Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2019 - 19

Green, who entered the week's KPMG in position No. 114 of
the Women's World Golf Ranking, carried the fi rst 54-hole lead
of her career into the fi nal round. She held off defending champion
Sung Hyun Park and England's Mel Reid, among others.
" That was the most nervous I was all day, and the second shot
into the [18th hole green], " Green said of her dramatic fi nish. " I
just didn't want to miss the putt. I mean, when do you ever want
to miss a putt? I'm pretty much speechless. I was really nervous
the last fi ve holes and just really-I made a clutch putt and that
was kind of what got me through another one. To make the one
on the last is really surreal.
" I knew I needed par on No. 18, but I think the birdie on
No. 16 was huge just to give me that gap coming down No. 18.
I knew the 18th hole was a tough pin position, but I know the
girls are a lot longer than me and have shorter clubs in-they
could actually go for it. I had to just try and play it up the green
on the right. I just can't believe I'm here right now. "
A Personal Best
The 22-year-old Aussie, who won three events on the Symetra
Tour in 2017, earned a paycheck of $577,500, moving her career
earnings to $938,477 in 36 starts on the LPGA Tour. Her successes
at this event were an improvement from her previous
best at a major championship, when she tied for 16th at the
2018 ANA Inspiration.
Entering the fi nal round Sunday with a one-stroke lead over
a surging Ariya Jutanugarn, Green was in control. At the second
hole, she sunk a 15-footer for birdie to increase her lead further.
Sticking her approach inside of eight feet at the seventh
hole, Green again rolled in birdie, but started to slip following
a three-putt bogey at the ninth hole-her second of the week.
With Jutanugarn struggling, Park and Nelly Korda were looking
to challenge Green, who took back-to-back bogeys at the
11th and 12th holes, falling back to 8-under for the championship
and just one shot ahead of the fi eld.
Green's birdie putt from 12 feet at the 16th hole
found the bottom of the cup, widening her margin
slightly before Park rolled in a short birdie at No.
16 to pull within one.
Needing par on the fi nal hole, Green's
approach found the bunker left of the green.
She blasted out four feet past the hole and sank
her par putt to clinch her fi rst LPGA Tour victory.
Supporting One Another
" I've always wanted to win an event, and to win a major
championship as my fi rst event is crazy, " said Green,
who kept good company during the week at Hazeltine.
She shared a house with fellow Aussie and seven-time
major champ, Karrie Webb, who's presence helped her
keep calm.
" When I fi rst turned pro and played on Symetra, I
was fortunate enough to win three times, " said Green,
who is a former two-time Karrie Webb Scholarship
mngolf.org
winner. " The fi rst win I had was early in the season. [Webb] was
the fi rst person that texted me to say congratulations. Still, to
have [Webb] text you and say 'congratulations' is pretty cool. "
Webb missed the cut by one stroke during the week, but followed
Green during the fi nal round Sunday and was all smiles
afterwards.
" I caught myself getting ahead of myself for Hannah and
how amazingly she was handling herself out there, " said Webb,
the 2005 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and owner of 41
victories on the LPGA Tour. " [I was] thinking about how much
winning this event would change her life, and I started choking
up [because of] how proud I was of her. "
Reid, who fi red a fi nal-round 66 Sunday to move up 20 spots
on the leaderboard, fi nished tied for third with Korda at 6-under
282. Japan's Nasa Hataoka posted a tournament-low 65 and
jumped 40 spots to fi nish inside the top 15 at 2-under 286.
New Experiences
Shooting a 6-over par 78 to begin the championship Thursday,
Minnesotan Sarah Burnham bounced back by fi ring a 1-under
71, making the cut on the number Friday.
Burnham, a former standout at Wayzata High School and
Michigan State University, carded a 76 Saturday. Then, she
fi nished her second career start in a major with a round of 78
Sunday-Burnham qualifi ed for the 2015 U.S. Women's Open
but missed the cut.
" It's on to the next week for another event, so [it's a] quick
turnaround, " Burnham said. " I'll look back on this for a long
time as I get older. It was so cool-something I'll never forget.
I've never experienced so many fans and [so much] support
out there. It's really 'thank you' to all the Minnesotans out
there. " MG
Final Results
1. Hannah Green
T3. Mel Reid
T5. Danielle Kang
T5. Lizette Salas
T7. Mirim Lee
68-69-70-72-279
2. Sung Hyun Park 70-71-71-68-280
T3. Nelly Korda
72-70-69-71-282
69-76-71-66-282
75-70-68-70-283
72-71-68-72-283
71-74-70-69-284
T7. Hyo Joo Kim 69-74-71-70-284
T7. Inbee Park
72-73-68-71-284
76-72-73-65-285
71-70-76-68-285
T10. Ariya Jutanugarn 70-70-68-77-285
T10. Nasa Hataoka
T10. Megan Khang 74-72-69-70-285
T10. Lydia Ko
T78. Sarah Burnham 78-71-76-78-303
(Maple Grove, Minn.)
PUNCHBOWL
PUTTING COURSE
Fall 2019 MINNESOTAGOLFER
19
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2019

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