West Australian Hannah Green can sense a third LPGA Tour win in her near future after posting her best result of the year at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open in Los Angeles.
With countrymen Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman contending in New Orleans, Green made a late push at Wilshire Country Club with the equal low round of the final day, a 5-under 66, to finish two back of Canadian Brooke Henderson in a tie for third.
Top-15 in each of her past two starts, Green’s bogey-free Sunday 66 was her 12th consecutive round under par as the 24-year-old adjusts to the extra length that she and coach Ritchie Smith have added to her arsenal.
“I actually didn’t know that, so that’s a nice surprise,” Green said when advised of her impressive streak of sub-par rounds.
“I guess it’s known now that I hit it a little bit longer so it’s made golf courses a little bit easier. Especially Wilshire there are a couple holes where I can really take advantage of it.
“It’s been really nice that everything is kind of pieced together this week.”
Green harnessed her extra length to perfection by holing an eagle putt from the front-edge of the par-4 14th green and believes that new courses in Singapore and Thailand the next two weeks may prove to work in her favour.
“I feel like I’m pretty close. Nate (Blasko) and I, my caddie, have been talking about it, and we feel like we’re not far off a win.
“It will be my first time in Thailand and Singapore so excited to get over there and see what can happen.
“I’m really keen about seeing a new golf course. I feel like it’s kind of been harder to come back to golf courses we’ve played and take different lines.
“Fresh course to me might actually help me a little bit.”
Green wasn’t the only Aussie to record a top-five finish this week with Deyen Lawson tied for fifth in the first Challenge Tour event of the year and Brett Drewitt taking another important step towards a PGA TOUR card in 2022 with a tie for third at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Championship in Texas.
Entering the week 24th on the moneylist – the top 25 at season’s end automatically earn promotion to the PGA TOUR – Drewitt had five birdies and an eagle in a third round 64 to start the final round in third position and four shots off the lead.
Birdies at the two opening holes helped to bridge that gap but dropped shots at the fourth and eighth holes stalled the New South Welshman’s momentum, ultimately closing with a birdie at the 72nd hole for a 3-under 68 and projected to climb to 20th on the moneylist.
Dylan Perry’s tie for 16th at the Kansai Golf Open was the best of the Aussies who made their return to the Japan Golf Tour this week while Maverick Antcliff was the lone Australian to make the cut at the European Tour’s Gran Canaria Lopesan Open, finishing tied for 21st in a week of hot scoring in Spain.
LPGA Tour
Hugel-Air Premia LA Open
Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, California
T3 Hannah Green 68-67-69-66—270 $US88,070
T17 Gabriela Ruffels 70-67-71-71—279 $17,639
T32 Minjee Lee 70-73-69-70—282 $9,626
T54 Su Oh 66-76-74-70—286 $4,347
T65 Sarah Kemp 69-72-76-71—288 $3,185
T65 Sarah Jane Smith 71-70-70-77—288 $3,185
T73 Katherine Kirk 74-69-77-70—290 $2,849
MC Lydia Ko 78-68—146
PGA TOUR
Zurich Classic
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
1 Marc Leishman/Cameron Smith 63-72-63-70—268
33 Cameron Percy/Greg Chalmers 66-70-69-82—287
MC Matt Jones/JJ Spaun 65-74—139
MC Aaron Baddeley/Roger Sloan 64-76—140
MC Tim Wilkinson/George McNeill 68-75—143
MC Danny Lee/Sangmoon Bae 69-75—144
MC Rhein Gibson/Ben Taylor 69-76—145
European Tour
Gran Canaria Lopesan Open
Meloneras Golf, Gran Canaria, Spain
T21 Maverick Antcliff 66-63-71-66—266 €15,242
MC Jake McLeod 66-70—136
MC Austin Bautista 69-68—137
Japan Golf Tour
Kansai Open Golf Championship
Arima Royal Golf Club Royal Course, Hyogo
T16 Dylan Perry 68-69-69-72—278 ¥834,000
MC Matthew Griffin 70-73—143
MC Michael Hendry 74-69—143
MC Anthony Quayle 71-72—143
MC Brad Kennedy 70-75—145
MC David Bransdon 77-69—146
MC Todd Sinnott 74-74—148
MC Adam Bland 78-74—152
Korn Ferry Tour
Veritex Championship
Texas Rangers Golf Club, Arlington, Texas
T3 Brett Drewitt 65-67-64-68—264 $US31,500
T20 Jamie Arnold 68-66-65-69—268 $6,816
T46 Nick Voke 68-67-65-73—273 $2,641
MC Harrison Endycott 65-72—137
MC Ryan Ruffels 72-70—142
MC John Senden 70-76—146
Challenge Tour
Limpopo Championship
Euphoria GC, Modimolle, South Africa
T5 Deyen Lawson 69-74-72-67—282 €4,580
Symetra Tour
Copper Rock Championship
Copper Rock Golf Course, Hurricane, Utah
T60 Julienne Soo 77-70-79—226 $US701
MC Stephanie Na 76-73—149
MC Robyn Choi 79-77—156