Team USA takes the UL International Crown
GURNEE, IL. — The Women’s British Open is this week and the Olympics right after that. Still, the four golfers representing Team USA in the UL International Crown weren’t ready to look ahead just yet. They had some well-earned celebrating to do.
The United States is now officially the best women’s golfing nation, prevailing Sunday at the Merit Club in the tournament created to determine just that.
Spain had won the initial playing of this tournament – dubbed “The Crown” -- in 2014.
This second chapter didn’t start well, either, as Team USA lost both its opening day matches vs. England.
After that, however, the foursome of Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson got better and better. They won three of their remaining four best-ball matches on Friday and Saturday and came out swinging in Sunday’s concluding singles duels, winning the first three.
Lewis went out first, in the second match of the day, and lost but one hole in dispatching Japan’s Mika Miyazato 3 and 2. That set the tone for the day.
“It was huge,” said Lewis. “I wanted to get a lead early and put a number up there for the girls to see.”
Piller was up next, against the formidable Yani Tseng of Chinese Taipei. Piller, who wasn’t on the U.S. team that was such a disappointment two years ago in Maryland, didn’t lose a hole in a 4 and 3 victory in the day’s third match.
“Yani’s a great player, and she got off to a rough start,” said Piller. “She’s a prior No. 1 in the world. You can’t overlook that. She’s got the game. She’s got the length. I just dug deep towards the end and had the mentality of taking no prisoners.”
Team USA still needed something from either Kerr, the most experienced member of the foursome, or Thompson, the top-ranked player (No. 4 in the world) in the four-day competition.
Kerr never trailed against England’s Mel Reid, though her 4-up lead after five holes was whittled to 1-up after 14. Kerr then won the next two holes to close out the match 3 and 2 and the two points awarded for that victory gave Team USA an insurmountable 13 points. Kerr was surprised when her teammates swarmed her on the green.
“I just tried to take care of my match,” she said. “I didn’t know that it came down to my winning.”
It did after Thompson dropped the last U.S. singles match to Korea’s So Yeon Ryu 2 and 1.
“This is huge, unbelievable for us,” said Lewis. “To be called the best golfing nation is so satisfying. We had zero points the first day, and we still ended up with the most. It’s just a testament to these girls and their will to want to win this thing.”
Korea, the top-seeded team (the U.S. was No. 2) when the competition started, was second with 12 points while England and Chinese Taipei each had 11 and Japan eight. Korea was without its best player, Inbee Park. She sat out with a left thumb injury and will also bypass her title defense at this week’s Women’s British Open in hopes the injury will heal in time for next month’s Olympics in Brazil.
Even without Park, however, Korea fielded a foursome in which all members were ranked in the top 12 of the Rolex World Rankings.