Brooke Henderson goes wire-to-wire at LPGA season opener

ORLANDO, Florida: Brooke Henderson sets a goal of winning multiple LPGA Tour titles at the outset of each season. She didn’t wait long to collect her first trophy of 2023.

Henderson was dominant throughout and delivered a 2-under 70 on Sunday at Lake Nona to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

In windy and sometimes difficult conditions, the 25-year-old Canadian played steadily, making sure not to give much hope to a group behind her trying to mount any sort of challenge. She began her day leading by three and eventually won by four, finishing the event at 16-under 272. It was her 13th LPGA victory.

“It is so exciting,” Henderson said. “I always try to win a couple times each year, so to get one right way out of the gate takes a little bit of pressure off. ... It’s exciting to be in contention, and even more exciting to hoist trophies.”

Henderson has had her eye on a Tournament of Champions title for a while. She hadn’t finished outside of ninth in the event the past four seasons, and she was a runner-up to Danielle Kang a year ago. Sunday marked her 16th consecutive round under par on the LPGA dating to 2022, and her 16th consecutive score under par in this tournament.

Winning also helps her put to rest a frustrating end to 2022. She withdrew with a back injury in her second-to-last start at the Pelican Women’s Championship in November, and managed the pain enough to tie for seventh in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

From there, it was rest and rehab before switching into new clubs. There were 14 new clubs in the bag at Lake Nona, including the putter, which helped to produce 19 birdies on a very strong test of golf.

Henderson