CPKC WOMEN'S OPEN

August 25, 2023

Brooke Henderson

Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it was much better today. Feels really good to get back under par. Feel like I fought really hard to get back under par, so I'm really happy about that.

Just things were just a little bit -- yesterday was not good, so coming out early this morning just wanted to get off to a good start, and birdieing the 11th hole, my second hole of the day gave me the right momentum.

Made a couple par saves after that which were nice. To chip in on first hole, again, that was a huge boost in the right direction. Was able to carry that momentum through the rest of the day.

Q. What is the difference between a day like yesterday and a day like today for you mentally?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I'm super excited to play on the weekend. Hopefully I can just continue to climb the leaderboard and move up a little bit.

Yeah, I needed a confidence boost after the last few weeks and after yesterday, so this feels good. Hopefully just continue on and keep pushing.

Q. Wondering, at this tournament where your presence is so important, how much extra pressure do you feel when you start a round like today on the wrong side of the cut line?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it's not a good feeling. I think the big key for me today was just try to get off to a fast start, try to hit a bunch of fairways and greens, and try to give myself some good looks. You know, be a little bit more relaxed out there.

Birdie looks is always you're really after, and today I gave myself a bunch and was able to make a few.

Q. I guess you can feel the fans sort of willing you on.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. They were happy when I started making birdies. That was really nice. When I chipped in on 1, that was a really loud cheer and that was a lot of positivity. It made me feel a lot better about my game and where I was at.

The fan support was really clutch today, and I'm excited for the weekend. Hopefully everyone continues to come out.

Q. You mentioned having to really fight today. What's that look like internally? What are your thoughts when you're sort of fighting to climb the leaderboard?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You know, the thing about golf is I feel like it's 95% mental, so that hasn't been my sharpest asset this year, especially last few weeks.

So to be able to kind of grind it out when things weren't going well and also just to kind of, you know, keep it going when I did have a few birdies in a row there.

So mentally it's just a grind, golf, sometimes. Sometimes it seems really easy and other times you just really have to persevere.

I'm proud that I was able to fight back today and get it back under par.

Q. Can that grind be fun when you're out there?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Sometimes it can be fun; sometime not so fun.

Today was. You know, I felt good today. I felt like I could make birdies. Felt like I could get it back under par and kind of climb up the leaderboard a little bit.

So today was fun.

Sometimes when you're on the wrong side of momentum, wrong side of mojo like yesterday, when I'm grinding, not so fun.

Q. Was there a certain point you felt things start to click or was it like that from the opening tee shot?

BROOKE HENDERSON: I mean, the birdie on my second hole, that was kind of like, oh, okay. We're one shot back and on the cut line now. Anything after this is a bonus.

So it was kind of freeing in a way.

Then to make the turn and start it with a birdie there, I feel like then I was kind of able to say, okay, we got it. Let's just try to go low.

Q. What about the course itself? Anything yesterday that you didn't achieve that you realized today that you needed to achieve or focus on?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I feel like we changed our strategy a little bit few holes, sharpened up some lines.

So that feels good. I feel like the more you play a golf course the more you learn it, and theory the better you're going to play it.

I feel like the more times you can see this tricky golf course the better off you are. I feel like by Sunday I'll be all set. (Laughter.)

Q. What have you learned so far about this course?

BROOKE HENDERSON: It's definitely target golf and very much a ball-striker's course. So today my ball striking was on and I feel like that's why I shot 4-under.

Where yesterday ball striking was not so good, which is 3-over. So it kind of hinges on the ball striking.