The UL International Crown, the biennial LPGA tournament that pits eight top ranked national teams of four against one another, kicked off Thursday for a four-day run at the Merit Club in Chicago.
Taking a shot at the winning Tiffany & Co. crown – and a $1.6 million purse – this year are South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, China and England, chosen by the combined rankings of their top four players in the Rolex Rankings as of April.
Players for each team are chosen by their individual ranking – players who choose not to participate are replaced by the next highest-ranking name. The tournament consists of three days of four-ball matches and one day of singles matches.
By the numbers, South Korea has the strongest team, with all its members in the top 12. Sei Young Kim, in particular, has won five LPGA titles since 2015. Her teammates In Gee Chun, Amy Yang and So Yeon Ryu have all seen consistent top-10 finishes this year.
Meanwhile, China has seen a fast rise in the LPGA. It saw Shanshan Feng make history as the first Chinese player to join the LPGA Tour in 2008, and now it has five more.
No. 3 seed Japan has a team led by Haru Nomura, who won two titles this year, and Thailand, which has three returning players from the tournament’s 2014 inauguration, has world No. 7 Ariya Jutanugarn – alongside her sister Moriya Jutanugarn, Pornanong Phatlum and Porani Chutichai – its ranks. Taiwan is also bringing back three of its four original players.
In its inaugural tournament, held in 2014 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, Spain took home the top prize. The 2018 event will be held in South Korea.
