By: Max Bechtoldt
Australians have traditionally thrived at Wilshire Country Club. Specifically, the biggest stars from the country, Minjee Lee and Hannah Green. Each of them have wins at the course and have additional top 10s as well. Nobody plays the course in the heart of Los Angeles quite like Green.
This week, a new Aussie has added her impact on the course. Grace Kim. Kim is well known to LPGA Tour fans. She came in second for the 2023 Rookie of the Year and won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii. She also had two top-15 finishes in majors last year. For the International Crown team, she was a week late, as she narrowly missed out on making team Australia.
Anyone who sees the Australians on tour knows how close knit the community is. Sarah Kemp, Stephanie Kyriacou and Grace Kim herself were all out showering Green in champaign after her win this year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Australia will have one of the strongest duos heading to the Paris Olympics this year. The country is just getting stronger too, with Gabi Ruffels having a strong rookie campaign, leading the Rookie of the Year standings with Hira Naveed in sixth.
Kim said of Green prior to round four: “Yeah, again, obviously we’re friends before competitors, so whoever gets the trophy, yeah, we’re very supportive of.”
Kim and Green are at -7 ahead of a host of close contenders. They played a practice round early this week and are now in the final pairing. Wilshire continues to feel like home for the players from down under.
