Aussie support spirited Hannah Green onto her first LPGA victory at US Women’s PGA

Hannah Green put herself on the radar with the US Women’s PGA Championship win, as a new star on the LPGA Tour. Not bad for a player who started out ranked 114th before the tournament.

A proud group of Australians cheered on Hannah Green as she headed to the 18th hole, ready with Budweisers in hand to spray at her in case she won the major championship. They were decked out in the Australian flag as capes and patriotic hats. Among the Aussies cheering on the 22-year-old hot shot was seven-time major winner Karrie Webb, Green’s mentor and biggest cheerleader. She was among the first to congratulate her after Green stepped off the 18th hole, having cinched her maiden major win, with a nine under par at the KPMG Women’s PGA.

“I start choking up thinking about how much winning this event would change her life and how proud I was of her,” LPGA Hall of Famer Webb said about her protégé achieving her first LPGA Tour title.

The moment had the feel of passing the torch with the Perth native being the first Australian woman to win a major since Green’s 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Sunday was an excellent day for Australian women, with Ashleigh Barty winning the Birmingham title that catapulted her to world No. 1. Green’s equally titanic rise will find the new Women’s PGA Champion ascend the world golf rankings.

“I’m pretty much speechless,” said Green in her interview after her smooth par four finish on the 18th. “I just can’t believe I’m here right now.”

A 2015 Karrie Webb scholarship provided Green the opportunity to witness the Aussie golfing legend play the U.S. Open.

“Getting to know Karrie, staying in a house with her and watching everything she (did) in a major tournament gave me a big insight into what it was like,” Green said.

Green bunked with the current scholarship winners this time around again at Webb’s house, providing the 22-year-old with the comforting atmosphere that she credited with maintaining her calm focus.

“As soon as I got home [after the third round] everyone was there and making the food so it was really nice to just have all the Australians there, and there really wasn’t much golf talk at all,” Green said. “That was perfect. That’s what I wanted.”

But the win was in no way a given, with the defending champion Sung Hyun Park trailing just two shots behind Green’s under nine par for much of the final round. She then applied the pressure at the final hole, deftly hitting an 18-ft birdie to close in and possibly force a playoff.

20-year-old sensation Nelly Korda was chasing the leader from just three behind, with a bogey on the 15th halting her momentum.

Green locked in a key birdie at the 16th to extend the lead, but needed to maintain her composure to secure the win.

Just one shot separated her and Park once Green reached the 18th. A drive into the leftside bunker put closure in question. However, the Aussie steadied her nerves and holed out the par finish to seal her destiny victory.

And her contingent of Aussie supporters were ready to shower her with celebratory Budweiser.

It is a first LPGA and major win for Hannah Green. But at age 22 and a new presence on the Tour since last year, she is a star in the making. The first win will certainly not be her last.