After 54 holes, there was an Aussie duo tied atop the leaderboard at the JM Eagle LA Championship in Los Angeles.
But while Grace Kim stumbled to a 76-77 weekend, defending champion Hannah Green was calm, cool and collected en route to a second straight victory at Wilshire Country Club.
Green shot a 5-under 66 on Sunday – a final round that was only bested by Madelene Sagstrom’s 65 – as she enjoyed a comfortable victory by three shots over Maja Stark.
“I felt like a couple times today almost got like a member bounce,” Green said. “I obviously really am fond of the golf club and joked that they didn’t approve it with me that they were making alterations. I love it here. Such a great atmosphere. Really good crowds this year.”
The Sunday crowd even delivered an “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” chant during the post-round celebration.
It’s Green’s fifth victory on the LPGA and she’s the first to defend on tour since Jin Young Ko did it in 2023.
Green’s up-and-down season continued this week on a high note. She won at the end of February at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, but then missed the cut in her next start. After a tie for 21st in Arizona, she missed the cut last week at the LPGA’s first major, the Chevron Championship.
“To obviously already win in Singapore and here this week, I hope that I can get closer to my goal of being Top 10 in the world and solidify my spot in the Olympics,” Green said.
For Stark, it’s a second straight solo second following her runner-up finish at last week’s Chevron. Haeran Ryu was solo third at 6 under, six shots back. Jin Young Ko tied for fourth with fellow Korean Jin Hee Im.