Green hit 28-of-56 fairways, the lowest in the field, but tied for third in total birdies with 18.
For newlywed Hannah Green, the celebrations continued just a five-hour plane ride from Perth, Australia, where she won with a flourish in her second start to the LPGA season. Green’s dramatic birdie putt on the 18th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore sealed a narrow victory over France’s Celine Boutier, who won four times last season.
For the 27-year-old Green, who got married in January and moved into a new home right before last week’s event in Thailand, it’s been a dreamlike start to 2024.
Green birdied the last three holes at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course to close with a third consecutive 67 and finish at 13 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Boutier.
“Almost like it was meant to be today for me, holing those two putts today on the last two holes,” said Green as she held the trophy. “I’m so happy to have this in my hands.”
Ayaka Furue is the shortest player on the LPGA, standing at 5 foot even. However, don’t let her stature fool you, she’s one of the best golfers in the world.
The 23-year-old from Japan holds a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the 2024 HSBC Women’s World Championship, shooting 4-under 68 on Saturday at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. The winner of the 2022 Women’s Scottish Open, Furue has proven she can win at this level, but winning one of the biggest events in Asia would be a big feather in her cap early in her career.
“I just feel excited to be part of the top of the leaderboard,” Furue said. “I think winning is the most important thing to play in the Paris Olympics, so yeah.”
Another thing on many player’s minds is said Summer Olympics, which every week creep closer. A win for Furue this week would go a long way in locking up her spot to represent Japan.
Furue started her round with birdies on her first two holes and added two more on the front. She had one circle and one square on the card on the back nine, otherwise, she sits at 10 under with 18 holes to play.
Australia’s Hannah Green shot 5 under on moving day to move into solo second at 8 under. Second-round leader Celine Boutier shot even par on moving day and is T-3 at 7 under.
Friday was a special one for Celine Boutier at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.
The third-ranked golfer in the world fired an 8-under 64 to take the lead following the second round at the 2024 HSBC Women’s World Championship. Following a first round in which scores were higher than usual, plenty of golfers went low on the second day, but none lower than Boutier, who had the round of the day by two shots. She leads at 7 under.
“Definitely, it feels good,” Boutier said. “I feel like I didn’t really get the best of starts last week, so it feels a lot better to finally have one low round.”
Boutier had a clean card with eight birdies in her second round, and she holds a one-shot lead over Japan’s Ayaka Furue, who shot 5-under 67 on Friday and is at 6 under for the tournament.
Even bigger for Boutier, the 2023 Amundi Evian champion — Friday was her father’s birthday.
“Wished him a happy birthday before my round,” Boutier said. “He was like, yeah, so you’ve got to get me a gift, so that would be a nice gift. I hope he enjoys that one.”
Madelene Sagstrom is solo third at 5 under, while Patty Tavatanakit, who has won the last two weeks, is T-9 at 3 under along with fellow star Brooke Henderson, among others.
“You take them when you can get them. You get plenty of bad breaks. That’s a good one.”
There’s no doubt that Brooks Koepka is back to playing strong golf.
Since moving to play in the LIV Golf League, Koepka has won twice, the only golfer to do so, and even held the 54-hole lead at the Masters earlier this month before a final-round 75 (insert 72-hole tournament jokes here).
However, it’s a drop he took during the first round in Singapore that’s making the rounds. It even had LIV announcers questioning what was going on.
Let’s set the scene. Koepka was playing the par-4 15th hole measuring 428 yards when his tee shot went right. When reaching his ball, Koepka and his caddie, Ricky Elliott, said their line to the green was blocked by the LIV Golf Fan Village setup, so they asked for temporary immovable obstruction relief.
LIV on-course analyst Dom Boulet said on the CW live stream, “I’m not sure what he’s asking for,” who then asked Elliott what was going on. Elliott confirmed Koepka was getting line-of-sight relief and he could drop on either side.
This still left commentators confused.
“It doesn’t appear there is anything between him and the hole,” David Feherty said.
Boutlet responded: “Well, there are toilets over there. Ricky just told me it’s line of sight. I think it’s the port-a-loos perhaps. But I didn’t think that was an option, to be honest with you. I mean, he’s got to go through a couple of trees to take that option.”
Koepka proceeded to pick up his ball and walk toward the 16th past some tents. It was there he spoke with a rule official on where he could take the drop.
“And under the local rule, he can take relief on either side of the TIO,” rules analyst Tony Zirpoli said on the broadcast. “It probably gives him a better shot. So, he’s taking the smart way out by taking that other side relief. And it’s also a long walk.”
Feherty added: “It sure is. It’s an unusual situation that there would be such a gap. He’s going to walk to the point, Tony, where he has a clear look?”
Boulet: “He’s going to drop in the middle of the 16th fairway.”
Zirpoli: “He will have a clear view of the edge of the TIO. He will then get a one club-length corridor, and then from that one club-length corridor, he gets an additional one club length, which is his relief area.”
Feherty: “Well, he’s about 200 club lengths from where he was.”
Koepka proceeded to drop his ball just on the 16th fairway.
“I heard Ricky say 167; that’s what they’re measuring it because that’s where they wanted to take relief — the same distance,” Boulet said. “Now I didn’t think it was an option what he had to go over there — port-a-loo or tent or whatever it was he was going over. But David Blake, referee, gave him the ruling, and he’s got a big break here.”
Added Feherty: “You take them when you can get them. You get plenty of bad breaks. That’s a good one.”
Koepka then hit his second shot over trees in front of him to 8 feet, and he two-putted for par.
There have been plenty of big names who have hoisted a trophy through the LIV Golf League’s first two seasons, like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith. But there hasn’t been a leaderboard as good as the one we’ve got in Singapore with 18 to play.
Sentosa Golf Club has provided great theater through two rounds of LIV Golf Singapore, as last week’s winner in Adelaide, Talor Gooch, and Sergio Garcia are tied for the lead at 13 under. Koepka, the only two-time winner on LIV, is a shot behind. Then there’s Smith at 11 under and Phil Mickelson, who at one time held the lead early in the second round after a hole-out eagle, at 10 under.
“Obviously the caliber of players here, it just shows,” Garcia said of the packed leaderboard. “On a day like today where there wasn’t much wind the course was gettable. We were able to pick the ball up on the fairway, so that always probably makes it one or two shots easier.”
Preferred lies were in play during round two because of wet course conditions. And Garcia, Gooch and others took advantage.
Garcia fired a bogey-free 7-under 64 to move into a tie for the lead. His best finish since moving to LIV Golf are a pair of fourths last season in Jeddah and Chicago.
Meanwhile, Gooch is looking to join Koepka as a two-time winner and the first back-to-back winner. He carded seven birdies and a lone bogey, signing for 6-under 65 to remain tied for the lead.
“Sergio and I had a bunch of fun out there and Cam as well,” Gooch said. “Our group played really well again, and we were just kind of feeding off each other the whole day. It felt like Cam kind of got off running, and then I kind of came running in the middle, and then Sergio got it going on the back.”
Gooch is 32 under in his past five rounds.
Koepka shot 65 for the second straight day to sit a shot behind and earn a final-group tee time on Sunday. Mickelson was 5 under thru 5 holes and finished his day at 5 under for the round, but he’s solo seventh. Scott Vincent and Cameron Tringale are tied for fourth at 11 under with Smith, who is finding his form after a slow start to the season.
The second round will air on the CW from 1-6 p.m. Saturday. However, final-round action gets underway at 8 p.m. ET Saturday in the United States. The final round will also air on tape delay Sunday.
Check out the best photos of the week from Sentosa Golf Club.
After a week Down Under, the LIV Golf League is back in action once again this week with its fifth event of the season.
LIV Golf Singapore will tee it up Friday-Sunday, April 28-30, at the Serapong at Sentosa Golf Club in Sentosa Island, Singapore. The course is a par-71 layout playing 7,406 yards. The field of 48 players and 12 teams will compete for the $25 million purse, where the winning player will take home $4 million and the winning team will earn $3 million.
The second and third rounds can also be live streamed on the apps, while the CW Network will broadcast the event on a tape delay from 1-6 p.m. ET.
Talor Gooch remains in the lead for the fifth straight round, tied with Sergio Garcia at 13 under and a shot in front of Brooks Koepka with 18 holes to play.
In the team competition, Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers and Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats are tied at 25 under, with Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC three shots behind.
Play will begin at 8 p.m. ET in the final round Saturday night.
Check out the best photos of the week from LIV Golf Singapore.
A $270,000 winner’s check moves Ko to 22nd on the LPGA career money list,
Former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko won for the first time in a year as she successfully defended her title at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. After battling a wrist injury for most of 2022, Ko called it the most important victory of her career.
Ko has now won at least one title in each of the past six seasons. The 27-year-old has 14 career LPGA titles, including two majors. A $270,000 winner’s check moves her to 22nd on the LPGA career money list, passing Yani Tseng and Ariya Jutanugarn with $10,680,535.
Nelly Korda birdied the 72nd hole to move into solo second and take $169,299 at the no-cut event.
Jessica Korda, playing in her first event since returning from a back injury, finished last after rounds of 76-78-79-72, earning $4,078.
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Here’s the full breakdown of the $1.8 million purse:
When it was over, she doubled over on the final green as the tears poured out.
Jin Young Ko grabbed her towel walking up to the 18th green to wipe her eyes. The emotion of the past year was written on her face. After an injury to her left wrist wrecked her 2022 season, Ko defended her title at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, calling it the most important victory of her career.
When it was over, she doubled over on the final green as the tears poured out.
“It’s going to be big momentum for me in my life,” said Ko, who closed with a 69 to beat Nelly Korda by two strokes and win for the first time in 12 months.
Ko has now won at least one title in each of the past six seasons. The 27-year-old has 14 career LPGA titles, including two majors. A $270,000 winner’s check moves her to 22nd on the LPGA career money list, passing Yani Tseng and Ariya Jutanugarn with $10,680,535.
Sentosa Golf Club received a month’s worth of rain in one week as LPGA players endured a number of rain delays, the last of which occurred Sunday when the final group was on the 16th hole.
“I actually didn’t honestly know if we were going to finish the last hole,” said Korda, who made birdie on 18 to jump into solo second. Danielle Kang, Allisen Corpuz and Ayaka Furue finished in a share of third.
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The showdown between Ko and Korda is what many fans expected to play out all last season before health issues set them both back.
“It’s always hard to play with Nelly, especially on Sunday” said Ko. “We’ve been playing together yesterday, and today was second time. We had a lot of times to play in 2021. She hits farther than last year, I think. So I don’t look at her ball. I didn’t look at her ball or her playing. It’s hard but love to compete with Nelly.”
Nelly Korda tees off on the 15th hole during the final round of the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
This marked the 15th playing of the HSBC, known as “Asia’s major.” All but two players who have won in Singapore are major champions. Ko now joins Inbee Park, who is out on maternity leave, as the only two-time champions.
Ko pushed back her winter training in December to rest her wrist and went to Europe to see the Northern Lights in Finland and tour The Louvre in Paris.
“I think it brings good luck for me because it’s really hard to see the Northern Lights when you go to Finland or Iceland,” said Ko, “but I take just one day that I saw the Northern Lights, and so it was lucky.”
Ko then spent a month in Vietnam working with her former swing coach, Si Woo Lee, and said she took a great deal of confidence from their time together. She also took up meditating during the offseason and felt that it helped bring more balance to her life.
“I’m just trying to enjoy the course,” she said of the long and demanding week, “and I just want to hear birds singing, and I just wanted to feel wind and air.”
For a player who likely wondered if her body would ever let her return to the form that saw her dominate the LPGA, finding pleasure in the small things has been key.
For Corpuz, this marked the 24-year-old’s third career top-five finish as she moves a step closer to her No. 1 goal of making the Solheim Cup team.
“Really happy with how I played,” said Corpuz, who birdied the last hole, “especially being with Jin Young and Nelly. So awesome to just watch them play well and kind of feel like I’m almost keeping up with them.”
Kang: ‘Have a beer on us’
Kang left Singapore proud of her efforts, noting that she’s continuing to test balls and wedges and likes the progress that’s been made.
But before Kang headed out, she handed out beers to those who made the week possible.
“Normally what we do is in America, my caddie and I, we go buy cases of beers, and I have him help me out and load them up and give them to the grounds crew and things,” she said. “This week, I thought the volunteers did an incredible job, so we add the volunteers this time, too.
“In Singapore, it’s expensive but it’s OK. They worked really hard to keep the golf course in the most championship condition possible and without them we would not have been able to play or finish 72 holes, so I just wanted to say thanks and have a beer on us.”
“I think it took days for him to make these molds.”
Danielle Kang rode a hot custom putter to the 36-hole lead at the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship. The six-time winner hit 14 fairways and 16 greens and took 25 putts in a second-round 63 that lifted her to 10-under 134 for the tournament. It’s the first time she’s topped the board at the halfway point since the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio last season.
Kang said she took an idea to famed club designer Scotty Cameron and then watched excitedly as that idea came to life.
“I think it took days for him to make these molds,” said Kang. “And then I was with him for seven hours straight, grinding them, making it, buffering, lie lofting. It was incredible for me to watch. And I absolutely love that putter. And people keep asking me what it is, and he stamped it “DK Special” on the bottom, so that’s the name of it.”
Kang’s bogey-free 63 at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course ties her career-low round on the LPGA, which she has now posted five times. She holds a one-stroke lead over a trio of players in Singapore, including former HSBC champion Hyo Joo Kim, Allisen Corpuz and Elizabeth Szokol.
“My putter has been really hot for a while,” said Kang. “So thank you, Mr. Scotty. It’s working.”
The second round in Singapore included a rain delay that lasted more than three hours. Kang said she used much of the time to meditate.
“I just close my eyes and try and listen to all the noise,” she said. “I try and kind of see things I didn’t realize. Like it’s like experiencing the five senses type of deal.”
The rest of the time was spent catching up with friends on tour. When Kang met with press after the round, she hadn’t looked at her phone since she left the hotel.
Szokol, the first-round leader who is playing on a medical exemption, wasn’t as sharp after that opening 64 but managed to stay well in the mix for the weekend. Szokol dealt with a herniated disc in her back last year that kept her from touching a club for 12 weeks. She played the second half of last year.
“So it was a really long day,” said Szokol, who played college golf at Northwestern and Virginia. “So just happy with how I battled today.”
Nelly Korda at the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship at Como Dempsey in Singapore. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Defending champion Jin Young Ko posted a 65 on Friday and sits three shots back. World No. 2 Nelly Korda trails by two after carding her second consecutive 68. Ko said her calm personality helps her to shine in poor conditions.
Korda spent time in the gym during the long delay to keep loose.
“That’s the beauty of golf,” she said of staying patient. “I feel like you endure different types of weather. And you just kind of repeat to yourself that you love golf, and you love what you’re doing.
“These long days are hard, and a lot of people don’t really … viewers don’t really know about our days like these. You know, I think I was with my caddie for over 12 hours today, and many people don’t really see that side of our life.”
