Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson will make her return to the LPGA Tour at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica – arguably the biggest stage in women’s golf.

This year’s U.S. Women’s Open will be played at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in North Carolina. It previously hosted the major in 1996, 2001, and 2007.

It’s a special year for the U.S. Women’s Open, as the new sponsor, ProMedica, has made it the richest event in women’s professional golf. Announced in January, the purse nearly doubled from its previous $5.5 million (U.S.) to $10 million! The winner receives $1.8 million.

“Definitely very exciting to see the purse increase for the U.S. Women’s Open. It’s always been one of the top events on the schedule for sure,” said Brooke. “The history that involves that event and all the amazing champions that have lifted the trophy… I would love to add my name to that list.”

She will be well rested heading into Pine Needles, as Brooke took the month of May to prepare for a busy summer of golf on the LPGA Tour. Brooke started the 2022 season on a tear, finishing inside the top-15 on the leaderboard in each of her first six starts. She notched a T13 at the season’s first major, The Chevron Championship.

Brooke said she’ll have plenty to learn at Pine Needles having never seen the course before. But she said she “loves” North Carolina and did play well when the U.S. Women’s Open was contested at Pinehurst in 2014 (she finished T10 as an amateur), which is just 10 minutes away from Pine Needles.

She said the key will be going out on Thursday and shooting a low score then staying steady for the next three days.

“I feel like most of the time the leader does come from that first day and people are jumping out ahead. That’s always a good thing to remember, to try to have a good first day – especially at the U.S. Women’s Open just because the course can get extremely difficult come the weekend,” said Brooke. “With the pressure involved you really have to be in the right frame of mind, and then physically you need to be able to hit the shots when you need to hit them.”

Brooke finished tied for seventh at least year’s U.S. Women’s Open. It was her best finish at that major since she finished tied for fifth in 2015.

She said the challenge at the U.S. Women’s Open is to figure how to handle the week mentally and physically. North Carolina in June is set to by quite warm, so that will be another factor, Brooke said, on top of playing against the best in the world on a challenging golf course.

“It’s easy to practice really hard on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because you want to be at your best… but you can’t do that. You have to give yourself a break,” said Brooke. “You have to learn the golf course but then you have to prepare mentally and not be tired come Thursday, and especially not Sunday. That’s really when you can make a big climb, and if you’re challenging for the win you need the extra boost of energy.”

Another special moment at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open will be the return of Annika Sorenstam. Sorenstam, who won the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles in 1996, is a three-time winner of the major. She earned a spot in the field thanks to her victory at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open last Augusta.

“That name means so much, certainly to the women’s side, but to all of golf. To be playing in events alongside her now is pretty special,” said Brooke, who had posters of Sorenstam up in her house as a youngster. “What she did on the golf course has been amazing.”

Brooke is a special role model herself, and now she looks to follow in Sorenstam’s footsteps and win the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles!

The championship goes from June 2-5. Yuka Saso won last year’s U.S. Women’s Open in a playoff over Nasa Hataoka.