Australia pulled off two victories towards defending champion South Korea, and Sweden and Thailand additionally turned in 2-0 performances to kick off the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown on Thursday in San Francisco.
The solely matchup of the day that did not end in a sweep was the top-seeded UnitedStates splitting its two matches with No. 8 China at TPC Harding Park.
The International Crown is being performed for the primary time since 2018 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prime eight international locations in ladies’s golf have been decided by final 12 months’s Rolex Rankings and every nation despatched 4 of its prime gamers to the distinctive staff occasion.
The international locations have been seeded and break up into two swimming pools, with groups competing in 4 ball (finest ball) in a single round-robin format from Thursday to Saturday. One level will probably be awarded for a win and a half-point for a tie, with the highest two international locations advancing from every pool.
Two semifinal matches will probably be performed Sunday morning, every consisting of two singles matches and one foursomes (alternate-shot) match. The successful semifinal international locations will compete within the last match on Sunday afternoon in the identical format.
Seventh-seeded Australia confronted a tall first activity Thursday, with three of South Korea’s 4 gamers ranked inside the highest 12 on the earth. But Minjee Lee and Stephanie Kyriacou stunned Hye Jin Choi and In Gee Chun 2 up — taking the lead with a birdie on the primary gap and by no means trailing within the match.
Hannah Green and Sarah Kemp adopted by beating Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim 2 and 1.
Joining Australia atop Pool B was sixth-seeded Thailand, which swept Japan. The all-star staff of 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 in junior golf together,” Tavatanakit stated, “after which the sisters are clearly snug collectively.
“We don’t know the strategy yet. We’ll come back and sit down and talk if we want some changes, but I think we had a good group. Like I said, good vibes, so everyone will cheer each other on.”
In Pool A, fourth-seeded Sweden dominated its two matches towards fifth-seeded England, which had two prime gamers — Georgia Hall and Charley Hull — withdraw earlier this week as a result of damage and sickness. Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall upended Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff 4 and three, and Madelene Sagstrom and Maja Stark routed Liz Young and Alice Hewson 5 and 4.
“It was a really good matchup. We played really well together,” Sagstrom stated of herself and Stark. “Our games are fairly 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 awesome. But I think at the same time my experience also kind of helps me being out there.”
Recent Chevron Championship winner Lilia Vu teamed up with star Nelly Korda to beat China’s Ruoning Yin and Xiyu Lin 2 and 1. But China’s Ruixin Liu and Yu Liu grabbed an early lead towards Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson and by no means relented, holding on for the ultimate six holes to win 1 up.
The event continues Friday with the next matchups:
Friday Pool A
No. 1 United States 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