Hannah Green birdies 18 to win LPGA Symetra Tour’s Sara Bay Classic

Hannah Green was hitting balls on the range at Venice’s Plantation Golf and Country Club when she first met Paul Martinez.

It was the second stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School in 2016, and Martinez was set to caddie for Green.

The groundwork for their caddie-player relationship was born, and it proved dividends throughout this week at Sara Bay Country Club where Green polished off her first career professional victory on Sunday.

“I’ll definitely remember this place,” said Green, an LPGA Symetra Tour rookie. “I’ve had a great time here. Really enjoyed myself on and off the golf course, so this one will stay (with) me for a long time.”

Posting a 2-under par total for three rounds netted Green a $16,500 first-place check at the LPGA Symetra Tour’s Sara Bay Classic.

“She said there were some choices she might not have made, but she trusts me 100 percent and I’m not always right, but hopefully I’m right more times than I’m not,” Martinez said.

For most of Sunday’s final round, though, Green was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Thailand’s Benyapa Niphatsophon.

Several twists occurred, but none bigger than the par-5 18th.

Tied for the lead at 1-under par, with Princess Superal in the clubhouse one shot behind, Niphatsophon chose to go for the green in two.

She landed behind the back-left corner on a downhill slope in the rough.

“I didn’t expect to be on the green, but not there,” Niphatsophon said.

Then the large crowd that gathered gasped as Niphatsophon could only drop her wedge in shock: she slid right under the ball and duffed the chip shot right where it rested.

She could only manage a bogey from there, setting the stage for Green, who stuck her third shot to about 10 feet to give herself two putts to win the tournament.

But the Australian opted to drill her birdie bid into the cup for the win.

“I three-putted from 10 feet earlier in the round, so I was like, ‘Come on, just leave this one close’, and luckily it fell in,” Green said.

Niphatsophon is a speedy player, but Green said she thought Niphatsophon played her chip shot on No. 18 faster than normal.

“From what I saw, she didn’t even go up to see the green, so that’s pretty quick,” Green said.

Added Niphatsophon: “You have to keep playing.”

Plenty of other dramatic changes happened throughout Sunday’s final round between Green and Niphatsophon.

They included:

▪ The par-4 sixth hole, where Niphatsophon double-bogeyed and Green birdied to erase the three-shot gap.

▪ The par-5 ninth, where Niphatsophon got up-and-down for birdie to snag a one-shot lead heading to the back nine.

▪ The par-4 11th, par-4 12th and par-3 13th, where the two traded shots on each hole. Niphatsophon increased her lead to two shots.

▪ Both bogeyed the par-4 14th, then Niphatsophon double-bogeyed for a second time in the round as Green capitalized with an 18-foot par putt on the par-4 15th.

“I couldn’t let any more shots slip, so I really had to make that putt,” Green said.

Now tied with Niphatsophon, the two barely missed birdies on the par-5 17th before the 18th hole fireworks ensued.

Niphatsophon, who bounced approach shots over the Sara Bay greens on the back nine, and Superal tied for second at even par, two shots behind Green.

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Hannah Green birdies 18 to win LPGA Symetra Tour’s Sara Bay Classic."