# 2018 International Crown

The 2018 International Crown was a women's golf team event organized by the LPGA, played 4–7 Oct at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, South Korea. This was the third International Crown, a biennial match play event contested between teams of four players representing eight countries.
Due to the anticipated arrival of Typhoon Kong-rey, the tournament schedule was adjusted; the second round tee times were moved earlier on Friday and the third round, originally scheduled for Saturday, was started on Friday afternoon. The final round was to be played Saturday, 6 October, instead of Sunday. However, typhoon rains arrived earlier than expected so that no matches were played Saturday; the third round was finished Sunday, followed by the singles matches.

## Format

The first three rounds featured round-robin pool play matches at fourball. Each match was worth two points for a win and one point for a halve. Following the completion of pool play, the top two teams in each pool and one wild card team advanced to singles play.
These five remaining teams were re-seeded based on points earned in pool play. The players then competed in singles play on Sunday, with the four members of one team each paired up with a member of a different one of the other four teams. The total points earned in pool and singles play determined the team champion.

## Teams

On 3 June 2018, eight teams qualified to participate in this event, based on the combined world rankings of the top four players from each country: South Korea, United States, Japan, England, Australia, Thailand, Sweden, and Chinese Taipei. The field was the same as 2016 with the exception of Sweden replacing China. The team members were finalized on 2 July 2018, and the teams were divided into two pools.
Teams :
| Pool | Seed | Rank | Country |
| A | 1 | 14 | South Korea |
| B | 2 | 45 | United States |
| B | 3 | 149 | Japan |
| A | 4 | 183 | England |
| A | 5 | 228 | Australia |
| B | 6 | 259 | Thailand |
| B | 7 | 298 | Sweden |
| A | 8 | 332 | Chinese Taipei |
Rankings as of 2 July 2018
#1 South Korea :
| Pool A | Pool B |
| #1 South Korea RankPlayer 2Park Sung-hyun 4Ryu So-yeon 7In-Kyung Kim 18Chun In-gee | #2 United States RankPlayer 5Lexi Thompson 8Jessica Korda 13Cristie Kerr 19Michelle Wie |
| #4 England RankPlayer 23Charley Hull 40Georgia Hall 45Jodi Ewart Shadoff 75Bronte Law | #3 Japan RankPlayer 12Nasa Hataoka 58Misuzu Narita 59Mamiko Higa 97Ayako Uehara |
| #5 Australia RankPlayer 10Minjee Lee 64Katherine Kirk 70Sarah Jane Smith 84Su-Hyun Oh | #6 Thailand RankPlayer 3Ariya Jutanugarn 9Moriya Jutanugarn 92Pornanong Phatlum 155Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong |
| #8 Chinese Taipei RankPlayer 43Teresa Lu 62Wei-Ling Hsu 106Phoebe Yao 121Candie Kung | #7 Sweden RankPlayer 15Anna Nordqvist 32Pernilla Lindberg 90Madelene Sagström 161Caroline Hedwall |
Notes:
* for South Korea, Inbee Park (ranked 1) declined to play and the first two alternates Choi Hye-jin (11) and Ko Jin-young (17) also declined to play
* for Japan, Ayako Uehara replace an injured Ai Suzuki

## Results
### Round one pool play

Thursday, 4 October 2018

#### Pool A

* South Korea vs. Chinese Taipei
** Match 7: Park/Kim (KOR) defeated Kung/Yao (TPE), 1 up
** Match 8: Chun/Ryu (KOR) defeated Lu/Hsu (TPE), 2 up
* England vs. Australia
** Match 1: Hull/Hall (ENG) and Lee/Smith (AUS), halved
** Match 2: Law/Ewart Shadoff (ENG) defeated Kirk/Oh (AUS), 4 & 3

#### Standings after round one

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 1 | South Korea | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

#### Pool B

* United States vs. Sweden
** Match 5: Kerr/Thompson (USA) defeated Lindberg/Sagström (SWE), 2 up
** Match 6: Nordqvist/Hedwall (SWE) defeated Korda/Wie (USA), 2 up
* Japan vs. Thailand
** Match 3: Hataoka/Uehara (JPN) and M Jutanugarn/Phatlum (THA), halved
** Match 4: A Jutanugarn/Santiwiwatthanaphong (THA) defeated Narita/Higa (JPN), 2 & 1

