Hannah Green forced to withdraw from Australian WPGA Championship

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Australia’s No.2-ranked women’s golfer Hannah Green has been forced to withdraw from the Fortinet Australian WPGA Championship to be staged at Royal Queensland Golf Club from January 13-16.
 
Green was the first player to be announced for the inaugural WPGA Championship, but increasing border restrictions in her home state of Western Australia through to February 5 have forced Green to withdraw from the tournament.
 
The 25-year-old remains committed to supporting the WPGA Tour of Australasia, but will be missed at Royal Queensland next week.
 
“I was truly looking forward to playing in Brisbane for the inaugural Karrie Webb Cup. I was hopeful our borders would remain open to Queensland and allow me to travel freely to and from, but unfortunately that’s not the case anymore,” said Green, who had to complete 14-day hotel quarantine upon her return from the USA in December. 
 
“I look forward to watching what will be a great event for both the men and women and hope to be able to play the 2023 edition.”
 
“Hannah is one of our most popular players and supports our tour as much as she possibly can,” said Karen Lunn, chief executive of the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
 
“COVID has made that extremely difficult the past two years and we completely understand Hannah’s need to be in Perth shortly after the WPGA Championship is due to be completed to prepare for her LPGA Tour season ahead.
 
“The changes in border restrictions (now Extreme Risk) makes it impossible for Hannah to play the event and be home in time to prepare for the upcoming LPGA Tour season but we are very much looking forward to seeing her in action at the Vic Open in February.”
 
The Fortinet Australian WPGA Championship will be played in conjunction with the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship to be headlined by world top-50 player Min Woo Lee and US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. Recent LPGA Tour graduates Stephanie Kyriacou and Karis Davidson will now lead a WPGA Tour field boasting the brightest young women’s talent in Australian golf along with established LPGA Tour stars Sarah Kemp and Sarah Jane Smith.
 
“Playing the two events side-by-side this year at Royal Queensland provides golf fans in Queensland the chance to see some of our best male and female players at the one venue,” said Gavin Kirkman, chief executive of the PGA of Australia.
 
“We would obviously have loved Hannah to be part of the week but we understand that circumstances outside of our control have made her unable to travel in January.
 
“Stephanie Kyriacou and Karis Davidson recently earned their LPGA Tour cards and with the exciting group of young players coming through I’m sure we’ll have a very worthy winner of the Karrie Webb Cup.
 
“And with the Joe Kirkwood Cup once again up for grabs for the men it promises to be a wonderful celebration of Australian golf and a great way to start 2022.”