Recently married Australian professional Hannah Green has produced an astonishing finish by holing a remarkable 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole to win the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore by a single stroke.
In the hour after Scott Hend’s heartbreak at the New Zealand Open, Green closed out the exclusive LPGA Tour event with three birdies over the final three holes for a round of 5-under 67 and 13-under aggregate.
Trailing France’s Celine Boutier by two strokes on the 16th tee, Green struck two solid blows to reach the green of the par 5 and set up a two-putt birdie. She drew level at the next when she rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th.
Green hit her best drive of the day on the uphill par-4 18th that Boutier had parred just moments earlier. From a tricky sidehill lie in the fairway, Green’s 6-iron (170-yard) approach finished pin high about 25 feet left of the flag.
Her birdie putt tracked beautifully, breaking right over the last few feet before disappearing into the cup.
Along with prizemoney of $US270,000, Green becomes just the fifth Australian to register four LPGA titles, joining Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb, Rachel Hetherington and Minjee Lee.
“I knew that I needed to go low today in order to win because the conditions were a little bit softer today than in the last few days,” said the 27-year-old at the victory presentation. “I was talking to my coach [Ritchie Smith] on the phone last night and he’s like, ‘Try and get as many birdies in early as possible.’ So I like to make things a little bit interesting and birdie the last three.”
“A few years ago I almost had this trophy in my hands and made two bogeys coming down the last. So it was almost like it was meant to be today for me, holing those two putts on the last two holes. I’m so happy to have this in my hands.”
The Perth professional revealed she plans to reunite with husband Jarryd Felton who had been competing at the New Zealand Open in Queenstown.
“We haven’t had a honeymoon yet. He’s in New Zealand. He also plays professionally. So it’s kind of difficult to schedule us both at the same time. I haven’t seen him in three or four weeks. So we are seeing each other on Tuesday. So we’ll celebrate.”
