Australia's Green Flawless in Opening Round to Lead KPMG at Hazeltine

June 20, 2019 | 6 min.

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  CHASKA, Minn. – Needing only 23 putts during her opening round Thursday, Australian Hannah Green fired a career-best round to begin a major, a bogey-free 4-under 68, to take the early lead at the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
 
Not only did the 22-year-old sink practically everything she looked at on the putting surface, Green also got some help from her short game late in the round Thursday, holing her bunker shot at the par-5 seventh to help keep a clean scorecard. Carding a pair of birdies on each nine during her opening round, Green will take a one-stroke lead over Korean Hyo Joo Kim and England’s Mel Reid when the tournament resumes Friday.
 
“I can’t really say that I hit the ball that great, but my putts from six feet were really solid. I feel like I had ten putts from that length and I pretty much holed all of them,” Green said following her round Thursday. “That was definitely the difference in what’s been lacking in my game. Hopefully the putts will continue to roll, but I was very pleased with how they went today. I can’t think of any putts that I didn’t make or didn’t capitalize on.”
 
Beginning her round on the 10th tee Thursday, Green sank a 15-footer for par on her opening hole and followed it by rolling in her birdie chance from 20 feet at the second, which she said started some really good momentum for the rest of the round.
 
Dropping her birdie putt from six feet at the 16th, Green turned at 2-under for the day. She rolled in another 15-footer at the par-4 third before her birdie from the sand at the seventh.
 
While her putter was working early Thrusday, Green also took advantage of the long holes at Hazeltine, playing the par-5s at 3-under for the opening round.
 
“It’s a lot easier to have wedges in. Some of those holes are a lot harder with a long iron and when you have a wedge in your hand you feel like you need to capitalize on those.”
 
Green, from Perth, Australia, finished second on the Symetra Tour money list in 2017 to earn her LPGA Tour card for the 2018 season. She made 24 starts on tour last season, making four cuts and finishing inside the top-10 once. Her best finish at a major came at the ANA Inspiration where she placed tied for 16th. During her rookie season she amassed more than $240,000 in earnings.
 
So far this season, Green has three top-25 finishes with her best performance coming on her home soil at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in February, where she finished tied for 10th. Green missed the cut at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, but finished tied for 33rd at the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month.
 
Carding three birdies over her first nine holes Thursday, Kim quickly shot up the leaderboard, but gave back a shot with a bogey at the 10th hole. Carding her third birdie on a par-5 at the 15th, Kim would finish the day with an opening round 69.
 
“The course played really long today,” Kim said Thursday. “It kept feeling like I just wanted to play even par and that’s kind of what was in my mind. A lot of birdies came out the round today. The short game came together really well."
 
Kim collected four consecutive top-10 finishes early in the season, with her best performance coming at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, where she placed tied for fifth.
 
“Making a top-10 is definitely my goal every week and I want to continue that and play consistently. The 30 putts and 12 greens, that’s something that I try to make every week, especially this week,” she said.
 
Former Wayzata High School standout Sarah Burnham hit the first tee shot of the tournament early Thursday after finding out she was in the field late Sunday night.
 
“I was actually in East Lansing back at my apartment because I just graduated in May. I still have my apartment until August because I was at the Meijer Classic, which was like an hour away,” Burnham said Thursday.
 
After missing five consecutive cuts to begin her LPGA Tour career earlier this spring, Burnham finished tied for 33rd at the Meijer Classic, which paid her $13,208. It turned out to be enough to make the field for her second major championship by $3.
 
Burnham struggled during her opening round Thursday, carding a double-bogey on the opening hole before bouncing back with a bogey at the fourth. A double-bogey at the fifth put her at 2-over for the day heading to her final nine holes. She finished the day with two birdies, two bogeys and a pair of doubles to card an opening round 78, tied for 116th.
 
“Originally my goal was just to make this tournament, to play well enough to get in and to make the cut out here and play well,” Burnham said. “I wasn’t very happy with my round today, but I know it’s tough out there. I probably haven’t played here in six years and it’s just a little different. It’s a lot longer, but the pin placements are a lot harder today than I remember back then.”

Burnham, who won three collegiate tournaments at Michigan State University and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2015 at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pa., has found success at every level of her career and believes she’s not far from competing on the world’s biggest stage.
 
“I have learned that I am competing with the best girls in the world and my game is right there with each and every player,” she said. “I felt a lot of pressure in some of the beginning events but have finally been able to stay relaxed and play with confidence. Making the cut was a huge challenge for me, but I was finally able to get over the hump last week and it feels great.”
 
Burnham begins her second round on the 10th tee Friday at 1:05 p.m.
 
The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship continues Friday when the second round begins at 7:40 a.m. at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
 
 
 
2019 KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
CHASKA, MINN.
6,831 YARDS, PAR 72
 
 
THURSDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS
1. Hannah Green, 34-34—68
T2. Mel Reid, 35-34—69  
T2. Hyo Joo Kim, 33-36—69
T4. Annie Park, 34-36—70
T4. Ariya Jutanugarn, 33-37—70
T4. Xi Yu Lin, 35-35—70
T4. Amy Yang, 33-37—70
T4. Sung Hyun Park, 34-36—70  
T10. Angel Yin, 35-36—71
T10. Mirim Lee, 36-35—71
T10. Lydia Ko, 37-34—71
T10. So Yeon Ryu, 35-36—71
T10. Chella Choi, 36-35—71
T10. Carlota Ciganda, 37-34—71
T10. Moriya Jutanagarn, 36-35—71
 
T113. SARAH BURNHAM, MAPLE GROVE, MINN., 38-40—78
 
 
For complete tournament results go to:  www.lpga.com/tournaments/kpmgwomenspgachampionship/leaderboard

 

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