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Canadian teen sensation Brooke Henderson in the LPGA hunt again

Brooke Henderson is in a position to win for the second week in a row. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Eric Risberg
Brooke Henderson is in a position to win for the second week in a row. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Eric Risberg

When it comes to Cinderella stories, Brooke Henderson is on the verge of outdoing the fairy tale princess.

After wowing the women's golf world last week in San Francisco, the 17-year-old Smiths Falls, Ont., native showed it was no fluke. She heads into Sunday's final round of the LPGA North Texas Shootout in a three-way tie for second, only one stroke behind co-leaders Inbee Park of South Korea and American Lexi Thompson (minus-9). She's joined by American Angela Sanford and Karrie Webb of Australia.

“I made a couple of mistakes,” Henderson told reporters after her round. “Just a few putts on the back nine I wish I would have made, but I'm still in a good position. I didn't play that well today, and I'm still right in there.”

Henderson shot an even-par 71 on Saturday at Las Colinas Golf Club in Irving, Tex., putting her at minus-8 for the tournament. She had started the day with a one-stroke lead after carding a spectacular 65 on Friday. It marked the second straight tournament in which she held the lead after two days, an amazing accomplishment for many reasons.

For one, she's 17 and only four months into her pro career. For another, she's too young to be granted an LPGA membership (check out the icon on her LPGA bio page) so has to qualify for tournaments.

She did just that on Monday and Tuesday under incredibly difficult conditions. Her flight from San Francisco to Dallas was delayed until 4 a.m. Monday morning, meaning she arrived about four hours before her tee-off time on a course she had never played.

To add even more of a challenge, rain meant the qualifier had to run over two days. But that didn't faze Henderson.

All she did was sink a 10-foot birdie putt on Tuesday to claim one of the two tournament spots up for grabs. Then came three solid rounds that left her within striking distance of her first LPGA win.

Wearing her black Golf Canada shirt, Henderson stared down some of the best in the game. After a bogey on 12 dropped her into a five-way tie for second, she landed her tee shot on the par-3 13th within birdie range. The veteran Park, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, did the same thing but missed her birdie. It was the rookie who came through to regain the lead.

She narrowly missed another birdie on the 14th before bogeying the 15th to fall back into second place.

She needed to sink a six-footer for birdie on the 18th to join Park and Thompson, but lipped out and settled for a three-putt par.

“It’s great to be able to play with these great players, and be able to compete with them, and be right beside them,” Henderson said. “I've watched them on TV for the last couple years, now right beside them, and I'm learning a lot just by watching what they do around the golf course, and how they behave, and just their mannerisms.”

World No. 1 Lydia Ko, who finished strogly and is nine strokes off the lead, says she's impressed with the golfer who replaced her as the LPGA's best 17-year-old.

``I feel like she’s quite aggressive and she’s holing a lot of putts, she’s striking the ball very well,” said Ko, who is six months older than Henderson and won last week's event in a playoff. “Especially seeing how well she played under the pressure last week, I wasn’t surprised that she’s still on top of the leaderboard today. Shows how talented and what a great golfer she is. She slept at the airport that Sunday night and then to shoot an under-par round is pretty awesome.”

Henderson is trying to join Thompson and Ko as the only players to win LPGA events before turning 18. She's also aiming to be the first Canadian to win on tour since Lorie Kane did it in 2001.

Henderson wasn't the only Canadian who had a good day in Texas. Veteran Alena Sharpe of Hamilton, Ont., shot a 71 on Saturday and is in a four-way tie for 16th place five strokes off the pace.