It’s the eighth hole of the biggest round of her life and Hannah Green is approached by a seven-year-old girl, presenting her with a poem she’s written about her.

In a tournament she’s leading, trying to become the first Australian woman in 13 years to win a major, Hannah stopped to read the poem and chat with the young fan.

At any other time we would expect that of a sports star, but to break her momentum and focus at such a critical time is just not something many players would do. It speaks volumes of her but it’s just what she’s like.

With the 8th tee backed up, ⁦@hannahgreengolf⁩ stops to read a poem that 7-year-old Lily Kostner of Minneapolis wrote especially for Green. Lily (far left) is a big fan after Green gave her a ball at the ANA. pic.twitter.com/Wpysow2vpP

— Randall Mell (@RandallMellGC) June 23, 2019

If I ask Hannah to come and do a junior clinic for me, she’s just does it. If I ask her if she has a spare set of clubs I can give to an underprivileged kid, she just does it. She’s just a terrific person and it’s an honour to work with her.

One of our state team creeds was to be the most deserving player in the field. Deserving to us means you’ve not only worked the hardest. It also means you’ve been a great person; you respect your opposition, you’re grateful, polite, friendly and humble. Hannah’s the epitome of that.

ALL ARMS AND LEGS

Hannah had been playing for a couple of years with her dad Tau when I started working with her.  She came with an athletic frame but no idea how to use it.

She was all arms and legs and we just needed to get her a good structure and take advantage of her athleticism.

Tau and her mum Sue are the perfect parents for a coach. They are very supportive but they hardly go to the course. They allow us to work on her weaknesses. Sometimes when you work on those you have to go backwards a bit and they were very understanding of that from the beginning. They leave us to work on what we need to do and that makes it so much easier.

TOUGH TALK AT 17

As the WA-based national coach I had Hannah in my junior  and senior teams for five years. She was a good player but was never the best in our team because Minjee Lee was a part of that team.

She faced a crossroads when she was 17. She was drifting along. At the time, Golf Australia had Su Oh (from Victoria) and Minjee Lee in their development squad, who were very hard workers and very successful.

I thought her form wasn’t improving to the level it could. And I didn’t think she was working hard enough in any aspect. That was technical improvement, or training standards or her gym work. I thought she was just drifting along.

As her coach I told her she had to work harder or we couldn’t fund her. It was a tough conversation. She took it on board, sucked it up and improved a hell of a lot. I now think she works as hard as anyone.