Australia's Hannah Green claims third LA Championship title in sudden-death playoff

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/green-hannah/K88pnhIm/"]Green[/a] curled in a long birdie putt at the first hole of sudden death to edge South Koreans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-sei-young/A74pNv5J/"]Kim Sei-young[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hee-im-jin/QBqs2lz7/"]Im Jin-hee[/a] for her eighth LPGA crown.[/p][p]She had muscled her way into the playoff with a four-under-par 68 that included five birdies on the back nine.[/p][p]The victory in the last event before the first women's major of the year, next week's Chevron Championship in Houston, is Green's fourth worldwide this year.[/p][p]"[b]I felt like I was doing what I said I wanted to do yesterday, hit more greens,[/b]" said Green, who started the day two shots off Kim's lead and admitted that after a birdie and two bogeys on the front nine.[/p][p]"[b]I honestly didn't think I was in the tournament still.[/b]"[/p][p]"I'm just fortunate that I at least got into the playoff," said Green, who joined Kim and Im on 17-under 217.[/p][p]"[b]I had that putt, very similar line, in regulation. It still was a tough putt so really glad it went in the hole.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="a6a2286f-651b-4fd9-8915-6aeb40c14469" url="https://x.com/LPGA/status/2046021581969768554" social-type="twitter" /][p]Green is in red-hot form, winning the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore and the Women's Australian Open and Australian WPGA this year.[/p][p]Although it's her third LA Championship crown, Green couldn't lean on familiarity with the course.[/p][p]She won in 2023 and 2024 at Wilshire Country Club, while this year's edition was played at El Caballero for a second straight season because of course renovations at Wilshire.[/p][p]Kim, a 13-time LPGA winner, started the day with a two-shot lead after a rollercoaster third round that saw her eight-shot advantage evaporate with four straight bogeys.[/p][p]With the help of a chip-in eagle at the par-five 11th she was up by one with two holes to play but bogeyed the par-three 17th on the way to a two-under 70.[/p][p]"[b]Just a little disappointed because I had a good chance for the win,[/b]" she said.[/p][embed guid="59d68168-e4a0-4372-afea-5e53c764efcd" url="https://x.com/LPGA/status/2046050532708761736" social-type="twitter" /][p]Im's chances of a second LPGA title looked dim after a double bogey at the 10th but she powered back with a five-under 67, joining the leaders with an eagle at the par-five 16th.[/p][p]They returned to 18 for the playoff, where Im missed the green with her second shot and Kim missed her birdie attempt to set the stage for Green.[/p]