Canada's Henderson 2nd On LPGA Money List, U.S. Women's Open Odds

The 2016 U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament tees off this Thursday at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California, and Canadian 18-year-old LPGA star Brooke Henderson is a +900 second-favourite on Sports Interaction’s golf odds to win the major championship. Henderson is also No. 2 at +600 on the odds to lead the LPGA Tour in money earned this season.

Lydia Ko Atop Rankings, Odds

A Canadian woman has never won the U.S. Women’s Open. Last year as a rookie, Henderson finished tied for fifth at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania with scores at 3 under following rounds of 70-73-68-66. The winner was South Korea’s In Gee Chun at 8 under. A South Korean woman has won the event in six of the past eight years.
The world’s No. 1 player right now is New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, and she has a large lead in ranking points over Henderson at No. 2. Ko also leads the money list with $1,816,738 USD in 13 events played. She is the -833 favourite to lead the LPGA Tour in money won. She did in 2015 as well with more than $2.8 million USD. Ko is at +389 to win the U.S. Women’s Open. She has not won it previously but Ko has three victories on Tour this season.

Ko was the runner-up at the Women’s PGA Championship in early June outside Seattle as Henderson took home her first major tournament title by beating Ko in a playoff. That ended on the first extra hole, the 18th, when Ko’s approach landed 20 feet from the cup and Henderson stuck hers to within 3 feet and buried the birdie putt after Ko missed. The victory was Henderson’s first as an official member of the LPGA Tour and earned her $525,000USD. She was the second youngest winner of a major championship ever. As an added bonus, Henderson aced the par-3 13th in the first round, which earned her a new Kia K900. Henderson gave it to her older sister and caddie, Brittany.

Portland Has Been Good To Brooke Henderson

Henderson’s first LPGA Tour win at the 2015 Cambia Portland Classic came as a non-member as she was denied an exception to the minimum-age rule on Tour but got into that tournament in a Monday qualifier. Henderson then repeated at the Cambia Portland Classic last week — so all three career wins have come in the USA’s Pacific Northwest — to earn another $195,000. She opened with a 7-under 65 and finished at 14-under 274 to lead wire-to-wire. And in doing so, Henderson became the first back-to-back winner in Portland since Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam 2002-03.

“To try to defend a championship for the first time and to be able to do it, I think, is a really big deal,” Henderson told reporters after the victory.

It was Henderson’s 11th Top-10 finish of the year. She has earned $1,285,715 USD, leads the Tour with 275 birdies on the season and is fourth in scoring average at 69.87.
Henderson also is the youngest person ever to win a pro golf event, when in 2012, at 14, Henderson won on the CN Canadian Women’s Tour at Beloieil Golf Club.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp, ranked 93rd in the world, is +13300 on golf odds to win the U.S. Women’s Open. She has never won on the LPGA Tour.