Australian Hannah Green earned her third tour victory of 2024 at the BMW Ladies Championship this past weekend, joining Nelly Korda (six wins) and Lydia Ko (three wins) with three or more wins on tour this season. Green also joins 2023 champion Minjee Lee as the second Australian to win this event since its inception in 2019.
Once Green stepped foot on the course, she did not look back as she led through all four rounds. Green was a solo leader for the final three rounds after co-leading with Ashleigh Buhai and Jenny Shin in the opening round. She finished the tournament 19-under, shooting a pair of 64s in the opening two rounds. The successful weekend at Seowon Hills marks Green’s sixth career tour win and fifth T10 of the season. It was a record-breaking weekend as well, as Green set a new overall 36-hole tournament record and tied the overall 54-hole scoring record at 198, which marks a career best.
“Yeah, it was a crazy finish, I guess,” Green said. “My caddie said to me at the start of the day, ‘Let’s try and get a lead and have a bit of a cushion coming in.’ I did not do that and made it very interesting. But the putt on 17, I was very nervous. I was just very happy to see that one go in and on the last hole I was hoping I would have more of a tap-in but I like to make things interesting. But yeah, just super proud of myself for hanging in there because today conditions were very tough. The wind was very swirly, and I think everyone was trying to battle the wind. Yeah, it was tough. I haven’t experienced a wind direction change like that before.”
Filling out the rest of the podium were Celine Boutier of France and Chanettee Wannasaen of Thailand. Boutier once again found herself finishing behind Green this season by a single stroke – she found herself in the same spot earlier this season at the HSBC Women’s World Championship Boutier. Boutier earned her second T10 of the season after finishing T9 at the Buick LPGA Shanghai a week prior. Tied with Green heading into Hole 17, it was Green who sank a clutch birdie putt to take a one stroke lead into the final hole, where she would eventually claim victory.
Chanettee Wannasaen earned her third T10 of the season and the second T3 of her career after finishing third at the Mizuho Americas Open back in May. Wannasaen had a strong front nine, where she was tied for the lead, before a string of bogeys allowed Green to pull away and seal Wannasaen’s fate.
The LPGA Tour continues play next week at the LPGA Maybank Championship in Malaysia (October 24-27, 2024).
