[PHOTO: Getty Images]
Hannah Green has fallen an agonising one shot short of a historic medal for Australia as the women’s golf competition came to an enthralling finale at Le Golf National on Saturday.
Kiwi Lydia Ko joined a rich history of Olympic athletes to complete the Olympic medal set by winning gold, having taken silver at Rio in 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Co-leader with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux after 54 holes, Ko shot a one-under 71 in the final round to finish at 10-under par, two clear of Germany’s Esther Henseleit (66) with China’s Xiyu Lin making birdie at the final hole to snare bronze at seven-under.
Green’s tie for fourth alongside Amy Yang (Korea), Bianca Pagdanganan (Philippines) and Miyu Yamashita (Japan) is the best finish by an Australian in Olympic golf competition, bettering hers and Marcus Fraser’s previous best of a tie for fifth.
Yet what Green would have given for one shot less than her round of three-under 69 to force a playoff for bronze.
After a near miss for birdie at the second hole, Green made birdie at the third to get to four-under but then missed a chance from eight feet on the fourth to reduce the margin further. A 16-foot birdie putt on the sixth would be the first of three straight to thrust herself into medal contention.
The 27-year-old from Perth was outright third by the time she walked off the ninth green at seven-under par, but hit her tee shot on 10 into the water left of the fairway and made double-bogey.
Green admitted that she thought at that point her medal hopes had vanished yet as players around her rose and fell, she fought to stay in touch with the top three. While she made birdie at the par-5 14th, there were birdie chances that slipped by at both 13 and 17.
A wayward tee shot on the 18th forced Green to lay up with her second shot, leaving her with a 70-metre pitch over water to get up-and-down for birdie. Her third came to rest just outside 20 feet from the hole, the birdie putt slipping by on the low side to end the week at six-under par.
There was a nervous wait to see what transpired in the groups behind as Green was ultimately left ruing a round of five-over 77 in the first round that made the mountain too tough to climb.
“Coming fourth after such a bad start to the Games on Wednesday, I have to be pretty proud of myself,” said an understandably dejected Green.
“I thought I was completely out of it from round one. Would be nice if I got off to a better start in tournaments because I feel like when I’m playing my best on the first day, that’s when I really can be in contention.”
Green had no choice but to lay up on Le Golf National’s daunting final hole but was disappointed not to hit her third shot closer than the 22 feet she left herself for birdie.
“My third shot wasn’t good at all,” she admitted. “Obviously I was nervous and knew where I needed to be. I was looking at leaderboards all day, but I also didn’t think I would be that much in contention.
“It was annoying to miss the putt low. I saw Minjee hole the putt from around there. I was like, I need her to hole this for me.
“Overall, it was a disappointing par on the last.”
Fellow Aussie Minjee Lee finished her third Olympic competition in a tie for 22nd with a final round of one-under 71.
Eagles at the ninth and 18th and a brilliant tee shot to just three feet on 16 were the highlights, but six bogeys meant she made little impression on the leaderboard.
“Tried to post a score but made too many bogeys,” Lee admitted. “Just kind of went birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey, but two eagles today; so hopefully gearing up for the next couple of events.
“I constantly receive messages of support wherever I am but I think the Olympics is extra special. Everybody is tuning in and watching us from all over the world. It’s just a real celebration of the sport and that’s what the Olympics are.”
Both Green and Lee are now setting their sights on another Olympic campaign at Los Angeles in 2028.
“When I left Tokyo, I was thinking about Paris because I thought it was going to be such a great venue, and it has been,” Green said. “LA will definitely be on my radar. It’s on my mind and hopefully I can make it to Riviera [Country Club] for a third Olympics.”
“That would be a big goal of mine to be there, but I will be four years older,” Lee said. “I feel like I still have a lot to show for the Olympics so hopefully I’m there.”
