Seventeen-year-old golfer Brooke Henderson "is now a member of the LPGA" after Commissioner Mike Whan yesterday "approved her petition" to join the circuit, according to Beth Ann Nichols of GOLFWEEK. Whan said, "Brooke truly earned her card, and we are looking forward to Brooke joining our tour and our family." Nichols noted Whan last year "denied Henderson’s petition to go to LPGA Q-School at age 16," but gaining membership yesterday was a "mere formality" after her win last week at the Cambia Portland Classic (GOLFWEEK.com, 8/18). In Toronto, Mike Koreen notes the decision by Whan "was widely expected, as he also opened the tour door" when Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson "won as underagers (golfers under 18 need the commissioner’s approval to be granted membership)." The only "question was whether Henderson would defer membership" until '16. In the end, Henderson and her team "made the logical choice" to become a member prior to this week's Canadian Pacific Women's Open, where she will be the "clear star of the show, with the hope her hot play and momentum can carry on in Vancouver" (TORONTO SUN, 8/19). The CP's Jim Morris noted having a full membership means Henderson "won’t have to play" in Monday qualifiers. Prior to Whan's decision, she faced "having to qualify because she had exhausted all six of her sponsors’ exemptions" (CP, 8/18). GOLFCHANNEL.com's Randall Mell noted there was a "social media uproar" among fans believing she "deserved a waiver of the LPGA’s age restriction long before" she won last week's event. Henderson said that she "doesn’t resent that she had to earn her way into the LPGA ranks with a victory." Henderson said, "It was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. It really made me realize what I really wanted in life, and what I really desired, and it made me work really, really hard" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 8/18).
