CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

December 19, 2020

Hannah Green

Tiburón Golf Club

Flash Interview

THE MODERATOR: Hannah, solid 1-under today. Not the way you wanted to finish, but you had a great day. How does this stack up? How would you say your day stacks up?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, felt like I gave myself a lot of opportunities. Got quite frustrated towards the back nine and I think that led to my double on the last.

But, yeah, kept on hitting great shots and giving myself opportunities, so I hope that I can continue to do that tomorrow and kind of sneak up the leaderboard.

Q. What made it frustrating out there? You had a few birdies here and there and a nice steady day. Was there anything in particular that maybe wasn't going your way?

HANNAH GREEN: I mean, I made a great par save on 9; holed nearly a 10-foot putt for par and gave myself a good opportunity on 10. Missed it.

Then gave myself another good opportunity on 12 and 13 and missed it again. Just couldn't get the pace of the greens today.

Then on the last kind of just hit my second putt, third putt a bit too quickly and tugged it left.

I'm going to do some putting, try and make sure I'm not getting too quick on my stroke and wanting to get the ball in the hole too quickly.

Hopefully I can get good numbers into greens like I did today and capitalize on that.

Q. That just means you saved them all for tomorrow, right?

HANNAH GREEN: Hopefully. Hopefully I can go low and come from out of nowhere. I have no idea where I am on the leaderboard or what Sei Young or Jun Young have done today.

Low one tomorrow on my birthday would be nice.

Q. Still in the top 10, so still in contention. I think Sei Young is at 14.

HANNAH GREEN: Okay.

Q. Speaking of Sei Young, when you have someone who's playing like that, obviously you want to win.

HANNAH GREEN: Yep.

Q. Be right up there. When you have someone who is given that extra inch from the rest of the field, what's it like from a competitor's standpoint?

HANNAH GREEN: It's hard. You don't want to get too caught up in what Sei Young is doing. I know she's a pretty aggressive player and does hit it quite far, so it's really perfect for this type of golf course.

I do watch leaderboards. I did majority watching today besides after my round. I haven't looked at it just yet.

But, yeah, I'm sure Sei Young will be aggressive tomorrow and Jin Young is still in form. She was runner-up last week.

So going to be hard to catch those two. There is a lot of money on the line, so there is still a lot of nervous feelings out there. Even though Sei Young won last year it's not easy to get it done and win out here.

Q. You're a major champion. How quickly does your mindset change to get over the finish today and to realize, like you just said, there is a lot of money on the line and still a lot to play for tomorrow?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it's hard. Probably what makes a difference between winning tournaments and not winning. The mental side of your game is just as hard as hitting the shots and pulling the trigger.

Having won KPMG is definitely giving me a lot of self-confidence. I don't really -- well, I hope I don't show too much emotion on the golf course. Yeah, it's nice to now be, when I'm in contention, not feel as nervous and know the smart decisions to make on the golf course.

Q. With how much this course allows attacking and also kind of also prevents it, the mindset tomorrow when you are chasing from let's say six back at this point, what's the mindset? Do you start attacking every pin?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it's hard. I feel like you really have to have the perfect number. Quite a lot of the first two rounds I was in between clubs, and I found when -- I prefer to club up and just hit a little bit softer, but because the greens, there are some downgrain and sometimes they're firm, tar you can't always quite hit that shot.

I think it just depends on what club you have in and whether it's a comfortable number for you. So it's going to be difficult. There are a few shorter holes. I guess 7 and 10 and the par-5s, most of them we can get into.

So I've really got to make sure I make birdies on those holes and don't lose against the rest of the field.

Q. With the warmer weather today and hoping for tomorrow, how much more gettable is this courses than normal?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, makes a huge difference. Friday morning I had a later tee time and I was still freezing. Felt like I was back in Dallas and I was like, Oh, the ball is a definitely going to go shorter.

Today it was nice. Everything was going normal, if not maybe a little bit longer. So I think tomorrow might even be warmer to today. Yeah, it's nice when you feel like you're confident with your swing, so hopefully I can have good numbers in and go low.

Q. That major win, what do you draw off from having that this your pocket? Obviously it was 2019, but it's a good thing to have in your back pock and to keep in your mind.

HANNAH GREEN: Definitely. I mean, Hazeltine is different golf course to Tiburon, but there are some tough holes coming in on the stretch and some tough holes at the start of the course as well.

So I think, yeah, just not getting too ahead of yourself. I feel like I got off to a really strong start in all the rounds, and need to make sure I'm keeping on top towards the back end.

I don't know if I'm getting tired or losing focus, but I think that's probably going to be the key for me having a good finish tomorrow.

Q. Obviously been a lot of waiting this week. How has that fact, the mental exhaustion you feel at the end of the round?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think it's been the worst today. But I'm playing in the second to the last group. Bound to be a bit of slow play. It is difficult, and I'm playing with Nelly and Cydney, probably the two quickest players on tour, and I would consider myself a quick player, too.

So it was quite difficult, and then it also gave us some time to kind of relax, so I hope tomorrow that, yeah, I've got a great pairing and I can finish at a good time to drive back to Orlando.

Q. Two quick ones for you. First off, you got your birthday tomorrow.

HANNAH GREEN: Uh-huh.

Q. And in a year where there haven't been any fans out, just knowing that it is the final event in what has been a crazy year, is there a little adrenaline you expect to come with that?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah. It's going to be very strange playing on my birthday. Normally I'm at home just chilling doing nothing and my golf clubs are usually in the travel case in the shed. It's going to be quite weird playing a competitive round.

I don't know how many people know that it's my birthday so I'm not sure what to expect. My caddie knows, so we'll see what he does for me.

Yeah, hopefully I get some good bounces on the golf course and maybe a little bit of birthday luck. We'll see.