LYTHAM, England -- Some might argue that she played her ace too early, but Brooke Henderson won't agree. She has solid reason to believe that her hole-in-one in the second round of the Ricoh Women's British Open is a good omen twice over.
The 20-year-old Canadian had trouble tracking her 9-iron tee shot on the 141-yard ninth hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Friday had dawned cloudy and gray, a blessed relief to the gardens of England, but not much fun for the golfers and galleries on the northwest coast who were forced to huddle beneath umbrellas as drizzle smeared the inky skies.
Henderson heard something rattle the pin and turned to her sister/caddie Brittany for confirmation. "It's gone in!" she cried, and immediately the two had a sense of déjà vu.
"I made hole-in-one when I won the 2016 KPMG Championship," Henderson said after signing for a 2-under 70 for the day that left her in a tie for eighth at 5-under 139, 5 shots back of leader Pornanong Phatlum.
If that was the first harbinger of good vibes; the second required prompting. When informed that nine years ago Catriona Matthew made a Friday hole-in-one on her way to victory in this tournament, Henderson giggled and said, "I kind of hope that's more good luck."
To drain a shot from outrageous distance requires, of course, a large degree of fortune, but Henderson's strong 36-hole position owes more to an improved understanding of the requirements of links golf.
Her effort at the ninth completed the rare feat of recording a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 before the turn.
"That's a weird kind of balance," she laughed. "But it's what you get with links golf. You need to cope with every number the course throws at you."
In the past, she has struggled with that examination. She has made the cut in all three of her previous visits to the championship, yet her best finish was T49, and ahead of this week she had never broken 70 on linksland.
The turning point came not in the home of seaside golf but on the other side of the world.
"Winning the New Zealand Open really gave me confidence," she said. "There was high wind and rain all week, and I've never played well in that before.
"But in the first round, I shot 7-under-par 65 and suddenly thought, 'I've figured this out.' I was hitting knockdown shots and really just concentrating on getting up and down when I needed to.
"At the start of this week, I remembered how the short game had been key, and it is something I worked on in practice. I truly embraced it. Links golf is growing on me now. It's very challenging, and you have to think a bunch. But it's a lot of fun.
"The hole-in-one was nice, but the important thing is that I keep playing smart golf, stay calm when things go awry and be excited about my position. I'm in a good spot."