Australia wins its first LPGA International Crown by defeating the U.S.

GOYANG, South Korea (AP) — In a thrilling finish, Australia captured the LPGA International Crown title, defeating the United States on Sunday. Minjee Lee and Hannah Green were key to the victory, winning their respective singles matches 2 and 1 against Angel Yin and Yealimi Noh. Although the foursomes match between Australians Stephanie Kyriacou and Grace Kim and Americans Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin ended in a tie, it did not affect the final result, as Green sealed the win on the 17th hole of her singles match.

This victory marks the first time Australia has won the title in this match-play tournament, which they missed out on in 2023 when they were defeated by current world number one Jeeno Thitikul and Thailand in the final at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Team World finished in third place, thanks to outstanding victories by Charley Hull and Lydia Ko in their singles matches against Japan, which gave them an insurmountable lead in the three-match playoff. Hull opened the scoring for Team World with a 4, 3 win over Ayaka Furue, and Ko secured third place with a 3, 2 victory over Rio Takeda. Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita also earned a win for Japan, defeating Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu 4, 3 in the foursomes, narrowing the gap.

In the semifinals, Kyriacou and Kim defeated Team World's Wei-Ling and Ko on the 20th hole, securing their place in the final after tying in the singles matches. Hull had given Team World the lead by beating Hannah Green 2 and 1 in the first singles match, but Minjee Lee leveled the score by winning 1-up against Canada's Henderson.

The top-seeded United States team had a clearer path to the final, with Yin winning 2 and 1 against Japan's Takeda, and Noh securing the Americans' place with a 4 and 2 victory over Yamashita, after winning holes 13, 15 and 16. Furue and Saigo earned a consolation victory for Japan, breaking the United States' perfect record in the tournament by winning 1-up against Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin in the foursomes.

The tournament format featured seven countries and a "rest of the world" team divided into two groups, with teams and their players determined by the women's world rankings. The top two countries from each group advanced to Sunday's semifinals and finals, which consisted of one foursomes match (alternate shot) and two singles matches.

Last week, Sei Young Kim won the BMW Ladies Championship, also in South Korea. The LPGA Asian Tour continues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week and concludes in Shiga, Japan, from November 6-9.