Welcome to this week’s Golf Insider, everyone! Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day. Golf courses are my favorite shade of green.
Green must certainly be lucky because on Sunday, March 15, Hannah Green made history when she became the first Australian since Karrie Webb in 2014 to win the Women’s Australian Open. She shot a 2-under-par 70 in her final round to hang in there and capture the title by one stroke over fellow Aussie Cassie Porter and 2026 Ford Women’s NSW Open winner Agathe Laisne.
Porter fought hard to finish tied for second. Coming into the final round at even par, she gained all of that ground and finished one shot back of the leader. Porter broke the course record at Kooyonga when she shot a bogey-free 10-under-par 62. That lights-out final round included 10 birdies on a day where other players felt it impossible to go low. But it still wasn’t enough to catch Green.
It was just two weeks ago that we recapped Green’s victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. Green was poised to perform in Australia after calming the early season jitters in Singapore.
“I’m kind of am a bit speechless, to be honest,” Green said on March 15 in a post-win interview.
“I think the win in Singapore definitely helped with my nerves today. I felt a little bit more in control of my golf ball. I felt like it was quite tough to make birdies, so I don’t know how Cassie [Porter] had such a good round today. But yeah, just really happy to have my name on that trophy amongst all the amazing other winners as well as Webby.”
Luckily, Green started her week with consistent golf which made it much easier to close out the tournament. It’s always easier to have faith in your final round game when you’ve been just as solid in the rounds that came before. The evidence was all there.
Green’s first two rounds of 70 and 69 put her in perfect position to make a move during the weekend of her home open. In Saturday’s third round, she kept pushing with her best round of the week, a 4-under-par 68. That put her at the top of the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, going into the final day.
In the final round, Green picked up where she left off. She birdied Nos. 5 and 9 to go out with a 2-under-par 35. But the back nine proved to be more of a test. Green birdied the par-5 16th hole but then bogeyed the par-4 17th hole. It was quite fortunate that no one else—especially a surging Porter—was able to catch her. Nonetheless, a calm, cool par on the par-4 18th hole notched her win for the history books.
The win was Green’s second in two starts across the LPGA and LET in the 2026 season. From March 19–22 on the LET, she has an opportunity to nab a hat trick. Green, along with a stacked field, is slated for the 2026 Australian WPGA Championship at Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
Featured groups: 2026 Fortinet Founders Cup
Field breakdown: 2026 Fortinet Founders Cup
How to watch the 2026 Fortinet Founders Cup
Epson Tour winner Jeongeun Lee6 qualifies for Fortinet Founders Cup after crazy turnaround
LET News
Ranking riser Alexander looking to end Aussie swing on a high
Green gunning for hat-trick at Australian WPGA Championship
Laisne staying grounded after storming into Order of Merit lead
Watch live: Australian WPGA Championship
Australian WPGA Championship the final stop of LET’s Aussie swing
Green holds her nerve to win historic home open in Australia
Epson Tour News
Things to know about the 2026 Orlando Health Championship
Rylee Sutton: A full-circle moment at the Orlando Health Championship
Latanna Stone and Carley Cox Pruette find success in Epson Tour’s final local qualifying round
Field breakdown: 2026 Orlando Health Championship
Five at The IX: Quotes from Menlo Park, Calif. ahead of the 2026 Fortinet Founders Cup
The LPGA Tour is back in the United States from March 19–22 for the 2026 Fortinet Founders Cup at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club in Menlo Park, California. Before the tournament began, Yealimi Noh, Nelly Korda, Jeeno Thitikul, Rose Zhang and Angela Stanford spoke to the media. Here are some snippets from their press conferences.
Defending champion Yealimi Noh on preparing to defend in her hometown:
“I think I really tried to focus on trusting my process and just focusing on my process and not thinking about results. I mean, not only is it my defending week, but also in my hometown. It’s a little bit extra special, more something, a little nerves and pressure if you call it that.
“It all comes with good things, and I’m happy to be in this position. Focusing on process and not the results and hopefully everything will go nice.”
World No. 2 Nelly Korda on hitting some personal records in the gym during her time off, especially on box jumps:
“Yeah, I was 36 inches and my trainer is trying to get me to 40. When I see 40 in front of me I’m like no chance. Super high. I don’t try to train like a golfer. I just try to train like an athlete. I think that’s what makes the workouts so fun to me.
“I just get to do something different and I love being in in the gym. It’s kind of like an outlet for some golfers, too. But, yes, hit a lot of the PRs this offseason.”
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul’s thoughts on Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club:
“The rough still was so rough. (Smiling.) I mean, like I think the rough should be a trouble here if you’re not get the ball in the fairway.
“And then the green was a little soft to me. I mean, maybe if—but I just knew from Ricki this morning—no, her friends, that they just renewed the green, like just a year and a half and then they watering it a lot. That’s why. Obviously it looks nice to me and challenging as well. Hilly.”
Rose Zhang on balancing her professional career with finishing her degree:
“I would say I did have to put in a lot of time and energy into thinking about why I wanted to do these things, about why I wanted to play tour golf, go to college, everything in between.
“So it was a big personal journey for me. I think when things get really tough and you’re situated with 60 hours a week of class and work on top of sponsor days and traveling and still trying to practice for tournaments, I think the balance is very difficult. I had to learn what was the limit for me and what works best with having a really difficult schedule like that.
“But most importantly it was important to keep the faith of this is a journey and this is how I’m supposed to grow and learn. That’s kind of how I was able to come to this end.
“But very close. Still not done, but very close.”
2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team captain Angela Stanford on scouting the competition and noticing the work Auston Kim has been putting in:
“It’s fun to see Auston Kim play well and to see her—she’s fourth in points now. So that’s been fun to watch. It’ll be fun to see how she transitions into the rest of the schedule because it always felt like the beginning of the year you just kind of get your feet under you. Especially being in Thailand, Singapore and China, you feel a little disconnected from—it always felt like it was easier to be in my own world over there. It was easier to stay focused.
“Now she’s playing well and she’s fourth in points, and there’s a little more attention around her. So that’s good for us to see, too.
“Yeah, lots of good around our team right now.”
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