INAUGURAL INTERNATIONAL TEAM MATCH-PLAY CROWN TOURNAMENT
USA FAIL TO MAKE IT TO FINAL DAY,
JAPAN AND SPAIN TOP QUALIFIERS
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
It was no surprise that more drama unfolded on the final day of pool play at the International Crown on Saturday at Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Maryland in Baltimore.
But it was a shock to see the two top seeded teams from each pool forced into the wild card play-off to decide the final spot for Sunday’s singles matches. It was even more surprising to see the No. 1 overall seed and host United States not make it to the final day.
Japan leads all teams with 8 points and will be the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s singles matches. Three teams sit tied with 7 total points apiece (Spain, Thailand, Sweden).
Spain earns the No. 2 seed for Sunday, having beaten Thailand in their head-to-head match-ups on Saturday.
Thailand takes the No. 3 seed, having been the higher seed than Sweden entering the tournament.
Sweden will be No. 4 and The Republic of Korea take the fifth seed after beating the United Stated in the wild card play-off.
The United States and The Republic of Korea found themselves in the third seed of their respective pools after the conclusion of pool play and faced off on the 16th tee for the sudden death-play-off.
Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu stepped forward as representatives of their respective teams.
“Honestly, it's always hard to beat the Americans, especially in the United States,” said Ryu. “A lot of American fans are in here. Lexi is a long hitter and I thought that she easily can make it in two on the par-5. So obviously I was pretty scared before I was going into the playoff.”
Park and Ryu both made birdies to defeat Team USA after Kerr birdied and Thompson made par.
“It is disappointing,” said Kerr. “Especially to go in a play-off and have it come down to one hole and total score.
"So it's just disappointing, but we got to take the positives away from our play the last couple days and hold our head high.”
The format for Sunday will be singles match play with a total of ten matches played on Sunday. Each country will play one singles match against every other country. The team with the most points over all four days of play will win the International Crown.
NO MORE HOSTING DUTIES
The Americans headed into this week not even having the thought of missing out on Sunday’s singles matches, but after being forced in the wildcard playoff and losing to The Republic of Korea, that horror became their reality.
“Honestly, the first time I thought about that was on our cart ride up into the media center,” said Lewis.
“I never thought that we wouldn't be playing tomorrow. It never really even crossed my mind until we were driving up here. ”
Lewis and Paula Creamer needed to halve or win their match on Saturday with Pornanong Phatlum and Onnarin Sattayabanphot to clinch a spot for Sunday’s final round.
Thompson and Kerr beat the Jutanugarn sisters 3 and 2 to give the U.S. six total points.
The final match of the day went all the way to the 18th hole, only one of two matches to do so on Saturday, and Creamer and Lewis failed to convert on their long birdie putts.
After all four players made par, the U.S. was forced into the wild card play-off which they eventually lost.
Although they won’t be competing on Sunday, the entire group agreed that the competition elevated women’s golf as a whole.
“I think the International Crown generated a lot of interest by the media, a lot of interest by the fans, and I thought it was very good for our Tour,” said Kerr.
“It was a different, fresh kind of an idea and concept. I think our Tour needs this kind of an event where we can include a lot of different countries, because we are such a global Tour. "
WEATHER FORECAST MOVES UP START TIMES
With bad weather forecasted for Sunday afternoon, the tee times for the final day of the International Crown have been moved up. The first singles match will now tee off at 11:30 a.m. ET with the final pairing teeing off at 1:00 p.m.
Due to the change in schedule, the final matches of the International Crown will be available to watch from 1-2:30 p.m. ET on GolfChannel.com and live TV coverage will take place from 2:30-5 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
TO VIEW THE SATURDAY RESULTS
CLICK HERE
JAPAN AND SPAIN TOP QUALIFIERS
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
It was no surprise that more drama unfolded on the final day of pool play at the International Crown on Saturday at Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Maryland in Baltimore.
But it was a shock to see the two top seeded teams from each pool forced into the wild card play-off to decide the final spot for Sunday’s singles matches. It was even more surprising to see the No. 1 overall seed and host United States not make it to the final day.
Japan leads all teams with 8 points and will be the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s singles matches. Three teams sit tied with 7 total points apiece (Spain, Thailand, Sweden).
Spain earns the No. 2 seed for Sunday, having beaten Thailand in their head-to-head match-ups on Saturday.
Thailand takes the No. 3 seed, having been the higher seed than Sweden entering the tournament.
Sweden will be No. 4 and The Republic of Korea take the fifth seed after beating the United Stated in the wild card play-off.
The United States and The Republic of Korea found themselves in the third seed of their respective pools after the conclusion of pool play and faced off on the 16th tee for the sudden death-play-off.
Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu stepped forward as representatives of their respective teams.
“Honestly, it's always hard to beat the Americans, especially in the United States,” said Ryu. “A lot of American fans are in here. Lexi is a long hitter and I thought that she easily can make it in two on the par-5. So obviously I was pretty scared before I was going into the playoff.”
Park and Ryu both made birdies to defeat Team USA after Kerr birdied and Thompson made par.
“It is disappointing,” said Kerr. “Especially to go in a play-off and have it come down to one hole and total score.
"So it's just disappointing, but we got to take the positives away from our play the last couple days and hold our head high.”
The format for Sunday will be singles match play with a total of ten matches played on Sunday. Each country will play one singles match against every other country. The team with the most points over all four days of play will win the International Crown.
NO MORE HOSTING DUTIES
The Americans headed into this week not even having the thought of missing out on Sunday’s singles matches, but after being forced in the wildcard playoff and losing to The Republic of Korea, that horror became their reality.
“Honestly, the first time I thought about that was on our cart ride up into the media center,” said Lewis.
“I never thought that we wouldn't be playing tomorrow. It never really even crossed my mind until we were driving up here. ”
Lewis and Paula Creamer needed to halve or win their match on Saturday with Pornanong Phatlum and Onnarin Sattayabanphot to clinch a spot for Sunday’s final round.
Thompson and Kerr beat the Jutanugarn sisters 3 and 2 to give the U.S. six total points.
The final match of the day went all the way to the 18th hole, only one of two matches to do so on Saturday, and Creamer and Lewis failed to convert on their long birdie putts.
After all four players made par, the U.S. was forced into the wild card play-off which they eventually lost.
Although they won’t be competing on Sunday, the entire group agreed that the competition elevated women’s golf as a whole.
“I think the International Crown generated a lot of interest by the media, a lot of interest by the fans, and I thought it was very good for our Tour,” said Kerr.
“It was a different, fresh kind of an idea and concept. I think our Tour needs this kind of an event where we can include a lot of different countries, because we are such a global Tour. "
WEATHER FORECAST MOVES UP START TIMES
With bad weather forecasted for Sunday afternoon, the tee times for the final day of the International Crown have been moved up. The first singles match will now tee off at 11:30 a.m. ET with the final pairing teeing off at 1:00 p.m.
Due to the change in schedule, the final matches of the International Crown will be available to watch from 1-2:30 p.m. ET on GolfChannel.com and live TV coverage will take place from 2:30-5 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
TO VIEW THE SATURDAY RESULTS
CLICK HERE
Labels: LPGA TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 8:31:00 am
<< Home