17-year-old Brooke Henderson takes Swinging Skirts LPGA lead
World No. 1 Lydia Ko, who turned 18 on Friday, made last year’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic site of her first LPGA win as a pro.
Now Canadian prodigy Brooke Henderson is hoping to enjoy her own pro breakthrough at 17 in just her 10th LPGA start.
Henderson, who has no status on the LPGA Tour and was denied the right to play in Q-school last year because of her age, shot 7-under 65 on Friday in Round 2 at Lake Merced Golf Club. It was good enough to give her a two-shot lead over Na Yeon Choi at 9 under par halfway through the tournament.
An eagle at the short par-4 14th coupled with six birdies led to a tournament-record score. The question, however, is if Henderson is ready to parlay that into a win.
“I think I’m ready. Yeah, 17 is young,” Henderson said. “As you’ve seen with Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson and even Jessica Korda, there are a lot of great names that have been able to do it. I’m hoping that I’m one of them.”
For her part, Ko is in contention to defend her title. She shot 72 on Friday, which leaves her four shots back of Henderson.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
