CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – The only thing larger than the throng of media on-hand at Whistle Bear Golf Club for Monday’s media day was the smile on the face of the Manulife LPGA Classic’s new tournament director, Milaina Wright.

Wright, less than a year into her tenure, took over for outgoing tournament director Richard Kuypers. Kuypers headed up the Manulife event for three years before moving on to join Molson Coors in 2014.

Both Wright and Kuypers have a shared past-employer: Golf Canada. And, Wright says her experience working at Golf House was invaluable.

“I was privileged to work under Bill Paul, Brent McLaughlin and Sean Van Kesteren, tournament directors who have been in the golf industry for a lot longer than I have,” Wright explains. “These are guys who taught me a lot about organizing a large-scale championship, and all the details that go into it.”

Wright worked as the manager of professional championships for Golf Canada for a little less than three years. She was also the governing body’s coordinator of professional championships for nearly four years.

The graduate of Brock University – with both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters of Arts in sport management – is no stranger to dealing with elite athletes. She was the assistant basketball coach at Brock for six months, and also played basketball at a high level herself.

These experiences, she says, helps her now while dealing with professional golfers. Although, on a slightly different scale.

“One thing I take most from my sports background is my composure under stressful situations,” she says. “There’s always something happening in a golf tournament you can’t control, so I’m always trying to find a solution, find the next step.”

Wright continues to say that the Manulife LPGA Classic will be offering laundry services, massage services and hair and makeup services to the 150 women playing in the tournament. As the third event in four weeks, Wright knows it’s tough to be on the road for that long a stretch.

“We want to make sure they enjoy our Canadian hospitality,” Wright explains.

With less than a month to go until the tournament, Wright’s to-do list is growing ever longer. But now, she says it’s all about the execution. Her team is excited for what’s to come, especially when it comes to what will be offered to the fans.

“It’s all about getting everything ready,” she says. “We’re still recruiting volunteers, but we’re getting more people every day. For right now, we’re just getting the pieces together and getting everything going.”

“We want to put on the best show and entertain the players. It’s all for the spectators,” Wright continues.

Wright happily confirmed Monday that world no.1 Lydia Ko would be in the field, along with some other big names on the LPGA Tour like Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park, Brittany Lincicome, Michelle Wie, and Brooke Henderson. Henderson was on-hand Monday to accept a sponsor’s invitation from Manulife.

“This tournament is known for great spectators and large galleries, and that’s getting well-known on Tour,” explains Wright. “The players want to come. A few players played Whistle Bear last year and loved it. We’re going to draw some major talent.”

Between the strong field, the exciting buzz being generated, and a fresh agreement with the new golf course for the next five years, it only makes sense that Milaina Wright has a reason to smile.

If you’re interested in volunteering for the Manulife LPGA Classic, you can click here to learn more.

IRVING, Texas – Inbee Park won the LPGA Tour’s North Texas Shootout for the second time in three years Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 6-under 65 for a three stroke victory.

Park finished at 15-under 269 at Las Colinas for her second victory this year and 14th on the tour. The 26-year-old South Korean player, the HSBC Women’s Champions winner in March in Singapore, earned $195,000 to push her career total to nearly $10.8 million.

Cristie Kerr and Hee Young Park tied for second. The 37-year-old Kerr had three consecutive birdies to finish her round of 66. Hee Young Park also had a 66, birdieing the final two holes after her only bogey at No. 16.

Lexi Thompson, who shared the third-round lead with Inbee Park, closed with a 69 to tie for fourth with Maria McBride (65) at 11 under.

Park, ranked No. 2 in the world, never surrendered the lead after consecutive birdies at the second and third holes. This is the fourth season in a row in which she has multiple victories.

Lydia Ko, coming off a win last week in California, will maintain the No. 1 ranking even after the 18-year-old from New Zealand had a closing 71 to tie for 41st at even par.

