Hannah Green gets the nod amongst Australians at Riviera Country Club
Hannah Green – preparing for the US Women’s Open this week – image Kathryn Riley USGA
Australian women golf’s three most recent major winners, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Grace Kim are amongst six Australians in the field for this week’s US Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in the suburbs of Los Angeles, with Hannah Green at number 8, now the highest world-ranked of the three.
Green will play her 8th US Women’s Open with a best of 12th in her previous seven attempts, but importantly for the 29-year-old she enters the event in some of the best form of her career. In just seven starts on the LPGA Tour this year, Green has recorded two wins, two other top tens, and a 14th place at her most recent start.
Green has steadily improved her results, the more she has played the US Women’s Open and given the style of game she possesses and the confidence she must surely be playing with at present, then she deserves consideration to become the 4th Australian (joining Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb and Minjee Lee as winners of the female game’s most coveted titles.
Minjee Lee tees off in practice this week – image USGA
Green’s fellow West Australian, Minjee Lee, won the title in 2022 at Pine Needles in North Carolina, setting a still-alive scoring record of 271 when doing so. Lee has missed only one cut in 12 attempts in the event, but Lee’s form in 2026 is well below that she was in prior to her win four years ago, and there is a question as to her capacity to contend this week.
Other than her win in 2022, Lee’s only other top ten at the US Women’s Open was when 9th behind Yuka Saso in 2024.
Grace Kim practising this week – image USGA
Grace Kim’s win at last year’s Evian Championship came as a surprise so early in her career, but she had finished an encouraging 13th at the US Women’s Open in 2023, suggesting even then she had the constitution to do well in the demands of golf at the highest level.
Kim has yet to record a top ten in an LPGA Tour event this season, but arrives at Riviera with a series of solid if unspectacular finishes to date this year.
Kim’s lack of distance from the tee might work against her on a golf course where a capacity to at least be adequate in distance appears as if it will be a considerable advantage.
Australia will also field Stephanie Kyriacou, Karis Davidson and Gold Coast amateur Sarah Hammett in the US$12 million event, but it appears as if Hannah Green should start as the favourite amongst the Australians.
