Canadian Brooke Henderson entered Saturday’s third round at the Chevron Championship seven shots off the pace, but she erased that deficit with ease thanks to a historic 8-under 64.
Her first birdie of the day came at the par-5 4th, but her round entered rare territory beginning at the par-3 7th.
Henderson made a birdie there, then rattled off an eagle at the par-5 8th. In the six holes that followed, the Canadian made five more birdies, and suddenly, when she stepped onto the 15th tee, she held the lead by herself at 11-under.
“I’ve been hitting it really well all week,” Henderson said Saturday evening.
“I just wasn’t really capitalizing on some of the opportunities. I was just playing really steady, really solid. Today I was able to make a few putts. I made a clutch par save on 6, birdie on 7, and then a long one on 8 for eagle, so I kind of just really felt a lot of great momentum with my putter and was able to keep it pretty hot throughout the back nine.”
Severe weather suspended play, forcing the field to finish their rounds on Sunday morning. Henderson stood on the 18th tee when the siren sounded.
“[On Saturday] night, it was kind of difficult trying to stay in the moment, not knowing if I was going to have to play last night or come out early this morning. It always makes it a little bit difficult with those rain delays,” Henderson added on Sunday morning.
“But I think it would have been nice to play the 18th hole [on Saturday] when I was on a bit of a roll, but you never know what could have happened. At the time, I was kind of grateful for a little bit of a break. It just depends. But No. 18 played a lot more difficult this morning. I made par, and hopefully, I will make a couple of birdies early in the round in the final round.”
When Henderson putted out on 18 early Sunday, she walked off the golf course having recorded the 10th round of sub 64 or better in Chevron Championship history. But it also marked the lowest 18-hole score at The Club at Carlton Woods since the tournament moved there in 2023.
“This championship has a lot of history,” Henderson said.
“Anytime you can be a part of that history is pretty neat. I’m excited about my round yesterday. It was a lot of fun. A lot of momentum, a lot of confidence. Hopefully, I can just carry it forward.”
Henderson will join Nelly Korda and Hae Ran Ryu in Sunday’s final pairing at 12:36 p.m. ET.
Korda aims to win her fifth straight start on the LPGA Tour, which would mark only the third time someone has accomplished that feat. Nancy Lopez did so in 1978, and Annika Sorenstam won five in a row during a stretch spanning both the 2004 and 2005 seasons. A win would also give Korda her second major championship title.
Both Henderson and Korda sit at 10-under going into the final round, while Ryu is one shot above at 11-under, thanks to a birdie on the final hole.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.