As she battled to remain in contention despite not having her best stuff on Sunday, a hole-out eagle from 64 metres at the par-4 14th propelled Green into a share of the lead and with momentum to go on and record her third LPGA Tour title.

A birdie at the par-5 16th gave the 24-year-old a one-stroke advantage but consecutive bogeys brought about by two three-putts paved the way for Kim to record her fourth LPGA Tour win and first since 2016.

Tied for third at the LA Open the week prior, Green will edge closer to the top 10 when the Rolex Women’s World Rankings are updated and with the self-belief that her best golf will be good enough to win sooner rather than later.

“I don’t want to sound obnoxious, but it is nice I’m not playing my best and getting these results,” said Green, whose closing 69 was run down by Kim’s 8-under 64.

“I feel like my driver was a little bit off this week, so if I can get that into gear, I feel like I can be up on top again.

“I didn’t really feel like I was in it until I holed the shot on 14. That was a nice way to get my momentum.

“Made a really good putt on 16 to make birdie but obviously pretty disappointed to have two three-putts finishing.

“Felt a little nerves on the last, which is nice, because I guess having the spectators out there it kind of meant something to me.

“I’m obviously very close, I just hope that I can continue this momentum and who knows, have a good result next week (in Thailand).”

Kiwi Lydia Ko was also in contention heading into the final round but was unable to mount a Sunday surge while Green’s fellow Aussies Su Oh, Minjee Lee and Katherine Kirk all closed with rounds of even-par 72 to finish inside the top 30.

Despite battling a self-diagnosed bout of “man-flu” all week Queensland’s Scott Hend delivered his best result of the year and his 18th career top-10 finish on the European Tour at the Tenerife Open in Spain.

Rounds of 66-64 gave the 47-year-old the honour of being the oldest player to make the cut and in contention for a fourth European Tour title at the halfway mark but a third round of 71 saw Hend fall back into the pack.

He bounced back in the final round with a closing 4-under 67 to climb from a tie for 15th into a tie for eighth, his best result since winning the Maybank Championship in Malaysia in March 2019.

Harrison Endycott’s strong start to the year has continued with a top-15 finish at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Huntsville Championship while Melbourne’s Julienne Soo recorded the best result of her young career on the Symetra Tour, tied for eighth at the Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas.

LPGA Tour
HSBC Women’s World Championship
Sentosa Golf Club (Tanjong Cse), Sentosa, Singapore
2             Hannah Green    71-66-66-69—272            $US149,262
T7           Lydia Ko               69-68-69-71—277            $39,022
T24        Minjee Lee          69-73-70-72—284            $15,323
T24        Su Oh     68-72-72-72—284            $15,323
T28        Katherine Kirk     69-71-73-72—285            $12,351

PGA TOUR
Valspar Championship
Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Cse), Palm Harbor, Florida
T21        Danny Lee           70-67-70-72—279            $US65,291
MC         Tim Wilkinson     71-71—142
MC         Aaron Baddeley 72-71—143
MC         Cameron Davis   74-72—146
MC         Cameron Percy  74-72—146
MC         Rhein Gibson      72-76—148

European Tour
Tenerife Open
Golf Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Spain
T8           Scott Hend          66-64-71-67—268            €29,957
T42        Maverick Antcliff              66-69-69-70—274            €8,290
T75        Jake McLeod      68-69-71-75—283            €3,014

Japan Golf Tour
The Crowns
Nagoya Golf Club (Wago Cse), Aichi
T49        Anthony Quayle 68-71-73—212   ¥208,800
T49        Michael Hendry  71-70-71—212   ¥208,800
T61        Dylan Perry         75-68-73—216   ¥171,750
T64        David Bransdon  70-73-74—217   ¥167,250
MC         Adam Bland        74-71—145
MC         Matthew Griffin 69-76—145
MC         Todd Sinnott       73-72—145
MC         Brad Kennedy     74-72—146

Korn Ferry Tour
Huntsville Championship
The Ledges Golf Club, Huntsville, Alabama
T13        Harrison Endycott            70-66-69-67—272            $US11,500
T21        Nick Voke            71-65-71-67—274            $5,498
MC         Mark Hensby      68-72—140
MC         Brett Drewitt      68-72—140
MC         Curtis Luck          70-71—141
MC         Jamie Arnold       71-70—141
MC         Brett Coletta      72-70—142

KPGA Tour
KPGA Gunsan CC Open
Gunsan Country Club (Lake Cse), Gunsan, South Korea
T25        Junseok Lee        74-71-71-71—287            K3,937,500
T43        Kevin Chun          73-72-73-73—291            K2,440,000
WD        Wonjoon Lee

Challenge Tour
Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open
Royal Cape GC, Cape Town, South Africa
T36        Daniel Hillier       67-69-71-76—283            €1,434
MC         Deyen Lawson    74-73—147

Symetra Tour
Garden City Charity Classic
Buffalo Dunes Golf Club, Garden City, Kansas
T8           Julienne Soo       72-71-74—217   $US3,621
T48        Robyn Choi         75-74-75—224   $780
MC         Soo Jin Lee          74-76—150
MC         Stephanie Na      72-78—150
MC         Hira Naveed        75-77—152

Champions Tour
Insperity Invitational
The Woodlands CC, The Woodlands, Texas
T20        Rod Pampling     69-73—142        
T45        David McKenzie 70-75—145        
T56        John Senden       76-71—147