A stroke behind Park midway through the round, Thompson thought she had a chance to get even again after her approach to about 5 feet at the 415-yard ninth hole. But before she made that birdie putt, Park curled in a much longer putt there to get to 12 under.

The gap between them was four strokes after Park made a 10-foot birdie putt at the 390-yard 15th hole to get to 14 under. Thompson hit her approach through that green and made a bogey.

Angela Stanford, who lives in nearby Fort Worth and attended TCU, was at 10 under after a 69. That was a stroke ahead of a trio of defending champion Stacy Lewis (67), Juli Inkster (67) and Karrie Webb (70).

It was the first top-10 finish since 2011 for Inkster, the 54-year-old Solheim Cup captain and 31-time tour winner.

McBride had made only $49,315 in her 32 previous starts since 2012, when the Swede had her last top-10 finish. The tie for fourth will net her $61,259.

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian who nearly made a playoff last week in San Francisco and was the second-round leader in North Texas, opened Sunday with a birdie to get to 9 under and match the leaders who had not yet teed off.

But Henderson was out of contention after a three-hole stretch that started with a bogey at the par-5 third hole, where her approach settled in a concrete culvert under a city street between holes. She hit her tee shot at the 165-yard fourth hole into the water fronting the green and had double bogey, then had another bogey at the fifth hole.

Henderson shot a 73 to tie for 13th at 6-under 278.

The LPGA Tour last year denied Henderson a membership waiver to its minimum age requirement of 18. Just to play in Texas, she took an overnight flight after finishing the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic and then had to endure a qualifying round stretched over two days because of weather before a playoff just to make the field.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp finished in a three-way tie for 17th place.

IRVING, Texas – Long-hitting Lexi Thompson was going for the green in two with her approach on the 18th hole. She got there with a fortunate ricochet, and grabbed a share of the lead in the LPGA’s North Texas Shootout.

Thompson hit a screamer well left of the green on the closing par 5 in the third round Saturday. The ball struck the front facing of a grandstand and ricocheted onto the green, skimming just over the top of a bunker.

“I wouldn’t say I was trying to nail that grandstand,” Thompson said with a chuckle after the long two-putt birdie to close a round of 3-under 68.

Thompson shared the lead at 9-under 204 with 2013 North Texas winner Inbee Park, who finished a round of 69 with a more conventional birdie at No. 18. Park hit her third-shot approach inside a foot.

“It’s always good momentum going into tomorrow when you finish with a birdie, and obviously all day today I hit good shots, but inside 10 feet it wasn’t going in,” Park said. “I had to hit it closer.”

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Team Canada member who had the second-round lead, shot an even-par 71 to drop into a tie for third at 8 under with 40-year-old Karrie Webb (64) and Angela Stanford (67).

“Playing rounds like that is fun. I would have told you on Thursday that I wasn’t a big fan of golf at the time,” Webb said, referring to her opening 2-over 73. “Now two days later, everything feels good.”

Webb was the youngest player on the LPGA Tour when as a 21-year-old rookie in 1996 she won four times and was the first player to win $1 million in a season. Now the Australian with 41 career wins is competing with players even younger than that with a focus on being part of the Olympics when golf returns next year in Brazil.

“I think that’s really keeping me out here, keeping me working hard,” she said. “That’s something at the start of my career I never envisioned, being part of the Olympics.”

The 20-year-old Thompson, who turned pro five years ago, was about 220 yards out at the 518-yard 18th when she crushed a 3-wood.

Without the assist from the stands, she might have been set up for only her second bogey of the day – or even worse. She burst out laughing in the fairway after watching what happened with her ball.

“It was kind of pushing my hybrid to carry over on the right,” Thompson said. “I was just trying to cut a 3 wood, and it was really solid. I’m just happy it hit that grandstand and not somebody else out there.”

Cristie Kerr, who missed a short birdie try on her final hole, shot 69 and was tied for sixth with Hee Young Park (70) at 7 under.

