Kylie Henry back on tour and eyeing top-five encore at Aramco Team Series – Florida
Scottish golfer Kylie Henry on being a tourist, feeling “unemployed” and this week’s Aramco Team Series event in Florida.
Watching the Lion King musical on Broadway inspired Kylie Henry to one of her best results of the season the last time the Scottish golfer teed it up in the US.
The Ladies European Tour stalwart conjured a final round of 67 to claim a share of fifth place in the individual element of the Aramco Team Series event in New York in October last year.
Henry credits the performance to the array of tourist attractions she was able to enjoy in the Big Apple, which also included watching live NBA basketball.
“It was a really good week – a great course in Brooklyn and I just thoroughly enjoyed being in New York,” she says.
“I’d never played a tournament and stayed in New York City before so that was really good fun. I managed to play well and had a really good final round which put me up to fifth so it was it was just a really good enjoyable week.
“It’s always nice when you’re playing a tournament somewhere that there’s fun things to do off the course as well. So that particular week, I went to a Knicks game. I went and saw the Lion King on Broadway as well.”
Henry is back in the US this week as the Aramco Team Series calls at Trump West Palm Beach in Florida for the first time.
Her practice schedule has not allowed for a visit to nearby Walt Disney World, but the Glaswegian has already ticked off a shopping expedition.
“I do enjoy coming to the States and I really enjoy Florida. I got here a couple of days early so it’s going to be nice to get a decent amount of time in this particular place,” she says.
“I don’t quite have time for Disney parks but I managed to squeeze in a trip to the shopping outlet. That was my highlight.”
Henry, who is married to men’s Challenge Tour pro Scott Henry, is especially relishing life on tour having recently endured a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an injury.
The 36-year-old broke and dislocated her elbow when she slipped in the bath in late 2021, keeping her out of competition for several months.
“When it gets taken away from you it gives you a whole new perspective of, actually, you’re doing it because you love it,” she says.
“And when you’re not physically able to play and be out here on tour, it hurts. I’m definitely very grateful to be doing what I’m doing.”
Kylie Henry on the growth of the Ladies European Tour
Henry is also grateful that the Ladies European Tour has emerged from a difficult period with a fuller and more lucrative calendar than ever.
“The tour went through some hard years and in those seasons we only had 11 or 12 events,” says the two-time LET winner.
“You had huge gaps in between tournaments and there were times you felt that you were almost unemployed. So to now be experiencing 30-odd events on the schedule is phenomenal.
“Your costs are higher but you’ve got a much greater chance of making a good living, which is all anybody wants.”
The only event in which Henry bettered her New York result last year was at another Aramco Team Series tournament, the first of the five-leg mini-circuit, in Bangkok.
A share of third place in Thailand was further evidence that the unique format, which involves amateurs playing alongside pros and parallel team and solo scoring, suits her.
“It’s always a really fun event and it’s nice to have that team vibe,” she says.
“Ultimately, it is still normal stroke play, but because you’re a team and you’ve got an amateur playing with you, you make more of an effort to chat to them and the feeling’s mutual in the full group – everybody’s wanting to have a chat and a bit of a laugh. It makes for a relaxing atmosphere.
“It’s a tough one to set a target on weeks like this where there’s the team event so, to be honest, I don’t have a set target in mind.
“In Bangkok last year I was third so obviously I would love to improve on that – you’re always trying to better yourself.
“But my actual main goals are just to get out and really enjoy the week and play as good as I can.”