to the middle.

So I think just having a strategic plan for every hole, and then hopefully you're able to execute.

Q. There so we're standing here and we got Shirley Spork here. Got to be pretty cool to be doing this with Shirley right here.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, absolutely.

SHIRLEY SPORK: Brooke, of the three pars that are out here, one is extremely long, correct?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Uh-huh.

SHIRLEY SPORK: Is that the hardest one or is one that's the difference in the terrain of it different to make it the hardest? What is the hardest three par out here?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Actually the one that you're referring to, the longest one out here, I birdied today, so I like that one.

Yeah, they're very difficult. All uphill, so it's hard to see the green and you have to really hit a solid approach shot in to give yourself a good look.

SHIRLEY SPORK: But you have a magic putter now.

BROOKE HENDERSON: I do.

SHIRLEY SPORK: And you'll have no problems sinking putts.

BROOKE HENDERSON: That's right.

SHIRLEY SPORK: And it has a name. You know.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yes. Shirley named my putter this morning, so maybe that gave me some good luck today.

Q. Can you share your putter name or is that a secret too?

BROOKE HENDERSON: No.

Q. All right. We did see that Shirley you were was out giving Brooke lessons. Brooke, what tips did she have to share?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Shirley is great. So much knowledge and so much wisdom, and so any time she can share a little bit with I try to soak it all in.

Having her bless my putter this morning was pretty cool. Hopefully it continues to work for the next few days.

Q. Shirley, can I ask you, what does it mean to have young women like Brooke and everyone out here that you still get to interact and chat with?

SHIRLEY SPORK: We are blessed, absolutely blessed to have ladies such as Brooke all coming from junior golf into the game of golf and going forward with these modern golf clubs that hit the ball so far, modern golf balls that go way up in the air and come down soft and land like a feather lying down. They don't run away.

They can hit each club exactly (indiscernible) distance. We used to use one club and try to make two, three different kind of swings. They have a club for every shot. They have a swing coach. (Indiscernible - plane.)

That's the thing about the game of golf. You have 18 chances to be brave. You have to be able to feel -- the more perfection you have the better you can miss the ball. In the game of golf, you must play your misses. So I always say that I like to be able to play all my misses.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yes. That's good.

Q. Cool to get that advice, right?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yes, absolutely.