International Crown: United States qualify for International Crown semi-finals as England finish bottom
The United States join Sweden, Australia and Thailand in the International Crown semi-finals; England bow out with just one win; last four matches take place on Sunday; watch the International Crown throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf
Sunday 7 May 2023 10:14, UK
The United States lost Pool A to Sweden but still qualified for the semi-finals at the International Crown LPGA team event in San Francisco – while England finished bottom of their pool with just a solitary victory in their six matches.
The Americans (3-2-1) dropped one four-ball match and clawed back to halve the second match against Sweden (5-0-1) in the team match-play event, clinching a berth in the semis when China lost to England.
The US will play Pool B winner Thailand in Sunday's semis while Sweden face Australia, the runner-up to Thailand - the only team to go undefeated in pool play (6-0-0).
Thailand swept Australia on Saturday, and it's Thai opposition that now awaits Lexi Thompson, with the American scheduled to open against Atthaya Thitikul on Sunday morning.
Patty Tavatanakit will then battle Lilia Vu followed by Moriya Jutanugarn and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand vs Danielle Kang and Nelly Korda.
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 its top players to the unique team event.
Two semi-final matches will be played 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 semi-final format.
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Sweden clinched Pool A when Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall defeated Korda and Vu 1-UP. Hedwall and Nordqvist went 3-0-0 in four-ball competition.
"You knew it was going to have to be really strong play, and I think (we're) just proud of ourselves," Nordqvist said. "We finished really strong yesterday to gain some momentum, and we came out firing pretty strong this morning."
In the second match, the US team of Thompson and Kang birdied three straight holes to take the lead before Maja Stark drained a birdie putt on the final green, to halve the match.
"I kind of liked it because it felt like they got mad, and that's kind of funny," Stark said of her birdie putt on 18. "I just really wanted to make that putt. Just being able to perform under pressure like that is not something that I've really felt before because it's usually been, everything has just been about myself, but now I do it for my team and for Sweden. It's really nice to be able to come in clutch like that at the end."
In other action on Saturday, South Korea swept both matches from Japan while England and China split theirs.
Watch the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Sunday from 11pm on Sky Sports Golf.
