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Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson looking like an old pro at LPGA event

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is leading the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic golf tournament. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is leading the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic golf tournament. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

When Brooke Henderson made the decision to turn pro last winter, there were a few eyebrows raised.

After all, the Smiths Falls, Ont., native was only 17, still in high school and looking forward to a scholarship to the University of Florida. She's too young, some said. Better to cut her teeth in the NCAA rather than face the rigours of the LPGA at such a tender age.

She's raising eyebrows again, but this time because of the way she's playing.

The 17-year-old leads the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at the Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif., holding a one-stroke lead over American veteran Morgan Pressel and Korean Min Seo Kwak despite some late-round mistakes. If Henderson can hang on she will become the first Canadian to win an LPGA tournament since Lorie Kane in 2001.

"If someone told me at the beginning of the week I would be leading going into the final round, I would've taken it," Henderson told the Associated Press.

Henderson has shown remarkable poise since the tournament started. She opened with a solid 70 and followed that with a blistering 7-under 65 on Friday to take a two-shot lead in only her second LPGA Tour event since turning pro in December.

Looking like either a seasoned pro or a player too young to realize what she was doing, Henderson fired a bogey-free back nine in recording the lowest score in the two-year history of this event.

If she felt any pressure in trying to hold the lead on Saturday, she sure didn't show it -- at least for 16 holes. In fact, while many veterans bumbled their way around the course on a cool, windy day, Henderson was in control and held the lead all day. At one point she led by five strokes.

She didn't miss a fairway until the par-5 14th, followed that shot by landing in a greenside bunker and then showed enough poise to convert that into a birdie and a three-shot lead.

Whether it was rookie jitters or the after-effects of being put on the clock for slow play, Henderson faltered a bit in the late going. She recorded her second bogey of the day on the 17th after missing the fairway. She then flew the green on her approach shot at 18 before missing a makeable putt to record her second straight bogey.

But at 9-under, she still holds the lead and will be going head-to-head with Pressel and Kwak on Sunday.

The other two certainly have momentum on their side, in addition to experience. Pressel birdied four of her last six holes for a 67 while Kwak recorded a 69. They were the only golfers on the wind-swept course under 70.

The fact that Henderson is anywhere near the leaderboard is amazing enough. Because she isn't 18 yet, she's not a member of the LPGA Tour and stands 207th in her rookie season. This is just her ninth pro event, though she gave some indication last month that she was adapting to the pro tour.

She and older sister Brittany tied for second place and won $10,000 apiece in the Florida's Natural Charity Classic, a Symetra Tour event.

Henderson was the world's top-ranked amateur women's player last year and made the cut in all four LPGA events she entered. She won the individual title at the world amateur championship before helping Canada finish second in the team event.

Henderson also finished tied for 10th — and was the top amateur — in the 2014 U.S. Women's Open and tied for 26th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, also a major.She was also the low amateur and low Canadian at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open last summer.

Henderson wasn't the only Canadian enjoying a good weekend on the pro tour.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is in a three-way tie for third place at the rain-interrupted Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He recorded rounds of 65 and 70 and at 12-under is only one stroke behind co-leaders Jason Day and Erik Crompton after two rounds.

Nick Taylor of Winnipeg is six strokes behind Hearn (70-69) along with  Roger Sloan of Calgary (71-68.)