.@hannahgreengolf birdies No.18. Finishes round (-14).https://t.co/fZXpoViOCq pic.twitter.com/MgWzfnVAsS
— Symetra Tour (@ROAD2LPGA) July 23, 2017
Hannah Green's birdie machine took a rare day off, but it cranked up with a vengeance today.
The West Australian ace remarkably banked her seventh top-10 finish in just 13 starts on the Symetra Tour, roaring home to finish third at the Danielle Downey Classic in Rochester, New York.
Green, 20, peeled off a scintillating eight-under-par 64 to complete a weekend of just 132 strokes and slide up to fifth on the Road to the LPGA rankings with the top 10 to graduate to the big tour at season's end.
The impressive Nanna Madsen won an immediate "battlefield promotion" to the LPGA Tour with her third victory of the season.
And the Dane, runner-up in February's ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, became the first woman to break the 20-under barrier with a stunning 22-under winning total.
Yet it wouldn't be lost on the usually ultra consistent Green that the margin to her 14-under total was the same as the difference between their second-round scores when Green let slip her victory chance with a 75.
But to hit back so hard and run down all bar Madsen and American Laura Wearn (-15) is exactly the reason she has one hand on her 2018 card on the big tour just eight months after turning professional.
"So happy with my third finish & shooting 64 (-8), my personal best," Green later tweeted.
The $10,312 cheque Green banked took her season tally to $55,631. Importantly, she's now almost $20,000 clear of 11th place.
Also, the power of Madsen will be removed from most of the remaining events should she takes up her LPGA Tour rights whenever possible.
Also impressive today was Adelaide's Steph Na, who closed with 67 to finish tied eighth at nine under, her first top-10 finish since 2014.
Perth's Jayde Panos closed with a 69 of her own to finish T23 at six under, her second-best finish of the season.