Nelly Korda wasn’t the only LPGA player whose results took a dip after a big year. Hannah Green was a three-time winner in 2024 — a season dwarfed by Korda’s seven-title season — and then failed to win anywhere in the world last year for the first time since 2021.
But the Australian has come out swinging.
Green last week became the first Australian to win three straight tournaments on main tours around the world — the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, the Australian Women’s Open and then last week the Australian Women’s PGA Championship.
“I thought that I had a good preseason. I knew that my game was all going to be good for the season early on, but I didn’t really imagine to have three wins this early in the season,” Green said. “I think I actually said before Singapore that I hope to have a win this year.”
That preseason included stepping into the ring.
Green knew she needed to work on her cardio and stamina, and she hates the idea of running. So she returned to boxing, going eight two-minute rounds as part of her regimen.
“At first, I was horrible with my coordination and getting the steps correct and actually hitting something hard,” Green said. “I wanted to just punch as hard as possible instead of actually having the stamina to go eight rounds, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
And it beat the alternative of standard cardio work.
“If I play a sport, I’m happy to run around,” she said. “But if I want to go for a run, I just absolutely won’t. So getting some extra cardio on top of already the gym work that I do throughout the week has been a lot of fun. Just something different mentally, as well.”
She said she got in eight to 10 sessions during her offseason and probably won’t get in the ring as much now because it leaves her sore. But it has done wonders for her stamina.
Green left the Gold Coast for Phoenix. She is up to No. 7 in the women’s world ranking and faces a field at the Ford Championship that includes nine of the top 10 players. She hopes that stamina will help in the majors. Her first LPGA title was the KPMG Women’s PGA at Hazeltine in 2019, but she hasn’t had a top 10 in a major since 2022.