United States Dominates Day One at the International Crown
In the exciting LPGA International Crown tournament, held in Goyang, South Korea, the United States team shone with an outstanding performance, defeating China in two four-ball matches during the opening day. Meanwhile, world number one Jeeno Thitikul maintained her perfect streak in the team competition. Thitikul, along with her compatriot Pajaree Anannarukarn from Thailand, achieved a victory over 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 team competition. The day also saw Australia’s Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou defeat Chanettee Wannasaen and Jasmine Suwannapura with a 2-up score, splitting points with Thailand on the first day. The American team, composed of Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin, dominated China’s Liu Yan and Yin Ruoning with a score of 5 and 4, while Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin defeated Zhang Weiwei and Liu Ruixin with a score of 1 up. The United States was the only team to win both opening matches. Japan led the world team in the early stages of both four-ball matches, but Charley Hull and Lydia Ko managed to tie the score against Rio Takeda and Miyu Yamashita thanks to a birdie on the final hole. Subsequently, Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu came back to win 2 and 1 against Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo, adding 1.5 points against their opponents. Hull and Ko got to 1 down when Hull birdied the 12th hole, and the pair stayed 1 down until the 18th hole, a par 4, where they tied the match after Ko holed a 25-foot birdie putt.The host team, South Korea, got off to a good start as Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi defeated Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant with a score of 3 and 2, while 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 were determined according to the women’s world ranking. The incorporation of a global team allows players like Ko, from New Zealand, and Henderson, from Canada, to participate in the tournament. The four-ball matches continue on Friday and Saturday. The top two countries from each group will advance to the semi-finals and Sunday’s final, which will consist of a foursomes (alternate shot) format and two singles matches. Thitikul, a member of the Thai team that won the International Crown in 2023 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, is the only player in the tournament who has won the event. She is a six-time LPGA Tour winner, including victories this season at the Mizuho Americas Open and the Shanghai tournament two weeks ago. Last week, Sei Young Kim won the BMW Ladies Championship, also in South Korea. The LPGA’s Asian tour continues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week and concludes in Shiga, Japan, from November 6-9.The only way I thought we were going to extend the match was if I holed the putt on the 17th. At both distances, it’s not a guaranteed birdie putt at all, but I felt I shouldn’t disappoint the team. Charley holed so many good birdie putts that kept the match going, and I just came along for the ride in the last two.
Lydia Ko
