Australia beats US for LPGA match-play title in Korea
Minjee Lee of Australia hits out of a bunker in the final match against the United States Team during the LPGA International Crown golf tournament at New Korea Country Club in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. Yonhap
The fourth-seeded Australia defeated No. 1 seed United States to win the International Crown in South Korea on Sunday.
The Australians won the final 2 1/2-1/2 at New Korea Country Club in Goyang, on the northwestern outskirts of Seoul, earning its first title at the biennial LPGA match-play event.
This was the fifth edition of the International Crown and Australia's victory gave the tournament its fifth different champion.
Spain, the U.S., South Korea and Thailand won the previous four competitions.
In the final, Australia won both of its singles matches and had a tie in the foursome match -- where the two golfers per side took turns in hitting the same ball until the hole was completed.
Minjee Lee beat Angel Yin 2 & 1 in the first singles match. Lee grabbed the lead with a birdie on the ninth hole, only to see Yin drain a long birdie putt on the very next hole to tie the score again.
Lee made a birdie at 12th to take a 1-up lead again. Yin answered with a birdie on the 13th to make it a tie match.
The two kept going back and forth, with Yin moving ahead with a birdie on the 14th before Lee birdied the next two holes to grab a 1-up lead. Lee then finished off her win by saving par on the par-5 17th, where Yin made a bogey.
Hannah Green then clinched the title for Australia by beating Yealimi Noh 2 & 1 in the second singles match.
Green won three straight holes starting on the fourth, making birdies on all of them, while Noh only managed pars.
Noh cut Green's lead to 2-up with a birdie on the par-5 eighth. Then Green's advantage shrunk to 1-up when the Australian bogeyed the par-4 10th.
Green went back up by two holes after a birdie on the 12th. Noh ate into Green's lead by making a birdie on the 15th, but the Australian birdied the 17th to fend off the American.
Stephanie Kyriacou and Grace Kim got a half point for Australia with a tie against Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin in the foursome match.
The U.S. team lost the first hole but then won the fifth hole with a par before taking the lead with a birdie on the eighth hole.
That lead only lasted two holes, as the Aussies won the 11th hole with a par, while the Americans made a bogey.
Australia then won the 14th hole with a par to take a 1-up lead. But with the final outcome already decided, the match ended after the U.S. team eagled the 17th.
Lee, the Korean Australian star with three LPGA majors, was voted the MVP of the tournament.
The International Crown featured seven countries -- Australia, the U.S., Thailand, China, Japan, Sweden and the host South Korea -- plus the new World Team, consisting of players from countries not already qualified for the event. The top four players based on world rankings were chosen, though there were also some injury-related withdrawals earlier this month.
The teams were split into Pools A and B, with the top two from each side qualifying for the semifinals. South Korea finished third in Pool B to miss out on the semifinals for the second straight International Crown.