Brooke Henderson is geared up for the most important four weeks of her year. The winningest professional golfer in Canadian history will tee it up in the featured group of the Amundi Evian Championship on Thursday, the fourth major of the women’s season. She’ll then play in the CPKC Women’s Open — the Canadian national championship — at Calgary’s Earl Grey Golf Club before heading back to France for the Paris Olympics, all in the span of a month.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson competes during the Evian Championship, a women’s LPGA major golf tournament in Evian-les-Bains, French Alps, on July 29, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s definitely a huge stretch, so it would be a great time for the game to really show up and be in a good spot,” said Henderson, who last played at the Dow Championship where she tied for eighth with partner Lexi Thompson of the United States. “I feel like it’s definitely trending in the right direction. “It was a lot of fun playing with Lexi a couple weeks ago, and she is playing so well and has a lot of confidence right now. I was trying to feed off that and add some of that to my game as well.”
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN – JUNE 30: (L-R) Lexi Thompson of the United States and Brooke Henderson of Canada walk on the fifth green during the final round of the Dow Championship at Midland Country Club on June 30, 2024 in Midland, Michigan. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
She’ll be playing alongside reigning champion Celine Boutier of France and 2021 winner Minjee Lee of Australia in the tournament’s first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday. Henderson won the fourth major of the season in 2022 and was runner-up to Boutier last year. “I think it’s going to be really fun for all of us in the group to feed off (French fans cheering for Boutier) and be in a really amazing atmosphere,” said Henderson. “The show that she put on last year was incredible. Nobody was going to catch her. I tried, but I couldn’t keep up. “She’s been playing some great golf and as everyone knows she’s a great person as well, so I’m looking forward to seeing how she does here this week.”
Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is the other Canadian in the field at the Evian. The LPGA Tour rookie said “it still feels surreal” that she’s playing in her third major after turning professional in November.
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN – JUNE 27: (L-R) Savannah Grewal of Canada and Malia Nam of the United States walk to the fifth green during the first round of the Dow Championship at Midland Country Club on June 27, 2024 in Midland, Michigan. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images “It’s still crazy to me that you know, I’m out on tour now and I get to play in major championships that I grew up watching on TV,” said Grewal. “I remember watching Celine Boutier win this tournament last year and now I’m here, playing the holes that I watched on TV. “Every major I can check off it’s just another unreal opportunity to get to go do what I love.
Both Henderson and Grewal remarked on the unique Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, just by the Swiss border in the Alps.
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE – JULY 10: Brook Henderson of Canada tees off on the 5th hole during a Pro-Am prior to the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 10, 2024 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) “This course being built on a mountain, a slope, it’s very challenging,” said Henderson. “You never have a flat lie. You’re always compensating for something and always having to think your way around, which I think is really cool and very unique to this area.”
Grewal agreed. “I’ve definitely noticed that there’s a lot more side slope lies in the fairway than what I’m used to,” said Grewal, after spending the day in Switzerland. “Even hilly courses that are in the mountains in North America, they tend to be more so hilly in the sense of up and down.
“Whereas here, everything’s leaning toward one side. The front nine, I think everything’s kind of leaning left to right and then you have the back nine, where everything’s right to left.”
