Hannah Green knew she had to go low on Friday to make the cut at the Dana Open presented by Marathon. After opening with a 3-over 74 on day one, Green figured at least a second-round 67 would do the trick. She hasn’t missed a cut on the LPGA Tour since the 2021 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open, and she wasn’t looking to end her streak in Sylvania, even if she was starting the day in a tie for 124th. It took one birdie on No. 2 to get into the flow, and after another on No. 5, Green was off to the races.
“I never really was thinking about posting numbers. I just wanted to make as many birdies as possible,” said the Australian. In all, she made nine throughout her bogey-free day, posting 62 to mark the lowest score of the week thus far. “Yesterday I really struggled with nearly everything in my game, so today everything was much cleaner and tidier. I actually had my caddie, Nate, read a few putts. Just hearing him reaffirming my read really helped. So holed a lot of good putts. I missed a putt on 17 for birdie, but obviously birdied 18, so that was nice.”
The 62 is a new career-low 18-hole score for Green, besting her previous record, 63, set nearly three years ago to the day in the second round of the AmazingCre Portland Classic. She’d go on to win that week for the second time on Tour, a memory she was reminded of before teeing it up at Highland Meadows Golf Club on Friday.
“Actually had a couple memories come up on my phone, and I guess one of them was three years ago winning Portland where I shot my personal best 9-under (63). And then also another memory of 2020 KPMG where I shot 79 the first day and 66 the second day,” said Green. “So I guess you could say it was kind of like that. So just to see that even though I had a bad Thursday, just being able to overcome it and completely forget about it, I think it was kind of nice to see those things on my phone just to remember that I can do it.”
The round could be the spark Green’s been looking for this season. Although she has earned five top-10 finishes this season, including a runner-up performance to Nasa Hataoka at the DIO Implant LA Open, Green hasn’t cracked the top 10 since the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. In her first appearance at the Dana Open, Green hopes a day like this could be the start of another memorable weekend for the 25-year-old.
“I feel like I've been playing very consistent this year. I haven't missed cut this year, and I feel like at the start of the year I didn't have a -- some great results when I first game back, but I feel like I've been overall pretty consistent,” said Green. “I've had a lot of like tied 30th place, so I'm really hoping that I can get back into winning tournaments, but also when I'm not playing my best being in the top 10. So we'll see what tomorrow brings.”
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