Read a transcript of the post-Round 3 interview with Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners.
Read a transcript of the post-Round 3 interview with Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners.
THE MODERATOR: Here with the team of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners. Brooke, this new format, we’ve haven’t seen it on the LPGA or PGA TOUR in quite some time. What was the strategy going into a day like this?
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it was really unique, best ball, us switching off the tee. You never really lost focus off the tee because you wanted to make sure you hit a good one for your partner. But best ball was great, and Corey played great. He made a bunch of birdies and was hitting the ball really well, which was nice for me, especially on the par-3s. I had good birdie looks.
We made quite a run today, which was really exciting. A little disappointing to finish where we did, but at the same time it was a great week overall.
THE MODERATOR: Corey, I know you guys played quite some time ago. What was it like finding that partnership and that rhythm and flow to you guys during the week?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I was really comfortable around her, and she’s pretty easy to get along with. We just had a great time and played some great golf at certain points throughout the week, and it was a lot of fun. Definitely a memorable week for me, and really look forward to hopefully doing it again.
THE MODERATOR: Brooke, what did you learn about Corey’s game, and Corey, what have you taken away from Brooke’s game at the end of this week?
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, Corey hits it really nice, especially today when he was getting on those runs and hitting the ball really close to the hole and giving himself some really nice birdie looks and giving myself some birdie looks, especially on those par-3s. It was really nice. I felt like had so much confidence in him, and I knew he was going to play well.
It was just such a fun week, such a great week overall, and hopefully we can do it again next year.
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I was able to play with a lot of freedom knowing I had Brooke to back me up. Yeah, it was so much fun. Just so impressed with her game. Hits the ball great, as well. Just really, really consistent, and a great competitor, and we had a lot of fun out there.
Q. A Sens fan and a Leafs fan. Was there any hockey talk at all this week?
COREY CONNERS: I gave her the slightest of jabs.
BROOKE HENDERSON: On the range the other day.
COREY CONNERS: After the Leafs took down the Sens, so yeah.
BROOKE HENDERSON: It was early.
COREY CONNERS: Go Leafs.
THE MODERATOR: Is this a perfect way to close out a tremendous year for golf in Canada?
COREY CONNERS: I think so. The perfect way would have been us shooting a couple lower, I think, but it was great. Canadian golf is certainly on the rise. It’s really fun to be a part of it.
Brooke is a trailblazer for a lot of young girls in Canada, and there’s so many guys out on the PGA TOUR motivating young kids, and golf is really popular in Canada, and it’s just a real honor and fun to be a part of the Canadian professional golfers.
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it’s definitely on the rise, and it’s super cool on the PGA TOUR, four wins this year, which is super exciting.
Alena, I think Maddie and Savannah, we all made it through Q-school, so there will be four of us out there next year, which is great, and Maude-Aimée, as well, so five. So that’s really exciting for us, too, and I think if we can continue to inspire the young girls and boys all around the world and in Canada, too, that’s pretty cool.
Q. What were you guys’ expectations of this experience going into the week, and did the actual tournament live up to them, or how did it compare to what you thought beforehand?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I’ve been really looking forward to this event for a very long time. Was maybe a little nervous on how stressful some of the formats can be, but I feel like we teamed up very well and kept each other pretty relaxed out there. Yeah, very memorable week, and definitely had a lot of fun, and a lot of good takeaways for me.
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I think we made a great team. Really comfortable, and it was really nice to have Corey to lean on when reading putts and stuff like that and just to ask different things about the wind and his kind of experiences. It was kind of nice to have that team aspect and partnership where you kind of bounce ideas back and forth off each other, which was pretty cool.
Just a really fun week, great week. I was really looking forward to it coming in, and it lived up to the expectations. Happy overall.
Q. Mel Reid earlier mentioned more events in the future being male and female on the LPGA Tour and the PGA TOUR, and one of her ideas was the Presidents Cup becoming a mixed gender event. Do you have any thoughts on that?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, after my experience this week, I’d love for more events to be added where the PGA TOUR players can play alongside the LPGA Tour players. They’re so impressive. It was so much fun this week. Hopefully it leads to more in the future.
