Canada’s Brooke Henderson (25) won the ‘Wire-to-Wire’ championship at the first tournament of the LPGA Tour in the 2023 season after changing the club to a new brand.
Henderson started the 4th round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (total prize money of $1.5 million) held at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club (par 72, 6617 yards) in Orlando, Florida on the 23rd with a single lead by 3 strokes. After reducing two strokes with three birdies and one bogey, he hit a final total of 16 under par and 272 strokes, beating Maya Stark (23, Sweden) and Charlie Hull (26, England), who were tied for second place, by four strokes. Henderson, who led the way through rounds 1 to 4 and won his 13th tour title, said, “I try to win every season, but as soon as I start the season with one win, the pressure is a little less.” Departure,” he said.
He added a win six months after the Evian Championship, a major tournament in July last year, and received a prize money of 225,000 dollars (approximately 277 million won). In this tournament, 29 LPGA Tour winners over the past two years played with 53 celebrities. Players were ranked separately by stroke play, and celebrities by a modified Stableford method 안전놀이터.
Henderson competed in the event five times in a row, and was runner-up in the event last year. Henderson, ranked 7th in the world, suffered from a back injury at the end of last year and spent the offseason concentrating on rest and rehabilitation. He later signed with TaylorMade and switched clubs altogether.
As equipment regulations changed last year, Henderson had to use a 46-inch driver instead of the usual 48-inch driver, and started a new attempt to increase the reduced shot distance again. Adapting quickly to the new club, he said, “I am still fine-tuning the club little by little,” and “overall, all my shots have improved.”
In the celebrity category, retired tennis player Mardi Fish (41, USA) won the championship this year (152 points) following 2021. The prize money is $100,000 (approximately 123 million won). Retired “golf empress” Annika Sorenstam (52, Sweden) was tied for third place (133 points).
No Korean players participated in this tournament. The LPGA Tour 2023 season will lead to Honda Thailand (total prize money of $1.7 million) held in Thailand on February 23, a month later.