North Las Vegas, Nevada – Brooke Henderson only needs 27 holes to win two games. Canadians need to win another one to ensure they arrive at the weekend in the T-Mobile game.
On a day of 6 points and 5 in the first round, Henderson won five of five holes on Thursday, beating Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien 5 and 4.
Round trip round-trip round-trip round-robin games were also retained before the winner of each of the 16 groups advanced to the weekend’s knockout round. While no one caught her group, on another day of this fickle format, at least 18 players were eliminated.
Defending champion and first place Nelly Korda will have to beat Ariya Jutanugarn to win his own group. Korda halved in the opening game, and she had some shaky moments in the win over Jennifer Kupcho.
Corda had a 4-foot putt that could hit three holes, three holes, missed the putt, and then shot 5 16 16 with a gambler. It landed on the 18th, and Kupjo pulled her drive to the dangerous left. Her next shot cut a tree and she stopped watching and only found the ball on the green.
Korda’s method is 40 feet long, and she does a great job of lagging it behind one foot. Kupcho missed her 30-foot birdie attempt, and Korda played a decisive game against Jutanugarn, who was 2-0, only halfway against Korda.
“I’m very suspicious,” Korda said of her play. “Absolutely no one I have the best… It’s the greatest thing in the game, and even if you don’t have the best, you have to grind it.”
Lydia Ko joins Henderson as the only player to have not played the 15th hole in two rounds. The difference is that KO lost her first game (6 and 4) in a 6 and 5 win over Gabriela Ruffels on Thursday. Everyone in the KO group is 1-1.
If any group ends in a draw, the winner will be determined by the playoffs that suddenly die.
Hyo Joo Kim won the playoff victory at Arizona last week, winning the final four holes against Nanna Koertz Madsen in his second win of the week. Kim and Maja Stark are 2-0 and will compete on Friday to see who’s progress.
Rose Zhang admitted his game against Albane Valenzuela after three holes. Zhang complained about a neck injury in the first round. This sets up a strange scene.
If Zhang can’t fight against Meghan Khang, Valenzuela will be eliminated. If Zhang can play and beat Kong, Valenzuela can win the band by defeating Nataliya Guseva.
In another strange situation, the ones who were eliminated were Jin Young Ko and Leona Maguire.
KOs need to win the game to shoot on the weekend. This game is Dormie after the age of 16, which means KO has been eliminated. But the Korean won the next two holes to halve the game, which eliminated Maguire.
