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LPGA: Hannah Green wins JM Eagle LA Championship in playoff

May 1, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Australian Hannah Green rallied from behind in Sunday’s final round to win the JM Eagle LA Open at Wilshire Country Club, surviving a three-way playoff with Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin to claim her third LPGA title.

With Ashok and Lin already in the clubhouse at 9 under par after making birdies on the par-3 18th hole, Green forced her way into the playoff by making a 25-foot birdie putt. It was just Green’s second birdie of the day, but it provided her with a boost of confidence that propelled her to victory in the playoff.

“Pretty much all day I left every putt short, I guess I knew how quick the greens were in previous years, and I was just frightened to give myself that four- or five-footer coming back,” Green said. “I knew I needed to get it to the hole and I knew I needed to hit it a little bit harder than what I had all day. I don’t often get my caddie to read my putt, but I pulled him in for the last hole, and we both saw the same line, so it was nice to have that confidence that I was seeing the correct line, and yeah, just stroked it and it went perfectly in the hole.”

With all three players having finished regulation at 9-under 275, they headed back to the 18th hole to start the sudden-death playoff where all three hit exceptional tee shots. Ashok was first to putt, with her 15-foot birdie attempt hitting the edge of the cup and spinning off.

Seconds later, Lin eliminated Ashok from the playoff by converting her 12-foot birdie putt. Needing to maker her putt to keep her chances alive, Green calmly holed a 4-foot birdie putt, sending her and Lin back to 18th tee box for the third time on the day.

Lin pushed her tee shot right with it coming to rest in a bunker on the right side of the green. Seizing an opportunity to put the pressure on Lin to get up and down from the bunker, Green hit another great tee shot that left her 25-feet from the cup.

Lin, who had struggled out of the bunkers all week, barely got her bunker shot onto the green, leaving her with an 18-foot par putt, which she was unable to convert.

Green successfully lagged her first putt down close to the hole and then knocked in the two-foot par putt to clinch her first victory since 2019.

Having just one birdie through her first 17 holes, Green admitted she was a bit surprised she had a chance to win as she stood on 18 for the first time on Sunday.

“When I got off the par-5, 13th, I saw someone at 10-under par, so at that stage I was at 7-under, and I thought there’s no chance I’m even in it, but at Wilshire you can’t put yourself out of it because 17 and 18 are both hard holes,” Green said. “Obviously I had a really good finish yesterday, 5-under through six holes, so I kind of was banking on that. But to hole that putt on 18 was huge. I knew that was to get into the playoff. So I’m just proud of myself with all the nerves that I had that I was able to capitalize on it and hole it.”

While the putt got her into the playoff, Green also made a great up and down for par on the 17th hole, thanks to a great wedge shot from just off the green. As she was walking up to the green she thought she could putt from off the green but when she saw three sprinkler heads in her line, she knew she grabbed her wedge.

“I missed probably four greens all day but I was able to putt from each of them so I literally hadn’t hit a chip in four or five hours, so I was like, I have no idea how this is going to come out,” Green said. “Luckily it was actually sitting pretty well and it was all downgrain, so it wasn’t too difficult a chip, but obviously under the circumstances it was still somewhat difficult. So, I think that was just as big, having a tap-in par on 17.”

Heading into 2020 with the momentum created from her wins two wins, including her first major, the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, Green said things changed once Covid hit. Over the past two seasons Green played solid golf, including finishing third at Wilshire in 2021 and second last season.

Feeling like she needed some help to end her more than two-year winless streak, Green sought out the help of a sports psychologist from the LPGA Tour earlier this week.

“I just wanted to pretty much chat to someone and just make sure that I’m not overthinking things,” Green said. “I made a plan for a post-shot routine versus a pre-shot routine. I didn’t have to do it too much because I played well this week, but I think just keeping things the same for when I play well and when I don’t play so well is what we worked on. It obviously paid off today.”

Having come close to winning at Wilshire the last two years, Green said getting over the hump this year is extra special for her and her fans who loudly voiced their support throughout the tournament.

“I felt like I had my crew that were out watching me all day, but once I got to 18 I felt like everyone was cheering my name a little bit louder,” Green said. “The members have been amazing to me here. It’s such a special place, to play here in LA and have so many people come out, I’m really excited to come back and defend and hopefully keep putting my name on the trophy.”

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Orange County Register

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LPGA: Hannah Green wins JM Eagle LA Championship in playoff

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