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Brooke Henderson finished one stroke back at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic on Sunday.Eric Risberg/The Associated Press

Lydia Ko twice thought someone else would leave Lake Merced with the trophy this year.

She was on the putting green listening for a cheer if Morgan Pressel were to make a 15-foot birdie putt in regulation to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

Ko heard nothing.

In a playoff, she could only watch as Pressel stood over a 10-foot birdie putt for the win.

It grazed the edge of the cup.

With the tournament finally in her capable hands, Ko rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to beat Pressel on the second playoff hole and cap off another birthday week in style. She turned 18 on Friday and is only getting better.

She played the par-5 closing hole at Lake Merced three times and made birdie twice, the first one an 8-foot putt in regulation for a 2-under 70 that set up the playoff. Pressel played it three times and made par. Knowing that Ko was in tight for a likely birdie on the second playoff hole, Pressel missed from 8 feet.

The finish was inevitable. If the South Korean-born Kiwi isn't winning, she's always around the top of the leaderboard. Given one too many chances, Ko converted.

"It's always a close one whenever I play this event," Ko said. "Last year was the first time that every little shot counts."

A year ago, Ko had to make a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to hold on for a one-shot victory. This one was even tighter, and Ko had reason to believe this wouldn't be her week when she followed a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th by making a sloppy bogey on the 16th and missing a 6-foot birdie putt on the 17th.

"I said, 'If I want to put some pressure, I need to make a birdie or better on 18,"' Ko said. "Ended up being good for that. But yeah, this tournament always makes my heart clench. I got so nervous. It's a good thing they're going in the hole."

It was a tough loss for Pressel, whose last victory was in 2008 at the Kapalua LPGA Classic. She had a two-shot lead with four holes to play until making back-to-back bogeys, and then failing to make a birdie on the 18th.

The par-5 closing hole could not be reached in two, so it effectively came down to a wedge and a putt.

"I just couldn't convert the putts," Pressel said. "It all comes down to putting. She birdied it twice and I didn't."

Canadian Brooke Henderson, the 17 year old from Smiths Falls, Ont., holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 14th to stay close to the lead and she had a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join the playoff. It missed on the low side and she had to settle for a 74.

Ko, already the No. 1 player in women's golf, moved to the top of the LPGA Tour money list with her second LPGA Tour win this year. But it was hard work. She opened with a pair of bogeys. She never had the lead until making her winning putt on the 20th hole of the day.

"At the start of the day, I didn't know how it was going to go," Ko said. "It's been a great birthday week again."

Ko, who matched Pressel at 8-under 280, earned $300,000.

She played slightly more aggressively the third time around on the 18th, going with a 3-iron hybrid on her second shot that allowed her to close the face on a 54-degree wedge and swing hard, instead of easing off a pitching wedge the previous two times. It paid off for her.

Henderson made two bogeys in three holes to fall out of the lead for the first time since Friday morning. The Canadian never caught up, though she was never out of it until missing her birdie putt on the final hole.

"It was one of the least nervous putts I had all day," Henderson said. "I could see it going in in my mind, but it didn't happen in real life."

She headed for Texas to try to Monday qualify for the next LPGA event. Finishing in the top 10 only makes a player eligible for the next tournament if she is an LPGA member. Henderson last year was denied a waiver to the LPGA's minimum age requirement of 18.

Pressel took the lead by making pars, and she started to seize control when she rolled in a 45-foot eagle putt on No. 6 for a two-shot lead. But she missed three short putts on the front nine — two for birdie, one for par — that kept her from getting a little more separation.

The final hour took shape with three big shots. Henderson holed her bunker shot for eagle on the 14th to reach 8 under and get within one shot of the lead. Moments later, Pressel got up-and-down from behind the green to get to 10 under and, in the group ahead of them, Ko made her big birdie putt to reach 8 under.

But then it got messy.

Pressel dropped shots on the next two holes. Henderson chunked a chip on the 15th and made bogey. Ko went well long on the 16th and missed a 10-foot par putt.

Ko said she was nervous. It just doesn't show.

"At her age, she plays with so much poise and calmness I don't think you see from other kids her age," Pressel said, pausing before she added with a smile, "I guess she's not a kid anymore."

JUSTIN ROSE WINS ZURICH CLASSIC

Justin Rose birdied the final two holes Sunday to win the Zurich Classic.

Rose, who entered the week ranked ninth in the world, completed a seven-under 65 in the rain-delayed third round and closed with a 66 at TPC Louisiana for his seventh PGA Tour title.

The Englishman has won at least once in six straight seasons, the second-longest streak on the tour behind Dustin Johnson's eight straight.

Playing aggressively on a soggy course, Rose made six birdies in the final round and played the last 66 holes without a bogey. He finished at 22-under 266.

Rose's final two putts from 10 and 13 1/2 feet allowed him to hold off Cameron Tringale by a stroke. Tringale birdied the 18th for a 65.

Boo Weekley, who led after the first round, finished third at 20 under, and Jim Herman and Jason Day, ranked sixth in the world, tied for fourth at 19 under.

Canadian David Hearn tied for sixth after a final-round 68-270.

When Rose sank his final putt, he punched his right hand high above his head and looked straight behind the green to fans in the suite of one of his main sponsors, Zurich, which also sponsors the tournament.

He then took off his white cap whipped it across his body and later flexed his left arm to bring attention to the sponsor's logo on his sleeve.

Rose began the final round tied with Day for the lead at 16 under. But Day soon found trouble when he hooked his drive into trees lining the left boundary of the second fairway. One next swing, his ball smacked a tree and bounced right back to him.

He wound up with a bogey on the par-five hole that he birdied in first and third rounds, which left him a couple shots off the lead after Rose, playing a couple holes ahead, birdied the par-four fourth.

Later, Rose made birdie putts beyond 10 feet on the par-five seventh and par-four eighth to improve to 19 under. That was good for the lead until Tringale, several holes behind, birdied the sixth, chipped in for eagle on the seventh and birdied the eighth to reach 20 under.

TPC Louisiana, which was carved out of cypress swamp southwest of New Orleans, was soggy from rain that had fallen for much of the past month, including heavy downpours that delayed parts of the second and third rounds.

There were standing water on the edges of some fairways and mud in well-worn spots. As players walked the course, their steps produced a sound similar to water being squeezed from a sponge.

Allowed to lift, clean and place their golf in the fairways and with no roll of any significance to be found, players swung aggressively and aimed approach shots pin-high.

With the top of the leaderboard tightly packed as Rose stepped to the par-three 17th, he showed no interest in playing it safe. With the pin placed to the left side of the green, near a bulkhead dropping down into a water hazard from which alligators looked on, Rose took out it 5-iron and belted a 210-yarder straight toward the pin, landing about 10 feet behind the hole. Setting up his clutch birdie putt.

On the par-five 18th, with water to the right, Rose unloaded a 295-yard down the middle, then smacked a 3-wood 243 yards just left of the green and chipped over a sand trap to set up what would be his winning putt.

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