Hannah Green of Australia wins LPGA at Wilshire in playoff

1 / 20

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Hannah Green poses for photos with the winner's trophy after winning in a playoff in the LPGA LA Championship golf tournament at Wilshire Country Club, Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LOS ANGELES ā€“ Hannah Green of Australia made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join a three-way playoff, and then made par on the second extra hole to win the JM Eagle LA Championship on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club.

In a wild finish that featured a five-way tie for the lead late in the final round, Green made birdie for a 2-under 69 to join Aditi Ashok of India and Xiyu Lin of China in the playoff.

Recommended Videos



ā€œPretty much all day I left every putt short,ā€ Green said. ā€œI knew I had to get it to the hole. I knew I needed to hit it a little bit harder than what I had all day. I donā€™t often get my caddie to read my putt, but I pulled him in for the last hole, and we both saw the same line, so it was nice to have that confidence that I was seeing the correct line, and yeah, just stroked it and it went perfectly in the hole.ā€

Ashok, who had the 36-hole lead, and Lin each closed with a 67 and were the first to post at 9-under 275. Green and Lin birdied the first playoff hole on the par-3 18th.

On the second extra hole at No. 18, Lin hit into a bunker and blasted out to some 18 feet and missed the par putt. That left Green to tap in from 2 feet for her first LPGA win since September 2019.

Green was emotional and wiping away tears after the win.

ā€œItā€™s been a long few years,ā€ Green said. ā€œI was playing well last year but getting across the line's been really difficult. Iā€™m proud of myself. Iā€™m really happy.ā€

Green won for the third time. She captured her lone major in the 2019 KPMG Women's PGA at Hazeltine, and followed it with a win at the Portland Classic that year.

She missed the cut last week at the Chevron Championship and talked to a sports psychologist this week.

This win is right up there with the others.

ā€œI think honestly this one is really important because I feel like this is just going to kick start remembering how to ā€” like learning to win,ā€ Green said. ā€œItā€™s tough to win golf tournaments. Sometimes you can play your best golf and it not be good enough. Youā€™ve just got to hang in there. I think this is honestly just as big as the first two.ā€

Ashok had a 15-foot putt that lipped out on the 18th in the playoff, ending her bid for her first LPGA title. Lin made a 12-foot putt, and Green made a 4-footer to stay in the game.

Green finished second here last year and third the year before at Wilshire. She won $450,000 from the $3 million purse.

Cheyenne Knight, who had a two-shot lead going into the final round, closed with a 2-over 73 and tied for sixth.

Ruoning Yin won in Los Angeles last month at the DIO Implant LA Open at Palos Verdes Golf Club and had a chance to win again. She birdied the par-4 14th to take the lead and then birdied the par-5 15th to build a two-shot lead. But she finished with two bogeys for a 67 to fall to 8 under and miss the playoff.

She started the day with a mindset to have fun, so her caddie tried to just do that in relaying NBA playoff scores.

ā€œWhen I was on hole 2, my caddie just talked to me, and he said, 'Hey, do you want me to tell you the score?ā€™ I was like, ā€˜Um, no. Weā€™re just having fun here,ā€™" Yin said. ā€œFinally I found out he was talking about the Warriors versus the Kings.ā€

She tied for fourth with Ayaka Furue of Japan, who had a 65.

Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women's golf, had a 67 and tied for sixth.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


Loading...

Recommended Videos