Brooke Henderson's tough day at CME Group Tour Championship does not stop Canadian followers | D'Angelo

NAPLES — Brooke Henderson may be the most popular golfer at the CME Group Tour Championship.

And it has a lot more to do with her living part time about 15 miles from the Tiburon Golf Club.

Henderson is a national treasure. And that nation is Canada. So stick Henderson on a golf course in South Florida during season, and she becomes the darling, the golfer with the one of loudest followings, and that includes the outfits.

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Just ask Brent McKean, a snowbird who escapes the Toronto winters for the sunshine of Fort Myers. McKean was one of many with a bright red shirt — the second red wave to occur in our state in the last week — but what makes him stand out is the red and white Loudmouth brand shorts dotted with the country's national symbol — the maple leaf.

And a very legible Brooke Henderson autograph from this event last year. And don't worry, the shorts have been "hand-washed" to preserve the signature.

"I have the best fans ever," Henderson said after shooting a 2-over 74 Friday, putting her at 2-under through two rounds. "It's just amazing all these people are out supporting. It's nice when you can get the momentum and the adrenaline rush on the first tee.

"It would have been nice to make a few more birdies and get them on our side."

Oh, they are on Henderson's side, no matter how many bogeys on her scorecard, of which there were three Friday. That one birdie, though, on No. 7, prompted loud cheers from the gallery.

Henderson, 25, has little competition as Canada's greatest, and most popular, golfer of all time. She is a three-time winner of the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year (headed for her fourth), she became the first Canadian with two majors after her victory at the 2022 Evian Championship and with 12 LPGA wins she has the most victories of any Canadian golfer on major professional tours.

Henderson, a native of Smiths Falls, Ontario, is fourth among money earners on the LPGA Tour for this season and sixth in the world rankings.

But McKean goes a step further, in fact, he goes into hallowed ground. He says she is as well-known as Wayne Gretzky, who undeniably is the country's greatest athlete ever.

Henderson just smiled before pumping the brakes.

"Wayne's the Great One," she said. "That's pretty hard to catch up to."

Henderson could close that gap some with a victory this weekend at the LPGA Tour's season finale, which comes with a $2 million paycheck. A victory along with a few other scenarios would earn her the Rolex Player of the Year award. That does not look promising with Lydia Ko at 13-under at the midway point. Ko is five shots ahead of the field.

For Henderson, hitting that first tee shot was an accomplishment. She withdrew from last week’s Pelican Women's Championship with an injury to her upper back. She wasn’t even sure if she could play this week until getting on the range and making adjustments to her swing.

"I'm happy to be playing," she said. "But at the same time, it's tough to shoot a couple over."

After an opening-round 68, she believes those adjustments caught up to her Friday.

"Normally it's like autopilot," she said. "But today my brain kind of realized this isn't how we normally swing and was compensating a little bit."

Compensating for her swing and for the increased winds following a cold front that swept through the state.

"If you're on the good side of (the wind) then you can make birdies," she said. "But I feel like I kind of got on the wrong side of the momentum. It just made it a little bit tougher day and I wasn't hitting it as well as I would have liked. I had to grind it out."

With that she stopped to sign autographs and then headed to the driving range ... likely with a few fans decked out in red shirts.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LPGA golfer Brooke Henderson as popular in Canada as Wayne Gretzky? One fan believes so