Canada's Henderson ties for third as Green wins Women's World Championship

Brooke Henderson's strong start to the LPGA Tour season continued as she tied for third on Sunday at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore.

It was the Canadian's third top-10 finish in four events — and the native of Smiths Falls, Ont. tied for 16th in her other start. She is fourth in the 2024 tour standings.

Henderson finished the four-round event at nine under, four strokes behind winner Hannah Green.

"It's nice to get three (top-10 showings) pretty quickly to start the season and there's lots of golf left to be played," Henderson said. "I feel like my game is right there. Just need a couple breaks, and I'll see what happens."

Green made six birdies, three of which came in the final three holes, against one bogey in a final round 67 for a 13-under-par 275 at Sentosa Golf Club.

It was the 27-year-old Australian's fourth LPGA title, and first since the JM Eagle LA Championship last year.

"I knew on the greens I needed to be aggressive and make sure I got the putt past the hole versus leaving them short,” said Green after her dramatic finish.

Boutier (67), who had said on Saturday she was attending Taylor Swift’s Singapore concert as “a nice way to relax” for the final round, seemed destined to win on Sunday as she pulled two strokes clear in the final stages only for Green to produce some magic of her own to take the win.

The 30-year-old Frenchwoman, who won four titles last season including wins at the Women’s Scottish Open and the Evian Championship for her first major title, finished at 12 under-par-276.

“I think I played a lot better than yesterday which was really positive. I feel like I made some putts and I gave myself a lot of chances," said Boutier. "So I’m very satisfied with my round and it was great to even have a thought of making it a playoff.”

Yuna Nishimura (66) had the equal-best round of the day as her six birdies in a blemish free final round lifted her to 9-under 279 and into a four-way tie for third with Henderson (68), Mi Hyang Lee (67) and Nasa Hataoka (69).

Overnight leader Ayaka Furue of Japan had a disappointing round of 3-over Sunday as she slipped to a tie for eighth at 7-under 288 in the 66-player, no-cut tournament.

Also tied for eighth was two-time defending champion Jin Young Ko (71) and Patty Tavatanakit (67), who won last week’s LPGA event in Thailand.

Lydia Ko, who has 20 career wins, including two majors, shot 72 for a total of 1-over 289 and finished in a tie for 34th.

Two-time major winner Lilia Vu, who was tied for second after the first round, withdrew during the final round due to illness.

Henderson carded a 4-under 68 in the final round. She got within two of the lead with three consecutive birdies from Nos. 15-17 before bogeying the final hole — her lone bogey of the day.

Three others tied Henderson at nine under.

"The back nine was really fun, especially the long birdie putt on 15, followed up with a birdie on 16 and 17," she said. "So it was really fun and it was really nice to climb the leaderboard like that.

"Unfortunately, dropped a shot on 18. It was a difficult hole today. But, overall, really happy with how the week went and I feel like I'm going to take a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence moving forward."

The 26-year-old Henderson had a bit of a down year, as compared to previous campaigns, last season when she finished 15th in the tour standings.

Henderson has 13 career victories and 76 top-10 finishes.

The tournament is the second of three straight weeks in Asia for the LPGA Tour. Next week the tour moves to China and the Blue Bay event on Hainan Island before heading back across the Pacific and to Palos Verdes, California for its next tournament beginning March 21.

Henderson is not playing in next week's event in China.

-- with files from The Associated Press