Australia’s Hannah Green claimed a one-shot victory on home soil at the Women’s Australian Open, becoming the first Aussie to win the event since Karrie Webb in 2014.
Green headed into the final round at Kooyonga Golf Club with a one-shot lead. But her Argentinian playing partner Magdalena Simmermacher put up a challenge early on, briefly taking the lead after back-to-back birdies at the 2nd and 3rd. Any advantage, however, was swiftly cancelled out as Simmermacher bogeyed holes 4 and 6, as Green made her first birdie at the 5th.
It didn’t take long for others to join them in contention, with Green’s compatriot Cassie Porter and France’s Agathe Laisne charging up the leaderboard. Porter in particular was a steady threat, with a bogey-free round that was the best of her career as she broke the course record 62 (-10) which featured 10 birdies. It made up for the 76 she carded on Friday, and Laisne similarly rose the leaderboard with six birdies by the 11th. However, the pair remained one off despite Green following up a birdie at the 16th with a bogey at the penultimate hole. Green tapped in for par at the last and her final-round 70 was enough to seal the meaningful home win on 11 under.
“I kind of am a bit speechless, to be honest,” Green said. “I think the win in Singapore definitely helped with my nerves today. I felt a little bit more in control of my golf ball. I felt like it was quite tough to make birdies, so I don’t know how Cassie [Porter] had such a good round today. But yeah, just really happy to have my name on that trophy amongst all the amazing other winners as well as Webby.
“I have said before that winning your own championship is like winning a Major and I definitely still feel that way. It was just different playing in front of home. I knew everyone wanted me to have the trophy in their hands at the end of the day. So that was a really nice feeling.”
The triumph is her first on the Ladies European Tour, and it comes just two weeks after her HSBC Women’s World Championship one-shot victory on the LPGA Tour.
“It was tough,” Green continued. “I felt like I was hitting the clubs that I needed to hit, but it wasn’t perhaps going actually near the hole, so it kind of was frustrating. I knew that people could come from behind today and not be in the last group, so I wanted to make sure that even though I was perhaps performing well amongst the group, I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself and know that there’s potential for a low round.
“That birdie on 16 gave myself a little bit [of a] buffer. But I like to make it really nerve-racking for myself and everyone watching. So I hope my next win is a little bit more cheerful!”
Porter and Laisne finished with a share of second on 10 under, while Australia’s Karis Davidson and South Africa’s Casandra Alexander settled for joint fourth, four shots further adrift.
What is the next event?
The next event on the Ladies European Tour schedule is the Australian WPGA Championship taking place between 19th-22nd March at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club in Australia.