Defending champion Stacy Lewis had a 66 to move into a tie for eighth place at 5 under, after starting the weekend even and tied for 47th. Lewis and 54-year-old Juli Inkster (73) were in a group of eight players five strokes off the lead.

“It’s awesome, everybody knows Karrie has so much game still. It’s ridiculous how talented she is,” Thompson said. “Juli Inkster is in the mix, too, which is awesome to see. Fans love that. It’s all ages, and it’s great to see in golf.”

Lydia Ko, the 18-year-old from New Zealand who is the No. 1 player in the world and won in California last week, shot a 70 to get even for the week. She had to make three birdies over her last eight holes Friday just to avoid missing the cut for the first time in her 51 career starts.

Just like Friday, Ko was right on the number for the secondary cut, among the 51 players advance to the final round at even or better. When the initial cut was made at 1 over after the second round, 70 of the original 144-player field made it.

“Really, I think over the last two days, I’m realizing that one shot, one little putt, can make a huge difference,” said Ko, who will keep her No. 1 ranking after this week. “Luckily I’m playing four days, and after the first day, you know, I didn’t know if I was going to play through.”

Henderson isn’t the only Canadian lurking near the top of the leaderboard. Alena Sharp (71) had a share of 16th heading into the final round.

IRVING, Texas -Brooke Henderson is too young for LPGA Tour membership. She’s good enough to top the leaderboard – again.

Henderson shot a 6-under 65 on Friday in the North Texas Shootout, giving the 17-year-old Canadian the lead going into the weekend for the second straight week on the LPGA Tour.

Henderson had a bogey-free round to reach 8-under 134 total at Las Colinas, a stroke ahead of 2013 winner Inbee Park and 54-year-old Juli Inkster.

Denied a waiver to the LPGA Tour’s minimum-age requirement of 18 last year, Henderson earned the last spot in the field Tuesday in a playoff in the qualifier. Last week in California in the Swinging Skirts, she led after the second and third rounds, but fell a stroke short of a playoff that Lydia Ko won over Morgan Pressel.

“Last week, definitely helped out a lot,” Henderson said. “Finishing third and having a chance to win on Sunday was a lot of fun. I’m excited to be in the same position. Hopefully, it will just turn out a little better.”

On her final hole, Henderson chipped from the rough behind the green toward the pin 20 yards away and sank a 6-foot putt to maintain the lead.

“It was a bad lie in the rough, so I’ll take it,” she said.

The top-ranked Ko rallied Friday to push her career-long cuts streak to 51, following her opening 75 with a 68 to make it on the number at 1-over 143. The 18-year-old New Zealander was tied for 62nd.

Park had a 66, and Inkster shot 69.

Lexi Thompson, Mi Hyang Lee, Hee Young Park and Karine Icher were tied for fourth at 6 under.

Ko said she was emotional about making the cut heading into the back nine, still at 4 over, because she pledged to donate her earnings this week to the earthquake relief in Nepal.

“All day, I was thinking, you know, make some birdies for the kids in Nepal,” she said. “I was going to cry after my putt.”

Park wasn’t happy with her putting last week in California and changed clubs. The result: 27 putts on Thursday, 26 on Friday.

“If the putter doesn’t work, you’re just going to walk away with the pars,” she said. “Hopefully, this putter can stay in the bag a long time.”

After Inkster opened with a 66 to share the first-round lead, she stated she really wasn’t “looking forward to winning.” Sitting one shot out of the lead going into Saturday, she amended her position slightly.

“I’m just not counting my chickens before they hatch,” said the Solheim Cup captain and 31-time tour winner, most recently in 2006. “I mean, I’ve got a lot of golf left.”

Michelle Wie was four strokes back at 4 under after a 70. She was 7 under through 12 holes, but bogeyed three of the last four holes.

Another Canadian, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., has a share of 12th. She’s 4-under, four-shots off the lead, after a 71.

Paula Creamer withdrew after shooting par Thursday, citing personal reasons.

The field will be cut a second time after Saturday’s play, to the top 50 and ties.

IRVING, Texas – Lydia Ko sent her caddie up a pine tree behind the 14th green – and tumbled down the leaderboard Thursday in the North Texas Shootout.

Lydia Ko had a triple bogey after losing a ball in the tree and dropped three more strokes on the next two holes Thursday to put her career-long LPGA Tour cuts streak in jeopardy.

“I would never have imagined for it to be stuck up there,” Ko said.

Coming off a victory Sunday in California in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, Ko finished with a 4-over 75 to fall nine strokes behind leaders Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr and Sydnee Michaels.

On the par-4 14th, Ko’s second shot flew past the green and behind the tree. The top-ranked New Zealander tried to go over the tree coming back, but failed to clear it. She was given a penalty drop beneath the tree for an unplayable lie even though caddie Jason Hamilton was unable to identify the ball.

“You just get those days where things that you least expect happen,” Ko said. “It’s good to know my caddie is always there to do what’s best for me. I didn’t know he was that good climbing trees.”

Said Hamilton: “Not being able to see it from the ground, I felt I better get up there.”

The 18-year-old Ko followed the triple bogey with a double bogey after hitting into the water on the par-4 15th and lost another stroke with a bogey on the par-4 16th.

Ko was tied for 117th in the 144-player field that will be cut to the top 70 and ties after the second round and to the top 50 and ties after the third. She has made the 36-hole cuts in all 50 of her tour starts.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to pull off something amazing,” Ko said.

Ko said Wednesday that she will donate her earnings to the earthquake relief effort in Nepal. She has two LPGA Tour victories this year and leads the money list with $908,810.

The 54-year-old Inkster also shared the first-round lead last week in California and ended up tying for 15th. She won the last of her 31 tour titles in 2006.

“Hopefully, I can build on this,” Inkster said. “I’m not really looking forward to winning. I mean, as (Jack) Nicklaus said, `I’ve played good at first rounds and really haven’t played good my second rounds.'”

Kerr won the Kia Classic in late March for her 17th tour victory.

Kerr and Michaels each had only 24 putts.

“The greens are really good here,” Kerr said. “So, if you hit the greens, even if you have a little longer than you wanted with your shot, you have some opportunities. So, it was a good day for me.”

Fort Worth resident Angela Stanford was a stroke back at 67 along with Lexi Thompson, Natalie Gulbis, Maria Hernandez, Ryann O’Toole, Karine Icher, Sandra Gal, Gerina Piller, Wei-Ling Hsu and Alena Sharp.

Michelle Wie topped the group at 68.

Defending champion Stacy Lewis opened with a 69 in her home-state event.

After qualifying on Monday, Smiths Falls, Ont., native Brooke Henderson finished at -2. Rebecca Lee-Bentham carded a 4-over 75 on the day while fellow Canadians Sue Kim and Jennifer Kirby opened at +5.

IRVING, Texas – Lydia Ko is donating her earnings this week in the LPGA Tour’s North Texas Shootout to the earthquake relief effort in Nepal.

“We had a big one in New Zealand, too, a couple years ago, and it affected a lot of people,” Ko said Wednesday “Natural disasters you can’t do much about. Sometimes it’s hard to be prepared for it, so I thought, `Those people there, nice people and very innocent.’ So, I wanted to give this tournament’s earnings and donate it to them.”

The 18-year-old Ko, ranked No. 1 in the world, successfully defended her title Sunday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in California and leads the tour’s money list with $908,810. The winner this week will earn $195,000 from the $1.3 million purse.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson is off to a great start since turning pro a few months ago.

The 17-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., is coming off a third-place finish at her second LPGA Tour event this season and will be brimming with confidence at this week’s stop in Irving, Tex. Henderson said Wednesday she’s feeling really good about her game and is excited about her future at this level.

