Notably, the 24-year-old Canadian had to hole an enormous putt after snap-hooking her drive on the par-5 18th hole in the Amundi Evian Championship final round since Henderson had to shorten her driver shaft from 48 to 46 inches in mid-March after the LPGA adopted a new USGA model local rule.
Henderson didn't worry, though. Yeon Ryu, her playing rival, had four-putted the hole just before Henderson's four-jack at the par-4 sixth from 90 feet. Henderson noted, "That was a nice reminder that even extremely talented players can make mistakes here." Henderson had also been confidently rolling her rock all week due to switching recently from a right-hander to a left-hand-low putting grip. She had previously played about with the clasp on shorter putts before committing only a few weeks ago.
Henderson said of her putting, "Today was a little bit up and down, but it bailed me out when I needed it on the back nine."
With a 3-over start after 11 holes, Henderson had fallen behind the leaders before exploding with the flat stick in the final stretch. After scoring birdies on three of her last five holes, including the decisive third ball from 12 feet on hole 18, she defeated Sophia Schubert by one shot to win.
Henderson remarked, "Over that [last] putt. Honestly, I simply did not want to go to a playoff, did not want to play that hole again." "Therefore, I said, 'Please go in.'"
Henderson hadn't won a major championship since taking home her first at the 2016 KPMG Women's PGA when she landed in France. Henderson hasn't precisely been a rising star on the LPGA over the previous six years, but she has had ten top-16 finishes in 13 events this season, including a victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic last month, her 11th on the top women's tour.
Henderson, though, had been mainly a non-factor in the biggest competitions, with only seven top-10 finishes in 29 significant outings since winning her first title.
Henderson stated, "Winning the first major in 2016 transformed my life. "My world ranking skyrocketed, and I recently attracted a tonne of media and fan attention. It also gave me the incredible feeling that I truly belonged here, that I could fight for major titles, and that I could compete against the greatest in the world. It has been a while, and getting off to a quick start this week, being at the top of the leaderboard at a major felt beautiful. I attempted to maximize my excitement.
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