Hannah Green will take a one shot lead into the final round of the Women's Australian Open as she looks to close out a historic victory on home soil.
The seven-time LPGA winner carded a third round 68 to leapfrog overnight leader Celine Herbin and sit in pole position heading until Sunday. She leads Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher by one shot with Casandra Alexander and Karis Davidson four shots adrift in a tie for third.
The Irish contingent of Annabel Wilson, Anna Foster and Áine Donegan missed the cut.
On a sun-soaked Saturday at Kooyonga Golf Club, and playing alongside Herbin and compatriot Kirsten Rudgeley, Green got straight to business carding three birdies in her first five holes at the second, fourth and fifth.
A tricky turn saw her twice bounce back from bogeys at the eighth and 10th as France’s Agathe Laisne took the outright lead in the group ahead.
But Laisne, a recent winner at the Ford Women’s NSW Open, dropped shots at the 12th and 14th to give back the lead before she found the sand three times on the 18th to card a double-bogey.
Green meanwhile, a one-time Major winner, posted another birdie at the 16th following a classy approach to move ahead of Simmermacher.
Having won on the LPGA in Singapore two weeks ago, Green is aiming to close out the job on Sunday and become her nation’s first winner of the Women’s Australian Open since Karrie Webb in 2014.
"I feel like I’m going to be sleeping OK," Green said on the challenge ahead. "Luckily I am a good sleeper, but I think tomorrow morning, depending on tee times, I might have to distract myself a little bit, maybe go out for breakfast, go get a matcha or something.
"But I’m super excited. I really hope more people come out and that the crowds will get bigger. It looks like it’s going to be a little warmer. Hopefully that means the course firms up because there was a couple of times where I thought it was going to bounce a bit bigger, but it didn’t.
"I think the forecast looks really good. Hopefully not too much win because it got pretty gusty those last few holes, but I’m really looking forward to it."
