Despite her best efforts, Brooke Henderson could not repeat as the CP Women's Open champion.
Henderson, already Canada's most successful professional golfer of all-time despite still being two weeks shy of her 22nd birthday, entered Sunday's fourth round of the tournament in third place, two shots behind the lead. She was looking to retain the title after she won the 2018 event.
Unfortunately for Henderson, her 3-under par 69 in the final round (19-under total of 269) wasn't enough to boost her to the top of the leaderboard as Jin Young Ko of South Korea, who entered Sunday as the co-leader along with Denmark's Nicole Broch Larsen, held off all challengers with an 8-under 64 round (26-under total of 262) to claim the top prize. Henderson finished tied for third with American Lizette Salas while Broch Larsen ended five strokes off the pace for second place.
After the third round on Saturday, Henderson told reporters, “I’m still behind, but hopefully I can get off to a faster start tomorrow and just see what happens.”
However, Henderson's start on Sunday wasn't particularly fast, with the 21-year-old hitting for par through each of the first six holes. But on the seventh, the Smiths Falls, Ont., native notched her first birdie of the day to chip away at the lead built by Ko and Broch Larsen.
Here comes Brooke!
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) August 25, 2019
The Canadian birdies the 7th hole and is now two back of the leaders.
(🎥: @LPGA)pic.twitter.com/tnT3BByape
Another birdie on the ninth hole gave Henderson what seemed to be a bit of momentum heading into the final stretch, but the Canadian couldn't replicate the red-hot form that saw her hit seven birdies and an eagle over her final 10 holes 24 hours earlier. In fact, Henderson bogeyed on 13 and fell into a fourth-place tie as the top of the field grew further away.
The young Canuck did shoot consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, but by then Ko and Larsen had pulled far enough away to keep Henderson at bay.