Brooke Henderson survived a rollercoaster final round and birdied the last hole to win the Amundi Evian Championship by one shot at 17-under-par at Evian Resort Golf Club in France.
The 24-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ontario, entered the final round with a two-shot lead but struggled out of the gates, dropping a shot at her first hole and then making a four-putt double bogey on the sixth, to lose her outright lead.
Related: Brooke Henderson in control despite whittled down lead
However, after sinking a birdie putt on the seventh hole and then making the turn in two-over-par, Henderson fought hard on the back nine to grind out the win and earn the first prize cheque, worth $1 million.
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She bogeyed 11 but made back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to join the leaders on 16-under-par and then made a clutch putt from 12 feet below the hole on the par-5 18th to close it out, coming home in 34 for a level par round of 71.
“After I sunk that putt, I looked at my sister, Brittany, and said: did we really do this?,” commented Henderson, who won her first Major at the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and is now in her eighth season on the LPGA Tour.
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“It was definitely an interesting day and not the start I wanted, but I stayed patient. I knew going into the back nine, the saying is that Majors are won on the back nine on Sunday, so I tried to stay in it and make a few birdies. The birdie on 18 was really nice.
“I didn’t play my best today but I kept trying to remind myself that I was still in it. I hit some good shots down the stretch. I’m super excited to have my second Major championship and my 12th win on Tour. We’ll wait and see what the rest of the season holds.
“I’ve worked a lot with my coach and just spending time with my mum back home got me into the right headspace and gave me some perspective. To have two victories this year is exciting. It’s just having the right mindset and I’ll try to keep that moving forward.”
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Sophie Schubert finished in solo second on 16-under after a 68 which included a spectacular back nine, featuring birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th holes.
“I had a great caddie who really helped me to stay calm today,” said the 26-year-old LPGA Rookie from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “I had a game plan and stuck to it today and was able to just go out and play. I looked at the leader board and saw that I was two behind and after that I made an effort not to look, because I just wanted to focus on my game.”
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England’s Charley Hull, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Japan’s Mao Saigo, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and the 2014 champion Hyo-Joo Kim of Korea tied for third place on 15-under-par.
