Aussie of the month: Hannah Green

West Australian Hannah Green claimed an emotion-charged victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, firing a brilliant three-under 69 to secure a one-stroke triumph with husband Jarryd Felton on the bag.

It was Green’s seventh LPGA Tour title and took her career earnings past $US8 million. A second HSBC Women’s World Championship in three years puts her in the illustrious company of major champions Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko, who are the only other multiple winners of the Singapore tournament.

Green won the 2024 Singapore title just weeks after she married Felton, a four-time winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. On that occasion the couple delayed their honeymoon to pursue their individual playing careers. This victory was extra special given Felton had never previously caddied for Green on the LPGA Tour until the previous week’s Honda LPGA Thailand where she finished seventh.

At the presentation ceremony Green admitted that having Felton on the bag was a big help around a tricky Sentosa layout compounded by extreme humidity.

“Today was probably the most nervous I’ve been on a golf course. So he was really helpful being by my side. But it was also nice playing with Minjee [Lee], obviously a friend of mine. Yeah, he did really well.”

Felton gave an emotional greenside interview where he conceded how proud he was of his wife: “Unbelievable. She obviously dug deep there towards the end… She’s so good under pressure. It’s everything that I wish I could be as a player.

“It’s been a great couple of weeks. I’ve never had the chance to caddie for her on the LPGA. Just to watch her go about her craft, and do what she does, it’s just great.” – Rohan Clarke

Birdie of the month: Rip-roaring start

Three more LIV Golf events have come and gone since, but it’s easy to forget that Ripper GC went two-from-two to begin the 2026 season. After parlaying Elvis Smylie’s epic season-opening individual title into a team victory at LIV Golf Riyadh, the all-Aussie quartet backed it up at LIV Golf Adelaide. Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Smylie couldn’t fend off Anthony Kim for the individual prize, but on home soil they did repel Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII outfit to take the team trophy at LIV’s final appearance at the Grange Golf Club.

Bogey of the month: Less should not be Moore

Chris Minns’ New South Wales Government appears to have condemned Sydney’s Moore Park Golf Course to its long-touted reduction to nine holes, effective from mid-year. Multiple sources familiar with the process told Australian Golf Digest that fencing is expected to go up around sections of the course on June 30, effectively splitting the layout in half and beginning the transition to a nine-hole configuration. The move stems from the Minns Government’s plan to convert about 20 hectares of the existing golf course into a new public park designed to serve rapidly growing inner-city suburbs including Green Square, Zetland and Waterloo. The government has allocated $50 million for the project, arguing that additional green space is needed in one of Sydney’s fastest-densifying urban corridors. Why can’t they just leave Moore Park alone?

Golfers in the news

Marathon MAN: New South Welshman Travis Smyth[above] put in plenty of overtime in becoming the first winner of the new ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship in Auckland. The 31-year-old needed six playoff holes to see off South Australian Jack Thompson in fading daylight at Royal Auckland & Grange Golf Club. The see-sawing, sudden-death playoff was a fitting crescendo for the co-sanctioned tournament’s first staging.

Bennett’s stepping stone: Kelsey Bennett [above] created a tremendous opportunity for career advancement when she claimed the Australian Women’s Classic at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club, north of Sydney. With a four-shot victory in the tournament co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, 26-year-old Bennett earned exempt status on the European circuit until the end of 2028, plus a guaranteed start in this year’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Open start booked: Self-confessed Queenstown fan Lucas Herbert converted a runner-up finish at the New Zealand Open held in the adventure town into a sixth career start at the Open Championship. Herbert couldn’t catch Kiwi winner Daniel Hillier at Millbrook Resort but did snare the lone available spot in golf’s oldest championship on offer via the Open Qualifying Series, as Hillier had already qualified for this year’s event at Royal Birkdale.

The ultimate chip-in: While on the New Zealand Open, the pro-am format of our neighbour’s national championship yielded a novel story about simply getting into the amateur portion of the field. According to the Otago Daily Times, about 25 friends from Queenstown collectively put up $NZ25,000 for a single place in the field then used a game of golf to determine which one of them would play. The lucky winner was Steve Brownlie, who advanced via a matchplay competition featuring the top eight players. “It’s definitely got Happy Gilmore vibes to it,” the 10-handicapper said.

Jazy tones: Victorian Jazy Roberts finished as the leading Australian for the second straight year at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific at Royal Welington Golf Club in New Zealand. Roberts, who won the Australian Amateur in early February, shapes as one of our best hopes from within the unpaid ranks.

They did what?

Hats off to Ash Humphreys, Jack Downard and Brandon Wright – three mates from Rockingham, south of Perth, who decided that if you’re going to do LIV Golf Adelaide, you may as well really do it. Undaunted by the prospect of a 27-hour drive each way across the Nullarbor, the intrepid travellers set about being part of LIV’s most popular stop in unique fashion.

“We took a goat track on the way and a bit of a two-hour detour,” Downard said. “But we got there eventually.”

Indeed they did. And upon hearing about their chosen travel methods and route, the powers-that-be at LIV Golf gifted the trio passes into the raucous Watering Hole for the second day’s action. 

Photographs by getty images/George Chan, Mark Brake, Ross Kinnaird