The 2022 Jersey Legends crown was the first of two Legends Tour wins by Green last year, the 52-year-old currently in his rookie season on the PGA TOUR Champions in the US.

He returned to Jersey to attempt to do something he had never done before in his storied career, being a successful title defence.

Starting the third and final round with a two-stroke buffer from England’s Peter Baker, the three-time winner on the DP World Tour looked destined for success when he birdied the second hole but dropped shots at four and seven saw him out in 1-over par and brought other players back into the mix.

Baker was tied for the lead at the turn and they stayed locked together with a pair of birdies at 11. Momentum soon swung back in Green’s favour, however, as Baker made a double bogey on 13 and Green birdied the 14th.

Scotsman Greig Hutcheon emerged as the main challenger by picking up shots on 14 and 18 to post 8-under, meaning Green had to par the last to defend the title he won in a play-off against Paul Lawrie last year.

He was just short of the green in two but lagged an excellent approach putt to two feet and finished it off for the win in front of brilliant crowds.

“It’s such a fantastic feeling to come back and win again at a place I fell in love with when I first came here last year,” said Green.

“It feels great (to defend a title for the first time). Golf is such a mental test – you’ve got to be able to believe in yourself and have confidence in every area of your game.

“To come out here and defend just adds another element of pressure. For me to come out on top this week is very rewarding.

“It was a really good crowd of people out there today. I hope they all enjoyed it. I’m sure there were a lot of tense moments for them to get excited about.”

The win was all the more notable given Green’s roller-coaster start to the week.

His golf clubs didn’t arrive from America until the night before the first round and he started the week with a double bogey at his first hole.

He recovered for a 2-under 70, added a quality 6-under 66 in the second round before closing out a one-stroke win with a 1-under 71 at La Moye Golf Club.

Across in the US, Kiwi Steven Alker finished in a share of second five strokes back of Steve Stricker at the PGA TOUR Champions American Family Insurance Championship.

The tournament was founded by the Steve Stricker Foundation before he turned 50, this latest win adding to a dominance that features four wins this year including the two seniors majors to date in 2023.

In just her second start on the LPGA Tour this year Su Oh shot 7-under 64 to earn a share of sixth at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey won by reigning Women’s Australian Open and AIG Women’s Open champion Ashleigh Buhai.

Oh missed 12 of 13 cuts to end her 2022 season and had to return to Q Series to keep her card.

It is her best finish since she finished runner-up at the Cambia Portland Classic in September 2021.

Fellow Aussies Cassie Porter and Robyn Choi both finished in a tie for eighth at the Epson Tour’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Michigan as Harrison Endycott moved up 13 spots on the FedEx Cup with a tie for 12th at the RBC Canadian Open, Nick Taylor holing a 72-foot putt for eagle on the fourth playoff hole to become the first Canadian winner in 69 years.

Results

Legends Tour
Jersey Legends
La Moye GC, Jersey
1             Richard Green    70-66-71—207
T11        Michael Campbell (NZ)   74-69-72—215
T16        Michael Long (NZ)            74-69-73—216
T34        Peter Fowler       79-70-71—220
42           Jason Norris        73-75-74—222

PGA TOUR
RBC Canadian Open
Oakdale Golf and Country Club, Toronto
1             Nick Taylor           75-67-63-66—271            $US1.62m
Won on the fourth hole of sudden death playoff
T12        Harrison Endycott             72-68-69-68—277            $178,650
T52        Cameron Percy  75-67-72-72—286            $21,438
MC         Aaron Baddeley 71-75—146
MC         Geoff Ogilvy        74-75—149

DP World Tour/Ladies European Tour
Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed 2023
Ullna G&CC, Stockholm, Sweden
1             Dale Whitnell      66-61-70-70—267            €315,454.72
T40        Jason Scrivener  70-74-70-68—282            €12,432.63
MC         Whitney Hillier   70-80—150
MC         Kirsten Rudgeley               75-78—153
MC         Momoka Kobori (NZ)       77-78—155

PGA TOUR Champions
American Family Insurance Championship
University Ridge GC, Madison, Wisconsin
1             Steve Stricker     65-64-69—198   $US360,000
T2           Steven Alker (NZ)             65-68-70—203   $192,000
T22        Rod Pampling     75-67-69—211   $23,093
T31        John Senden       70-68-74—212   $17,280
T49        Mark Hensby      69-75-72—216   $7,680
T51        David McKenzie 67-76-74—217   $5,600

Challenge Tour
Andalucía Challenge de Cadiz
Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, Cadiz, Andalucía, Spain
1             Sam Hutsby         63-67-72-71—273            €40,000
Won in sudden death playoff
T19        Ryan Ruffels        71-68-70-70—279            €2,515.62
T28        Jordan Zunic       66-64-78-72—280            €2,100
MC         Maverick Antcliff              74-70—144
MC         Connor McKinney             76-68—144
MC         Jarryd Felton       72-73—145
MC         Blake Windred    73-72—145

Korn Ferry Tour
BMW Charity Pro-Am
Thorn Blade Club and Carolina Country Club, Greer, South Carolina
1             Adrien Dumont de Chassart         66-67-66-65—264            $US180,000
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
MC         Brett Drewitt      67-71—138
MC         Rhein Gibson      68-73—141
MC         Dimi Papadatos  75-67—142
MC         Curtis Luck          74-70—144

LPGA Tour
ShopRite LPGA Classic
Seaview, Bay Course, Galloway, New Jersey
1             Ashleigh Buhai   69-65-65—199   $US262,500
T6           Su Oh    68-72-64—204   $43,652
MC         Sarah Kemp        71-75—146
MC         Sarah Jane Smith              73-73—146
MC         Karis Davidson    73-74—147

Epson Tour
FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club, Michigan
1             Siyun Liu              70-67-69—206   $US30,000
2             Amelia Garvey (NZ)          70-67-70—207   $18,685
T8           Cassie Porter      73-70-69—212   $4,221
T8           Robyn Choi         69-71-72—212   $4,221
T28        Soo Jin Lee          66-76-73—215   $1,616
MC         Hira Naveed        75-75—150
MC         Emily Mahar       77-75—152
MC         Jess Whitting       73-79—152

Japan Golf Tour
Aso Iizuka Challenge
Aso Iizuka GC, Fukuoka
1             Keita Nakajima   67-64-63-65—259            ¥20m
Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff
T20        Dylan Perry         69-69-73-62—273            ¥1.1m
T37        Brendan Jones   68-71-67-70—276            ¥480,000
MC         Anthony Quayle 77-64—141
MC         Andrew Evans    77-67—144