Minjee Lee runner-up to local favourite Brooke Henderson in Canada
Australia’s
Minjee Lee file photo – image Australian Golf Media
Minjee Lee continued yet another fine season on the LPGA Tour with a runner-up finish behind Canada’s favourite golfing daughter and one of its finest sporting stars, Brook Henderson, at the CPKC Women’s Open (Canadian Open) at the Mississauga Golf and Country Club outside of Toronto.
Lee began the final round sharing the 54-hole lead with Henderson and there was never more than one shot between the pair throughout the day, the difference coming when Henderson birdied the 13th, 14th and 17th to edge clear of Lee.
For Lee, however, it was her second runner-up finish of the year to go with her victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and two other top-five finishes, moving her earnings to US$3.5 million and nearly US$1 million clear of her nearest rival on the season’s money list, Maja Stark.
Understandably, Lee faced a partisan crowd for whom Henderson was their favourite, but she fought well, often responding to Henderson’s birdies with one of her own but her bogeys at the 4th and 11th holes were the difference in what was a tense final day.
For Henderson, it was her 14th LPGA Tour title, one of which was the 2017 New Zealand Women’s Open, but her first in two years, and despite her at times painfully slow approach to the game, she is a delightful character.
That she has won this title on two occasions in front of a hugely supportive Canadian crowd, tells the story of a young lady who is able to put the distraction of expectation aside and focus on the task at hand.
