Her face is everywhere this week but Hannah Green wants to make sure her name is up in lights in golf’s showpiece events in 2025 as she defends her HSBC Women’s World Championship title in Singapore.
A happy hunting ground given its proximity to her home in Perth and the results it has yielded in past seasons, Green arrived in Singapore to see her face plastered on posters throughout the city, in the hotel and, of course, at Sentosa Golf Club where she stormed home to win 12 months ago.
It was the first of three LPGA Tour wins on the season for Green who quickly elevated her status to one of the best players in the women’s game.
Acknowledging the seemingly insurmountable lead Nelly Korda has at the top of the Rolex Women’s World Ranking, Green wants to push higher than her current position as world No.6 through a strong season in the majors.
A major championship winner at the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the reigning Greg Norman Medal recipient and coach Ritchie Smith are placing a greater emphasis on golf’s greatest events.
“I’m looking to be in contention in major championships,” said the 28-year-old, who visited the SkyPark Infinity pool in a pre-tournament promotion on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t play a lot of weekends last year. Those are the tournaments we try to prepare well the best and I put too much pressure on myself to perform well at those events.
“I’m hoping this year will be a better season in that sense.”
Tied for fourth at the Founders Cup in her last start, Green is also drawing confidence from a return to Sentosa where she not only has a triumph in 2024, but a runner-up finish in 2021 and a tie for sixth in 2022.
“It’s almost like a home event,” added Green.
“This is the same time zone as where I live and only a five-hour flight. It’s the closest LPGA that we have to my home city.
“There’s lots of people that come from Perth that travel up and my husband is also here this week, which is nice.
“There’s lots of good memories in that sense, and the crowds are really good to us here in Singapore.”
Paired with Olympic gold medallist Lydia Ko for the first two rounds, Green is joined in Singapore by fellow Aussies Gabriela Ruffels, Grace Kim, Minjee Lee and Stephanie Kyriacou.
Fresh off inspiring The Bay GC to a TGL win on Tuesday night, Min Woo Lee also has good memories to draw upon at the Cognizant Classic in Florida.
Lee stormed home in the final round at PGA National last year to earn a share of second, three strokes back of Austin Eckroat.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
PGA National Resort (The Champion Cse), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
4:40am Min Woo Lee
5:13am* Ryan Fox (NZ)
5:46am Karl Vilips
Recent champion: Austin Eckroat
Past Aussie winners: Stuart Appleby (1997), Adam Scott (2016), Matt Jones (2021)
Prize money: $US9.2m
TV times: Live 10:45pm-10am Thursday, Friday; Live 11pm-10am Saturday; Live 10:30pm-10am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
HSBC Women’s World Championship
Sentosa Golf Club (Tanjong Cse), Singapore
11:23am* Gabriela Ruffels
11:59am* Grace Kim
12:18pm Minjee Lee
12:23pm* Stephanie Kyriacou
12:30pm Lydia Ko (NZ), Hannah Green
Recent champion: Hannah Green
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2011), Hannah Green (2024)
Prize money: $US2.4m
TV times: Live 1:30pm-6:30pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Investec South African Open Championship
Durban CC, Durban, South Africa
8:20pm* Kazuma Kobori
Recent champion: Dean Burmester
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1.5m
TV times: Live 10pm-3am Thursday, Friday; Live 9:30pm-2am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-1:30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
Korn Ferry Tour
118 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro
Jockey Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9:42pm Rhein Gibson
3:23am Harry Hillier (NZ)
Recent champion: Mason Andersen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $1m