Brooke Henderson sits four shots back at CPKC Women's Open, feeding off home-crowd energy

Brooke Henderson is thriving under the spotlight at Canada's national championship. Sitting four shots off second place after shooting a second-round 68 Friday at Royal Mayfair, Henderson is positioning herself for a deep run at the CPKC Women's Open — an event where she has won twice in the last six years.

"I love this event," Henderson said Friday after her round. "It's so amazing and such a cool opportunity to be able to play in front of all the Canadian fans. I'm just really trying to embrace the opportunity because it doesn't — it only really happens once a year, and it's just such a unique thing that not a lot of players get to experience."

Leader Miyu Yamashita dominated the first two days at Royal Mayfair, shooting 62-64 to sit 14-under par. Henderson, at 5-under after two rounds, has work ahead — but she's confident. Just a few weeks ago at the Evian Championship in France, she started the final round seven shots back before carding two eagles and a hole-in-one to force a playoff.

"Yeah, for sure," Henderson said when asked if that comeback gave her confidence. "That was really fun a few weeks ago in France. Yeah, definitely it gives me some confidence knowing that I can come back from behind. Like I said, it's only half over. They (the leaders) played really well the first two rounds, so I just need to play well the next two."

Henderson made an early run Friday, pushing to 7-under before running into trouble down the stretch, dropping two shots on the final four holes. A long par-saving putt on the ninth hole — her 18th — provided another glimpse of the fight in the 28-year-old, 14-time LPGA champion. She bounced back from two bogeys in three holes with a clutch save that kept momentum alive.

"Through about 14 holes I was feeling really nice," she said. "Unfortunate to drop a couple shots coming in. But I was happy to save par on nine. I feel like that was really clutch, kind of saving some momentum and things going into tomorrow."

Hall of Fame golfer Lydia Ko, Henderson's playing partner and a three-time CPKC Women's Open champion, praised her composure under the intense spotlight. "It's huge," Ko said. "Some people don't even have the opportunity to play a national open. It never gets easy, but over time you realize they (the fans) are there for you. They just want to see you more than what score you shoot."