Hannah Green finds form in Massachusetts
Hannah Green – file photo
Off the back of four consecutive missed cuts and a best of 12th in her last nine LPGA Tour starts, Australia’s Hannah Green is contending at the halfway stage of the FM Championship in Norton in Massachusetts.
Weather, then darkness, caused play to be called at 7.15 pm with many of the field still to complete their second rounds.
Green added a second consecutive round of 68 to be tied for 3rd and three shots from the lead held by China’s Miranda Wang.
Currently in a surprising 52nd position in the Race to the Globe rankings, Green has struggled for most of the second half of the season but appears to have things back on track and heads into the weekend with a chance to add a 7th LPGA Tour title.
“My ball striking has not been that good the last couple months, so I feel like I’ve had to rely heavily on my short game,” said Green. “It’s nice that I actually feel like where I want the ball to go is where it’s actually going.
“So, yeah, I definitely feel confident around the greens. It’s nice that I have been hitting more greens and actually have some opportunities to make birdies.
“I’ve been working with my coach for many years now, and I just fall into some certain tendencies with my swing.
“So I actually had a lesson with him on Tuesday. Well, it was supposed to be FaceTime, but as some people may not know, the reception here is not very good, so trying to call him when he’s back in Australia with a time change wasn’t easy. We sent videos back and forth and he was helping me with certain things.
“I almost feel like because I’ve been playing quite poorly I’ve been really technical trying to find what’s going on and not really just going and playing golf. I feel like I changed that mindset of worrying about technique and just working with what I have on this day.
“So that was really helpful. I put a new driver in the bag earlier in the week as well. It’s nice to feel confident with that club. Once you can hit fairways, you feel a lot freer on the course, so that’s been helpful.”
The 28-year-old Green has typically been one of the leading Australians, along with Minjee Lee, in each of her LPGA Tour seasons since first joining in 2018, and with three wins in 2014, her year to date has been a surprise, but with ten more events this season, there is plenty of time to turn things around.
Minjee Lee is the next best of the Australasians in the field, the West Australian in a share of 34th place at 3 under and five behind Green, but Lee still has 14 holes to play of her second round.
