The 2019 ESPY Awards were presented on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, California, and for the first time a Canadian won the award for best female golfer. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario beat out fellow nominees Jin-Young Ko and Sung Hyun Park of South Korea and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand.
Henderson has won three times since July of 2018. Her wins include the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open from the Wascana Country Club in Regina, Saskatchewan on August 26, 2018, the Lotte Championship from the Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Hawaii on April 20, 2019 and the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give from the Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 16, 2019. In addition to Henderson’s three victories, she has had eight other top 10 victories since the last ESPY Awards were held on July 18, 2018.
Henderson was unable to attend the award ceremony because she is competing this week at the Marathon Classic in Toledo, Ohio. She is currently tied for 22nd place at -4. The top Canadian is Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ontario, who is tied for 10th at -6. Lexi Thompson of the United States and Jeongeun Lee of South Korea are the co-leaders at -9.
The golf schedule is very busy for Henderson in the coming weeks. In the final weekend of July and the first weekend of August, Henderson will compete in back-to-back majors for the first time. The major on the weekend of July 25-28 is the Evian Championship in France and the major on the weekend of August 1-4 is the AIG Women’s British Open from Milton Keynes, England. Then near the end of August from August 22-25, Henderson will try to defend her title at the CN Pacific Women’s Open. This year’s Canadian national championship will take place at the Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario.
