Winning her first ISPS HANDA Australian Open crown would sit comfortably beside Hannah Green’s six victories on the LPGA Tour.
It’s a burning ambition for the 27-year-old golfer to win her national Open and she has given herself every chance with a strong 67-71 start on Thursday and Friday to be just two shots off the pace.
Back-to-back birdies to finish her second round have sent her into the weekend at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club in fourth spot at seven-under-par.
Green represents ISPS HANDA around the globe as an ambassador and has won three trophies this year in her rise to world No.6.
The greatest of Australia’s female golfers have the Australian Open title in their resumes if you look at Karrie Webb (five times) and Jan Stephenson.
It is still a missing piece for Green and Minjee Lee (74-74).
“My form coming into the Open is the best it’s ever been,” Green said matter-of-factly on tournament eve.
With jetlag in her frame, her six-under 67 on the soft, rain-affected Kingston Heath layout on Thursday was a definite warning to the field.
Having only flown into Melbourne on tournament eve from the LPGA’s Tour Championship in Florida, feeling less expectation may have worked for her.
No Australian has won the national Open since Webb’s fifth success in 2014.
“Obviously, ‘Webby’ has won this so many times in her career. Minjee and I both looked up to her and would love to win as many tournaments as we can,” Green said.
“The Australian Open is obviously on top of the list.”
South Korea’s Simon Seungmin Lee owns a dominant six-shot lead in the Australian All Abilities Championship, where he is making his debut. The 2022 champion, Kipp Popert, heads the chase.
Lee posted a stunning 5-under-par 67 on Friday, to back up a strong one-under 71 on the opening day to be six shots clear of Englishman Popert, who dropped shots late on his way to a one-over 73 on Friday.
Live scoring can be followed here https://www.golf.org.au/ausopen/leaderboard/
