Hannah Green is an important champion

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Hannah Green with the Hazeltine trophy. Image: Getty

Hannah Green is a great champion, only the third woman in Australian history has the honor.

The 22-year-old from Mt Lawley Golf Club in Perth rolled in a two-meter par-putt at Hazeltine National Golf Club just outside of Minneapolis today to win the KPMG Women's PGA Championship with a shot today after an epic last day.

She was immediately harassed by none other than Karrie Webb, the seven-time great champion who accompanied her, and fellow pro Oh Oh. Webb, Oh and a couple of Australians, including her friend Jarryd Felton, stayed together this week in a house, along with two members of the Webb Scholarship team, Becky Kay and Grace Kim.

Only two other Aussie women – Webb and Jan Stephenson – have won majors.

After leading the tournament from day one, Green had to get up from the left greenside trap on the par-four 18th and win, as former world champion number 1 and defending champion Sung Hyun Park had made a great birdie in the last hole to set an eight-under-general par.

But Green struck a terrible fall from a sensitive spot, leaving a right-to-left knee-beater to win it right away. She buried the putt for her very first victory on the LPGA Tour, a surprising triumph for many because she was previously without a win on the main tour and was ranked 114th in the world

But maybe it's a sign that she has arrived as a world-class player. Most of her golfing life is Green in the shadow of the other top amateurs who have arrived with her on the national scene – WA counterpart Minjee Lee and Victorian Oh. She was a fine amateur, represented her country and won, among other things, a WA junior title and a Victorian Amateur, but she was not considered in the class of Lee, who is now the number 3 player in the world

Today, however, was Hannah Green's day. It is a monumental triumph for a pretty girl who learned her wave to watch her Kiwi father Tau, still an enthusiastic golfer.

"I mean, I'm almost speechless," Green told the broadcaster afterwards. "I was very nervous about playing those last five holes, and I'm glad I made a link, because that was just about what was struggling through the round. The last one is unreal.

"It's great. I mean, I've always wanted to win in front of an Aussie crowd, but it felt like today, even though I'm not in Australia, and even to win a big one as my first event , I'm just over the moon. & # 39; & # 39;

Green led from wire-to-wire, photographed 68-69-70-72 to earn a check for $ 577,000, giving her an exemption to play the main tour for two years and place herself in the slot machine to Representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Her three previous wins as a professional were on the secondary Symetra Tour in 2017, when she earned her card to play on the LPGA. Her best-ending in an LPGA Tour event was third at the 2018 ISPS Handa Women & # 39; s Australian Open, and this was only her seventh start in a major.

She had to earn it. She started a shot away and played with one of the most intimidating players in world golf, Ariya Jutanugarn, initially a four-man lead with two early bogeys when the Thai superstar faltered.

But it got messy from the ninth, where she leaked a bogey and at the par-five 11th she was overly aggressive with her wedge against the green and left another, then another at the par-four 12th after a bad chip from the front of the green. With Park and Nelly Korda circling, the lead was suddenly only one.

What happened next says everything about the way she played. Green gathered himself and made three straight pieces, then the killer, a four-meter lighthouse down at the par-four 16th hole that curled into the left side of the hole and pulled a small fist pump. The pars on the 17th and 18th did the trick for her.

In her most trying moment as a professional, she went one-to-one through the last six holes of a course that was long and difficult for everyone.

The fact that it was the week that the Webb Scholarship duo was in town was significant, as Green was part of that program in 2015 when she stayed with the legendary Australian at a US Women's Open, with tips. The presence of her golf professional, friend Jarryd Felton, was also important because she was struggling with the loneliness of the tour and Felton could not always be beside her because he had his own play obligations.

Webb said she was nervous when Green bogeyed the ninth, but added that her protégé had slept well. "We had a loud thunderbolt that shook the house, and she has never heard that. I thought that was a good sign that she had slept very well and the nerves had not touched her last night. She was quiet this morning, but Hannah is not a big talker, we just talked about how great our Aussie barbecue was last night and how much fun she had. It was good that she had a relaxed evening. & # 39; & # 39;

It promises to be a big party at the Aussie's house tonight. Rightly so.

KAMG-WOMEN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

-9 Hannah Green (Aus)

-8 Sung Hyun Park (Sth Korea)

-6 Mel Reid (Eng), Nelly Korda (US)