However, few of those close friendships are as tight as Hannah Green and Su Oh, two of the big favourites to take out the women’s side of the Vic Open this week at 13th Beach.
Green, a major champion, is returning after a significant break from tournament golf and had a pleasant surprise upon arriving on the grounds late on Monday.
“It is a very cool feeling, I drove in Sunday night, was dropping off a friend who is staying here and I saw it and it was pretty cool. To be next to Geoff who does a lot for the game here in Australia is pretty cool,” Green said of her place on the promotional posters throughout the Barwon Heads property.
RIGHT: Green says she wasn’t jealous watching from afar as Oh ended her win drought, but exceptionally proud. PHOTO: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.
“It is really nice to come back and see so many familiar faces, and some new ones. Really excited, and hopefully not too rusty after 12 weeks.”
Whereas Green is perhaps not quite firing on all cylinders in a tournament sense, Oh is exactly the opposite.
The Victorian teed it up at the Sandbelt Invitational the week of Christmas, took some time off before heading to Queensland and breaking a seven-year win drought at the inaugural Fortinet WPGA Championship.
From there, Oh headed back to the States and played two LPGA events where her play was solid if not spectacular, then was back on a plane to her home state where she will attempt to deny Green a first pro win at home.
There are of course 70 other players in the field, included among them Steph Kyriacou, Karis Davidson, Whitney Hillier and Grace Kim. Yet an eventual head-to-head between the two friends is a tantalising prospect from a purely golf sense. And perhaps a strange one for the chief protagonists.
Hannah Green is making her first start in 12 weeks, and is among the favourites for the Vic Open trophy. PHOTO: PGA Tour of Australasia.
“When Su won, I was so excited for her, but I did miss it a lot. So, I feel like I am in the best mental state and physical state,” Green said ahead of Thursday’s opening round.
“No not (jealous) really. I think maybe if I was playing the event, I would have been. I am so happy for her. I knew she was going to do well that week. But I wish I was there to actually celebrate in person.”
Asked what the dynamic would be if it does eventuate that the pair are challenging one another for the trophy, Green was confident it wouldn’t take on a different vibe despite what’s at stake.
“I think we will just be the same. We haven’t actually played too many tournament rounds with each other. Last year was the first time I think and that was just in round three, but I mean we know each other’s games well enough. We are just probably going to take it as easy as possible.
“It might be different if we were playing for a U.S. Open trophy, but the Vic Open is just a different environment but we both want to get our name on that trophy, so it will be interesting.”
For her part Oh brushed aside the suggestion that the on course smiles and tight bond the two clearly have means the competitiveness is somewhat diminished compared to the men’s event played concurrently on the Bellarine Peninsula.
“It might be different if we were playing for a U.S. Open trophy, but the Vic Open is just a different environment but we both want to get our name on that trophy, so it will be interesting.” – Hannah Green.
“It is great that people take interest in you because that is sport and being an athlete. But I always find it hard talking about myself because I am not sure who the audience is. I love the interest that they have in women’s golf, but the personal stuff, if people think we are competitive on Tour then great, if they think we are not competitive they are probably wrong. To each their own,” Oh exclusively told Golf Australia magazine.
And while Oh will have learnt plenty from the last big event held in Australia when she was able to finally win again, a result that will help her cause this week, Green also took a lesson away despite being more than 4,000kms away.
“It does happen way too often. Even I will be double checking my own card,” she laughed when asked about the disqualification of her partner Jarryd Felton at Royal Queensland after signing for an incorrect scorecard.
That sense of not making any mistakes perhaps even heightened if it means the difference between gaining or losing bragging rights in a special friendship in Australian golf.
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