#### Standings after round one

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 6 | Thailand | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | United States | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Source:

### Round two pool play

Friday, 5 October 2018

#### Pool A

* South Korea vs. Australia
** Match 15: Ryu/Chun (KOR) defeated Lee/Smith (AUS), 2 & 1
** Match 16: Oh/Kirk (AUS) defeated Park/Kim (KOR), 3 & 2
* England vs. Chinese Taipei
** Match 13: Hull/Hall (ENG) defeated Hsu/Lu (TPE), 2 & 1
** Match 14: Law/Ewart Shadoff (ENG) defeated Kung/Yao (TPE), 6 & 4

#### Standings after round two

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 4 | England | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | South Korea | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |

#### Pool B

* Japan vs. Sweden
** Match 9: Nordqvist/Hedwall (SWE) defeated Narita/Higa (JPN), 6 & 4
** Match 10: Uehara/Hataoka (JPN) defeated Lindberg/Sagström (SWE), 4 & 3
* United States vs. Thailand
** Match 11: Korda/Wie (USA) defeated M Jutanugarn/Phatlum (THA), 6 & 4
** Match 12: Kerr/Thompson (USA) defeated A Jutanugarn/Santiwiwatthanaphong (THA), 4 & 3

#### Standings after round two

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 2 | United States | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | Thailand | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Japan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Source:

### Round three pool play

Friday, 5 October 2018 Sunday, 7 October 2018

#### Pool A

* South Korea vs. England
** Match 23: Park/Kim (KOR) defeated Hull/Hall (ENG), 4 & 2
** Match 24: Chun/Ryu (KOR) defeated Ewart Shadoff/Law (ENG), 4 & 3
* Australia vs. Chinese Taipei
** Match 21: Lee/Smith (AUS) defeated Kung/Lu (TPE), 2 up
** Match 22: Oh/Kirk (AUS) defeated Hsu/Yao (TPE), 5 & 4

#### Standings after round three

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 1 | South Korea | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | England | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | Australia | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |

#### Pool B

* United States vs. Japan
** Match 19: Hataoka/Uehara (JPN) defeated Korda/Wie (USA), 2 & 1
** Match 20: Kerr/Thompson (USA) defeated Narita/Higa (JPN), 4 & 3
* Thailand vs. Sweden
** Match 17: M Jutanugarn/A Jutanugarn (THA) defeated Nordqvist/Hedwall (SWE), 2 & 1
** Match 18: Lindberg/Sagström (SWE) defeated Phatlum/Santiwiwatthanaphong (THA), 2 & 1

#### Standings after round three

| Seed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 2 | United States | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | Sweden | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | Japan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | Thailand | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |

#### Wild card

Australia, Japan, and Thailand advanced to the wildcard playoff by finishing third in their pools. Thailand advanced.

#### Standings after four ball matches

| Reseed | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie |
| 1 | South Korea | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | United States | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | England | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Sweden | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | Thailand | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Source:

### Singles play

Sunday, 7 October 2018
* Match 25: Hedwall (SWE) and Santiwiwatthanaphong (THA), halved
* Match 26: Hull (ENG) defeated Phatlum (THA), 1 up
* Match 27: Lindberg (SWE) defeated Shadoff (ENG), 1 up
* Match 28: M Jutanugarn (THA) defeated Wie (USA), 2 & 1
* Match 29: A Jutanugarn (THA) defeated Park (KOR), 2 & 1
* Match 30: Korda (USA) defeated Sagstrom (SWE), 4 & 3
* Match 31: Chun (KOR) defeated Nordqvist (SWE), 1 up
* Match 32: Hall (ENG) defeated Kerr (USA), 2 & 1
* Match 33: Kim (KOR) defeated Law (ENG), 2 up
* Match 34: Ryu (KOR) and Thompson (USA), halved
Source:

## Final standings

| Place | Team | Points | Win | Loss | Tie | Money ($) (per player) |
| 1 | South Korea | 15 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 100,000 |
| T2 | United States | 11 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 56,100 |
| T2 | England | 11 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 56,100 |
| 4 | Thailand | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 47,500 |
| 5 | Sweden | 9 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 42,500 |
| 6 | Australia | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 35,000 |
| 7 | Japan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 32,500 |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 30,000 |