LPGA’s International Crown to return after 5-year hiatus

From left to right, LPGA golfer Mina Harigae, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, President and CEO of Hanwha Life Yoo Seung-joo and LPGA golfer Ryu So-yeon pose for a photo during a signing ceremony after the LPGA announced that the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown will return in 2023 at TPC Harding Park on Tuesday in San Francisco, California. [GETTY IMAGES/LPGA]

 
The LPGA’s international team tournament will make a come back next year with a new name and a new title sponsor.
 
The Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, now sponsored by Korean company Hanwha Lifeplus, returns to the golf calendar for the first time since 2018. The event will be held at the historic TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in May next year.
 

The 16th hole at the TPC Harding Park, San Francisco. [TPC HARDING PARK]

 
The last time the event was held, then called the UI International Crown, the Korean contingent of Chun In-gee, Kim In-kyung, Park Sung-hyun and Ryu So-yeon won the title on home soil at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, outplaying the United States and England, who tied for second.
 
First established in 2014, the International Crown is a team match-play event where top golfers from the top eight countries represented by the golfers on the women’s individual standings compete.
 
“When it first launched in 2014, I was very nervous to represent my country and then it became my favorite tournament ever,” said Ryu on Tuesday. “If somebody is going to ask me what is your top three events you ever played, I think 2018 International Crown has got to be my top three. The International Crown was just so awesome and I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t play for five years.”
 
The field of eight countries for the event will be determined by the combined Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings of the top four players from each country as of Nov. 21 this year which is immediately after the CME Group Tour Championship. As of now, the top four Koreans are No. 1 Ko Jin-young, No. 7 Chun, No. 10 Kim Hyo-joo and No. 13 Kim Sei-young.
 
After the eight countries are set, the final field of 32 players will be determined via the Rolex Rankings as of April 2, 2023, immediately following the Palos Verdes Championship.
 
The eight countries will be split into two pools by their placement in the Rolex Rankings. 
 
Countries placed first, fourth, fifth and eighth will be in Pool A, with countries placed second, third, sixth and seventh in Pool B.
 
The competition will take place over four days, with the first three days played as a four-ball competition where there are two-player teams and each player plays her own ball. The lower score of the two players is chosen as that side’s score for the hole.  
 
The top two countries from each pool will advance to the final round. Two semifinal matches will be played Sunday morning, with each match consisting of two singles matches and one foursome match. Foursome matches are also called alternate shots as it is a form of play where two players form a team and play one ball in alternating order on each hole.
 
The winning semifinalists will compete in the final on Sunday afternoon, along with a third-place match between the two losing semifinalists. The final and third-place match will be played in the same format as the semifinals.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]