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June 24, 2019 - 6:34 am EDT 5 years ago

Clutch Up-And-Down Earns Green First Major

Chris Chaney Chris Chaney
Clutch Up-And-Down Earns Green First Major

Winning major championships is never easy, but Australian Hannah Green dug deep to find the mettle to earn her first LPGA Tour and major championship victory on Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Entering the final round leading by one, Green made two early birdies, but gave them both back, plus another through the middle of her round, making three bogeys in four holes from Nos. 9-12. Her comfortable margin was cut to two with the tough closing stretch at Hazeltine National Golf Club looming.


Steadying the ship with stress-free pars at Nos. 13, 14 and 15, Green found the putting surface on the par-4 16th and drained the birdie putt to extend her lead to two over defending champion Sung Hyun Park. 

Not going down without a fight, Park birdied the last to put the pressure on Green and cut her lead to one. Feeling the weight of the moment, Green misfired slightly coming into the 18th green, ending up in a greenside bunker. 

With a horde of fellow Aussies following her, including 7-time major champion Karrie Webb, Green pulled off a clutch up-and-down to claim the title. 

“I’m speechless,” Green said after she sunk the winning putt. “I was really nervous playing the last five holes. I’m just really happy that I made a clutch putt because that was kind of what was struggling with in the middle of the round. Just to make the one on the last, it really is surreal.”

Park finished in second place alone while Mel Reid and Nelly Korda tied for third and Danielle Kang and Lizette Salas finished tied for fifth.