A change to a summer date for the New Zealand Women’s Open will be considered after bad weather played havoc with the latest event.
High winds and rain put a damper on the event which ended up being postponed from a Sunday to Monday finish.
This took the gloss from the tournament which for the first time had been raised to the heights of being part of the LPGA Tour, the world’s richest golf circuit for women.
LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan commented he would like to see the tournament held in February which would also provide the opportunity to schedule it close to the Australian Women’s Open.
Michael Goldstein, the tournament director of the New Zealand Women’s Open, said a February date would be considered but it was not a simple matter to make a change.
He said the tournament had a number of long-term contracts to be considered and any change of date would require much negotiation. Goldstein said it could be a couple of months before any decision was made.
What was more clear cut was the win of Brooke Henderson from Canada.
Henderson, the world No 12 at the time, had looked the class act of the field all week at the Windross Farm course in south Auckland and went on to win by five strokes with a four-round total of 17 under par.
It was the 20-year-old’s fifth LPGA win – and second of the year – with sizzling rounds of 65, 70, 67 and a remarkable 69 in extremely challenging conditions over the Sunday and Monday (October 1 and 2).
Picking up her round Monday after completing just six holes on Sunday as rain and thunderstorms lashed the Windross Farm course, Henderson made light of the gusty conditions to see off challenges from China’s Jing Yan (12 under par) and Korea’s Hee Young Park (11 under).
Mid-way through her round she led by as many as six shots as the field drifted back in the tough conditions. Leading by four heading down the 18th, Brooke closed out the victory with a birdie.
“This is so amazing to get my first win outside of North America, my fifth win on the LPGA Tour, it is incredible,’’ Brooke said.
``It is a dream come true and to do it in New Zealand – I am really excited to be here.
“Brittany (her sister and caddy) and I did an extremely awesome job of adapting to those conditions. All day yesterday I was trying to overcome that one shot deficit in case the tournament got cut short. That drive and that push to keep making birdies is what got me in this position.
“Normally this type of golf course doesn’t suit my game but it now gives me a lot of confidence going forward with the British Open and things like that knowing that I can play well on links golf courses and especially in terrible conditions like the last two days.
“I played awesome to shoot 69. I hit a lot of good shots. I knew I had a significant lead with four holes to go and tried not to make any major mistakes. But the shot into 17 sealed it.”
The low round of the day was scored by American Jennifer Song, whose impressive four under par saw her finish at 10 under par and in sole possession of fourth place.
Spain’s Belen Mozo, the leader after three rounds, faltered badly in search of her maiden LPGA title, carding a final round 78 to drop to share of fifth place at nine under.
Home town favourite Lydia Ko briefly pulled into contention when she eagled the par four 15th by holing her approach. However the former world No 1 double-bogeyed the 17th and then triple-bogeyed the 18th to drop five shots over the last two holes.
“I played really solid pretty much, apart from the last two holes,” a philosophical Ko said.
“It was a tough finish but overall my game was solid and there were a lot of positives coming from two good finishes to give me the confidence coming into this week.
“I had hoped a few more putts would have dropped but I think I am saying that almost every week. There’s always something left to improve.
“But overall the crowds here this week were really the cool aspect for me. I don’t get to come home very often – but it gave me goosebumps and made me proud to play this event and have it as a LPGA event.”
The leading amateur was New Zealand-based Korean Ayean Cho who was tied for 17th on six-under par.

