LPGA commissioner Mike Whan might have faced as much heat over his denial of Brooke Henderson’s petition for a waiver of the tour’s 18-year-old age restriction last year as he did over his declaring the Evian Championship the fifth major in women’s golf.
The National Post of Canada called Henderson’s victory Sunday at the Cambia Portland Classic a “convincing indictment” of the LPGA system that initially “rebuffed” her bid for membership. Whan granted Henderson’s petition for a waiver Tuesday, allowing her to take up LPGA membership before the start of this week’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.