Perth’s Hannah Green completed a wire-to-wire victory overnight at the IOA Golf Classic at Alaqua Country Club to log her third victory of a stunning rookie season as a professional on the Symetra Tour in America.
Green, 20, carded a final-round two-under, 69 to win by two-strokes at 13-under par. Green built a four-stroke lead on Monday morning and then survived a double-bogey on the 16th and a bogey on the 17th to edge American Katelyn Dambaugh who finished second at 11-under.
Green pocketed the $US22,500 first-place prize to move from fourth to third on the tour moneylist entering the Tour Championship. She has earned $US105,054 in 19 starts and is the third player this season to eclipse $100,000 in earnings, which has never happened in Symetra Tour history.
“For the tournament to be over and for me to have the trophy is awesome,” Green said. “I’m just glad that I have my LPGA Tour card for 2018.”
Green is also the second player to pick up three victories after Nanna Koerstz Madsen. It’s the first time that two players have won at least three tournaments in a single-season.
“I always wanted three wins and I talked to my coach (Ritchie Smith) and we set simple goals and three was the major goal. To have two wins in three weeks is definitely not how I planned it out, but to have three is awesome.”
Green also won the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout two weeks ago.
Green started the final-round late afternoon on Sunday and finished nine holes. She resumed on Monday on the tenth tee. She hit her third shot of the morning, the approach into te 10th hole, to two feet and birdied to build a three-shot cushion. She also made birdies on 12 and 14 to stretch the lead to four shots.
She hit her tee shot out-of-bounds on 16 and then missed her approach short and left on 17, but the tournament was never truly in doubt.
“I didn’t know what the score was on the last hole, I just thought I had to two-putt to win,” said Green. “The scoreboard wasn’t completed yet, but it eased the nerves when I walked to the scorers tent after making par.”
Green won first in April and then didn’t win again until two weeks ago in Arkansas. She has surged at the end of the year with two wins and a top-five in the past three weeks.
“My game has definitely improved and I think going home during the off weeks was the big difference,” said Green. “Seeing my friends and family and only being on the road for six weeks during this stretch has helped. The hard work has paid off.”
Green has now played five straight tournaments and will play a sixth in a row next week to finish the season. She still has a chance at the Symetra Player of the Year award.
“I’m getting really tired and this week was not what we were used to with all the delays, but to play five in a row is a lot of golf,” Green said. “Hopefully I have a good week this week in Daytona and then I get a bit of a rest before I play in another event back home in Perth.”
After the Symetra Tour season, Green will play against the men in the WA Open, a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament. Then, it’s time to rest and recharge for the LPGA in 2018.
“My first event on the LPGA will be in January, but it still feels far away,” Green said. “I’ll have some down time to get rest and then get back into practising. The schedule fits in really well.”
