Lake Merced play is pleasing to Lee

Lydia Ko’s affinity for Lake Merced is well-documented — Sunday’s victory was her third LPGA triumph there — but Minjee Lee also knows her way around the place.

Lee, a 21-year-old Australian with three tour wins, won the 2012 U.S. Girls Junior at Lake Merced. She posted solid finishes in previous LPGA starts there, too, tying for 18th in 2015 and 11th in 2016.

Then Lee shot 68-68 on the weekend to force Sunday’s sudden-death playoff with Ko. So why does Lee’s game mesh so well with Lake Merced’s

twisting fairways and challenging greens?

“My iron play is pretty solid, so I think that helps around here,” she said. “I just like that the course puts me under pressure.”

Lee couldn’t have done much more to win. She made some mistakes (three bogeys), but she also birdied three of the final four holes in regulation, plus the first playoff hole.

And it still wasn’t enough, thanks to Ko’s clutch eagle.

“I’ve played really well the last couple of weeks,” Lee said. “I’m not unhappy. Obviously, I would have liked to win. Maybe

next time.”

Henderson falters: Two weeks after winning the LPGA event in Hawaii, her sixth tour victory at age 20, Brooke Henderson struggled and tied for 43rd. Henderson had played well in her previous starts at Lake Merced — third place in 2015 and tied for sixth in ’16 — but the course befuddled her this time. She acknowledged getting down on herself after she missed a few putts.

“It’s such a great course, and it presents a lot of challenges,” Henderson said after her 73 on Sunday. “When you’re playing really well, it can be a lot of fun (chuckling), and when you don’t play so well, it can be kind of tough.”

Briefly: Mediheal will increase the purse from $1.5 million to $1.8 million next year, and then $2 million in 2020. … Stanford alum Mariah Stackhouse posted her best round of the week (70) and tied for 28th. … Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, after playing solidly Thursday and Friday (72-71), struggled on the weekend (77-76).