There was no drama in Hollywood at Hannah Green’s title defence of the JM Eagle LA Championship. Unlike her playoff victory last year, Green won by three Sunday over Maja Stark with a steady five-under 67 to win at 12-under-par total. The Australian ran away from the field with a five-under-par stretch on the back nine to seal her second victory of the season. Here is how Green defended her title.

Leaderboard

Win: Hannah Green (-12)

2: Maja Stark (-9)

3: Hae Ran Ryu (-6)

T-4: Jin Young Ko (-5)

T-4: Jin Hee Im (-5)

What it means

Put simply, Green dominates at Wilshire Country Club. Only three players have beaten the 27-year-old at the course since 2021: she finished T-3 in 2021, runner-up in 2022, and won the last two seasons.

Green became the second multi-time winner on tour this season, having also won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March. Nelly Korda, of course, is the only multi-winner this year, now deep in the middle of a five-in-a-row win streak. Green is the first player to defend a title since Jin Young Ko at last year’s HSBC Championship. This year is Green’s second multi-victory season, following 2019 when she won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. This is Green’s fifth career win.

Green’s title is the ninth of 10 events this year won by past tour winners. It marks a continued reversion to the mean from the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, which had 11 and 12 first-time winners, respectively.

How it happened

Grace Kim’s difficult 76-77 weekend let the field back in. The 2023 Lotte Championship winner held a four-stroke lead at 12 under par on Saturday morning and was tied for the 54-hole lead with Green. Kim fell out of contention with four bogeys on the front nine Sunday, ending up at T-25 (-1).

Green went out in even Sunday as the rest of the field didn’t advance on her seven-under lead. She started her break away from the pack with a chip-in birdie on the par-3 12th.

“I think when I chipped in on 12, I kind of felt like I really snagged one there,” Green said. She followed up with another birdie on the par-5 13th for the first two-stroke lead of the back nine.

Stark trailed Green and Kim by a stroke at the start of the final round, continuing her strong play after a runner-up performance at the Chevron Championship. Like Green, Stark played the front nine at even par. The Swede birdied the par-5 13th and got lucky on the par-5 15th. She thinned her bunker shot from behind the green off the flagstick, and somehow the ball ended three feet from the pin. The birdie brought her back within a stroke at eight under.

But just as soon as Stark got close, Green effectively won the tournament. She eagled the 459-yard 15th with a 20-footer from the fringe while Stark bogeyed from the greenside bunker on the 16th in front of her, building a four-stroke edge.

“When I made eagle on 15, that kind of sealed the deal,” Green said. “And I did see that Maja got it to nine under. So I knew what I needed to do to do.”

Green punctuated the charge with a birdie on the 16th, capping off a five-under run to separate herself from the field. With the tournament in Green’s hand after parring the 18th, she was greeted by raucous chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” from the fans surrounding the green.

Green’s chance to make it three-in-a-row at Wilshire Country Club will be delayed until 2026, as the course will undergo renovations and will not host the JM Eagle next year.

Quotable

“It’s [the course] really kind to me,” Green said. “I felt like a couple of times today, I almost got like a member bounce. I obviously am really fond of the golf club and I joked and said that they didn’t actually approve it with me that they’re making alterations, but no, I love it here. Such a great atmosphere, really good crowds this year. So yeah, I’m kind of sad we’re not returning next year, but I’m looking forward to 2026.”

Best of the rest

World No. 7 Jin Young Ko (T-3) carded a bogey-free four-under 67 Sunday to leap up the leaderboard from T-21 for her best finish of the season.

Haeran Ryu posted her third straight top 10, including a T-9 at the LPGA Match Play and a fifth-place finish at the Chevron Championship.