LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Brooke Henderson fired a four-under par 67 to win the LPGA Los Angeles Open on Saturday, erasing a four-stroke deficit to edge Jessica Korda by one shot.
Canada’s Henderson, 23 and ranked sixth in the world, finished with a 16-under par total of 268 to claim her 10th LPGA title and her first since the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan.
“I felt like I was playing really great golf,” Henderson said. “It just wasn’t my time. It’s nice to get the win and get some confidence back.”
Six birdies, including a chip-in at the par-three 12th propelled her past overnight leader Korda and world number one Ko Jin-young, who played alongside Henderson in the final group at Wilshire Country Club.
Two-under through the first nine holes, Henderson took the solo lead with a short birdie putt at the 11th, then pushed her advantage to two with her chip-in at 12.
“I was definitely disappointed that I missed the green there,” she said. “But fortunately I had a lot of green to work with. To catch the hole there and make birdie was a huge momentum change — that’s probably what won it for me today.”
She added another birdie at 14 and was three-up with two to play.
Former major winner Henderson bogeyed 17, and Korda kept the pressure on hitting it close on the way to a birdie at the par-three 18th — where Henderson’s tee shot rolled off the green into a swale.
Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ontario, chipped up to three feet and made the putt to seal the win.
Korda, who had led after each of the first three rounds, finished with a one-over par 72 for 269.
Ko, who started the day one stroke behind Korda, also struggled to build momentum and posted a 72 for 270.
She was joined on 14-under by Australian Hannah Green, whose five-under 66 included an eagle and three birdies.
Henderson admitted that she felt the strain coming down the stretch.
“I think as I age I’m getting more nerves,” she said. “But I’m just really happy with how I went out today. I was a lot of shots back but I just said to myself to keep the same game plan and try to make as many birdies as I could.
“I’m real happy with how everything turned out.”
Korda said the birdie at 18 was “sweet” but her overriding feeling was one of frustration.
“Really couldn’t get anything going,” she said. “I was hitting it really good and then just it wasn’t happening for me for some reason.
“The wind kept dropping and then coming back up … it just wasn’t happening.
“We just didn’t guess right, and that’s what it is,” said Korda, who said a par at the 15th was emblematic of her day.
“I had a great little eight-iron into the par-five 15 and (it) takes the biggest bounce I’ve ever seen and goes over the green,” she said.