Green wins for third time at JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro
By Amy Rogers
Hannah Green captured her fourth worldwide win of the season with her victory at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro at El Caballero Country Club. Green defeated Sei Young Kim and Jin Hee Im in a three-person playoff after the trio finished regulation tied at 17-under par. The group returned to the par four, 18th hole where Green won on the first extra hole with a birdie for her third victory at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, which she also won at Wilshire Country Club in 2023 and 2024.
Playing in the final pairing with 54-hole leader Sei Young Kim, Green began the final round two strokes behind Kim. After making the turn in 1-over 37, Green at one point on the back nine trailed Kim by as many as six strokes and felt like she was completely out of the tournament and with nothing to lose said she started going pin seeking.
“I honestly didn’t really think I was in the tournament still,” said Green after her victory on Sunday about the four consecutive birdies she made on the back nine on holes Nos. 13-16. “I was just like, ‘oh well, I’ll go for as many pins as possible and obviously got on a nice stretch there.”
At No. 16, Green stood over an eagle putt that would have put her into a tie atop the leaderboard with Kim, but instead she had to settle for a birdie to remain one stroke behind Kim with two holes to play. Even then, Green didn’t think she had a chance to win.
“I kinda thought though that the putt I missed on 16 was the crucial moment, so I mean I'm just fortunate enough to get into the playoff,” Green said on Sunday.
Kim made bogey at the par 3, 17th hole to fall into a tie at the top with Green at 17-under par. Im was already in the clubhouse at 17-under par with a final round of 67. Both Green and Kim two-putted for par on the 18th hole to get into a playoff with Im.
Back on the tee at the 432 yard, par 4, 18th hole, Im was the first to play and sent her tee shot well right into the rough which came to rest near the cart path, from which she was able to take relief. Im hoisted her second shot from the rough up and over a line of trees, but wasn’t able to get the ball to draw towards the green and left herself a difficult third shot from the rough to the right of the putting surface. Im showcased the short game prowess that earned her a spot in the playoff, cozying up her par putt eight feet past the hole.
Kim was next to play from the right edge of the fairway and safely found the center of the green in two. Green with the advantage hit her second shot to 15 feet and gave herself a putt on nearly the exact same line from where she had two-putted in regulation for a round of 68.
“I had that putt obviously very similar line in regulation, so I felt somewhat comfortable,” Green said about her winning putt. “It still was a tough putt, so really glad it went in the hole.”
Green will take home one of the largest winner checks of the season following an announcement on Saturday by Walter Wang, the CEO of JM Eagle, who increased the tournament purse by $1 mil to a total of $4.75 with a winner’s check of $712,500.
Kim’s up and down play on Saturday continued into Sunday as she traded spots atop the leaderboard throughout the round.
The highlight of the day for Kim came at the par 5, 11th where she holed out her approach from 30 yards short of the green, using the undulation putting surface to her advantage as she caught the backstop to spin the ball back and into the cup for eagle. After posting back-to-back opening rounds of 65, Kim carded rounds of 71-70 on the weekend.
“Just little disappointed because I had a good chance for the win,” Kim said about finishing runner-up to Green. “Yeah, but she's play well. Strong finish back nine. Yeah, she deserve that.”
Im made an eagle of her own on Sunday at the par 5, 16th hole by rolling in a putt from outside 60 feet and through the shadows to jump into a tie atop the leaderboard with Kim. Im carded a final round of 67 for her second top 10 of the season.
Ina Yoon finished one stroke shy of making it into the playoff after missing a long birdie effort on the 72nd hole to get to 17-under par. Yoon carded a final round 69 and picked up her second top 10 of the season with her fourth place finish at El Cab.
“This week like was the best week I ever had in LPGA,” Yoon said about her performance in Los Angeles. “I had many mistake today, I mean, whole week. I made a lot of miss shot and missed a lot of short putts, but I think I focus on my process really well. So, yeah, I'm so proud of it.”
Haeran Ryu began the final round seven strokes off the pace and carded the low round of the day by making birdie on four of her last five holes for a round of 6-under par 66 to finish at 14-under par and tied for fifth with Patty Tavatanakit.
Next week, the LPGA Tour travels to Houston for the first major of the season at the Chevron Championship which will be played in its new home at Memorial Park Golf Course.
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by Amy Rogers
