Sahalee Stunner: Brooke Henderson Shocks Ko In Playoff

A new young star was born Sunday on the back nine at Sahalee Country Club.

A new young star emerged and upset another young star in a two-hour drama that crowned the youngest winner ever at the Women’s PGA Championship.

Canadian Brooke Henderson, a spunky 18-year-old, made two long bombs then hit a sensational playoff seven-iron shot that upset the world’s No. 1 player — Lydia Ko.

Henderson set the stage for her stretch run at the par five 11th when she holed a 90-foot putt from off the front fringe for eagle. “That changed my round,” she would say afterward. It wasn’t the only long one she bagged. At the par three 17th, she pulled her tee shot but made up for it by holing a 45-foot sidehill putt for the birdie that got her to six-under par for the tournament, tying her with Ko.

If that wasn’t enough drama, Henderson survived a poor tee shot at the final hole. She ended up short of the green in two then left herself a 12-foot pressure-packed putt for par. She made it then waited.

It looked like Ko would have a great chance to win it in regulation. At the 17th, she parked her tee shot a mere five-feet from the hole. Then for the first time all day, she missed from inside 10 feet, a stunning turn of events. A par at 18 sent it to a playoff.

Both Ko and Henderson had done the unthinkable. They negotiated the difficult track with bogey-free rounds. Henderson’s 65 was the day’s best round and Ko’s 67 was nearly as solid.

On the first playoff hole, Ko hit her approach to 18 feet to put the pressure squarely on Henderson. It was then that she produced the sparkling seven-iron from 155 yards. “I needed to do something right there, I didn’t want it to go to another hole. I hit a really solid seven-iron and it rolled out nicely,” Henderson said, recounting the moment. It stopped just inside three feet and when Ko missed her birdie effort, Henderson rolled the winning putt into the cup.

“It was a pretty good day for me,” she said in a major understatement. “I didn’t feel a ton of pressure or nerves out there today and that’s how it has to be to shoot 65 in the final round.”

Lost in the Henderson-Ko duel was a super performance by Ariya Jutanugarn. She birdied two of her final three holes to shoot a bogey-free 66 and finished solo third at five-under par. She had won her last three events and came close in this one.

Ko, who held the overnight lead in a major for the first time, was bidding to make it three straight major wins but it didn’t happen. She will look back at the missed five-footer at the 71st hole as the culprit.

Final Results: