Australia wins the International Crown for first time, defeating US

AUSTRALIA WON the International Crown on Sunday, beating the United States at the New Korea Country Club in Goyang, South Korea, to claim the LPGA team event for the first time. Australia clinched the title as Minjee Lee and Hannah Green won their singles matches, while a foursomes match between Stephanie Kyriacou and Grace Kim and the U.S. pairing of Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin finished tied, leaving the Australians with an insurmountable lead.

Lee rallied in a tight singles match with Angel Yin, closing the deciding holes to win 1 up, and Green sealed the championship by winning 2 and 1 over Yealimi Noh. Kyriacou and Kim had earlier secured Australia a spot in the final with a dramatic extra-hole foursomes victory over Team World in the semifinals.

The United States advanced to the final after a 4 and 2 victory by Noh over Miyu Yamashita and a 2 and 1 singles win by Yin over Rio Takeda in the semifinals against Japan. Noh produced an especially strong performance, recording a barrage of birdies en route to her victory. The World team, composed of Lydia Ko, Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson and WeiLing Hsu, finished third after Hull and Ko both won singles matches on Sunday.