Australian Hannah Green carded a crucial birdie at hole No. 17 and finished with a 71, good enough to hold off a pair of hard-charging competitors to capture the BMW Ladies Championship in a wire-to-wire win in windy Paju, South Korea, on Sunday.
She entered the final round at Seowon Hills course at Seowon Valley Country Club at 18-under par and with a two-stroke lead but was tied with Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen as she made the turn onto the back nine. Wannasaen, who began Sunday five shots back, narrowed the gap on the front nine, with four birdies and an eagle to finish the front nine with a 6-under par 30 and move to 19-under.
Green also made the turn at 19-under after two birdies and a bogey.
But Wannasaen couldn’t maintain her momentum on the back side, with two bogeys to finish the round at 68 and at 17-under for the tournament.
That didn’t mean Green, who was seeking her third win of the season, could cruise to the title.
France’s Celine Boutier shot the day’s low round (66), making a charge on the back nine with five birdies in the final seven holes to take the clubhouse lead at 18-under 270 for the tournament.
A bogey on the par-5 No. 11 dropped Green to 18-under, and she played the next five holes at even par as Boutier watched from the clubhouse. Green’s second shot on the par-4 hole No. 17 rolled to just a few feet from the pin, giving her a makeable putt to record a birdie. A par at No. 18 gave Green her sixth career win and left Boutier in second place and Wannasaen in third.
“Yeah, it was a crazy finish, I guess,” Green said. “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.”
Green joins Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko as the only women with at least three wins in 2024.
For Boutier, it was her second straight top-10 finish on the Asia swing, coming in T9 last week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
“I think my long game has been really solid for a while now. I just haven’t been able to score very much, and then the last two weeks, I was able to hit a few rounds really low,” Boutier said. “So I think that’s helped me a lot.”
Wannasaen was the only player this week to record all four rounds in the 60s and was pleased with her result.
“I think this week is perfect. I really like Korea,” she said. “Korea is my favorite country, and you know, like last year, I played this course not good. But this year, I played really well.”
A pair of South Koreans rounded out the top five, tied for fourth at 16-under. Hye-Jin Choi shot a 67 while tour rookie Yu Jin Sung followed Saturday’s 63 with a 72.
Defending champion Minjee Lee’s 77 left the Australian at 5-under with a T33 finish.
–Field Level Media
