A weary Hannah Green has walked off Kingston Heath without the coveted Patricia Bridges Bowl but still satisfied after a career-best year.
The West Australian's hopes of being the first local woman to win the Australian Open trophy since Karrie Webb in 2014 went up in smoke on Sunday with a horror triple-bogey on the par-four seventh.
She finished tied for fourth, 11 shots behind South Korean veteran Jiyai Shin.
A jet-lagged Green never led through the four days, having only arrived in Australia 24 hours before her opening round after playing in the LPGA Tour Championship in Florida.
Despite missing another chance for her maiden Australian Open title, Green said she would reflect fondly on the year when she reached a career-high world No.5 before dropping back one spot.
Green, 27, became the first Australian since Webb in 2006 to notch three wins in a single LPGA season, and finished tied for fifth at the Paris Olympics.
"Like my caddie said, I had such a good year, I don't really want to dwell on my last round of the year being here, Aussie Open and not being in contention or even having a trophy," Green said.
"But yeah, overall I'm just really happy with how I tried to fight out there.
"Obviously, I was struggling very hard and it probably could have been even worse so overall, still happy with the result.
"Overall I'm just really happy with how I tried to fight out there."
With the format of the dual-gender tournament in 2025 to be decided, Green has pushed for a return to a February slot.
Given the current date trails the LPGA tour-ending tournament, the world's best women - such as world No.1 and 2019 Open champion Nelly Korda - have been notable absentees.
Green said she'd like the women's Open to be played in Perth, home for herself and Australia's No.2 Minjee Lee.
"Obviously I would love it in my home city," Green said.
"I think we have a couple of venues that could be an option and we've got the two best Australian women's golfers there.
"We have a tournament in Singapore, so realistically we could move it around there because it's only a five-hour flight.
"But again, it's a scheduling thing - it has to be in the right time-frame to get the best players in the world.
"But yeah, of course I'd love to sleep in my own bed."
