The first day of the LPGA’s UL International Crown at the Merit Club in Chicago ended with Taiwan and England – both 2-0-0 and earning four points – leading their pools.
Thailand was behind with three points, with one win and a tie against Japan. South Korea and China had two points each, with one win and one loss against each other. Australia and the United States both saw two losses, and had zero points.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng and Teresa Lu bested Australia’s Karrie Webb and Su Oh in a 3-and-2 victory, and Candie Kung and Ssu-Chia Cheng saw similar success against Minjee Lee and Rebecca Artis.
“We’re not going to do the same thing like last time,” Tseng told LPGA.com. In 2014, Taiwan topped the first-day scorecard before losing its Friday and Saturday matches. It plays top-seeded South Korea tomorrow – Tseng said that to win, they have to figure out how to “tee up and try to get the point tomorrow instead of can we spread out a little bit.”
While Korean players So Yeon Ryu and Sei Young Kim struggled on the field against China’s Jing Yan and Simin Feng, their teammates Amy Yang and In Gee Chun dominated over Shanshan Feng and Xi Yu Lin.
Yang said after the game that it was “a good atmosphere,” and Ryu agreed, complimenting Team China. “The Chinese girls just played really, really great. They made an eagle, they made a bunker shot. I think their teamwork was really nice. Like when one missed a tee shot, the other one would just make a good birdie or have a good makeup.”
The United States, playing England, finished with zero points, crushed in both matches by 2-and-1 wins.
Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn and Pornanong Phatlum defeated Mika Miyazato and Haru Nomura 2 and 1, while Ariya Jutanugarn and Porani Chutichai had a halved match with Ai Suzuki and Ayaka Watanabe, resulting in three points for Thailand and one for Japan.
The eight teams’ fight for victory continues until Sunday.
