Korea crowned champions, Thai stars settle for fourth
INCHEON: South Korea held off challenges from the United States and England to win the eight-nation UL International Crown for the first time, lifting the trophy in front of a delighted home crowd at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club yesterday.
The top-seeded host nation started the final round two points clear of the chasing pack and won two of the four singles matchups to finish with 15 points, four ahead of defending champions the United States and England.
Thailand finished fourth with 10 points while Sweden collected nine. Australia, Taiwan and Japan were all eliminated at the end of the third round.
In the final round, only world No.1 Park Sung-Hyun lost of the South Korean quartet, finishing 2 and 1 down against US Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand.
Kim In-Kyung defeated England’s Bronte Law 2 up, Chun In-Gee overcame Anna Nordqvist of Sweden 1 up and Ryu So-Yeon shared the points with Lexi Thompson of the United States.
“We never feel nervous going into a major, but we were nervous for a couple of months before this,” Ryu said, explaining the intensity of the expectations of the home fans.
“There were so many fans out here,” Kim said about the raucous atmosphere. “I just had to tell myself to focus on every shot.”
Only Jessica Korda recorded a victory for Team US in the final round, winning 4 and 3 against Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom. Michelle Wie and Cristie Kerr both lost, to Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Georgia Hall of England respectively.
The tournament was affected by typhoon Kong-rey which wiped out all of Saturday’s play.