“I think the possibilities are endless,” Henderson said on a conference call. “I just have to go out there, everything is meant to happen for a reason. Hopefully good things will happen.”

Henderson earned US$132,721 for her result at last week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She opened the season in early February by finishing tied for 33rd at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

Next up is an appearance at this week’s $1.3-million Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club. She won a playoff Tuesday to secure the second qualifying spot.

“This year is a learning experience year for me,” Henderson said. “It’s my first year as a pro and I’m sort of on a mixture of tours.

“So when I have the an opportunity to play an LPGA event, I definitely want to take advantage of it and play the best that I can.”

Henderson already has sponsor’s exemptions to participate in the May 29-31 Shop-Rite LPGA Classic and the June 4-7 Manulife LPGA Classic in Cambridge, Ont.

She hopes to use the maximum six exemptions she’s allowed this season and also qualify for other tournaments through the summer. Playing for Canada at this summer’s Pan Am Games in Toronto is also a possibility.

It has been a hectic start to the season, but Henderson is used to the grind.

“I think travelling as an amateur on the international stage the last couple of years has really prepared me for this year because it has been a ton of travel,” Henderson said. “Playing not on one tour in particular, but travelling around LPGA, Symetra and mini-tour stuff, I’ve been trying to take advantage of as many opportunities to play as I can and to play well when I do get those opportunities.

“Like I say, it has been a ton of travel but I’m really enjoying it and I don’t regret my decision (to turn pro) one bit.”

Henderson, who won three times on the Canadian Women’s Tour as an amateur and was a runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, has already gained valuable experience in the early going this season. Playing in the final group at a pro event will only serve her well going forward, even if she came just short of her first LPGA Tour victory.

“Playing on Saturday, I was very, very comfortable, which I felt was a really good thing,” she said. “I didn’t have many nerves. I was really focused and ready to go. Sunday was a little bit different. I was a little more nervous and a couple shots just weren’t what I was really looking for.

“But I think feeling the way I did Saturday is a really good sign for future final groups and (playing) on the weekend.”

IRVING, TX – Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brooke Henderson had little time to reflect on her third place finish at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic – a result that had Canadian golf fans glued to their television sets reeling with pride from coast-to-coast.

Just a few hours after recording her career best finish on the LPGA Tour, the Smiths Falls, Ont., native was on a plane leaving San Francisco, headed to Texas so she could attempt to “Monday qualify” for this week’s Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC.

“Yeah, it was a little bit crazy,” Henderson said. “We went straight to the airport Sunday night, and didn’t have a flight. We got one and it was delayed until 4 a.m., so we spent most of the night in the airport. We arrived here (at the golf course) just before 10 a.m. ‑ actually probably around 9 a.m. in the morning – and Brian, my caddie, went out and looked at the course a little bit, and I got some rest, and then was ready to play at 2 p.m.”

Despite the less than ideal travel arrangements, Henderson was 1-under thru 13 holes when her Monday qualifying round was suspended due to inclement weather at Las Colinas Country Club.

Henderson finished her round Tuesday at 1-under 70 to head into a four-person playoff. She sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second hole to take the final qualifying spot.

“On the first playoff hole I gave myself a good look at birdie, was probably 15 feet straight up the hill,” she descibed. “I saw a little more break in it than it was, and then I was lucky. On the second playoff hole I was a foot away from where I was the previous time, so I knew the break a lot better and was able to make it.”

When asked about the wealth of encouragement she has received from her home country, Henderson reflected pensively on the state of golf in Canada. “The support back home is amazing. I think Canadian golf has been waiting for something. Mike Weir has definitely been a headliner, and there’s been a lot of other great players like Graham DeLaet and David Hearn and Brad Fritsch that have come up on the men’s side, and then of course Lorie Kane, Alena Sharp, and a few other young pros that are starting to make their way onto the Tour now.

“But I think over the last couple years, the amateur teams have been playing really well. Last year, Corey Conners and I, we were both finalists in the U.S. Amateur, and that had only happened once before, and it was pretty cool. I think the interest in Canada is continuing to grow, and I think golf in Canada is growing pretty rapidly.”

Henderson will join fellow Canadians Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Alena Sharp, Jennifer Kirby and Sue Kim in the North Texas Shootout field.

DALY CITY, Calif. – Lydia Ko celebrated another birthday week at Lake Merced with another victory Sunday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

Ko won for the second straight year, this time beating Morgan Pressel on the second playoff hole by rolling in a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for her seventh career LPGA Tour victory. She turned 18 on Friday.

Ko made two birdies in the three times she played the closing hole at Lake Merced. She made an 8-footer in regulation to close with a 2-under 70.

Pressel had to settle for three pars on the 18th. She missed a 15-footer in regulation for the win, closing with a 72. Her best chance was a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole that grazed the edge of the cup. Pressel badly pulled an 8-foot birdie putt on her third try with Ko in close.

“At the start of the day, I didn’t know how it was going to go,” Ko said. “It’s been a great birthday week again.”

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 14th to stay close to the lead and she had a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join the playoff. It missed on the low side and she had to settle for a 74.

Ko, already the No. 1 player in women’s golf, moved to the top of the LPGA Tour money list with her second tour victory and third worldwide title this year. But it was hard work. She never had the lead until making her winning putt on the 20th hole of the day.

Equally important was a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th that curled in from the left side right when it looked as if this was Pressel’s tournament to win. Ko missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 17th for a share of the lead, though she converted on the 18th to finish at 8-under 280.

It was a tough loss for Pressel, whose last victory was in 2008 at the Kapalua LPGA Classic. She had a two-shot lead with four holes to play until making back-to-back bogeys, and then failing to make a birdie on the 18th.

The par-5 closing hole could not be reached in two, so it effectively came down to a wedge and a putt.

“I just couldn’t convert the putts,” Pressel said. “It all comes down to putting. She birdied it twice and I didn’t.”

Ko opened with two straight bogeys and fell as many as four shots behind. She also chopped up the 16th hole with a poor tee shot and an approach that went well long, leading to a bogey. But the Korean-born Kiwi was spared by sloppy play all around her over the final hour on a crisp afternoon.

Henderson, trying to become the third player in history to win on the LPGA Tour before turning 18, was shaky from the start. She hit her opening tee shot to the right behind trees and had to punch out to the fairway, leading to bogey. She came up well short on the par-3 third and made another bogey, and fell out of the lead for the first time since Friday morning.

The Canadian never caught up, though she was never out of it until missing her 25-foot birdie attempt on the 18th.

“It was one of the least nervous putts I had all day,” Henderson said. “I could see it going in in my mind, but it didn’t happen in real life.”

She headed for Texas to try to Monday qualify for the next LPGA event. Finishing in the top 10 only makes a player eligible for the next tournament if she is an LPGA member. Henderson last year was denied a waiver to the LPGA’s minimum age requirement of 18.

Pressel took the lead by making pars, and she started to seize control when she rolled in a 45-foot eagle putt on No. 6 for a two-shot lead. But she missed three short putts on the front nine – two for birdie, one for par – that kept her from getting a little more separation.

The final hour took shape with three big shots. Henderson holed her bunker shot for eagle on the 14th to reach 8 under and get within one shot of the lead. Moments later, Pressel got up-and-down from behind the green to get to 10 under and, in the group ahead of them, Ko made her big birdie putt to reach 8 under.

Pressel dropped shots on the next two holes. Henderson chunked a chip on the 15th and made bogey. Ko went well long on the 16th and missed a 10-foot par putt. Pressel had a one-shot lead going to the last hole and could hear the gallery’s big cheer on the green when Ko made her 8-foot putt to tie her for the lead.

Brooke Henderson (Robert Laberge/ Getty Images)

DALY CITY, Calif. – Not old enough to join the LPGA Tour without permission, 17-year-old Brooke Henderson has been good enough for long enough to know about pressure.

