Hannah Green has etched her name into Australian golf history as she capped off a stunning four days to claim the Karrie Webb Cup at the Australian WPGA Championship on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
The Australian began the day at 14-under and battled through testing winds to hold on for a four-shot win at 16-under, sealing a historic WPGA-Australian Open double and a third-straight win across all tournaments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so amazing, I think it\u2019s still sinking in last week what I achieved because I moved on to focus on this week but this is also an important trophy that I wanted to win,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that I have a week off I can embrace more what I\u2019ve achieved over these last four weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been different to come back home and be the poster girl again after a rollercoaster last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I have to get used to being more in the limelight when I get back to the States, I\u2019m sure it will be more of a talking headline over there but I\u2019m ready to embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s Casandra Alexander and German Alexandra Forsterling rounded out the top three tied on 12-under par.<\/p>\n
Green was over the moon to have her name carved into the trophy of her idol who has paved the way for several current Australian women\u2019s golfing stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, my best friend (Su Oh) she\u2019s also won this tournament, Webb is one of the greatest golfers that Australia\u2019s ever produced,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think any of us will ever catch her with the amount of wins she\u2019s had in her career but she\u2019s a true inspiration to all of us and it\u2019s amazing to see what\u2019s she done having her scholarship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not really sure I\u2019ll be able to give back in the same way but I\u2019m hoping these two wins helps elevate women\u2019s golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
The World No.7 has quickly asserted herself as a genuine threat ahead of this year\u2019s five major championships and said she is currently \u201cin a flow state\u201d with her golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played well on some tough courses and I\u2019ve been able to play well on courses where you have to make a birdies so that\u2019s nice to have the variety of both of those,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe major championships are definitely the events that I\u2019m going to be trying to peak for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo hopefully with how I\u2019ve laid out my schedule I haven\u2019t given myself too many tournaments before that to hopefully not tire myself out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green\u2019s unprecedented run has thrown new levels of expectations on her and she was eager to continue to ride the wave of form while her clubs stay scorching-hot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually said to Jarryd (Felton – Green\u2019s husband and stand-in caddie) before Singapore that I hope I have a win this year and now I\u2019ve won three times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on such a high right now and I know golf can go the other way so it\u2019s going to be really hard for when I don\u2019t have a winning tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I just got to stay patient, I\u2019m glad that I have a week-off to kind of recoup and get ready for when I go back to the States and get myself back down to level.\u201d<\/p>\n
DESTINY IN GREEN\u2019S HANDS<\/p>\n
Destiny remains in Hannah Green\u2019s hands as she eyes off a stunning third straight victory ahead of the final round of the Australian WPGA Championship at Sanctuary Cove on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Green entered moving day with a two-shot lead at 10-under and looked set to tear away early with six birdies on the opening 12 holes before bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes stymied her run.<\/p>\n
The world No.7 shot a four-under 67 to move to 14-under overall with a two-shot lead over the rampaging Vanessa Knecht and Casandra Alexander at 12-under.<\/p>\n
Green said the experience from her narrow wins in the HSBC Women\u2019s World Championship in Singapore and Australian Open in Adelaide last week will be crucial in the final round.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tournament in Singapore definitely helped with my nerves, especially in Adelaide,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though people thought I looked calm on the inside I still had nerves but in a different way, I didn\u2019t really feel like they were going to distract me from what I was doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just more I knew how important that trophy was to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall my nerves have been pretty good over the last three days, I am obviously one of the poster girls so I feel like there\u2019s some more pressure on my self but I will use that to my advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green took a new approach to her fitness program this off-season to help her quest for a second major title with sparring sessions inside the boxing ring the key catalyst to her lightning start to 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun, I don\u2019t enjoy doing cardio, if I play a sport I\u2019m happy to run around but if I want to go for a run I absolutely won\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo just getting some extra cardio on top of the gym work that I do throughout the week has been a lot of fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust something different mentally as well, good for my co-ordination which sometimes isn\u2019t really that good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something I can do throughout the season because I will get a little bit sore and tired but I\u2019ve probably got eight to 10 sessions in this-off season. It\u2019s really helped with my stamina.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said the front nine on Sunday will be crucial in her quest for the WPGA-Australian Open double with the back nine proving to be a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last three days I\u2019ve done a lot of good scoring on the front nine and I\u2019ve had a lot of birdies so getting off to that hot start will be important as I haven\u2019t played the back nine as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a hard one to not worry about what (Knecht and Alexander) are doing because there are a lot of birdie opportunities on this golf course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think making sure I\u2019m fully committed over shots will be important for me to get that trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n
GREEN HOPES TO BE \u2018BORING\u2019 TO SECURE ANOTHER MAJOR TITLE<\/p>\n
Hannah Green is running red-hot but aiming for \u201cboring\u201d as she moved to the lead of the Australian WPGA Championship after the second round at Sanctuary Cove on Friday.<\/p>\n
Green, who is aiming for an Aussie women\u2019s major double after last week\u2019s victory in the Australian Open, started the day at six-under and quickly moved to 10-under where she holds a two-shot lead over the rest of the field.<\/p>\n
