Australia won the LPGA International Crown for the first time with a hard-fought victory over the United States in Sunday’s final in South Korea, led by world No 3 Minjee Lee.
Lee sealed a 2 & 1 win over Angel Yin, while Hannah Green matched the result against Yealimi Noh to secure the title for the Australians before Steph Kyriacou and Grace Kim halved their foursomes match with Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin.
For Lee, a three-time Major champion, the triumph was especially meaningful in a rare team format.
“I’m so happy that I could do it with these girls. It was just a lot of fun this whole week,” she said. “Playing match play is something different, and we don’t get to do it too often.”
Lee and Yin were locked in a tight contest before the Australian pulled ahead late to clinch her point.
Kyriacou credited Australia’s resilience and composure under pressure for their breakthrough win in their fifth appearance at the biennial event, following a runner-up finish to Thailand in 2023.
“In a lot of our matches we were behind the eight-ball, especially going into the back nine,” said Kyriacou. “We managed to come back every time. I think having grit throughout the week got us over the line.”
Earlier in the day, Australia defeated the World Team in the semi-finals, while the United States advanced by overcoming Japan.
The World Team later secured third place after England’s Charley Hull and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko beat Japan’s Ayaka Furue and Rio Takeda in the singles, with Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita winning the foursomes against Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling and Canada’s Brooke Henderson.
Thailand, China, South Korea and Sweden were eliminated during the group stage.
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– AFP
Photo: Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images
Article Link: Gritty Australia defeat US to claim maiden International Crown title