Lee and Green standout favourites at Women’s Australian Open
Hannah Green – fresh off a win in Singapore last week – image WPGA
Australian golf switches its attention to the Australian Women’s Australian Open at the Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide for this week’s A$1.7 million event, where the outstanding favourites are Minjee Lee and Hannah Green.
Both Lee and Green arrive in Adelaide in fine form having finished 1st (Green) and 3rd (Lee) in an LPGA Tour event in Singapore last week, both looking for a breakthrough win in their own national open.
Lee at number 4 in the Rolex World Rankings and Green at number 9 provide strength to an event in which six of Australia’s LPGA Tour players will compete, Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou Karis Davidson and Cassie Porter, adding to the possibility of an Australian victory for the first time since Karrie Webb’s win in 2014.
Lee is looking forward to playing in front of home crowds, but is not totally convinced it provides the benefit that many might think.
“I’m not sure if it’s an advantage. I definitely think we put a little bit of extra pressure on ourselves when we are playing, especially in front of a home crowd and just wanting to perform the best that I can and also produce a result.
“So I think it is obviously really lovely to be able to have the home crowd supporting us and we don’t get too many opportunities to play in Australia. So it’s just nice to be able to do that and give back to a little bit of our community.
“I’ve had really great weeks in Adelaide, South Australia. Always love coming back here. I think it’s just, we always get really great crowds anywhere in Australia, but I think especially in Adelaide, it’s just a much more tight knit community and it reminds me a bit more of Perth.
“So I always like coming back and the beach is right there and I’m a beach girl, so yeah.”
Green’s win in Singapore last week has her at the peak of her game and she too is looking forward to the opportunity for a win in an event which means so much to her.
“Singapore’s a place that I’ve had multiple good results. Yes, I’ve won there, but I’ve also had a runner up finish. So that was really nice to have a win in the season so early, but I feel like this is going to be a tough week.
“All of us Aussies probably want our name on that trophy really badly, but also coming in with some form probably put some more pressure on myself for the actual tournament. So I really enjoy playing here. It’s a really good vibe here in Adelaide and especially the fans. So hopefully I can use that to be successful.”
Yeah. It’s been, I guess, over a year since I won my previous tournament. So I felt like I put probably more pressure on myself in 2025 to back up a really good 2024. And every time I start the season, I have some good results. I think it’s because I’ve had the mental reset of being back at home.
“But throughout the US summer, I had some tough times, probably one of the lower points in my career. But I think coming back to Australia, kind of resetting, seeing all my teams and my friends back here really helped me. So I’m hoping that with how I’ve put my schedule this year, I can kind of have those moments throughout the season.
“We’ve got a lot of really good venues this year for our major championships. So they’re the events that all of us are obviously trying to strive for. So hopefully I’ve timed that correctly and can have a bit more of a consistent year.”
Like its male counterpart the event will benefit from the decision by Golf Australia to return the Women’s Australian Open to a stand alone event rather than be played in conjunction with the men’s version, providing focus for an event deserving of a place on its own.
