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Growing up in Smiths Falls, Ont., Canadian golfer Brooke Henderson would have had to be accustomed to uncomfortable weather on the course.
So when conditions at the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions became more like Ontario than Orlando, Fla., Henderson was in her element.
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Henderson shot a round of 66, her best score of the tournament, in the third round at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando.
Henderson began the day in a group of six players tied for 19th place. She is now in fifth place, within six strokes of leader Nelly Korda (who had a round of 64) and only three strokes behind second-place Amy Yang.
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Henderson began from the 10th hole, and had six birdies and 10 pars before recording her only bogey on the 8th hole. She recovered to birdie the 9th hole to get to seven-under 209 for the event.
“I feel like Brit did a good job with all the numbers today,” Henderson said in an interview with Golf Channel’s Amy Rogers after the round, referring to her sister, caddie Brittany Henderson.
This event will be the last one for an extended period that the sisters will be teamed up. Brittany Henderson is stepping away from caddie duties because she is pregnant with her first child.
The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, which is the opening event on the LPGA’s 2026 schedule, is limited to players who have won on that tour in the previous two seasons. Henderson claimed the CPKC Women’s Open in August of last year at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club for her 14th LPGA Tour title.
The weather conditions — players were in sweaters and long pants, and dealing with a 30 km/h wind that occasionally gusted — eventually led to play being suspended for the day, with eight of the 39 players yet to complete the third round.
Among the players still on the course was Youmin Hwang, whose putt on the 17th hole was blown off the green. That prompted LPGA officials to suspend play.
Late Saturday, the LPGA announced that play is scheduled to resume Sunday at 10 a.m., with the eight players finishing their third round at the same time as fourth-round play starts on the 1st and 10th tees.
By the way, the name of the LPGA rules official on the 17th hole: Sue Winter.
Yes, Winter.
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