West Australian Hannah Green has set her sights on doubling her career win tally after joining an exclusive list of Aussie greats with a fifth LPGA Tour win in Los Angeles.
Playing in the final group with fellow Aussie Grace Kim in defence of her JM Eagle LA Championship crown, Green produced a superb back nine to sign for a Sunday round of 5-under 66 and 12-under total, three clear of Sweden’s Maja Stark (68) with a further three shots to Korea’s Haeran Ryu (69).
It was her third LPGA win inside 12 months and fifth of her career, dating back to her breakthrough KPMG Women’s PGA Championship victory in June of 2019.
The 27-year-old now joins Karrie Webb (41), Jan Stephenson (16), Minjee Lee (10) and Rachel Hetherington (8) as the only Australians with at least five LPGA Tour titles but has no intention of slowing down.
“That’s really cool. Didn’t know that stat,” said Green in her winner’s press conference.
“It’s a great honour to have my name up there along with them.
“Hopefully I keep pushing and try and get into double digits.”
Starting the final round at 7-under, Green was even par through 11 holes before a chip-in for birdie at the par-3 12th impelled her drive to the finish line.
A chip in to extend her lead 🤯@hannahgreengolf is in her element right now 🫣 pic.twitter.com/hnz83ISOgx
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 28, 2024
She backed that up with a birdie at the par-5 13th and then all but wrapped up her second straight victory at Wilshire Country Club with an eagle at the par-5 15th.
A birdie at 16 provided an extra cushion that she savoured on the 72nd hole, in particular.
“I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to step up and win by a few,” said Green, who passed $US5 million in career earnings with the winner’s cheque of $US562,500
“When I chipped in on 12, I felt like I really snagged one there.
“When I made eagle on 15 that kind of sealed the deal.
“I did see that Maja got it to 9-under so I knew what I needed to do but usually I make it really tricky on myself and only win by a shot.”
Victorious at the HSBC Women’s World Championship earlier in the season, it marks just the second multiple-win season of Green’s career. Ranked No.18 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking at the start of the week, the win also puts Green within reach of locking up a spot at the Paris Olympics in August.
“It’s definitely been on my mind,” said Green, who finished just three shots out of the medals at Tokyo 2020.
“Obviously still have six or seven weeks until the team is announced, so still a lot that can happen between now and then.
“Now that I’ve had two wins in the season, obviously this jumps me close to the top 10 in the world and solidifies my spot, but I don’t want to assume I’m on the team.
“Whatever I do between now and then, I’m just going to try and play my best golf and hope to make that team.”
Good night from Adelaide 🏆#RipperGC #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/glkdSeSXcG
— Ripper GC (@rippergc_) April 28, 2024
There was an Aussie celebration closer to home, too, with Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman securing victory for Ripper GC in the first ever playoff in the teams event at LIV Adelaide.
After American Brendan Steele claimed individual honours at The Grange Golf Club, Smith and Leishman went out against Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester of Stinger GC in the two-man aggregate format.
Two pars on the second playoff hole would be enough to claim the win, Smith and Leishman joined in wild celebrations by teammates Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones.
Results
LPGA Tour
JM Eagle LA Championship
Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, California
1 Hannah Green 67-69-70-66—272 $US562,500
T25 Grace Kim 64-66-76-77—283 $31,864
T39 Sarah Kemp 71-69-71-74—285 $17,644
T57 Karis Davidson 69-71-70-77—287 $9,909
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 75-71—146
MC Minjee Lee 74-72—146
MC Robyn Choi 71-75—146
MC Gabriela Ruffels 76-71—147
MC Hira Naveed 74-78—152
PGA TOUR
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
1 Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry 61-70-64-68—263 $US1,286,050 each
T4 Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox (NZ) 63-72-65-65—265 $234,181
MC Erik Barnes/Harrison Endycott 67-73—140
DP World Tour
ISPS HANDA Championship
Taiheiyo Club (Gotemba Cse), Gotemba, Japan
1 Yuto Katsuragawa 70-65-65-63—263 €356,625.02
T11 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 68-67-67-68—270 €32,755.56
MC Haydn Barron 70-68—138
MC Kazuma Kobori 69-70—139
MC Anthony Quayle 69-72—141
MC Brad Kennedy 70-72—142
MC Jason Scrivener 72-71—143
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Adelaide
The Grange Golf Club, Adelaide, South Australia
1 Brendan Steele 66-64-68—198 $US4m
T9 Matt Jones 66-68-68—202 $385,500
T9 Danny Lee (NZ) 64-67-71—202 $385,500
T14 Lucas Herbert 73-65-65—203 $275,000
T14 Marc Leishman 67-71-65—203 $275,000
T14 Cameron Smith 68-65-70—203 $275,000
Korn Ferry Tour
Veritex Bank Championship
Texas Rangers Golf Club, Arlington, Texas
1 Tim Widing 62-63-65-63—253 $US180,000
MC Brett Drewitt 67-69—136
MC Rhein Gibson 66-70—136
MC Steven Bowditch 76-68—144
WD Dimi Papadatos 71
Ladies European Tour
Investec South African Women’s Open
Erinvale Country and Golf Estate, Cape Town, South Africa
1 Manon De Roey 69-67-66-72—274 €48,000
T2 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 69-70-68-71—278 €24,000
PGA TOUR Champions
Mitsubishi Electric Classic
TPC Sugarloaf, Duluth, Georgia
1 Stephen Ames 71-64-67—202 $US300,000
T4 Steven Alker (NZ) 65-71-71—207 $108,000
T6 John Senden 67-70-71—208 $76,000
T17 Mark Hensby 72-71-69—212 $28,280
T17 Richard Green 67-72-73—212 $28,280
T26 Michael Wright 74-66-74—214 $17,000
T35 Stuart Appleby 74-72-70—216 $10,460
T35 Steve Allan 69-69-78—216 $10,460
T46 David McKenzie 73-73-72—218 $6,800
66 David Bransdon 73-77-74—224 $2,400
Challenge Tour
UAE Challenge
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, UAE
1 Rasmus Neergard-Petersen 65-72-70-67—274 €44,752.94
T25 Connor McKinney 69-69-69-75—282 €2,293.59
MC Hayden Hopewell 77-75—152
MC Tom Power Horan 77-76—153
Korean PGA
2024 Woori Finance Championship
Ferrum Club (East-West Cse)
1 Seongjae Lim 70-67-71-69—277 KRW300m
T23 Wonjoon Lee 73-69-73-70—285 KRW13.8m
T44 Kevin Chun (NZ) 69-74-77-70—290 KRW7.26m
T49 Junseok Lee 68-73-74-76—291 KRW6.78m
Epson Tour
IOA Championship
Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon, Beaumont, California
1 Juliana Hung 64-64-67—195 $US30,000
2 Fiona Xu (NZ) 68-69-67—204 $19,053
T54 Su Oh 71-71-75—217 $797
MC Cassie Porter 74-74—148
MC Amelia Garvey (NZ) 81-74—155
PGA TOUR Americas
Diners Club Peru Open
Los Inkas Golf Club, Lima, Peru
1 Stuart Macdonald 69-66-65-71—271
T18 Harry Hillier (NZ) 68-70-71-71—280
T62 Jason Hong 69-73-77-74—293
MC Charlie Hillier 73-73—146
