Hannah Green wins playoff for third JM Eagle LA Championship title
Green was six back early in the back nine on Sunday at El Caballero.
Walter Wang dropped a bombshell on his own tournament when the JM Eagle CEO announced a $1 million increase to the purse on Saturday. The move surprised everyone, including the LPGA commissioner, who received a call shortly before Wang went into the booth to deliver the news. The players, for their part, kept the drama coming in L.
A. on Sunday. South Korea's Sei Young Kim led by as many as eight shots on Saturday, yet found herself chasing in the final round of the JM Eagle LA Championship.
In what was a dizzying Sunday, three players finished regulation tied at 17 under, including Jin Hee Im, Hannah Green and Kim. In the end it was Green, who sat six shots back on 11th hole, who clinched the title on the first playoff hole. Green made five birdies in six holes on the back side at El Caballero to shoot 31.
She then drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th in overtime to collect her eighth career LPGA victory, with three of them coming in L. A. That's now four titles worldwide for Green, who won the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore as well as the Australian Open and Australian WPGA.