Poster girl Hannah Green looks forward to title defence at HSBC Women’s World Championship

SINGAPORE – Since arriving in Singapore on Feb 23, Hannah Green has been seeing herself everywhere.

Her face is plastered on posters promoting the HSBC Women’s World Championship in her hotel, at the Sentosa Golf Club and around the city.

While it is a sight that the world No. 6 is unaccustomed to, it has kept her morale up as she looks to retain her title at the US$2.4 million (S$3.2 million) event from Feb 27 to March 2.

“It’s unusual to see it everywhere but obviously it gives me a lot of confidence, and hopefully, I don’t put too much added pressure on to myself,” said Green at a pre-event press conference at the Sentosa Golf Club on Feb 25.

“But this is a place that I’ve had not only a win but some good finishes. So I’m looking forward to a title defence.”

The Australian features among a star-studded field that includes nine of the world’s top 10 players, minus top-ranked Nelly Korda, who opted to skip the first Asia swing this season for a lighter schedule.

Singapore will also be represented by two golfers for the first time in the event’s history, with Shannon Tan and Chen Xingtong teeing up at Sentosa this week.

Keeping her crown will be no easy feat for Green. Only Park In-bee and Ko Jin-young have won twice in Singapore, with the latter the sole player to retain her title.

To prepare for her title defence, Green skipped the LPGA Thailand event last week and is feeling confident after practising on the course on Feb 24.

The 28-year-old said: “I played the back nine and I felt the greens were rolling a really nice place. Hopefully that continues and gets a little bit quicker.

“It’s always hard because I think I didn’t have a good first round last year, and then I had some really low scores.

“It seems like it’s been almost a little more breezy than what we usually experience and that will make it more difficult. That’s what us players want, and it also helps with the heat that we experience.”

It was also straight to work for world No. 9 Charley Hull on Feb 24, as she came off a 13-hour flight from Britain and went for an 11km run. She followed that up with a 10km run the next day, before a packed morning of press commitments for the tournament.

Running and gym sessions, things that Hull never enjoyed or excelled in previously, have become an important part of her routine over the past 1½ years.

The 28-year-old said: “About a year and a half ago, I really wanted to get in my fitness, not just be a golfer, be an athlete. It’s really good for me mentally.

“I’m one of those people that struggles to switch off, but I feel like when I get into the gym and challenge myself, I love challenging myself and I feel like the gym really, really helps me with that, and I just feel unbelievable.”

In September 2024, Hull even placed third in a simulation event for Hyrox, a popular fitness racing world series. While it was not the intention, the two-time LPGA winner’s focus on fitness has even helped her golf game.

She said: “I feel like the fitter I am, the more I recover from jet lag a lot quicker. I just do it for overall health – it makes the mind feel good and makes me feel better.”

Hull is back in Singapore for the first time since 2022, having missed the last two editions as she opted to play in the LPGA Thailand event – the previous stop on the tour before Singapore – as it was a better fit for her schedule.

Hoping for a better outing at Sentosa is fifth-ranked Lilia Vu, who was forced to withdraw after the third round in 2024 due to illness.

After a breakthrough 2023 season that saw her win four titles, including two Majors, Vu battled a back injury that disrupted her campaign.

Despite her injury, she still picked up one win and finished runner-up at the Women’s PGA Championship and British Open in 2024.

On what she took away from last season, she said: “I think I look at golf in a different lens now. I’m not too worried about the technical part of it. I’m kind of more worried on my health day-to-day and just maintaining and getting stronger.

“As long as I’m healthy, I’ll be okay and be able to kind of play my best golf.”