Rising golf star Hannah Green says she took a break from social media to avoid getting "big headed", and she hopes the tactic will pay dividends when she attempts to land a second straight major title in France this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Green's profile has soared since she won the Women's PGA Championship in the US last month.
The 22-year-old West Australian was a minnow on the LPGA Tour scene before that, but is now hot property after becoming only the third Australian woman to win a major title.
So much so that she will play the first two rounds of the $A5.87 million Evian Championship in a marquee group including world No.2 Jin Young Ko and No.5 Jeongeun Lee - both fellow 2019 major winners.
The PGA triumph at Hazeltine National in the US came as a shock even to Green, and she has spent the past four weeks back home in Perth soaking up her success and spending time with family.
Shortly after winning her first major title, Green decided to cut back drastically on social media - choosing to only focus on posts from friends and family and avoid any articles about herself.
"It's been good. I really needed it," Green said.
"I think everyone in my generation probably spends too much time on their phones and on social media.
"And especially when the attention is on you, it's hard to put the phone down.
"But mentally I needed to, just to make sure when I came back out on tour that I wasn't too big-headed or anything like that.
"I didn't really want to get too caught up on (the success), because I know it's my first time in the winners' circle and people may have their doubts on me. So I didn't really want to read it."
Green has adopted the same approach this week in her bid to put in another strong display.
While Green now has the spotlight on her, fellow West Australian Minjee Lee may be the Australian best-placed to win this week.
The 23-year-old Lee is yet to win a major title, but it seems a matter of time before the world No.4 breaks her duck given she is a regular contender on the LPGA Tour and has won five titles.
Australian veteran Katherine Kirk has enjoyed some good form on the Evian Resort course in previous years, having finished in third place two years ago and registering a top-10 finish last year.
Su Oh and Sarah Kemp round out the five-strong Australian contingent in Evian-les-Bains this week.
Australian Associated Press
