For newlywed Hannah Green, the celebrations continued just a five-hour plane ride from Perth, Australia, where she won with a flourish in her second start to the LPGA season. Green’s dramatic birdie putt on the 18th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore sealed a narrow victory over France’s Celine Boutier, who won four times last season.
For the 27-year-old Green, who got married in January and moved into a new home right before last week’s event in Thailand, it’s been a dreamlike start to 2024.
Green birdied the last three holes at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course to close with a third consecutive 67 and finish at 13 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Boutier.
“Almost like it was meant to be today for me, holing those two putts today on the last two holes,” said Green as she held the trophy. “I’m so happy to have this in my hands.”
Hannah Green punched in her ticket to the 2025/2026 @HiltonGrandVac Tournament of Champions after winning the HSBC Women's World Championship!#HGVTOC pic.twitter.com/f8pSOQrWe7
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 3, 2024
Now a four-time winner on the LPGA, including the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA, Green joins mentor Karrie Webb as the only other Aussie to win the HSBC.
Here are five things to know from a hot and rainy day in Singapore:
Fantastic finish
The first time Green played the HSBC in 2021, she found herself in contention before three-putting the last two holes.
The story couldn’t have been more different this time around, with Green holing crucial putts down the stretch, including a 27-footer on the last to nip Boutier by a stroke.
“I didn’t hole many putts from long range today until obviously the last couple holes,” said Green, “but I made a really good birdie on 16 and was able to two-putt there. Kind of gave the first putt a little too much and then made a 5-footer for birdie. That was nice.”
“I could then see the leaderboard on 17, and made a putt there. I knew I needed to at least birdie the last to win by one. So as soon as that putt went in, I was like, oh, my God, I’ve won. I felt bad for the girls that had to putt after that, but yeah, it just all went really, really quickly.”
Champion's final putt!@hannahgreengolf wins the 2024 @HWWCGolf in style! ✨ pic.twitter.com/FBbTF5JFr0
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 3, 2024
Wedding bells
Green and longtime beau Jarryd Felton were married on Jan. 19 at Aravina Estate, a 180-acre vineyard in back home in Australia. Fellow LPGA player Su Oh was the maid of honor.
“We haven’t had a honeymoon,” said Green. “Jarryd is in New Zealand, and he also plays professionally. It’s difficult to schedule us both at the same time, and I haven’t seen him in three or four weeks. So we are seeing each other on Tuesday, so we’ll celebrate.”
Putt for dough
CLUTCH!@hannahgreengolf birdies 17 for a share of the lead! pic.twitter.com/2vp54i2xZl
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 3, 2024
In a surprising twist, Green hit the lowest number of fairways across the entire field, hitting only 28 of 56. And yet, she tied for third in total birdies with 18. She made no worse than bogey over four rounds and tallied only five of those.
“I didn’t hit it as good as I have in previous years,” said Green, “but I think I felt confident over some putts.
“I had a lot of testing putts on the front nine for par because I was either leaving it way too short or crushing it past the hole. It was nice to be confident on those putts because those are the ones you expect to make.”
Henderson's hot start
Canada’s Henderson jumped into a share of third thanks to birdies on three of her last four holes to close with a 68. It marks Henderson’s third top-10 finish in four starts this season. It’s also her fifth time placing in the top 10 in Singapore.
“I feel like my game is right there,” said Henderson. “Just need a couple breaks, and I’ll see what happens.”
Henderson shared third with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and Yuna Nishimura as well as Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea.
Good company
Green continues the trend of major champions winning the HSBC. In 16 editions, only two players without a major have won the title (Ai Miyazato and Ha Na Jang). In fact, seven of the 14 are former World No. 1s.
