After grappling with Nelly Korda for 18 gritty holes on Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club, Hannah Green ultimately finished second to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1, just missing out on a third 2024 victory at the Mizuho Americas Open.
Starting the day two back of Korda at 11-under, the Australian made one birdie and one bogey on her opening nine holes to sit in a tie with the American as the pair made the turn. Green and Korda then matched scores on their next eight holes, coming to the par-4 18th hole at Liberty National tied at 14-under and needing a birdie to collect a victory.
Even though she battled as hard as she could, it was ultimately a wayward tee shot that spelled the end for Green, who made bogey to Korda’s par after hitting it in the gnarly left rough on the final hole to finish just one shot short at the Mizuho Americas Open.
Despite the disappointing bogey, Green’s spirits were high, and she could only smile as she walked off the 18th green, proud of how hard she fought down the stretch against the hottest player in the world at the moment.
“To lose to Nelly, it's sad, but then it's also Nelly Korda. She's so dominant right now,” said Green. “To feel like second behind her is quite nice. Unfortunately, the bogey on the last has a little bit of a sour taste, but I still competed out there when I didn't really think I was in it at all.
“I always enjoy playing with Nelly. We are both very similar. We like to play a quick round, and today it felt quite slow. We had a lot of chat in between holes. It was enjoyable playing with Nelly and matching her and making birdies. Hopefully, I can take this form for the next stretch of events and get one of those trophies.”
While she’s just a few tallies behind Korda in the win column so far this year, Green is the only other player on the LPGA Tour this season with multiple victories, capturing the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in March and then successfully defending her title at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro in April. And if you had asked her at the start of 2024 if she expected herself to play as strongly as she has this early in the year on the LPGA Tour, Green wouldn’t have thought she would have already earned two wins at this point in the season.
“Not sure I would've said it at the start of the year that I would be so dominant,” Green said. “I have said that in other interviews, that I was surprised that I've already won twice. I think that's just because I now have won five times in my career, and it took me a while to get from two to three. Now, four and five have come so quickly. I felt like I've never really played that bad. It’s just getting better at the bad – when you have those bad rounds.
“I think that's probably what Nelly is experiencing, too. When she's hot, she's always able to win tournaments, but when she's not playing so well, she's still up there. That's something that I've tried to work on. It's pretty cool to have Nelly paving the way and all of us trying to chase her.”
This year marks Green’s first multiple-win season on Tour since she won both the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Portland Classic in 2019. With the form she’s currently in, it would be no surprise to see her find victory lane for a third time in 2024, something she’ll be hoping to do in just a week’s time at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania as Green works to ride her hot hand once again at a major championship.
“To go back to somewhere that I haven't actually played but been outside the ropes, and that was the thing that really (made me want to) become a professional golfer, watching Karrie (Webb) there. I'm really excited for Lancaster,” said Green. “It’s similar in the sense of the grass type and the conditions. Hopefully, a little warmer than what we had the first couple of days and last week at Upper Montclair. I'm super excited for the next stretch of events. I'm ready for a week off also to work out and get ready.”
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