Major winners Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Minjee Lee headline this week’s field as the women’s Australian Open returns to Adelaide for the first time since 2020.

The trio, who have five major titles between them, touched down in South Australia on Monday ahead of one of the most important weeks of their season, with each of them bidding to become the first Aussie winner of the Patricia Bridges Bowl in more than a decade.

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Not since Karrie Webb triumphed at Victoria Golf Club in 2014 has an Australian name been etched on the trophy, and they arrive at Kooyonga Golf Club in bullish form, with Green claiming her ninth LPGA Tour title just nine days ago, and both Kim and Lee winning major titles in 2025.

Lee became a three-time major winner last year, claiming the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Kim won the Amundi Evian Championship. This is the first time in history that two reigning Australian major winners are competing in their home national open.

Kim has fond memories of Kooyonga Golf Club, having won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship there in 2021, as well as competing in her first national open as an amateur in 2018.

“It’s obviously always highlighted on my calendar,” she said. “Obviously also to be back in Adelaide, I think is really exciting. And yeah, anytime I get a chance to play Aus. Open, I’m always stoked.

“I’ve got some great memories from Kooyonga. I think in 2018 I played my first Aus Open, as an amateur as well. And then in 2021, I won the Australian Amateur out here. So I’ve got some great memories here. Kooyonga is always I think at the top of the list in Australia for me. So I’m excited to be back.”

Lee took a look at the host venue earlier this year and likes what she sees.

“I actually came to see the course in end of January and I saw the course nine holes today and it’s in really great shape and just really looking forward to a nice week of good weather and good crowds and just good vibes,” she said.

“We are competitors, but we are also each other’s biggest supporters as well. And I think it’s just nice to be able to cheer on your friends as well as compete on the biggest stages together as well. So I think it’s a little bit of having a piece of home with me all the time, especially when we’re travelling internationally.”

As the most recent of the trio to hoist a trophy, Green might be most in the spotlight. Yet she says any pressure she feels is self-applied.

“I definitely put more pressure on myself than sometimes needed, but I think it’d be nice to actually play at home and back in Adelaide,” she said. “I feel like they really enjoy having sporting events here in this state and we got really good crowds when we used to come here before COVID. So I guess they’ve had LIV Golf. We’ve seen the crowds there, so hopefully we can get something similar.

“We’ve got heaps of Aussies that have come back home to play that play all around the world. So it’s a really nice way for us to start our season, get a nice result early in the year, get some confidence and hopefully build on that for the rest of the season.”