KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2022

Hannah Green

Congressional Country Club (Blue Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with Hannah Green who just finished up a round of 1-under 71, opening round KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Survived an early morning, an early wet morning. Overall, tell me how your round went. Looked like you had a couple of ups and downs and ups and downs out there.

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I did. I bogeyed my first hole, didn't get a great shot, and then just tried to hold on as much as possible. On the front nine, I had a lot of long clubs in. Completely different to what I played in the practice round, which I'm sure every other player has experienced today.

Luckily, our back nine we got some better weather. The rain stopped, and it was still hard, but, yeah, made a couple of soft bogeys, but super happy to birdie 16, 17 to get me under par.

THE MODERATOR: No matter what, you're under par to start off a major. What was the goal for today? Was it just to survive, to try to get under par? Did you have a goal for today?

HANNAH GREEN: I think once I got to the first probably third or fourth hole, I was okay. Even par is a great score out here today. Nasa and I played really well, and it was just like we were kind of feeding off each other and trying to hang in there.

I knew there were a couple of shorter holes on the back nine that I could kind of access, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself, but I wanted to make sure I was putting myself in a position to have a birdie or have a low score.

After the start I'm just glad that I held in there and stayed patient.

THE MODERATOR: I know you got to attend the Past Champions Dinner last night and hang out with the previous generation of Aussies and see the new generation of Aussies. Can you tell us about the night and the two young women that are here with Karrie this week?

HANNAH GREEN: That was my first dinner because the last couple of years it hasn't been on, obviously with COVID. Even with the early tee time, I wanted to make sure I was there and able to see all the past champions that fly in and come.

It was super fun. I was on the table with Kirsten Rudgeley and Katelyn, who is from Adelaide. The two girls are out here watching with Webby. She's not participating, but she's actually outside the ropes watching, which is awesome. I'm really surprised she's out here today.

It was great to experience that with them, and we had Megan, Beth on the table as well and Anna as well. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad that I went, even with my early tee time today.

THE MODERATOR: Absolutely worth it. We'll open it up to questions.

Q. You mentioned when you got on the course, you thought even par would be a good score, and when you see In Gee at 8-under, what's your reaction to that performance?

HANNAH GREEN: I don't know what golf course she's playing. We were looking at the scores, and we were, like, oh, wow, okay. 5-under par, but still tough on the back nine, and to hear that she's 8, I'm, like, wow, that's impressive. That's like shooting 10-under out here.

I hit some hybrids into holes. I hit 5-wood into a par-5. It was long out there. It really helps if you hit the fairways, obviously, but it's still hard to predict what's going to happen.

8-under, I don't know if that's going to hold up, like everyone is going to shoot that type of score. So props to In Gee for the way she's playing today.

Q. Do you feel you have to be more aggressive with In Gee on the way to posting such a low number?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it depends on what the conditions are going to be like. I hope that we do get some sunlight and that it can firm up a little bit because I think that will help.

But I'm still trying to shoot for 2- or 3-under a day. I think that will still climb me up there. It's hard to lead major championships and to back a round like that up at a major, so we'll see what happens.

Q. What kind of a lift do you get as a player with a finish like that on such a tough test?

HANNAH GREEN: It definitely helps the momentum going into tomorrow. The putt that I holed in 16 and 17, they were two similar breaking putts, so it was nice to be able to visualize it and actually go in.

I'll do a little bit of putting practice after my round, and then, yeah, hopefully have just a nice relaxing afternoon and not think about golf too much, but it definitely helps especially with the tough stretch of the last four holes to be able to birdie two of them.

Q. How long were the putts?

HANNAH GREEN: The first one was probably 12 feet, and then the second one was probably closer to 20 feet. It was really nice. They both went in with good pace, so that's always good too.

Q. Do you find any similarities to this test and the length here to Hazeltine?

HANNAH GREEN: A little bit. I feel like also the daunting tee shot on 18. It's quite a wide fairway, but when you are over the ball, it kind of looks a little bit narrower.

I feel like the grass type, the green complexes is very similar, and hopefully I can feed off those vibes. (Laughing).

Q. Hannah, we talked yesterday about how you have worked to picking up more distance. Had you not done that work, where do you think you would have been today?

HANNAH GREEN: I don't think I would have shot under par. Yeah. The ninth hole I had to hit a 5-wood in for my third shot. I hit a couple of hybrids into par-4s, hybrids into par-3s.

I think if I played my best with that length, I probably would have shot a couple over par. Maybe 3-over par. It has made a big difference.

Also, I think even though length is good, accuracy on this golf course is still important, and I managed to just miss one fairway, and I missed it by a meter, and that also helps too.

Q. What's the biggest thing you did to pick up speed?

HANNAH GREEN: I feel like I've always been able to create speed. I've just never really chased it. I feel like most people blow it out of proportion and try too hard sometimes, but I just wanted to slowly see what I could achieve and what I could manage.

When I'm in the start of the year, I always feel fresh. I've had a couple of months off. I've trained hard in the gym, but I think it's hard to maintain during a season. Everyone gets tired. Things happen off the golf course.

Yeah, it was really fun to do it. It wasn't like I was swinging out of my shoes and I couldn't actually hold my follow-through, but it was just nice to chase and still continue to chase.

Q. Do you know pretty much what you picked up year-over-year?

HANNAH GREEN: I don't think I really picked up that much over the last 12 months, but when I came back out in 2021, stats on LPGA would have said I picked up nearly 20 yards in distance.

I would say probably 10 meters of carry, which is still quite big. It's definitely been helpful. And even a couple of tee shots out here I've been able to carry bunkers where maybe some are trying to stay short.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much, Hannah.