SHOPRITE LPGA POWERED BY WAKEFERN

May 27, 2026

Brooke Henderson

Seaview Hotel & Golf Club, Bay Course

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, joining us ahead of the ShopRite LPGA Classic powered by Wakefern is Brooke Henderson. Brooke, you are a past champion of this event. Can you just talk about this event, this golf course, just what it means to you?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Winning here in 2022 was amazing. Phenomenal. Really helped boost my career and the rest of that summer in a great way. Gave me a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence. I was able to go on and win my second major, Evian, like a month later after winning here. It was just a great week to kind of turn things around.

I first played this event in 2015. I got a sponsor's invitation to come and play. Again, they kind of boosted my career in the right direction giving me a start on the LPGA Tour and just a lot of confidence moving forward.

So this event has always meant a lot to me and always really excited to be being back here and looking forward to playing this week.

Q. Yeah. We see that a lot, people starting their career here. Few Epson Tour players in the field and a lot of our rookies. Talk about the steps you've taken as a mentor to those younger players on Tour and just getting their feet under them.

BROOKE HENDERSON: There is a lot of players here this week that I don't recognize week to week. It's awesome they have the opportunity to compete here this week in a Tour event.

I know when I was first start all -- it's always very exciting -- even this week I'm super excited to be back. It's always really special those first few events you can get under your belt on Tour and seeing all the different players and getting your feet wet.

It'll be an exciting week for them, and just really looking forward to being back here and looking forward to getting three solid rounds together.

Q. So outside of your first round this year, it's been a struggle for you too. In Orlando it's a 54-hole tournament like this one, too. So how do you think those were similar and how do you think your performance in Orlando can apply to this weekend?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it was great start to the year at that event finishing third I believe. So it was a great start. Has been a little bit slow since then, but hopefully it'll be a good summer starting with this event here.

I do love three-day events. I think they're really fun. You have to definitely start out fast. You don't really have time to be slow or to make too many mistakes.

So the scores are usually pretty low here, so excited to try to make a bunch of birdies and see what will happen.

Q. You've played here a bunch, so what about this course makes you feel comfortable or is there anything like a familiarity factor with this course as well?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I think being able to have played here every year since 2015 I feel like I know the course really well, and I definitely have a lot of good memories here, which is all really nice. Can good you a little bit of confidence while you're out there.

This course can play tough if it gets windy. There's been a lot of rain this week so it's softer, which is nice, but you really have to pay attention to the windy conditions and adjust accordingly.

But I feel like it's nice to have a good feel for the course layout and kind of how the holes will play generally.

Q. Last question from me: You finished top 10 three times, and the top 25 three times, too. So does being -- does just having a good relationship with this course give you an advantage going into this weekend?

BROOKE HENDERSON: I would like to think so, but I guess that's the thing about golf, is nobody really has an advantage week to week. We all start even par and all start even, and then we have to go make the best of the rounds that we have in front of us.

So I think especially this week being a shorter event you have to go out fast and try to make something happen kind of quickly. But I've had, as I've mentioned, quite a few good finishes here, so I feel like that's kind of nice to lean on and know that I can do it here.

Q. Going back to your sponsor invite in 2015 when you made your debut here, what was that week like for you? What were the nerves like and did you reach out to fellow players to get advice and learn the ropes a little bit?

BROOKE HENDERSON: You know, in 2015 every start I had on the LPGA Tour was just the best. To have a sponsor's invite into this one, I've always been extremely grateful. ShopRite has really meant a lot to me in my career and I love coming back here and competing.

In 2015 I played a lot of practice rounds with Alena Sharp. She was and continues to be a great mentor for me and a great friend. So she was somebody that I really leaned on a lot and she really taught me a lot about life on Tour, kind of how to handle yourself and how to prepare for an event.

Q. There is another Brooke in the field this week, Brooke Biermann, who's making her LPGA debut as a pro. She was an amateur up until ANWA and then she's turning pro this week. What would be your are pieces of advice to her?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Just soak it all in. Yeah, enjoy it. Obviously played at a very high level as an amateur so she has a lot of experience. To play in your first LPGA Tour event as a pro, it's a very special feeling. I hope she can really enjoy it and go have a good week herself.

