Defending champion Nelly Korda birdied the first hole of a three-way playoff yesterday to win the LPGA Swinging Skirts tournament.
Korda and Minjee Lee birdied the final hole of regulation to finish at 18-under 270 and force a playoff with Caroline Masson, who shot a 68.
Korda, who started the final round with a three-stroke lead over Lee (69), looked set to win in regulation after a birdie on the par-five No. 12, but she bogeyed three of her final five holes to fall one stroke behind Masson before a birdie on 18 gave her an even-par 72.
Photo: AP
Masson took the lead after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, but closed with par on the final two holes.
In the playoff on the par-five 18th, Korda sank her birdie putt, while Masson and Lee made par.
Brooke Henderson shot a 68 to finish regulation tied for fourth, four strokes back with South Koreans Kim Sei-young and Hur Mi-jung.
The top-placed Taiwanese was Hsu Wei-ling, who finished in a share of 19th after a fourth-round 68 left her on 280 overall.
Cheng Ssu-chia finished on 281 for the tournament, while the rest of the Taiwanese were: An Ho-yu (285), Chen Yu-ju (285), Tsai Pei-ying (287), Hou Yu-sang (289), Jessica Chieh (292), Teresa Lu (293), Babe Liu (295), Chen Hsuan (297), Hsieh Yu-ling (297), Lin Tzu-chi (298), Hsu Huai-chien (303), Kuo Ai-chen (304), Chang Ching-ling (306) and Hsin Lee (307).
Additional reporting by staff writer
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