Brooke Henderson charges up leaderboard with late birdie flurry
Canadian teen birdies final 4 holes to close within 2 shots of lead
Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson birdied each of the last four holes Thursday, and five of the final six, to close within two shots of the lead in the Olympic women's golf tournament.
- LEADERBOARD: Women's golf at Rio 2016
- VIDEO: Henderson birdies final 4 holes
- Instant Profile: Brooke Henderson
The 18-year-old's 7-under 64 in the second round in Rio was bettered only by American Stacey Lewis's 63, which included 11 birdies. Like Henderson, who fired seven birdies, Lewis birdied the final four holes.
"Six birdies on the back is always a good score and I'm really happy to be in this position going into the last two days," Henderson said.
"The leaderboard is very crowded right now so it would be nice to have another under-par day that gets me away from the field."
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., came into the day five shots off the pace set by first-round leader Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand after shooting 1-under on Thursday.
The Canadian now sits at 8-under for the tournament. She trails new leader Inbee Park (10-under) by two strokes after the South Korean shot 5-under for the second consecutive day.
Lewis (9-under) is in second place. Great Britain's Charley Hull is tied for third with Henderson at 8-under.
Jutanugarn (6-under) fell into a tie for eight after shooting an even-par 71.
Canada's Alena Sharp is tied for 32nd place at 1-under.
Henderson will tee off Friday around 10 a.m. ET (watch live on cbc.ca/olympics and the CBC Rio 2016 app).
Women's golf is back in the Olympics for the first time since 1900. Great Britain's Justin Rose won the sport's first Olympic gold since 1904 with a birdie on the final hole last Sunday to defeat British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden in the men's tournament.