Hosts S. Korea make perfect start at LPGA Crown
World number one Park Sung-hyun led hosts South Korea to a perfect start in the UL International Crown on Thursday, as both pairs in the star-studded team beat Taiwanese opponents. Thailand also kicked off their campaign in style.
In Pool B, Thailand leads the way with three points. Ariya Jutanugarn and Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong pulled out a tight 2-and-1 win over their Japanese foes, while Moriya Jutanugarn and Pornanong Phatlum dropped the final hole to halve their match.
South Korea shot to the top of Pool A in front of a home crowd at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, where 32 of the best female golfers from the eight top-ranked countries teed off at the LPGA team event.
Two-time major winner Park and 10th-ranked Kim In-kyung beat Candie Kung and Phoebe Yao of Taiwan 1-up.
The victory was followed by a 2-up win by South Korea's Ryu So-yeon and Chun In-gee over Taiwan's Teresa Lu and Hsu Wei-Ling, giving the hosts four points.
"We did struggle a bit on the front nine but I think we pulled out the win because we were really supporting each other the entire way," said world number three Ryu after the win.
This is the third edition of the tournament, and the first to be held outside the United States.
Top-seeded South Korea are trying to win their first International Crown after finishing third in 2014 and second in 2016.
England trail South Korea in second place in Pool A with three points, followed by Australia with one point.
Thailand finished day one with a win and a tie over Japan to lead Pool B, which also includes the US and Sweden.
After three days of fourballs, the top two teams from each pool and one wild-card team will advance to the singles event on Sunday, after which the team with the most points will claim the title.
