Hannah Green held her nerve on a dramatic final day at Kooyonga Golf Club to win the Women’s Australian Open by one shot, becoming the first home winner since Karrie Webb in 2014.
Hannah Green came to Adelaide riding a wave of confidence after winning the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore a fortnight ago, and the world number nine proved she could handle the weight of a nation’s expectation.
The 29-year-old West Australian took a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round and carded a two-under-par 70 to finish on 11-under 277, surviving late charges from two very different challengers to win her first Ladies European Tour title.
Her name now sits alongside Jan Stephenson, Jane Crafter and five-time winner Karrie Webb on a very short list of Australian Open champions.
“I have said before that winning your own championship is like winning a Major — and I still feel that way,” Green said. “This is probably one of the bigger weeks for me off the golf course in terms of internal pressure.”
Porter rewrites the record books — almost
The story of the final round nearly belonged to someone else entirely. Cassie Porter started the day nine shots off the lead and barely anyone outside her own camp expected what came next.
The 22-year-old Queenslander tore through Kooyonga with a course-record 10-under-par 62, making 10 birdies in a 15-hole stretch that left the scoreboard operators scrambling. By the time she walked off the 18th, she sat in the clubhouse on 10-under, daring Green to match her.
It wasn’t enough, but that round will be remembered. Porter has announced herself in the most spectacular way possible, and the LET will be seeing plenty more of her.
Laisne takes the fight right to the wire
If Porter’s challenge came out of nowhere, Agathe Laisne’s was a slow burn that almost caught fire at exactly the right moment. The Frenchwoman, already a winner at the Ford Women’s NSW Open two weeks ago, made four consecutive birdies from the 8th to the 11th to tie the lead, then chipped in for a gutsy par save at the 15th to keep the pressure on.
The decisive swing came at the 17th. As Laisne dropped a shot, Green was making birdie at the 16th — a two-shot turnaround that ultimately decided the championship. Laisne’s closing 67 earned her a share of second alongside Porter on 10-under.
How Green got the job done
Green’s final round was more about nerve than brilliance, and that made it all the more impressive. Playing partner Magdalena Simmermacher birdied the 2nd and 3rd to briefly leapfrog her, and Green had to dig in with a birdie at the 5th to regain control.
The crucial moment came at the par-5 16th, where Green holed a 15-foot downhill birdie putt to give herself a one-shot cushion. She then found a fairway bunker at the 17th, but a fortunate bounce off a bush — what she later called a “member’s bounce” — kept her in play.
A solid par at the last, played in front of a crowd willing every shot home, sealed the deal.
“I think I would have been more nervous if I hadn’t been in that position in Singapore, because that’s where I really felt it,” she added. “But playing in front of a home crowd was just different. I knew everyone wanted me to have that trophy in their hands.”
Watch the highlights
Watch the best of the action from the Women’s Australian Open, including Porter’s record-breaking 62 and Green’s nerveless finish at Kooyonga.
