Australia beat the United States to win the LPGA’s Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown tournament on Sunday, clinching the title after Minjee Lee and Hannah Green won both their singles matches 2 and 1 over Americans Angel Yin and Yealimi Noh.
The foursomes match between Australians Stephanie Kyriacou and Grace Kim and Americans Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin finished in a tie, but became irrelevant when Green secured victory at the 17th hole in her match against Noh.
It’s Australia’s first win at this match-play tournament after coming close last year when Jeeno Thitikul and Thailand beat them in the final at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
The World team finished third after Charley Hull and Lydia Ko delivered impressive victories in their singles matches against Japan. Hull led with a 4-and-3 win over Ayaka Furue, while Ko sealed third place with a 3-and-2 win over Rio Takeda.
Japan’s Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita narrowed the deficit by beating Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu 4 and 3 in the foursomes.
Australia’s Dramatic Path to the Final
Earlier Sunday, Kyriacou and Kim beat Hsu and Ko of the World team on the 20th hole to secure Australia’s spot in the final after the singles had finished 1-1.
Hull had put the World team ahead with a 2-and-1 victory over Green in the first singles match. But Minjee Lee rallied against Canada’s Henderson to win 1 up, leveling the semifinal and setting the stage for the decisive foursomes match.
The top-seeded Americans had a more straightforward path to the final. Yin claimed a 2-and-1 win over Japan’s Takeda, then Noh secured the Americans’ spot with a dominant finish, winning holes at the 13th, 15th and 16th for a comfortable 4-and-2 victory over Yamashita.
Furue and Saigo took a consolation win for Japan, handing the U.S. its first loss of the week with a 1-up victory over Vu and Coughlin in foursomes.
The tournament format brings together seven countries and a “rest of the world” team competing in two pools. Teams and players are determined by the women’s world ranking, with the top two countries from each pool advancing to Sunday’s semifinals and finals consisting of one foursomes match and two singles matches.
The LPGA’s Asian swing continues in Kuala Lumpur next week before concluding in Shiga, Japan from Nov. 6-9. This follows Sei Young Kim’s victory at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea last week.
