‘Lot of Us Are Scarred’: Ashleigh Buhai, Brooke Henderson & Co. Still Tormented by Lancaster Nightmare as $1.75M Race Nears

Treacherous. Punishing. Ruthless. The Lancaster Country Club punctured the hopes of LPGA icons. Nelly Korda. Lexi Thompson. Lydia Ko. Rose Zhang. Brooke Henderson. None of them broke par through 36 holes. It appears that LPGA icons haven’t yet shaken off the trauma from a week ago. 

Ashleigh Buhai, Brooke Henderson, and Alexandra Forsterling have traveled some 138 miles to Galloway for the ShopRite LPGA Classic. But the nightmare of Pennsylvania has yet to leave them, as their frank comments reveal.

‘Exhausting’ is a word making rounds among LPGA pros

Ashleigh Buhai has only one word when asked about last week’s experience. ‘Exhausting,’ the former U.S. Women’s Open winner said with laughter in the press conference. And the two-time LPGA Tour winner believed ‘exhausting’ is a word we would hear a lot more from others as well. 

The Donald Ross-designed 6300-yard layout is a breath of fresh air after the ruthless Lancaster Country Club. Buhai said, “Lancaster was an unbelievable test. Yeah, I’m very glad to get on a green this week and be able to hit it at that point and not feel like I have to play another five feet of break. I think a lot of us this week are going to be able to feel like we can breathe a little bit more for sure.”

Buhai was right as rain. Alexandra Forsterling, who tied with the South African for T51, dubbed it as an ‘exhausting week.’ This was the German International’s first U.S. Women’s Open as a professional. Despite a harrowing four rounds, Forsterling had some positives to take away from Pennsylvania. “Here and there made some mistakes, but I think that also just gives me a little bit of confident (sic) boost for this week.” 

On the other hand, Brooke Henderson, still disappointed about missing the cut, feels that the U.S. Women’s Open was a learning curve. Nevertheless, the 13-time LPGA Tour winner sounded relieved to be in a more lighthearted environment and in a less punishing layout.

Brooke Henderson is hoping to have a ‘fun’ week

Henderson admitted that last week was a wild ride off the tracks. This was the first time Henderson failed to earn a weekend spot this year. However, unlike Buhai, who admitted her prep work coming this week hasn’t been enough, Henderson started hitting balls early on. Nevertheless, like Buhai, the 13-time LPGA Tour winner is a little relaxed being at the Seaview course.

Speaking to the media, Brooke Henderson said, “Yeah, last week was a tough week. This week, just so many great memories here. I love this event and coming back. I love that it’s three days. It makes it really fun and you know you have to go out and make birdies and climb the leaderboard as much as you can really quickly.” 

Birdies were rare at Lancaster. Justin Ray reported that the average score was +4.02, the highest since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open. Indeed, the 54-hole Shoprite LPGA Classic will be a breath of fresh air after a backbreaking week in Pennsylvania.