Brooke Henderson has celebrated plenty at the Amundi Evian Championship. And she’s now hoping the event on the mountainside of Lake Geneva will once again provide a mid-season spark.
Henderson, who won the Evian Championship in 2022 for her second major title, also finished runner-up in her title defence in 2023. She has four top-10s in her career at Evian Resort Golf Club after making her debut in 2015, turning 18 on Thursday of tournament week that year — serenaded with ‘Happy Birthday’ and given a cake at the end of her round.
“I have so many great memories here,” Henderson told reporters overseas earlier this week. “I love being back in this atmosphere with this gorgeous view. Seeing my photo around too always helps and gives me a little confidence.”
Henderson has had a steady but unspectacular campaign so far in 2025 with six top-25 finishes but no top-10s in any stroke-play tournaments (she finished tied for ninth at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards). Still, there are two majors left on the calendar, along with the CPKC Women’s Open in Mississauga and the season finale with its US$4 million first-place prize — the biggest in women’s golf.
Plenty of time to turn things around, and Henderson said she’s finally feeling like her usual biggest asset is back to being a strength.
“I feel like my ball-striking is back to where it usually is, which is a great feeling for me. When the ball-striking is good, I can start to climb leaderboards a little bit more, Henderson told Sportsnet. “I’ve been trending in the right direction for a really long time – just haven’t been able to turn it over recently.
“I’m continuing to improve on a couple of things, trying to get a little bit stronger mentally and in tough situations, and I’m just excited to put myself into contention a little bit more.”
Henderson had a tidy two-week stretch after missing the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, finishing tied for 20th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and then tied for 14th at the Meijer LPGA Classic (a tournament she’s won twice before).
The native of Smiths Falls, Ont. finished tied for 36th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship but only slid down the leaderboard in her final nine holes Sunday – an unfortunate time for a struggle. She was 1-under through nine holes in the final round on the windswept Texas terrain before making four straight bogeys after making the turn and shooting a 7-over 42. An even-par final nine holes would have kept her inside the top 10.
Still, Henderson was a tidy 11th in strokes gained: tee to green for the week and sixth in strokes gained: off the tee – a solid statistical effort at a major where only three players finished under par.
“To have the ball striking come back to where it was a few years ago is really exciting,” Henderson said. “Hit a lot of greens, give myself a lot of good birdie looks – that’s always a good time for me.”
Henderson finished tied for 26th at the Evian Championship a year ago with Ayaka Furue winning her first major title. Furue finished at 19 under to top Stephanie Kyriacou by one shot after the Japanese star made an eagle on the final hole of the tournament. But no one has successfully defended their title at the Evian Championship since it became an LPGA event.
This year in particular has been the year of parity on the LPGA Tour, with 17 events and 17 winners – although no wins, surprisingly, for world No. 1 Nelly Korda – with Mao Saigo (Chevron Championship), Maja Stark (U.S. Women’s Open), and Minjee Lee (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) the other major winners so far.
With The Evian Championship returning to the same course every year (unlike three of the five other majors on the schedule), Henderson said having played the layout so often in her career, she’s got a great game plan already in her pocket. Henderson once again brought up how key ball striking will be for her this week, and if she couples a solid tee-to-green effort with her obviously successful strategy, she’s hopeful for a good result.
Since 2023, Henderson also leads the LPGA Tour with the lowest scoring average in major championships.
“I feel like it’s all coming into form right at the right time,” Henderson said. Henderson is grouped with Jeeno Thitikul — the game’s second-ranked golfer who is hot on Korda’s heels with seven top-10s in 12 starts including a win already — along with Lydia Ko, herself a past winner of the Evian Championship, for the first two rounds.
from Sportsnet.ca
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