BMW LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP

October 20, 2024

Hannah Green

LPGA International Busan

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Pleased to be joined by the winner of the 2024 BMW Ladies Championship, Hannah Green. Hannah, just take us through the round and through the week, another Aussie to win this event. Take us through some of the highlights of the week.

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it was a crazy finish, I guess. My caddie said to me at the start of the day, "Let's try and get a lead and have a bit of a cushion coming in." I did not do that and made it very interesting.

But the putt on 17, I was very nervous. I was just very happy to see that one go in and on the last hole I was hoping I would have more of a tap-in but I like to make things interesting. But yeah, just super proud of myself for hanging in there because today conditions were very tough. The wind was very swirly, and I think everyone was trying to battle the wind.

Yeah, it was tough. I haven't experienced a wind direction change like that before.

THE MODERATOR: This is your third win this season, and you're the first Aussie to win three times in a season since Karrie in 2006. Can you put into words how special the season has been for you?

HANNAH GREEN: I did not know that about Webby's statistics. But yeah, I've playing really solid this year. Obviously having two wins and a runner-up and things like that.

But I just felt really different this off-season. I felt much more motivated. I got married in January. So this has been a very special year.

But it helps that I've been hitting the ball well, and when the putter goes well, it does go well. So just making sure that I can stay consistent. But I still have four or five more tournaments for the rest of the year, so I want to continue to work hard and have myself in these type of positions.

Q. There aren't any scoreboards out there. I wonder if you aware that Celine was making a charge, and do you owe her an apology by edging her by a shot in Singapore, as well?

HANNAH GREEN: I guess the first leaderboard that I saw was on 9, and I saw that Chanettee was having a really good round after ten holes, I think and I knew that the back nine was going to be more difficult and a lot more swirly with the wind. I knew that I needed to be patient and try and to make obviously birdies but also some pars. I would have looked at the leaderboard on the par-3, 14, and also on 16.

But I asked my caddie after I made the birdie on 17, you know, one am I one shot in front of both Chanettee and Celine and when I got to the green, it was nice to have the 2-putt to be able to win the championship.

But yeah, Celine and Chanettee both played really well today, and I did not see a score like that out there with those conditions.

Q. And Singapore?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, Celine is obviously a really good player. She's had many wins last year and she obviously won a couple weeks ago in Shenzhen. She's obviously knocking on the door, and her time will come.

Q. It was on 17 that you got solo lead, and you made a birdie putt. So if you can elaborate more on the distance that was left and the line that you read?

HANNAH GREEN: I think I had 127 metres to the pin, and so I hit my 8-iron. The wind was a little bit swirly. It was kind of sometimes into the wind, sometimes from the right. So I wasn't sure if it was 8-iron but I got lucky with the time that I hit my shot.

I left myself a very difficult putt down the hill, and I guess I was fortunate enough to see Ashleigh Buhai's putt and she didn't hit a great putt. So I knew that it was going to be very quick and felt confident even though I was very nervous, and yeah, it went into the middle. So that was really nice, and I knew that gave me the one-shot lead.

Q. And it seems that you faced a crisis on 11 when your tee shot went through a cart path and you managed a bogey. Can you tell us what went through your mind?

HANNAH GREEN: I actually hit my driver very well this week and that was the only bad shot I hit. It landed straight on to the cart path and I wasn't sure where it ended up so I hit a provisional.

I think I was lucky as to where it tended up. I think it could have been a lot worse but I just had to try and chip it out. I didn't really hit a great approach shot and left myself maybe a 30-footer for par.

I think overall, I got lucky to make a bogey. It could have been a higher score and I could have lost the ball.

Q. So when it comes to golf, sometimes it can be really fast-paced. You're shooting and you're gaining shots, like one after another but sometimes it can be really tedious and it can be just about like saving par and you have to wait and you have to bide your time to wait for that opportunity to present itself. How do you sort of wait for your opportunity on the course?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, today, because the wind was so gusty, it was a lot longer to play. So we played the first nine in three hours, and then I think we finished in maybe six hours for 18 holes.

So that's a lot of time to think, which is sometimes not a good thing. I guess we had a long wait on the 14th hole because the par 3 was being difficult with the breeze. So it's hard trying to switch off in between shots but that's kind of where I rely on my caddie to talk to him and also talk to my playing partners.

I think because I've been playing golf for so long, I know how to switch on and switch off. It's difficult. Especially if you hit a bad shot, it's hard not to think about it. But obviously when you're playing good, you can easily think about it.

Luckily I stayed in there, and I didn't hit a lot of good shots on the back nine but I hung in there and made some very good pars, which almost felt like birdie.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Hannah, and congratulations.