Australia claimed two victories against defending champions South Korea, and Sweden and Thailand also posted 2-0 performances to kick off the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown on Thursday in San Francisco.
The only matchup of the day that did not result in a sweep was the top-seeded USA, who split their two matches with No. 8 China at TPC Harding Park.
The International Crown is being played for the first time since 2018 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The top eight countries in women’s golf were determined by last year’s Rolex Rankings and each country sent four of their best players to the unique team event.
Countries were seeded and divided into two pools, with teams competing in four balls (best ball) in a single round-robin format from Thursday to Saturday. One point will be awarded for a win and half a point for a draw, with the top two countries advancing from each pool.
Two semi-final matches will be played on Sunday morning, each consisting of two singles matches and one foursomes (alternate-shot) match. The winning semi-final countries will compete in the final match on Sunday afternoon in the same format.
Seventh-seeded Australia faced a tall first task on Thursday, with three of South Korea’s four players ranked in the top 12 in the world. But Minjee Lee and Stephanie Kyriacou surprised Hye Jin Choi and In Gee Chun 2 – took the lead with a birdie on the first hole and never trailed in the match.
Hannah Green and Sarah Kemp followed by beating Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim 2 and 1.
Joining Australia at the top of Pool B was sixth-seeded Thailand, who swept Japan. All-star team Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya Thitikul defeated Japan’s Yuka Saso and Ayaka Furue 1 up with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Sisters Moriya and Ariya Jutanugarn then beat Nasa Hataoka and Hinako Shibuno 2 up.
“I feel like we’re pretty comfortable with each other because we played a lot of junior golf together,” Tavatanakit said, “and then the sisters are obviously comfortable together.
“We don’t know the strategy yet. We’ll come back and sit down and talk if we want any changes, but I think we had a good group. Like I said, good vibes, so everyone will be cheering each other on.”
In Pool A, fourth-seeded Sweden dominated their two matches against fifth-seeded England, who had two top players – Georgia Hall and Charley Hull – withdraw earlier this week due to injury and illness. Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall beat Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff 4 and 3, and Madelene Sagström and Maja Stark dispatched Liz Young and Alice Hewson 5 and 4.
“It was a really good matchup. We played really well together,” Sagstrom said of himself and Stark. “Our games are pretty similar, so it’s fun. We’ve never played team events before because I’m a lot older than her, so it’s cool. It’s great. But I think at the same time, my experience also helps me. being out there .”
Recent Chevron Championship winner Lilia Vu teamed up with star Nelly Korda to defeat China’s Ruoning Yin and Xiyu Lin 2 and 1. But China’s Ruixin Liu and Yu Liu took an early lead against Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson and surrendered never and held on for the final six holes to win 1 up.
The tournament continues on Friday with the following matches:
Friday pool A
No. 1 USA vs. No. 5 England
No. 4 Sweden vs. No. 8 China
Friday pool B
No. 2 South Korea vs. No. 6 Thailand
No. 3 Japan vs. No. 7 Australia
–Field Level Media
Source: sn.dk