Q. You mentioned about how this tournament and ShopRite has been a lot for your career. This is the 38th year of this tournament; 32nd with ShopRite as the title sponsor. As a player when you play in events like this, especially this year where ShopRite is doing a lot with the complimentary hotels and the player family and just a lot of that. What does that mean to you as a player that you have sponsors and partners on the LPGA Tour that are elevating not only you guys, but the women's game in general?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. I love to see everything that they're doing for the Tour and continuing to help players not only in bigger purses, but in other ways as well with complimentary hotel rooms and just treating us extremely well.

So it's very exciting that way. And one of the things I love most about this event is the history and the tradition that is here. It's been running on the LPGA forever. Walking around this hotel, Seaview, all the history, looking at all the photographs and reading some of the memorabilia around here is really, really cool.

To have an event that has been on Tour for so long and all the amazing champions that have had their name written, engraved into the trophy, that was one of the most meaningful things for me in 2022 when I was able to add my name the list of all the past champions.

Also, this event, which I don't think it's talked about enough, it's raised $45 million for local communities and local charities since this event started. So it's really impactful and really meaningful for me to come and play in it and be a small part of that.

Q. Thinking about players who had success at young ages, including yourself, what was it that kept you from kind of burning out on the game of golf as you were growing up and turning professional? It's a tough grind. What kept you focused and just from getting fed up with it all?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, good question. I think the love for the game and wanting to push yourself to be your best is probably the number one and number two things. You're always just trying to be better, and for me when I was first starting on Tour I was just like so excited and so grateful for every opportunity and I was just really trying to make the most of everything that I was given.

So that really pushed me to continue to work really hard and just see how far I could take it, and I think you can see that a lot with a lot of the young girls coming up now. They're just trying to be the best they can and keep pushing and they really love the game of golf. I think every golfer, we kind of -- I think Lydia said it best, we have a love-hate relationship with golf. Everybody has that. At the end of the day we all love the challenge of it and love pushing ourselves.

Q. You mentioned the history of this event. It's the oldest event on Tour. The history of the LPGA in general, how important is it for players your age or younger to be aware of the LPGA's history, what the Founders did 76 years ago, and just be cognizant of that and how that has impacted the growth of the LPGA Tour to where it is now?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. 76 years of the LPGA Tour is incredible. You know, thinking back, all those 13 Founders and everything they went through to make this possible for all of us, it's extremely important we all remember them and are grateful for everything they sacrificed and all the hard work they put into it to be where it is now.

And to see tournaments continuing to -- or all the sponsors continuing to elevate our tournaments, all the players, we're continuing to work hard ourselves to be better and put on a better fan -- or give the fans a better experience all the time, too.

So I think everybody is just working really hard to continue to make that tour grow and succeed, and I think that's really exciting.

But I think tournaments like this one, like ShopRite, that have been on Tour for so long should definitely be celebrated, and I think it's amazing to be able to come back here year after year.

Q. With your sister no longer being on the bag because she's home, how has that transition been going with the new caddie? And then week in week out, what is the conversation now since you and your sister won here? What's are the conversations leading up to tournament weeks now with Brittany at home?

BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, it's a lot different. It's really been a big adjustment all year, but I'm really grateful to have my cousin on my bag. He's caddied for both my sister and I through the years.

He's just a lot of fun and a really great guy. We just started working this year maybe two weeks ago together, but it's been a blast, and I'm really excited for what the summer will hold for the two of us working together now.

You know, I still talk to Brit all the time. Texted her this morning a bunch of times, so I still keep in touch as much as I can. I think I'm still leaning on her quite a bit. I'm asking her a lot of questions and we enjoy going through the tournament courses like before we play them.

She's had so much experience on all these courses as well so she's still extremely valuable in a caddie role even though she's not caddieing for me now.

But I'm really excited to be working with my cousin.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Brooke.

BROOKE HENDERSON: Thank you.