Brooke Henderson Win In Another Rout And Nelly Korda Hangs On In Lpga Match Play

Brooke Henderson needed only 27 holes to win two matches. The Canadian needs to win one more to be assured of reaching the weekend at the T-Mobile Match Play.

One day after a 6-and-5 win in the opening round, Henderson pulled away late by winning five of the last seven holes Thursday in a 5-and-4 win over Peiyun Chien of Taiwan.

One more day of round-robins matches remain at Shadow Creek before the winner of each of the 16 groups advance to the knockout stage on the weekend. While no one clinched her group, at least 18 players were eliminated on another day of this fickle format.

Nelly Korda, the defending champion and No. 1 player, will have to beat Ariya Jutanugarn to win her group. Korda halved her opening match and she had a few shaky moments in a 1-up win over Jennifer Kupcho.

Korda had a 4-foot putt to go 3 up with three holes to play, missed the putt, and then gave away the the par-5 16th with a bogey. It came down to the 18th, and Kupcho pulled her drive to the left side of the hazard. Her next shot clipped a tree and she stopped watching, only to discover the ball was on the green.