KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2022

Hannah Green

Congressional Country Club (Blue Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: It's the day before the KPMG Women's PGA Championship kicks off. Here with our 2019 Champion, Hannah Green.

Hannah, you've gotten to see the course here at Congressional a couple of times. How do you think this test is going to set up for this major week?

HANNAH GREEN: It's going to be hard. It's a long course. I think I've overheard maybe 6,800, but, again, we're getting forecasted rain, so perhaps they'll push it forward.

It's a long course. It's a tough course. You really have to pick where you miss it because you are going to mis-hit shots out here. It's just that hard.

I'm really looking forward to it. I came here a couple of weeks ago and played some rounds, so I feel like I'm ready, so I'm excited to get going.

THE MODERATOR: So you're one of the ones coming in having seen this place before. Is that something you try to do, get out to places you haven't played before to get a scouting visit?

HANNAH GREEN: I've probably done it more so for this event than any of the other majors just because it works in my schedule.

I don't think I can play five events in a row well, so I decided to take ShopRite off and was in the area, so I decided to come here and play. I don't want to put too much extra pressure on myself, but I thought this was a good golf course to come and see and play socially.

THE MODERATOR: What are some of your take-aways? We know since the U.S. Open was here and certainly there's been a big redesign, but what are some of the holes that really stood out to you that you think might be good for you or might be good turning points for the championship?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think 15 is probably one of the toughest holes, I guess, because the shot is blind for your second. So I think that's a hole where if you make four every day, you're probably going to be gaining against the field.

I think just making sure that you don't leak too much shots, don't make too big of numbers because it is quite easy to do that around here. It's pretty generous off the fairways, but the bunkers look pretty penal. It's hard to get onto the green, but I'm just really looking forward to it.

It's a very different vibe to what we had for our U.S. Open this year. I feel like it's kind of like a U.S. Open with being long and thick rough, so I'm excited.

THE MODERATOR: Excited and certainly excited from the big news from yesterday of KPMG and PGA of America stepping up to double this purse to $9 million. It was still a life-changing number when you won at Hazeltine National, but this is an even bigger opportunity now for the women on tour. What were your thoughts when you saw that news?

HANNAH GREEN: It was amazing. All of us were in the clubhouse eating lunch when I heard the news, so we all were just talking about it. We're not surprised.

KPMG and the PGA of America have been so great elevating this championship. And, like you said, three years ago just to see how much money they've put into it for us and even just not necessarily the money we play for, but even just how we get street at the venues that we're playing. We're really excited to be here and hopefully it's a good showcase for this tournament.

THE MODERATOR: I'll ask one more question before opening it up to questions.

It's a good time for Australian golf. You're playing well. Minjee with the two wins this year in the U.S. Women's Open win. This event certainly with Karrie having won it. How is it with Australian golf right now with you carrying the banner for a great development program?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, we're very fortunate that we've had such a great association help us as an amateur, and it's really nice to see that, yeah, Minjee, myself, Sue, Steph, all the girls on TOUR who have been through the program out here playing on TOUR, and I quite often get asked how many Australians are on tour.

I hope that number keeps increasing and there are more out here. I think this is a good golf course because ball-striking is important, and I feel like most of us Australians are pretty good at that. I would love to see any Australian lift the trophy this week, but hopefully I can. (Laughing).

THE MODERATOR: I understand. Go Aussie.

Q. Hannah, this course obviously is property, and it's had plenty of men's majors. What does it mean for the growth of the women's game to have the best of the LPGA here this week?

HANNAH GREEN: I think it's great that we're the first to play the new design of the golf course. Rory won here in 2011, but we've never had the opportunity to play that course, and I never got to see it.

It's nice. I think the course is quite long and probably set up for the men, but I think it actually will suit us. I think all the bunkers are going to come in play, and it will be a true test for everyone. It's great that we're here first.

Q. You mentioned you were here not that long ago to play it. Have you been in D.C. before, or how many times have you visited the Nation's Capital before that?

HANNAH GREEN: This is my first time, and I only spent time in Bethesda, so I didn't get to spend any time in D.C.

Tomorrow I have an early tee time, so I hope I can go near the White House, maybe go to a couple of museums and actually experience what D.C. is.

Q. You were saying the course is playing long, but there's a lot of run with the ball, so it looks like the keys are very much around the greens.

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah.

Q. How hard are you working on your short game this week?

HANNAH GREEN: I think that's what's been letting me down is my short game. I feel like the last few weeks that's what I've been working on a little bit harder.

The greens are quite slow, but I don't think they can make them any quicker because of the severity of the slope, so I think getting used to that is going to be one of the challenges. I wouldn't be surprised if you see girls miss putts short.

Yeah, around the greens just mis-hitting it in the right areas, leaving yourself the easiest chip shot. I think you'll see the best players do that, and that's probably who will come out on top this week.

Q. Which I guess is a matter of creativity this week. How many shots do you have around the greens, or how many different shots do you practice around the greens?

HANNAH GREEN: You have to be practicing out of the rough, and you also have to be able to hit it off the new sod. It's quite tight. It's quite easy for if you just slightly mis-hit it for that mis-hit to show even more.

A couple of shots today when I short-sided myself, I felt like it was easier for me to hit it low versus trying to hit it high. I quite like playing that shot. I think it's more of a percentage shot and one I'm more comfortable with.

You definitely have to have good imagination with your approach shot in and then also around the greens.

THE MODERATOR: So you've seen the course. You're getting ready. How excited are you to tee it up with a whole big paycheck on the line?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I know. It's amazing. I was talking to Su Oh, who is obviously my great friend. We were saying, don't be surprised if KPMG increases the purse, so it was great to see that it's doubled compared to what they said at the start of the year.

I think everyone is just really excited to be here at such an iconic venue. We're all just ready to go.

Q. We've been talking about the big paycheck and kind of the trend of, I mean, valuing women's golf more and more, putting more money into it. If you have to kind of have a vision of what's going to happen in the next majors and in the next years, what do you think it could be? What do you think the LPGA or the majors will look like?

HANNAH GREEN: I mean, I hope I'm still out here for another five to six years, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's up to $15 million, and I think that's a great purse.

I think compared to what it was four or five years ago, we probably wouldn't have thought it would have got to that, but I hope also other tournaments, not just majors, want to invest in women's golf as well, and I think that's going to happen.

Q. In connection with that, and I think it's a conversation this year, too. We have this tournament. We have Muirfield coming up. Is it a matter of increasing all the purses, or is it a matter of bringing the men and women closer together?

HANNAH GREEN: Look, I think the majors we play for great money. The top ten in the world players, they're going to be comfortable once they finish their season and their career, but I think so long as the majors keep pushing, other events are going to want to continue to do that.

It's a big headline for us getting these purses, so I think other sponsors will want to follow that and get their name out there as well.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much, Hannah. Have a great week.

HANNAH GREEN: Thank you.