OLIVIA McMILLAN: Welcome to the 2021 AIG Women's Open. Thank you so much for joining us. Nice to be back here in Scotland and here at Carnoustie this week?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it's really nice to be here. Unfortunately I didn't play the weekend at The Scottish Open, so I came earlier and yeah really enjoyed Carnoustie so far, so I'm really looking forward to the tournament rounds.
OLIVIA McMILLAN: Have you had a practise round at Carnoustie yet and what are your thoughts on the course?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, played 18; I haven't played 18 in a row but I have played the front nine and the back nine. I'm playing the Pro-Am shortly, so I'll be able to see them all again.
But it's a really cool golf course. Probably one that I'm really excited to actually play a practise round in. It has some long holes, some short holes, narrow holes and also some tough bunkers. So you have to be patient this week just like last. Yeah, I'm really excited.
Q. You talked at the start of the year about adding length in the off-season and this is a golf course that demands quite a lot in that part of the game. Can you give us an indication of the distance change you've seen so far in your game and how important that's going to be this week?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think it definitely helps when it comes to venues that are windy. I feel like this golf course is n particular is really good for us because there's a lot of bunkers that you have to take on and some of them I can carry, as opposed to other holes and some of them, might have to go with a 3-wood or 5-wood off the tee to stay short of them.
I feel like links golf, it definitely helps especially if you're trying to get a lots of knock-down shots. Coming from Australia, I'm pretty good playing in the wind. I don't know what the forecast is like. I think it's actually pretty calm, so I do hope it pops up a little bit more to have some sort of advantage,.
But yeah, it always helps when you have a shorter club into a hole of the. Your proximity with your stats should say that you hit it closer, so I think that's why the rest of my game has improved on that, too.
Q. How much further are you carrying your driver this year compared to last year?
HANNAH GREEN: Probably ten to 15 meters. Doesn't sound like a lot but it's one less club that I'm having into the green. It definitely has made a difference, and even when I returned to the Tour in March, played golf courses that we played last few years. It was very weird taking different lines and almost struggled a little bit committing to shots because I wasn't used to taking that type of line.
So I feel like brand new golf courses are actually better for me. I can go in there with a fresh mindset, so I'm hoping that will be the same this week.
Q. How firm and fast is the course at this stage of the week, and is the anticipated expectation that it will be fair by week's end?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, the fairways are firm. I feel like compared to last week, we have a lot of run-outs but like I said before, the bunkers are really well-placed and the tee boxes they have chosen has put them in play on pretty much every hole. It just depends how you're feeling off the tee whether you want to be aggressive or not, but I feel like the greens aren't too bad at the moment.
There's quite a lot grass on them and they are rolling really nice. I guess it depends on the wind direction, if it's into, it's going to stop quicker. But downwind you have to stop it short of the green or just on the front to get it close.
Q. How was the transition coming from Tokyo to last week in Scotland?
HANNAH GREEN: It was hard, I'm not going to lie, going from 40-plus degree heat and then coming to Scotland where it's about 17, 18 degrees is quite a shock. I think just being on a high and coming from the Olympics, it is quite hard to come down.
I really do enjoy Scotland and I do enjoy this test of golf. I didn't feel like I had my best last week but maybe I'm a little pore fresh than some of the girls who played on the weekend and hopefully I can use that to my advantage this week and play well.
Q. For Kristen Gillman to get in on a Monday qualifier, an incredible achievement another west Aussie?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, absolutely, she was really nervous about the qualifier but there was a decent amount of spots, and she's had a couple of wins over here in the U.K. I had dinner with her last night and she was asking me so many questions. She was just so excited to get here.
We're going to play a practise round together tomorrow and she's got all of her caddie everything and organised, so I'm glad that she's made it. Yeah, she's very keen to play.
Q. Any words of advice for her?
HANNAH GREEN: I mean, she's been playing really well, and there's no reason why she can't do it again this week. I think she's a little bit starstruck. She's told me she's seen a couple players she watches on TV and one day she'll be one of those girls and there will be someone looking up to her. She just needs to keep doing what she's doing and don't get too caught up in it and yeah, just play well.
Q. Well done at the Olympics, it was really great to see you go so well. You made the big call to leave the U.S. and have the big break at home before the Olympics. Just wondering if you felt your performance there in Tokyo was a benefit there and going forward the rest of the year?
HANNAH GREEN: I wasn't going to be home until November and that was the only time I could see me going back to Australia. Unfortunately I did miss the Evian Championship, which was a bummer, but I watched Minjee win. And even though I might not have great results coming the end of the year, at least mentality I will be happy and I won't be wishing that I had gone home and regret that I didn't.
I always struggled being away from Australia, and COVID hasn't helped with that. Last year I was on the road for five months. I just did three months a few weeks ago, and I'll be on the road again for another knew months. I feel like we are kind of lucky because every week does go pretty quickly but I feel like sometimes it does go slow, and I think I just needed the mental recharge more than the physical.
It was great to see my coach and have Richie there with me in Tokyo but I think it was more a mental choice rather than a physical choice.
