Bogey trouble in early going destroys Brooke Henderson's shot at LPGA victory

The day started off so well for Brooke Henderson.

The 17-year-old Canadian birdied the first hole at the LPGA North Texas Shootout Sunday to move back into a tie for first place. It looked like there was to be  no repeat of the jitters that knocked her out of first place the Sunday before.

Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, it was all over.

First, she bogeyed the par-5 third after her approach shot settled into a concrete culvert under a street running between holes. She hit her tee shot at the 165-yard fourth hole into the water fronting the green and took a double bogey. Things got only marginally better as she  put up another bogey on the par-4 fifth.

Her hopes of becoming the the third LPGA golfer to win a tournament at age 17 and the first Canadian to win on the tour since 2001 were put on hold, especially with eventual winner Inbee Park of South Korea recording a final-round 65 and a host of other contenders under 70 on the day.

Another bogey on the par-4 ninth gave her an uncharacteristic 40 on the front nine.

She settled down on the back nine, recording a birdie on the 10th and playing bogey-free golf the rest of the day and finishing with another birdie. The Smiths Falls, Ont., native finished the tournament with a 2-over-par 73, good enough to tie for 13th at 6-under and nine strokes behind Park. But even someone as young and inexperienced as Henderson wants more than that.

The victory was Park's second  this year and 14th on the tour.

Cristie Kerr and Hee Young Park tied for second. Lexi Thompson, who shared the third-round lead with Inbee Park, closed with a 69 to tie for fourth with Maria McBride (65) at 11 under.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton shot a 70 on Sunday to tie for 17th, 10 strokes off the pace.

Though Henderson was disappointed in the way things finished, she's turning heads all across the golf world.

She had the lead going into the final round at the  Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic a week ago, eventually missing out on a playoff when she failed to sink a 25-putt birdie putt on the 18th.

That still isn't enough to bend the LPGA's rules on banning women under the age of 18 from be members of the tour. That has prompted some interesting discussions, especially considering that the rules were changed for Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson.