Henderson "I'm the Opening Game Champ"... 'Wire to Wire' Victory

Henderson Cheers 13th Career Win at HGVTOC

Brooke Henderson (Canada) secured a 'wire-to-wire' victory.

On the 22nd (local time), Henderson added 2-under par on the final day at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club (par 72, 6,608 yards) in Orlando, Florida, USA, to claim a commanding 4-stroke win (16-under 272) at the LPGA Tour 2023 season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (HGVTOC, total prize money $1.5 million). She maintained her lead atop the leaderboard throughout the four days for a perfect victory. This marked her 13th career win, her first in six months since last July’s major, the Amundi Evian Championship, with a winner’s prize of $1.5 million (approximately 1.85 billion KRW).

Brook Henderson is teeing off on the 9th hole on the final day of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Orlando=AP·Yonhap News

This tournament is a 'champion of champions' event featuring 29 winners from LPGA Tour events over the past two years. Professionals and celebrities (53 players) competed in the same groups. Professionals competed in stroke play, while celebrities used a modified Stableford scoring system (eagle 5 points, birdie 3 points, par 2 points, bogey 1 point) to determine the winner.

Henderson started with a 3-stroke lead and recorded three birdies and one bogey. She lost a stroke with a bogey on the 6th hole (par 3) after a birdie on the 2nd hole (par 5), but added two more birdies on the 9th and 15th holes (both par 5). Despite missing the fairway eight times and the green five times, her excellent crisis management prevented any further strokes lost. Henderson has consistently performed well in this event, finishing 5th in 2019, tied 4th in 2020, 9th in 2021, and 2nd in 2022.

Charlie Hull (England) and Maja Stark (Sweden) tied for 2nd place (12-under 276), while 'Nike Girl' Nelly Korda (USA) finished 4th (11-under 277). Nasa Hataoka (Japan) struggled with 2-over par and dropped to 5th place (9-under 279). Defending champion Danielle Kang (USA) ended the tournament tied for 12th (4-under 284). The LPGA Tour will continue next month on the 23rd with the Honda LPGA Thailand (total prize money $1.7 million).

In the celebrity division, former tennis player Mardy Fish (USA) recorded four birdies, ten pars, three bogeys, and one double bogey, accumulating 35 points for a dominant 16-point victory (152 points). The winner’s prize was $100,000 (approximately 120 million KRW). Mark Mulder finished 2nd (136 points), 'former golf queen' Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) tied for 3rd (133 points), and 2019 and 2020 champion John Smoltz (USA) placed 8th (122 points).

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