Daily Times

LOS ANGELES: Brooke Henderson rallied to win the HUGEL Air Premia LA Open on Saturday for her 10th LPGA Tour title, chipping in for birdie on the par-3 12th in an early back-nine burst and getting up-and-down for par on the last.

Four strokes behind leader Jessica Korda and three back of top-ranked Jin Young Ko entering the sunny, breezy day at Wilshire Country Club, Henderson closed with her second straight 4-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Korda.

“I definitely am a firm believer when you´re in the winner´s circle you´re getting a lot of breaks and it´s sort of meant to be,” Henderson said. “I was making a lot of birdies, and I think probably the biggest break was 12, that chip-in. You know, those breaks can be really small or they can be really big.” The 23-year-old Canadian birdied the par-4 11th to take the lead at 15 under, hitting a 144-yard shot to 3 feet of the back, right pin. She holed out from 70 feet from right and below the green on 12, and made a 6-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 14th.

“Just tried to make solid contact and landed on my spot, and to have it go in was definitely a big bonus,” Henderson said about the 12th. “It was going pretty hard. So it was a huge momentum change and a huge point in my round today.”

She bogeyed the par-4 17th to cut her lead to two. On the par-3 18th with Korda in position for a short birdie putt, Henderson chipped inside 2 feet for par after her 8-iron shot rolled off the edge of the green and into a low collection area.

“Definitely very clutch,” Henderson said. “That is not where I wanted that tee shot to be, so to be able to get up-and-down there for the win was really cool, especially just after Jessica made such a great shot and put a lot of pressure on me to make par.”

The sixth-ranked Henderson won for the first time since the Meijer LPGA Classic in June 2019. She finished at 16-under 268 to break the event record of 14 under set by Minjee Lee in 2019.

Korda birdied the last for a 72, missing a chance for her second victory of the year after leading after each of the first three rounds. She won the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in January for her sixth LPGA Tour title.

“Really frustrating, really couldn´t get anything going,” Korda said. “I was hitting it really good and then just it wasn´t happening for me for some reason. Just kept getting screwed and the wind kept dropping and then coming back up. .. it just wasn´t happening. I don´t know.”

She parred the first six and bogeyed Nos. 7 and 9, made her first birdie of the day on the par-5 13th, then gave the stroke back on 14.

“I tried. I tried to force a couple birdies,” Korda said. “I had a great little 8-iron into the par-5 15th and takes the biggest bounce I´ve ever seen and goes over the green.”

While Henderson made her move early on the back nine, Ko bogeyed the 11th and 12th in a 72 that left her tied with Australia’s Hannah Green at 14 under. The South Korean star was coming off a two-week break after finishing seventh in the ANA Inspiration.

“Was tough,” Ko said. “Wind was difficult out there. … I couldn´t focus on my game.” Green eagled the 14th and birdied the par-5 15th in a 66. Major champions So Yeon Ryu (68) and Angela Stanford (70) tied for fifth at 12 under.