Henderson improves, Kane waves goodbye at CP Women's Open

TSN Senior Reporter

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Brooke Henderson was better on Friday than her opening round at the CP Women’s Open, but whether it was good enough is still a question to be answered.

Henderson improved by one shot from Thursday, playing through some early rain and sitting out a two-hour delay en route to a 68.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well, so I’m excited for the weekend,” said Henderson. “Giving myself a lot of good birdie looks, so if the putter stays hot, hopefully I can make a charge tomorrow like I did in 2017.”

That year, the last time the tournament was held at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, Henderson scorched the course on Saturday for a then-course record 63 and put herself in contention before eventually slipping to a tie for 12th.

She’ll need some more of that magic for a chance this time. Her second round was highlighted by five birdies against a pair of bogeys. For the most part, she hit the ball well, missing just one green in regulation. Her putter was also better as she made several key putts during the day. None of those was as clutch as the 18-footer she rolled in on the seventh hole for bogey.

That came after she sailed her tee shot into a menacing fairway bunker and got aggressive and tried to extract the ball with a hybrid with her second shot. The ball hit the lip and forced her to chip out sideways leaving her with a mid-iron approach to the green.

“To kind of scramble for bogey from there was huge,” Henderson said. “It felt like a birdie or even an eagle to keep the day going.”

The 24-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., bounced back with birdies on the ninth, 11th and 13th holes, but ended her round with a three-putt bogey, the second time this week she’s concluded her day