In career-best touch, Australian Hannah Green has returned to the scene of her greatest triumph, hoping to feel the butterflies of being in contention for Women’s PGA Championship glory.
Seven years on from capturing her maiden major in just her second season on the LPGA Tour, Green is back at Hazeltine Country Club in Minnesota as one of the game’s elite players and enjoying an already-stellar four-win year.
Now the world No.8 craves to parlay her happy vibes and rich vein of form into being in the mix on Sunday for an elusive second career major.
“If I were in the same position again, even now with my experience, I would probably be more nervous because I want to win even more than I did back then,” Green said ahead of Thursday night’s (AEST) first round.
“I felt like, because I was ranked outside the top 100, I didn’t imagine myself being in contention in a major that early in my career, so it was very new to me, and I probably didn’t have any history of performing badly under pressure.
“So now that I’m older, I feel like I’d probably feel more nerves and anxiousness if I were in that position, which is a good thing because you want to have nerves. That’s completely normal and human of people to feel that way in those conditions.
“Yeah, just really look forward to getting back out there.”
Just 22 when she won in only her seventh major start, after missing the cut in three of her previous six, Green says the memories of her most unexpected victory have come flooding back.
Australian Hannah Green has won four tournaments this year. (Getty Images: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire)
“Like hitting it into that front left trap on the 18th hole and hitting my bunker shot to four or five feet. That’s probably the most memorable shot,” the Perth ace said.
“But then I made a putt on five on Saturday. Holed out on the seventh hole on the first round. So there are definitely shots that I remember. It’s nice to kind of relive those moments in the practice round.
“I do hit a lot further than I used to do back then.”
Green, though, believes her work on the greens will be paramount in trying to get into weekend contention.
“I putted really, really well that week, and that’s kind of the key here at Hazeltine,” she said.
“Yes, you want to hit fairways and greens, but they’re quite tricky to read. So making sure you leave yourself as many uphill putts as possible will probably be a big difference versus a downhill putt, so hopefully I can do that this week.”
Green will feature in the marquee groupings for the first two rounds alongside American world No.1 Nelly Korda, who is hunting a third major of 2026 after winning the Chevron Championship and US Open, and South Korean superstar Sei Young Kim.
Green’s triple-major-winning countrywoman Minjee Lee is the defending champion and among six other Australians in the field chasing the $US1.95 million ($A2.83 million) winner’s cheque — the biggest in women’s golf history.
AAP
