Through 14 holes in Sunday’s final round at the JM Eagle LA Championship, Hannah Green was stuck.
On a tough scoring day at Wilshire Country Club, Green, who started the day two back of the lead, was in the same position after 14 consecutive pars to start her round.
She was close, but the round was almost evocative of her last four years on the LPGA Tour since her last victory in 2019. In that span, she notched 14 top-10s — nine just in 2022 — the second most of anyone without a win, according to stat ace Justin Ray.
Finally, the birdies came.
She two-putted the par-5 15th after reaching the green in two, then poured in a long one at the par-3 18th to tie clubhouse leaders Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin at nine under. She knocked her tee shot stiff in the first playoff hole, matching birdies with Lin before parring the 18th one more time to win the playoff and the LA Championship.
The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Champion started fighting back tears in the aftermath of her third LPGA Tour title.
“It’s been a long few years,” Green told Golf Channel’s Karren Stupples. “I know I played really well last year, but getting it across the line has been very difficult. So I’m really proud of myself for hanging in there because I really didn’t think that I’d be in it with how I was playing and making so many putts.
“Yeah, I’m really happy, but the emotions are coming out.”
The 54-hole leader, Cheyenne Knight was also even par when she came to the 15th, but her second did not lead to a birdie as Greens did a few minutes earlier. She pushed her fairway wood well right and hit some rocks in the creek that runs across the fairway short of the green and kicked further right and out of bounds. She made double and never recovered on the last three.
At the same time, Ashok was tied with Knight at nine under but bogeyed 17 to drop into a five-way tie for the lead when her playing partner, Lin, birdied the hole.
Both players knocked it within eight feet on the par-3 finisher and converted to post nine under before Green matched them with her birdie from the front right edge of the green. Ashok and Lin were both seeking their first LPGA wins.
“I’ve never played in this position on the LPGA, so to be near the lead on the first day, kind of stay there the whole tournament,” Ashok, who won earlier this year on the Ladies European Tour, said. “The competition is just so deep out here.”