After a rollercoaster front nine of four-under where she shot four birdies, an eagle and a double bogey, Green said playing \u201cboring golf\u201d was the focus for the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I had many pars on the front nine, it was nice to get an eagle on the par 5 after making a double on the par-three,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully I can go back to playing a bit more boring golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cBogey-free was nice yesterday so that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to try and do this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meghan MacLaren\u2019s love affair with Australia continued as she sits in outright second after she shot a three-under 68 to move to eight under par overall and will be firmly in the mix on the weekend just two shots back from Green.<\/p>\n
MacLaren, 31, has won three events on the Ladies\u2019 European Tour with all of them in Australia.<\/p>\n
The Englishwoman won the New South Wales Open in 2018 and 2019 then sealed her third victory Down Under in 2022 at the Australian Ladies Classic.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery first time I came out here, I felt like I knew I was going to like it,\u201d MacLaren said of her love for Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just suits my personality, the culture, coffee\u2019s unbelievable and then when I got my first win out here that\u2019s just solidified the whole thing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the people have got behind me so it\u2019s just somewhere I feel good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve played pretty different golf courses, obviously we came from Kooyonga last week which was an amazing golf course but very, very different to this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe New South Wales opens in the past have been quite tight which I think has suited but this asks a few different questions as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice for me to actually see that I can play well on different golf courses and the one thing I would say is this year in particular, the condition of them has been immaculate. <\/p>\n
\u201cFour weeks in a row we\u2019ve been really, really spoiled.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may be her first professional event in her home country but Momo Sugiyama was unfazed by the challenge ahead of her as the Gold Coast local showed her class on the opening two days of competition to make the cut.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old shot rounds of 68 and 70 to sit at four-under ahead of the weekend and was confident she can make another push against her highly-touted opponents.<\/p>\n
Coached by Nancy Harvey at Royal Pines, Sugiyama was delighted to compete in front of a home crowd just up the road from her local course.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot, I used to watch Nancy play at the Ladies Masters a while ago and I was always like, \u2018It\u2019d be great if I could play there\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now it\u2019s full circle, she\u2019s watching me play on the Gold Coast. It\u2019s such a cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
IN-FORM GREEN SETS THE PACE WITH BLISTERING START TO AUS WPGA CHAMPIONSHIP <\/p>\n
Hannah Green has continued her electric run of form with a stellar six-under par on the opening day of the Australian WPGA Championship on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
Fresh off the back of wins at the Australian Open and the HSBC Women\u2019s World Championship in Singapore, Green\u2019s clubs continued to heat up at Sanctuary Cove as she led the Aussie charge and topped the leaderboard after the morning session.<\/p>\n
Scotland\u2019s Kelsey MacDonald was firing on all cylinders and claimed a one-shot lead after a birdie-eagle finish to end the day on seven-under.<\/p>\n
Green rarely put a foot wrong in her bogey-free round as she nailed 17 greens in regulation in challenging conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I only missed one green and even then I was still able to putt from that so I think if I can continue to do that through the rest of the week, I should be in good form,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am really pleased with six under par.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have had some wins in Florida which is very similar to Queensland so I think that is helpful but if I hit 17 greens like I did for the rest of the week I\u2019ll be pretty pleased that I won\u2019t have to chip and putt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green highlighted her heightened focus on ball striking as a key ingredient to her success in recent weeks which she hopes she can replicate when the first major of the year \u2013 the Chevron Championship \u2013 rolls round in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t performed very well on major championships over the last few years so I\u2019m hoping that I can use these good results here in Australia for the rest of the year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe course is probably going to be a bit longer when we play major championships so I think that\u2019s something that you have to work on is your ball striking as those events.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully having solid stats this early in the season will take me into a good run for the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green was unfazed by the morning rain which threatened to hamper her charge and said the challenge was more mental than physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt it\u2019s a bit too hot here in Queensland to wear a rain jacket so all three of us decided to not wear it even though it was somewhat getting a bit heavy at points,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more just staying patient because a lot of us banked up on the golf course because we were all stuck trying to fiddle with umbrellas, jackets, wiping the club and wiping the balls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young Australian Hannah Reeves\u2019 rise continued as she backed up a solid showing at the Australian Open with a four-under opening round and remained within striking distance of the leaders.<\/p>\n
It was a mixed round for the 24-year-old Queenslander as she nailed seven birdies but was left to rue three bogeys which prevented her from a shot at the early lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was quite difficult this morning with that cell that came through, didn\u2019t really hold up for the first five holes, it was pretty wet but I hit some really nice shots and made a couple of putts,\u201d Reeves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think I left a couple (of shots) out there but really happy with how I played.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just a couple of soft bogeys so I think trying to tidy that up a bit, they obviously add up a bit over a couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hannah Green has etched her name into Australian golf history as she capped off a stunning four days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[2095,1724,64,63,689,276818,276817,276812,276814,2057,2755,276815,42889,2105,2485,755,9262,276820,26596,276816,185087,2041,2067,3583,677,57200,701,276819,264251,264255,5994,942,2812,85,276813,276821,2614,276822],"class_list":["post-561314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-america","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-hannah-reeves","tag-birdie-eagle-finish","tag-cracking-start","tag-electric-run","tag-europe","tag-florida","tag-four-under-opening","tag-gender-equality","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-golf","tag-golf-course","tag-green-leads","tag-matt-roberts","tag-morning-rain","tag-morning-session","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-opening-day","tag-queensland","tag-rain-jacket","tag-sanctuary-cove","tag-sanctuary-cove-golf-and-country-club","tag-scotland","tag-singapore","tag-south-eastern-asia","tag-sports","tag-staying-patient","tag-stellar-six-under","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-young-australian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}