Mirim Lee Produces Magic to Secure Dramatic Major Victory

MIRIM LEE of South Korea won the ANA Inspiration after a three-way playoff to land her first major. The 29-year-old beat 54-hole leaders Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson with a birdie on the first extra hole before taking the traditional leap into Poppie's Pond to celebrate her triumph.

She shot a five-under-par 67 in the final round, including three chip-ins and an eagle on the 18th, to tie on 15 under during regulation play.

"I just told myself to finish this quickly," she said.

It was her fourth LPGA title and her first since 2017. Her previous best finish at a major came at the 2016 British Open when she tied for second.

Lee had been two shots off the pace at the start of the final round in California, tied for third with Lexi Thompson and Katherine Kirk behind Korda and Henderson.

Having already chipped in at the sixth, Lee repeated the feat at the 16th. She seemed to have thrown away her chance of victory with a bogey at the 17th before another moment of magic at the final hole when she produced a stunning eagle at the par five.

Korda had led from the first round and had six birdies in her final round but she missed a putt to win it on the last.

England's Mel Reid finished tied for seventh on nine under - her best finish at the event - while Georgia Hall was back on one under.

Ladies European Tour

AMY BOULDEN fired a final round of 64 to win the Swiss Ladies Open and secure her first Ladies European Tour title. Boulden, 27, from Wales, went into the final round trailing Sanna Nuutinen by a shot but her eight-under-par round saw her finish on 17 under, three shots clear of Australia's Stephanie Kyriacou.

"I am obviously thrilled to have got my first win," Boulden said.

It was a big victory for Boulden, who only regained her place on the European Tour in January with victory at qualifying school. Her first event after the coronavirus lockdown was last month's Scottish Open, when she finished 16 over.

"It's hard to get any momentum going when you are not out on a golf course," Boulden said. "My first event back, I played in the Scottish Open and just had such a terrible week there.

"I had to come away from that and reassess and think: how do I get my golf game better? I needed to build my confidence. A lot of it was in my head - the mental side of things. I really had to improve that in the last month or so. I am going to enjoy this win and try to keep getting into contention."

Nuutinen shot a final-round 70 to finish tied third with Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen and Switzerland's Kim Metraux.

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