Golf

Hannah Green, Ariya Jutanugarn set for Sunday duel at KPMG Women's PGA Championship


CHASKA, Minn. – On a course that last held a Ryder Cup, former No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and Hannah Green both felt like a match-play event broke out at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The pair traded blows around Hazeltine National, carding 10 birdies between them. Green’s three-putt on the 18th, her first of the week, cut her lead to one stroke over the two-time Rolex Player of the Year. The 22-year-old Aussie looked otherwise fairly unflappable for a woman who has never led a major championship. She leads the field at 9 under.

Lizette Salas and Nelly Korda are four shots back.

“Really enjoyed the way she played,” said Jutanugarn of the KPMG’s unlikely leader. “Especially, she not short at all. Bust driver and make all the putt. Her speeds is like perfect. I love how she play golf.”

Green is, well, green when it comes to this type of stage. Her only experience to draw from that’s somewhat comparable is the Australian Open, where she played in the final group alongside current No. 1 Jin Young Ko early last year. Green has placed in the top 10 the past three years at her national open.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Leaderboard | Tee Times

All three of her victories on the Symetra Tour were come-from-behind triumphs.

Green wasn’t quite sure what 2018’s most dominant player would be like on the weekend of a major. Would Jutanugarn chat?

“She was lovely,” said Green, who admitted to finding it difficult trying not to hit it harder competing alongside one of the most powerful players in the game.

“I think talking to her in between shots really calmed my nerves as well,” she said, “just to feel like she wasn’t as intimidating as, you know, her record would show.”

Green stayed in a house this week with her golfing idol, Karrie Webb, whom she spoke with before the third round. A two-time winner of Webb’s scholarship, she has soaked up every bit of knowledge the seven-time winner has passed along.

While the two current scholarship winners, Grace Kim and Becky Kay, have enjoyed plenty of airtime in their outrageously loud costumes, which on Saturday featured metallic wigs to go with their tutus, tights and flag capes. Green said she would’ve never worn anything like that as a scholarship winner for fear that she’d distract Webb. But Kim and Kay give Green a good laugh every time she spots them in the crowd.

VIDEO: LPGA pros work on their game at Women’s PGA Championship

There’s also a guy in an Aussie cork hat (the corks ward off flies) outside the ropes this week that has meant a great deal to Green.

Jarryd Felton, Green’s boyfriend of seven years, comes to the U.S. once a year for a three-week visit. This time they started in Philadelphia on vacation and then went sight-seeing in New York City. From there it was off to Grand Rapids, Mich., for the Meijer LPGA Classic where Green missed the cut.

Felton, who competes on the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tours, worked with her on the range over the weekend. The couple met back home in Perth, Australia, on the amateur circuit. Felton, who is two years older, plans to compete in both Web.com and European Tour qualifying schools this year.

Green doesn’t have a home base in the U.S. and goes back to Australia every six weeks. They wear out FaceTime and probably see each other a total of three to four months a year.

“It’s been good for the both of us,” he said. “We’ve both got the same dreams, same aspirations. “We’re out here supporting each other when we can.”

Felton was surprised by how calm Green appeared sleeping on the lead after two rounds and admitted that he’d feel more nerves if their roles were reversed. She’s finally realizing, he said, that she’s good enough to play out here.

“She’s a tough nut,” Felton continued. “She’s had some struggles, but she’s really confident. She’s really humble. She’s just a likeable character, and if she’s successful out here, she’s going to be very approachable to the young girls. That’s her thing, she wants to grow the game as well back in Australia and help out that side of things.”

In that way, Green and Jutanugarn have much in common. There isn’t a player on the LPGA who loves connecting with the kids outside the ropes more than the big-hearted Jutanugarn.

The 23-year-old Thai superstar talks about outcome a lot these days. She’s trying to get away from thinking about it. At the KPMG, she has felt “free” for this time this year.

In 2019, Jutanguarn explained, she fell victim to the weight of expectations. Not from what others put on her, she said, but from what she wanted out of her own game.

“I would say I talk to Pia (Nilsson) and Lynn (Marriott) the last few months almost every day because I feel like I lost who I am or who I want to be,” she said, referring to the Vision54 coaches. “And last few months I realize that life and golf is different, you know.”

And so on Sunday at Hazeltine, two players will step into the gauntlet with entirely different perspectives, feeling nerves that stem from different places.

One could take a step closer to the career grand slam and a return to the No. 1 ranking, adding to a legacy that’s already movie-worthy in her home country. The other could have her world altered in ways she has only dreamed.

“I’m always learning something new every day,” said Jutanugarn.

Tomorrow will be no exception.



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