A proud Hannah Green finished just short of an historic Olympic medal at the women's golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club today.
The 24-year-old Western Australian made a dramatic back-nine charge that put her in with a chance of sneaking in for the first-ever medal by an Australian golfer, but an ill-timed weather delay stalled her momentum.
When the horn sounded to stop play, Green was standing on the 17th green having made birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie at the previous four holes, was 14 under par in fourth place and looking at a four-metre birdie putt.
The 18th hole, a long par four, was to come.
But as it turned out, the Australian had to head back to the clubhouse with everyone else, and there was a delay of just more than half an hour while the lightning cleared. When they came back to the course, her putt for birdie slid just under the hole, then at the 18th, she missed the green left into a bunker and ended up making a bogey.
“It was hard to pump myself back up again,” she said. “I felt like I was on cloud nine for those five holes, so it was definitely hard to go back and rest and then come back out again.”
Green finished fifth at 13 under par having shot 68 on the day. She was four shots shy of the winner, American Nelly Korda, the world No. 1, who made a steady par at the last hole to complete a one-shot win.
It is the best finish by an Australian in two Games since golf returned to the Olympics after a gap of more than a century; Cameron Smith finished tied-10th in the men’s competition.
“Things weren’t going well, and I was scrambling really hard, so I think to be in contention come the last couple of holes, I’m really proud of myself how I hung in there,” Green said. “I didn’t get too down on myself and thinking of the bigger picture I guess, being so lucky that we even have an Olympics to compete in.”
Green shot five under par 30 for the back nine, including a 10-metre eagle at the par-five 14th hole.
“There’s lots of positives from today,” she said. “I can’t dwell on making a bogey at 18. I have to think about where I came from on the back nine.”
The other Australian player Minjee Lee closed with a 69 to finish tied-29th. Both Lee and Green head to Europe for the Scottish Open tomorrow morning.
Japanese player Mone Iname beat New Zealander Lydia Ko in a sudden-death playoff for the silver and bronze medals.
