When Hannah Green began her 2024 campaign, breaking into the world top 10 was a goal she was desperate to tick off.

With a three-win season on the LPGA Tour – a feat not achieved by an Australian since Karrie Webb in 2006 – there were times this year when Green could lay claims to being the best player in the women’s game.

Granted, everyone played second fiddle to Nelly Korda’s seven-win season and Lydia Ko’s Paris gold medal at AIG Women’s Open title was a remarkable run in its own right but there was no question that Green was part of the conversation.

It took just two starts for the West Australian to record her first win of the year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, storming home to edge France’s Celine Boutier.

She missed the cut unexpectedly at the Chevron Championship – the year’s first major – but bounced back a week later where she successfully defended her JM Eagle LA Championship title at Wilshire Country Club.

A head-to-head with Nelly Korda at the Mizuho Americas Open led to a playoff defeat at the hands of the world No.1, Green climbing to a career high of No.5 in the world and full of confidence headed to her second Olympic Games.

A slight stumble out of the blocks put the now 28-year-old on the back foot but she clawed her way back into medal contention over the following three days.

A hole-out for eagle at the par-4 17th in a back nine of 6-under in Round 3 put Green within four strokes of the medals heading into the final day. By the time she began the back nine in Round 4, she was in a tie for third and charging towards Australian Olympic history.

A wayward tee shot on 10 would lead to a double-bogey that would ultimately prove fatal, Green making par at the 72nd hole to finish one shot out of a medal playoff.

Green’s third win for the year came at the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, making it successive Aussie wins after Minjee Lee’s victory in 2023, and was tied for sixth a week later at the Maybank Championship.

A second Greg Norman Medal at the PGA Awards was fitting reward for a season in which she finished sixth in the world ranking, seventh on the LPGA Tour Race to CME Globe standings and asserted her place as one of the dominant forces in women’s golf.

Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images