New Zealand Women’s Open scores
2017 McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open
Purse: $US1,300,000.00
Windross Farm Golf Course Par: 72 Yardage: 6459
POS NAME SCORES TOTAL TO PAR MONEY ($US)
1 Brooke M. Henderson 65-70-67-69 271 -17 $195,000
2 Jing Yan 70-66-69-71 276 -12 $120,057
3 Hee Young Park 69-70-69-69 277 -11 $87,093
4 Jennifer Song 72-69-69-68 278 -10 $67,373
T5 Su Oh 69-70-69-71 279 -9 $45,244
T5 Beatriz Recari 67-70-70-72 279 -9 $45,244
T5 Belen Mozo 66-64-71-78 279 -9 $45,244
T8 Cheyenne Woods 73-67-71-69 280 -8 $27,212
T8 Lindy Duncan 73-69-67-71 280 -8 $27,212
T8 Nicole Broch Larsen 72-69-66-73 280 -8 $27,212
T8 Madelene Sagstrom 68-67-72-73 280 -8 $27,212
T8 Brittany Lincicome 67-72-66-75 280 -8 $27,212
T13 Christina Kim 71-70-71-69 281 -7 $19,719
T13 Alena Sharp 72-73-66-70 281 -7 $19,719
T13 Gaby Lopez 70-72-67-72 281 -7 $19,719
T13 Amy Boulden 66-70-70-75 281 -7 $19,719
T17 Catriona Matthew 73-70-69-70 282 -6 $16,038
T17 Lee Lopez 72-67-72-71 282 -6 $16,038
T17 A-Yean Cho (a) * 70-71-69-72 282 -6
T17 Paula Reto 70-70-70-72 282 -6 $16,038
T17 Bronte Law 72-66-72-72 282 -6 $16,038
T22 Ryann O’Toole 72-71-68-72 283 -5 $14,329
T22 Lydia Ko 70-68-70-75 283 -5 $14,329
T24 Laura Eum * 71-71-70-72 284 -4 $12,568
T24 Na Yeon Choi 67-70-75-72 284 -4 $12,568
T24 Danielle Kang 71-70-69-74 284 -4 $12,568
T24 Jodi Ewart Shadoff 65-73-71-75 284 -4 $12,568
T24 Thidapa Suwannapura 70-66-70-78 284 -4 $12,568
T29 Ayako Uehara 74-67-71-73 285 -3 $10,736
T29 Ally McDonald 71-69-70-75 285 -3 $10,736
T29 Selin Hyun (a) 73-65-72-75 285 -3
T29 Pavarisa Yoktuan 69-69-72-75 285 -3 $10,736
T33 Eun Jeong Seong (a) * 72-68-74-72 286 -2
T33 Cathryn Bristow 76-69-68-73 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Annie Park 72-69-72-73 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Sun Young Yoo 69-70-74-73 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Pernilla Lindberg 69-68-74-75 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Peiyun Chien 72-67-71-76 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Rachel Rohanna 71-68-71-76 286 -2 $8,798
T33 Mariajo Uribe 68-68-70-80 286 -2 $8,798
T41 Megan Khang 72-71-67-77 287 -1 $7,263
T41 Sarah Kemp 72-69-69-77 287 -1 $7,263
T43 Jane Park 74-71-70-73 288 E $6,190
T43 Youngin Chun (a) * 72-73-70-73 288 E
T43 Celine Herbin 73-68-74-73 288 E $6,190
T43 Giulia Molinaro 74-69-69-76 288 E $6,190
T43 Laura Gonzalez Escallon 70-73-69-76 288 E $6,190
T43 Brianna Do 70-72-70-76 288 E $6,190
T43 Madeleine L Sheils 69-72-71-76 288 E $6,190
T50 Becky Morgan 71-72-71-75 289 +1 $5,094
T50 Sarah Jane Smith 73-66-72-78 289 +1 $5,094
T50 Min Seo Kwak 70-72-68-79 289 +1 $5,094
T50 Holly Clyburn 72-67-71-79 289 +1 $5,094
T54 Mel Reid 71-74-73-72 290 +2 $4,338
T54 Therese O’Hara 70-70-76-74 290 +2 $4,338
T54 Perrine Delacour 68-76-70-76 290 +2 $4,338
T54 Sandra Changkija 71-74-68-77 290 +2 $4,338
T54 Min Lee 74-70-69-77 290 +2 $4,338
T59 Hyeon Ju Heo * 74-71-70-76 291 +3 $3,812
T59 Mina Harigae 71-73-70-77 291 +3 $3,812
T59 Dana Finkelstein 71-71-72-77 291 +3 $3,812
T62 Karen Chung 74-71-72-75 292 +4 $3,369
T62 Amy Olson 74-69-72-77 292 +4 $3,369
T62 Kris Tamulis 73-70-71-78 292 +4 $3,369
T62 Yani Tseng 69-70-73-80 292 +4 $3,369
T66 Hanee Song 72-72-76-73 293 +5 $3,056
T66 Katherine Kirk 71-74-71-77 293 +5 $3,056
T66 Aditi Ashok 74-70-69-80 293 +5 $3,056
T66 Emily Tubert 70-65-77-81 293 +5 $3,056
T70 Jackie Stoelting 71-68-79-77 295 +7 $2,859
T70 Nontaya Srisawang 69-69-79-78 295 +7 $2,859
T72 Prima Thammaraks 72-69-77-78 296 +8 $2,670
T72 Brooke Pancake 69-71-76-80 296 +8 $2,670
T72 Stacey Peters 73-70-71-82 296 +8 $2,670
T72 Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras 70-72-72-82 296 +8 $2,670
76 Gemma Clews 72-72-72-82 298 +10 $2,563
77 Whitney Hillier 74-71-74-80 299 +11 $2,530
78 Amelia Garvey (a) 70-71-80-82 303 +15