AURORA, Ont. — When the CP Canadian Open began at the Magna Golf Club, there were 15 Canadians in the field.
Now only two remain: Anne-Catherine Tanguay and, of course, defending champion Brooke Henderson.
Henderson, who began her day four back of the lead, shot a 3-under 69 to move to 9-under on the tournament, trailing leader Nicole Broch Larsen by three shots.
.@broch_nicole takes a one stroke lead into #MovingDay at the @cpwomensopen in Ontario.
FULL LEADERBOARD ➡️ https://t.co/rGL4wQoE6C@NEC #NECLPGAStats pic.twitter.com/5qsAKbFLTg
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 23, 2019
The Smiths Falls, Ont., native was unable to match the six birdies she posted thru 18 holes on Thursday, but with another bogey-free round despite the increase in howling winds on day two, Henderson is content with where her game is at.
“I felt like it was a solid round,” said Henderson, during her post-round media availability. “To be close to the lead and know that I could have played a little bit better today — I feel confident going into tomorrow.”
What the 21-year-old feels could have aided her second round was reading the conditions around the golf course.
“The win seemed to affect me a lot more than yesterday,” said the nine-time LPGA tour winner. “Unfortunately I didn’t get some of those closer looks for birdie, but I still feel like I hit a lot of greens and my putting was good enough to make some birdies.”
Defending champ @BrookeHenderson getting the crowd going out at Magna on Red & White Day! 🇨🇦🇨🇦#CPWO #DriveOn pic.twitter.com/YG897ykNVt
— CPKC Women's Open (@cpkcwomensopen) August 23, 2019
While Henderson’s round was consistent on the scorecard, Tanguay dealt with highs and lows throughout her round. She started the day at the same mark as her fellow Canadian, the 28-year-old’s round couldn’t have gone any different.
The Quebec City native posted a two-over 74 moving her to down the leaderboard and tied for 25th after Friday.
After a birdie on three early in her round, Tanguay went bogey, double bogey and double bogey again.
“I think there were a few decisions in my shot-making that I wasn’t 100 per cent with,” said Tanguay. “I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong … it just went wrong.
“It went south real quick.“
Tanguay was able to regroup after the tough stretch, finishing the rest of her round 2-under and now looks to use the positives of her day to aide her attempt to ascend up the leaderboard.
“I built so much momentum on the back nine,” said the former All-American at the University of Oklahoma. “Felt so much better over the ball today than yesterday, so I think I’m going to build on that for the weekend.”
While two Canadians will continue to excite the galleries for the next two days, 13 others were cut from contention.
One in particular drew the most interest of fans and media, 12 year-old Michelle Liu. The Vancouver native became the youngest ever to compete at the 47-year history of the event, breaking the previous mark held by Brooke Henderson, who was 14 back in 2012.
Liu, who went 81-82 during the rounds, knows exactly what she’ll remember when she looks back at her record-breaking experience the past two days.
“I would say that feeling when I walked up to the eighteenth … green,” said the Vancouver native. “Everyone was cheering me on and it was that support that made playing in this tournament so fun.”
Next year’s tournament will be held at the Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club which just so happens to be Liu’s home club.
“That opportunity is exciting,” said Liu, following her second round. “I would really like to play on my home ground.”
The action on the links for the remaining Canadians resumes tomorrow with Tanguay scheduled to begin at 10:14 am local time and Henderson the second-last pairing teeing off at 1:05am.