Hannah Green posted a 5-under-par 67 Saturday at El Caballero Country Club to move into a tie for second place entering the final round of the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, two shots behind leader Sei Young Kim.

The 29-year-old Australian, who won this event in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024, finished the third round at 13-under 203, with Kim sitting at 15-under 201 after 54 holes. Green moved up from a tie for seventh entering the day, carding seven birdies against two bogeys in a round she acknowledged was more hard-fought than spectacular.

"I felt like I was hitting the ball well the previous two rounds," Green said. "Today kind of caught me off guard a little bit. Felt like I hit it better off the tee but perhaps a couple wayward drives that kind of made it a bit tricky to make a par."

Green opened her round on the front nine and got off to a quick start, making birdie on the par-5 first hole to move to 9-under for the tournament. She followed with another birdie on the par-4 third to climb to 10-under, before a bogey on the fifth dropped her back to 9-under. She recovered swiftly, however, picking up a shot on the par-3 sixth to return to 10-under, then closed out the front nine with a birdie on the par-3 ninth for a 3-under 33.

Green stayed patient on the back nine. After a bogey on the par-4 12th slid her to 10-under, she answered immediately with a birdie on the 13th hole to get back to 11-under. She then collected back-to-back gains on holes 16 and 18 to sign for a 34 on the back nine and a 67 for the day.

Tournament organizers announced during Saturday's play that JM Eagle and Plastpro were increasing the event's prize fund by $1 million, moving the purse from $3.75 million to $4.75 million — making it the largest non-major, non-Tour Championship purse on the LPGA Tour.

"Amazing news for all us players," Green said of the announcement. "Whether it did it before round one started or on the weekend, still amazing news for us players. I really think when they jumped on board for this tournament all the other tournaments kind of felt like they had to also increase their purses and also raise the bar with getting hotel rooms or cars, whatever it may be."

The course played demanding throughout the day as heavy winds made club selection a challenge. Green, who has developed a strong track record at El Caballero, said the conditions required a measured approach rather than an aggressive one.

"I feel like probably the last two days more noticeably it was quite hard to commit to shots because the greens were firming up and the wind direction was kind of changing," she said. "Sometimes you don't always have the perfect club in. You have to hit a three-quarter shot or might not be 100% ready to hit it. So I think it will help having experience playing in those types of conditions."

Green's history at this tournament makes her a compelling contender heading into Sunday. She claimed the title here in 2023 at 9-under 275 and won again in 2024 at 12-under 272, before finishing T9 last year at 16-under. A victory Sunday would give her an unprecedented third title at the event and her second LPGA Tour win this season.

The seven-time LPGA Tour winner has been in excellent form in 2026. She captured the HSBC Women's World Championship for the second time — having also won the event in 2024 — and posted a solo seventh at the Honda LPGA Thailand earlier this season. She also claimed both the Women's Australian Open and the Australian WPGA Championship on the Ladies European Tour earlier in the year.

Hannah Green in Position to Earn Third JM Eagle LA Championship Title

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