It took the second longest playoff in LPGA history, nine holes, to decide the LPGA Maybank Championship, and it also marked a notable occasion for one Canadian golfer.
Celine Boutier of France earned her 4th LPGA win of the season, but it required 81 holes, nine more than regulation, to surpass Atthaya Thitikul. The pair had each finished play at -21, with Boutier boosted by a bogey-free 64 in the final round, while Thitikul made a birdie on her 18th hole of the day to force extra play.
On the 9th extra hole, each had ten-foot putts for birdie but it was Boutier who was able to convert it to earn her 6th career LPGA win and also jump to the lead in the Rolex Player of the Year standings.
While a second victory of the season did not come her way, it was a significant week for Canada’s Brooke Henderson. With rounds of 69, 67, 69, and 66 for the week, the 26-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ontario compiled a -17 total which was good enough for a share of 6th place. Not only did it earn her $87,907 (USD) but it secured her first top-ten finish since the Amundi Evian Championship back in July.
She just changed to a new set of TaylorMade irons two weeks ago, and judging by her ball-striking statistics, it has not hurt her play at all. She gained nearly 7.31 strokes on the field at the Maybank Championship; that is her highest gain in that category this year. It is three strokes higher than what she gained during her win in January.
Since the AIG Women’s Open, where she missed the cut, Henderson has played in just five events but appears to be building some momentum as she heads into the final stanza of the LPGA year.
In those five events, she has been in the top 25 four times and is a cumulative forty-four under par. She is not on the field for this week’s TOTO Championship in Japan but will return to the United States to prepare for the two events in Florida after that.
She is entered in The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican that will be played in Belleair, Florida starting November 9th, which the CME Group Tour Championship will follow in Naples.
Through 22 events played, Henderson sits in 14th place in the RACE to the CME Globe year-long standings.
