In the first day of the LPGA’s International Crown tournament, held in Goyang, South Korea, the United States demonstrated its superiority by defeating China in two four-ball matches. Meanwhile, the world number one, Jeeno Thitikul, maintained her perfect streak in this team competition.
Unstoppable Thitikul
Thitikul, along with her compatriot Pajaree Anannarukarn from Thailand, defeated Hannah Green and Grace Kim from Australia with a score of 1 up at the New Korea Country Club. This victory marked Thitikul’s sixth consecutive win in this competition. The triumph of Thitikul and Anannarukarn came after Australia’s Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou defeated Chanettee Wannasaen and Jasmine Suwannapura, also from Thailand, with a score of 2 up, splitting the points on the opening day. In other results, Americans Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin routed China’s Liu Yan and Yin Ruoning with a score of 5 and 4. Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin also contributed to the American victory by defeating Zhang Weiwei and Liu Ruixin by 1 up. The United States was the only team to win both matches of the opening day. The Japanese team led the world team in the early stages of the four-ball matches, but Charley Hull and Lydia Ko managed to tie the match with Rio Takeda and Miyu Yamashita thanks to a birdie on the final hole. Subsequently, Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu rallied to defeat Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo with a score of 2 and 1, adding 1.5 points against their opponents. Hull and Ko reduced the deficit to 1 down when Hull achieved a birdie on the 12th hole, and they remained in that situation until the 18th hole, where Ko holed a 25-foot birdie putt to tie the match.The host team, South Korea, got off to a good start when Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi defeated Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant with a score of 3 and 2. Jin Young Ko and Haeran Ryu tied with Ingrid Lindblad and Madelene Sagstrom. The tournament format includes seven countries and a “Rest of the World” team competing in two groups: United States, China, Australia, and Thailand in Group A, and South Korea, the World team, Japan, and Sweden in Group B. The teams and their players are determined according to the women’s world ranking. The inclusion of the world team allows the participation of players like Ko from New Zealand and Henderson from Canada in the tournament. The four-ball matches will continue on Friday and Saturday. The two best countries from each group will advance to the semi-finals and the final on Sunday, which will consist of one foursomes (alternate shot) match and two singles matches. Thitikul, a member of the winning Thai team in 2023 at the International Crown held at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, is the only player in the field who has won the event. She has six victories on the LPGA Tour, including wins this season at the Mizuho Americas Open and at the Shanghai tournament two weeks ago. The LPGA’s Asian tour continues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week and will conclude in Shiga, Japan, from November 6th to 9th.The only way I thought we were going to extend the match was if I holed the putt on the 17th. At our distance, it’s not a guaranteed birdie putt at all, but I felt like I shouldn’t disappoint the team. Charley holed many good birdie putts that kept the match going, and I just came to enjoy the last two holes.
Lydia Ko
