Hannah Green holds out in Korea — Movin’ on to the Maybank
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, Oct. 24, 2024
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Hannah Green is golden once again, winning the 2024 BMW Ladies Championship at Seowon Valley Country Club in Korea.
Welcome back to Golf Thursday, everyone.
It was a special week for Hannah Green, as the Australian captured her third win this season and her sixth LPGA victory. She edged out Celine Boutier by one stroke to put away the championship.
Green’s winning week was full of record-breaking moments and personal bests. Green broke the 36 and 54-hole tournament scoring records at Seowon Valley with total scores of 128 (-16) after round 2 and 198 (-18) after round 3. These scores were also good enough to break and tie the overall tournament scoring records for those two rounds.
Green also solidified the 72-hole tournament scoring record at Seowon Valley with a total of 269 (-19) over four rounds.
But what ultimately led to her championship moment? It was tight; although Green led the way for most of the tournament, some other players made charges to make the finish a thrill. Here’s how Hannah’s final round went down.
Green’s start to the final round was steady. She birdied the par-4 third but then dropped a shot on the par-3 seventh. Green birdied No. 9 to close out her front nine at 1-under par.
Meanwhile, Chanettee Wannasaen was having quite a day. Her final round front nine of 30 (-6) was looming over the rest of the field. Wannasaen sat in the lead at 19-under after that stellar nine holes. Green knew this, but she also knew that the back nine had a whole other set of challenges.
“I guess the first leaderboard that I saw was on nine, and I saw that Chanettee was having a really good round after 10 holes, I think and I knew that the back nine was going to be more difficult and a lot more swirly with the wind,” Green said to the press after her win.
The back indeed proved tougher for Wannasaen, who came into the clubhouse with a 2-over 38 on the back nine, settling for a tournament total of 17-under.
With Green coming into the final round at 18-under, that lead wasn’t much of a separator from the rest of the field. Both she and her caddie noted that from the beginning of the round. But things don’t always go as planned.
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“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,” Green said.
To add to Green’s pressure, there was Celine Boutier, who always seems to be knocking on the doors of the tournament leaders.
At Green’s heels, Boutier posted a 5-under back nine, a clutch birdie on No. 18, to take the clubhouse lead at 18-under. This was after Green had bogeyed No. 11. There was a lot of work to be done if Green wanted to make the most of breaking those records.
“I knew that I needed to be patient and try and to make obviously birdies but also some pars,” Green said.
All it took was one birdie. That birdie came on hole 17, the par 4, and after that point, Green knew where she stood. She moved to 19-under for the tournament, taking the lead once more.
“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,” Green said. “When I got to the [18th] green, it was nice to have the 2-putt to be able to win the championship.”
Pars are crucial during rounds when bogeys seem to be the norm. In this case, a par on the last hole won Green the BMW Ladies Championship.
The 2-putt par on No. 18 also secured a monument moment for her country. She is the first Aussie to win three times in a season since the legendary Karrie Webb in 2006.
“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,” Green said. “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.”
The LPGA moves to Malaysia for the Maybank Championship, where defending champion Celine Boutier will surely fight for that title, especially after this week’s runner-up result.
We’ll see you next week.
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Five at The IX: Celine Boutier and Jeeno Thitikul gear up for the 2024 Maybank Championship
On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, Celine Boutier and Jeeno Thitikul spoke to the media at the 2024 Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Boutier is last year’s champion, defeating Thitikul in a nine-hole playoff. The two battled it out in 2023 and are hoping for similar results this year. Here’s what the competitors had to say before the start of the tournament.
THE MODERATOR: All right, hello everyone and welcome to the 2024 Maybank Championship. We’re here in the media center. I’m joined by Celine Boutier and Jeeno Thitikul; both tied for the first spot last year and headed into a nine-hole playoff if you all remember.
Just for both of you, what has it been like to be back here at the Maybank Championship so far? Who would like to go first? Celine.
CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it’s been good. It’s been fun to just come back to a place with good memories. Last year was my first time in Malaysia so I definitely feel like a little bit more comfortable and at ease this year coming back.
Just seeing the tournament site and everybody involved in recognizing what we did last year was kind of cool.
JEENO THITIKUL: Yeah, same. I mean, I have been to Malaysia a lot. To be honest I didn’t expect that all the fans going to recognize me last year. There was a lot of fan saying my name. I was like, wow, that’s kind of cool.
Yeah, feel like home as well because it’s close to Thailand. The heat is kind of same. And then the food is always nice. I just love playing in Malaysia.
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THE MODERATOR: And we’ll just bring it back to the major storyline of last year: The playoff between the two of you. What do you both remember from your perspectives about it and the nine holes?
JEENO THITIKUL: Tired. It’s been — I think it’s the first playoff that, one, it’s long, second, it’s suspended like during the playoff, which is kind of interesting.
And then just like it’s just us two waiting in the clubhouse, which is like funny. And then, yeah, it just was tired and also fun and pressure playing with her like nine holes.
CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it was just a grind. Just been a really long day already and then the rain delay and everything and then the holes that kept adding up. I just remember losing count at some point and just was like, you know, just one more hole. You can do it.
JEENO THITIKUL: Yeah.
CELINE BOUTIER: So it was, yeah, definitely a challenge just mentally, physically. But, yeah, just was a cool experience. I don’t think I’ll ever hopefully play another playoff that long.
So it’s just like a cool experience.
THE MODERATOR: Be back here at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Golf Club, what do you both remember about this golf course and maybe seeing to yesterday and today? What do you like so much about this golf course and why you think you played so well here last year?
CELINE BOUTIER: I think it’s kind of a target golf course. You don’t have to bomb it every hole. You have to place it pretty well on the fairway, and then I think there is a few birdie chances if you’re able to hit it close.
I remember the greens being quite slopey, and then I just remember it being in great shape as well.
JEENO THITIKUL: Yeah, I think for me, I just love the greens. Yeah, it’s quite slopey, but it’s have a chance for you to hit it there and then it’s give you opportunity to have like close birdie.
And then I think the greens looks pretty smooth to me, like near — I don’t know what they did, but they did a perfect job out there. It’s really smooth. I just said, wow, I didn’t see any scratch or anything at all.
THE MODERATOR: Celine, last week you played really well at the BMW Ladies Championship. Runner-up; top 10 before that. What he is it been like in this stretch of golf for you?
CELINE BOUTIER: It’s definitely been a little bit more fun. I feel like my game has been close the last few months. Just I just haven’t been able to convert and really put in some results.
So just being able to see some results the last few weeks have been really good personally, and hopefully I can keep going for the next few weeks.
THE MODERATOR: Jeeno, you’ve has a great season as well. You started a little late, but your scoring average has been incredible up to this point and playing really well. What has it been like for you recently?
JEENO THITIKUL: It’s been nice. I think I had really good — even week in, week out in contention, all the thing been working pretty good except it’s not coming together in the same week. Like last week I hit it really good but couldn’t hole the putt. Then China I holed the putt but not hitting irons that good.
I was talking and joking with my caddie that I’ve just been waiting for the week that everything is come together and then I think it should be fun and challenging week for me.
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