Q. Just on the whole Olympic experience, you mentioned having watched Minjee win at the Evian, so to be there and play with her and to be with the guys, as well, did you feel that sort of mental refresh was the benefit of being with all those Aussies for such a significant amount of time, and what it would mean when you start playing again on your own?
HANNAH GREEN: It was really fun. We were fortunate enough that the guys actually stayed on Sunday night and we all arrived Sunday, so we got to have dinner with them and there was I think 14 of us in a room having dinner, all Australians and one Kiwi.
It was really cool, and I think we all needed that kind of banter for the guys playing the WGC, and for us continuing and playing in Tokyo. It was a lot of fun. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. I think we all enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed each other's company.
Q. And looking to Paris, would you like a team event prior to the Olympics?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think it would be great. It would be hard because obviously we have to find a couple weeks to get it into our schedule but I feel like even if worst-case scenario they made it two scores counting towards the day, for instance, Minjee and myself, I know that at least you didn't have the best week you wanted in Tokyo, but Marc was just playing for the sake of playing but Cam did really well. It would have been great if both of them were thinking about each other's scores and yet there was some sort of team event.
Q. Talking with Kristen, have you had much to do with her and what's it like to be in that position where you're the one passing on help? I know you're tapping Karrie now and then but how comfortable are you with that and how have you helped Kristen over the years?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, we've known each other for a long time. We both played the same, club Mt Lawley, back in WA. We often try and play and practise together when I'm back home and yes we always message each other whenever I'm away or she's away. We've kept in good contact even if we are not in Australia.
So she was telling me, you know, that she was heading to the U.K. and playing events and she has obviously done well to have two wins. She's got a really tough mental game so I knew she was going to take it, even yesterday she posted 1-under and she was tired third and nervous and not sure that she could say she was in.
Yeah, she's a great kid, comes from a great family, so I'm really excited she's made it and I hope that she can contend on the weekend as well.
Q. What did you guys have for dinner last night?
HANNAH GREEN: I had a chicken burger and she had a steak burger, so it wasn't the healthiest of meals but we were celebrating.
Q. Did you pick up the cheque at least?
HANNAH GREEN: Unfortunately we both charged it to our rooms. But it won't be the last dinner we have this week. It's probably nice for her to have a familiar face to hang out with.
Q. Carnoustie, it has its own history. Is that the first time you played that hole in practise yesterday and how did you play it?
HANNAH GREEN: So the wind direction makes the hole play downwind. It is a very different hole. I played it on Sunday and hit 3-wood and got it past the bunkers on the right. I had a wedge into a front pin but I imagine if the wind is into it's going to be a bit more intimidating.
But it's a lot more narrow off the tee than you think it is until you actually get there yourself and see it. So I'm not sure, I heard that the wind direction is actually going to be different in the tournament rounds compared to the practise rounds.
So that doesn't really help all that much but I have heard that it's also going to be not too windy anyway. So yeah, it's a tough hole and it's a great finishing stretch. I'd also say 17 is just as hard as 18, and also 16.
So there's a lot of tough holes coming in, so I feel like whoever is leading come Sunday probably wants quite a big lead prior to playing those last few.
Q. Do you soak up the history when you're out there for the first time? I know you have family connections to Scotland but does golf history seep into you, as well?
HANNAH GREEN: I feel like we're so lucky to be playing Carnoustie, I feel like watching it on the TV and watching the men play here and obviously it's been ten years since the women last played here. I think we are just so fortunate to be able to play and even when I drove in, I was kind of just smiling the entire way and even on the golf course. I feel like at least that's one positive that if you don't have such a great hole, you look at the bigger picture and are like, "I'm playing Carnoustie, this is pretty damn cool."
Q. Wondering if you may have some relatives watching you this week actually at the course?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I do. I'm not sure who is all coming but I know my mom's cousin has asked for five tickets, so I'm pretty sure they are all going to be family members coming. I feel like I won't be able to give them a hug or anything but at least I'll have them out there, and I'm excited to see them from behind the rope.
Q. You mentioned -- going back to watching Minjee, how significant is it, two girls from Perth and what that means for sort of going forward as well because you're both young, as well, for the women's game in Australia?
HANNAH GREEN: I was more nervous watching her than I was winning KPMG. It was about midnight when she won Perth time and I think she had probably seven or eight holes to go, and I told my boyfriend, I reckon she's going to win. So I couldn't even go to sleep. I was just watching the whole entire time.
And she played so well and putted so well. It was even inspiring to me as a fellow player. I can't imagine what the juniors back in Australia are feeling. There's no reason why they can't do it and hopefully we do get some more Australians out on Tour and we all keep succeeding.
Q. Obviously you'll have spoken to her about it at the Olympics, is she still on a high?
HANNAH GREEN: It's hard not to be. It's the event that she wanted the most. I feel like a lot of people thought she would be the first person to win a major after Webby, so I guess it's not a burden but an ease off her shoulder. She's playing with a lot of confidence right now and both didn't have a great week last week but I'm sure we'll both fire up and go well this week.
OLIVIA McMILLAN: I think that has wrapped it up, and I just want to say a very big thank you for generously giving us your time today and we wish you the best of luck here at Carnoustie.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports