Seoul (AFP) – Minjee Lee led the way as Australia stunned the United States in the final to win the LPGA Tour’s International Crown for the first time on Sunday in South Korea. The Australians clinched victory in the biennial team golf trophy when world number three Lee beat Angel Yin and Hannah Green downed Yealimi Noh in their singles matches, both 2 and 1. Steph Kyriacou and Grace Kim tied their foursomes match with Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin, but by that time the result was already in the bag.
Lee, a three-time major winner, said the team nature of the victory made it even more special. “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 came through a close battle with Yin, with neither player managing to edge more than one ahead until the Australian broke clear at the end.
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Kyriacou said the Australians had to dig deep to lift the trophy in their fifth appearance in the competition, including a runner-up finish to Thailand two years ago. “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 in every match with me and Gracey. I think having grit throughout the week got us over the line.”
Australia beat the World team in Sunday morning’s semi-finals while the Americans got the better of Japan. The World team beat Japan for third place after singles wins for England’s Charley Hull and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko over Ayake Furue and Rio Takeda respectively. Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita beat Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling and Canada’s Brooke Henderson in the foursomes match. Thailand, China, South Korea, and Sweden were eliminated in the pool stage.
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