Brooke Henderson's time on tour made easier with best friend and sister as caddie

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Let’s get one thing straight: when it comes to the LPGA sister act that is Brooke Henderson (player) and older sister Brittany (caddie), Brooke is in control.

Of the radio, anyway.

Brooke, 18, and Brittany, 25, have been on the road to Singapore, Australia, Florida, Arizona and California already this season as Team Henderson has combined to push Brooke to seventh in the world rankings.

The natives of Smiths Falls, Ont., spent three weeks on the road sharing a room in the Far East and Down Under and apparently got along famously.

No fights over the television remote?

“We never, ever turn on the TV,” said Brooke. “I don’t know what we do, but the television is never on.”

In the past couple of weeks, accom

panied by parents Dave and Darlene, they hit the road in their BMW 7 Series (conveniently one of Henderson’s sponsors) to drive from Phoenix to Carlsbad, Calif., to here, where Brooke and Brittany are teaming up in the first major of the LPGA season, the ANA Inspiration.

With Brittany on the bag, Brooke is one of the players to watch this week.

The key to any successful road relationship – especially in a car - is having a clearly defined pecking order when it comes to controlling the music.

“We all love country music, so it’s pretty easy. Most of the time I feel like I’m in control of making sure it’s a good song on, changing country stations,” Brooke said Wednesday after finishing the pro-am at Mission Hills Country Club in preparation for the first round on Thursday.

“I love Reba McEntire so I get excited whenever she comes on. Other than that, it’s anything country.”

With that out of the way, the golf stuff becomes easy.

Dave taught both girls the game. Brittany is a fine player in her own right and has full status on the developmental Symetra Tour, but said Wednesday she is putting her playing career pretty much on hold to concentrate on caddying for Brooke this year.

They’ve gone from being rivals on the course – they finished 1-2 twice a year ago on the Suncoast Ladies Tour with Brooke winning both times – to becoming a formidable team on it.

“The number one thing is we always have a lot of fun on and off the course,” said Brooke. “She always helps in those stressful situations. She works really hard in the days leading up to the tournament, getting a strategy and know all the numbers (yardages to the hole). You can always count on her for a number anywhere at any time.

“She’s a great player, a great caddie, best friend and sister.”

Brittany said she thinks the team works because they think the game the same way.

“I think Brooke and I play similarly with Dad being our main coach growing up. I think we have the same philosophy about a lot of things. I think we work well together,” she said.

“My past experience helps in green reading. I think we make a pretty good team.”

Brittany does most of the driving when she and Brooke are on the road together, leaving Brooke free to concentrate on finding Reba, though Dave took a turn at the wheel for the sometimes harrowing drive through the Santa Rosa Mountains into the Coachella Valley.

“He was like, ‘look at the mountain goat’ – you know the ones with the big twisting horns? – and we were telling him to keep his eyes on the road,” said Brittany.

For Dave, it’s been interesting to see the collaboration work between his daughters.

Maybe it works because they both bring something different to the table. He taught each of them the game and said his background as an elementary school teacher (he retired a couple of years ago) taught him every student has strengths and weaknesses.

He said Brooke and Brittany depend on different physical strengths to be successful.

“Brittany and Brooke are total opposites. Brittany is slow twitch, Brooke is fast twitch, but both can get the job done in a different way,” he said. “Brittany likes to draw the ball, Brooke likes to cut it a hair. You just take those things and work to develop them.”

The combination has clicked.

Clad in white coveralls Wednesday with “Bro. Henderson” on the back (maybe it should have been Sis. Henderson?), Brittany doesn’t look much bigger than the big PING staff bag she shoulders for Brooke.

“It’s a family, it’s a team with the two of them. It amazes me how wonderful it’s working out,” John Solheim, the chairman and CEO of PING told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday.

“Seeing her sister caddie for her now, that’s kind of neat. I’ve got to work on some lighter bags.”

Brittany might say it ain’t heavy, she’s my sister.