She could get her fill of that in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

Leading by as many as five shots Saturday with Lake Merced at its toughest all week, Henderson closed with a pair of bogeys that reduced the Canadian teen’s margin to one shot over Morgan Pressel and Min Seo Kwak going into the final round.

Henderson had to settle for an even-par 72. She kept the lead, even though she lost some momentum.

And she kept her engaging smile.

“Overall, it was a great day and I’m really happy to be where I am,” Henderson said. “If someone told me at the beginning of the week I would be leading going into the final round, I would have taken it.”

Even so, the final two holes changed the dynamics of this tournament.

Henderson had looked unflappable even in conditions so tough that Pressel (67) and Kwak (69) were the only players to break 70. The wind made the Pacific air feel close to 50 degrees, and overnight rain made the course soft and longer. Pressel hit a 5-wood into the seventh hole Saturday; she had been hitting 9-iron.

Henderson didn’t miss a fairway until the par-5 14th hole, and she converted that into birdie with an up-and-down from a greenside bunker. But she couldn’t escape a pair of mistakes to close out her round, and it didn’t help that her group was on the clock over the final two hours.

From a bad lie in the left rough on the 17th, she worried about going right and down a steep slope and instead went short and left. Then, she didn’t realize until making contact on her pitch that “something really hard” was under the turf. Her club bounced and the ball shot over the green, and only a tough up-and-down from there allowed her to get away with no more than a bogey.

On the par-5 18th, she thought her third shot was good until she didn’t hear anyone clap. It was long and in the rough, and she couldn’t get up-and-down.

Henderson was at 9-under 207, and suddenly had more contenders than just Pressel and Kwak.

Defending champion Lydia Ko, who turned 18 on Friday and now is chasing someone even younger, salvaged a 71 and was three shots behind. Ko was as many as six shots behind and was happy to be that close to Henderson.

“I saw the leaderboard, and every time it’s there, even though we played a couple tough holes, she wasn’t losing shots. She was gaining shots,” Ko said. “Shows how strong she is in her mental game, too.”

Pressel birdied four of her last six holes, including a 5-iron hybrid to 15 feet on the 15th hole, for a 67 on a day when the average score was 74.6.

Stacy Lewis and Shanshan Feng of China each had 71 and were four shots behind.

More than just her first LPGA victory is at stake for Henderson. She was denied a waiver to the LPGA Tour’s minimum age requirement of 18 last year. Commissioner Mike Whan has granted only two exceptions to the rule – Ko and Lexi Thompson – mainly because both had already won on the LPGA.

Perhaps a victory by Henderson will change his mind. This is only her second LPGA event since she turned pro in December.

And while there might be some truth that teenagers on tour are too young to appreciate nerves, Henderson is different. She has been a starlet in Canada for years, winning three times on the Canadian Women’s Tour as an amateur, capturing the Canadian Women’s Amateur and finishing runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She also was medalist at the Women’s Amateur Team Championship.

Expectations are high in Canada, a country that loves its golf and hasn’t had an LPGA winner since Lorie Kane in 2001. Henderson is used to that.

“If you have pressure, it means you’re doing something right,” Henderson said. “I try and use it to my advantage and try and use it to help me get better.”

The most pressure might be seeing Pressel with her on the first tee Sunday, along with Kwak.

Henderson recalls meeting Pressel, who won the Kraft Nabisco at 18 and remains the LPGA Tour’s youngest major champion, at a golf outing in Ottawa when Henderson was 8. She refers to Pressel as her biggest role model in golf and concedes she still gets a little nervous around her.

Pressel remembers what it was like to be a teen in the spotlight. She was poised to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 17 until Birdie Kim beat her with a bunker shot on the last hole at Cherry Hills, and Pressel came through two years later at Mission Hills. She has been following Henderson’s progress over the years.

“I knew she would be something special out on our tour as well,” Pressel said.