Henderson tops LPGA’s TOC event
Brooke Henderson delivered a 2-under-par 70 on Sunday in Orlando, Fla., to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the LPGA Tour's season-opening Tournament of Champions.
The event included LPGA Tour winners from the previous two seasons.
Henderson, a Canadian who began her day leading by three, won by four. She finished at 16under 272 to claim her 13th LPGA victory.
Sweden's Maja Stark and England's Charlie Hull both shot 69 to tie for second.
“It is so exciting,” Henderson, 25, said. “I always try to win a couple times each year, so to get one right way out of the gate takes a little bit of pressure off . ... It's exciting to be in contention, and even more exciting to hoist trophies.”
Henderson entered the week at No. 7 in the world ranking. PGA Tour: Jon Rahm took advantage of mistakes by rookie Davis Thompson over the final three holes and closed with a 4under 68 to win the American Express by one stroke in La Quinta (Riverside County), his second PGA Tour win in as many starts this year.
Rahm and Thompson were tied with three holes to play when Thompson pulled his drive into a deep fairway bunker on the par-5 16th and wound up with par. Rahm made birdie to take the lead.
On the par-3 17th, Thompson chose to leave the pin in for his 50-foot birdie putt on the island green, and the ball squarely hit the pin and rolled away. The 23year-old from Georgia dropped his putter and put his hands to his face. As he walked to the 18th tee after tapping in for par, he pulled his shirt up over his mouth in frustration.
Rahm hit his tee shot into the bunker on 18 but recovered nicely with a shot to 15 feet and pumped his fist. Thompson's drive found the fairway but his approach bounced on the green and ran down the slope behind it. The rookie hit a bold flop shop that settled a foot to the right of the hole. He shot 69.
Rahm had two putts to finish at 17-under 261.
Europe: France's Victor Perez won the Abu Dhabi Championship by one stroke, closing with a 6-under 66. Perez finished at 18-under, with Sebastian Soderberg (67) and Min Woo Lee (68) tying for second.