US beat England to close in on International Crown semi-finals

Sweden, Australia and Thailand all through to the International Crown semi-finals, while the United States move a step closer with victory over England; watch the International Crown throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf

Last Updated: 06/05/23 8:15am

The semi-final field is nearly set at the International Crown LPGA team event with one day of pool play to go as Sweden, Australia and Thailand all clinched spots and the United States swept both matches Friday to move to the verge of advancing.

Sweden remained perfect in Pool A by winning both matches against China, while Thailand swept defending champion South Korea and Australia beat Japan to advance out of Pool B on a cold and blustery day at TPC Harding Park.

“I feel like we’ve had a lot of fun this week, and I feel like that’s been working to our advantage,” Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist said.

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The USA have three points after two days in Pool A and will clinch the final spot in Sunday’s knockout round by getting at least half a point on Saturday against Sweden, or if China fail to sweep England.

The International Crown is a matchplay tournament featuring teams of four players from eight countries. The teams are divided into two pools of four countries with the top two from each group after three days of round-robin play of fourball competition advancing to the semi-finals on Sunday. Teams get one point for each win and a half for a tied match.

Lexi Thompson sealed the final US match of the day when she holed a birdie putt from about 12 feet on the 16th hole to give her and Danielle Kang a 3-and-2 victory over England’s Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.

“It was breaking quite a bit, so I played it about two-and-a-half cups out, a little bit uphill, so I knew I could be a little aggressive with it,” Thompson said. “But I was just trying to give myself a birdie opportunity going into that pin.”

Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu won for the second straight day, beating Alice Hewson and Liz Young 2-and-1 thanks to another strong back nine.

Korda and Vu lost the first two holes, but fought back to tie it with birdies on the third and sixth holes and then won three straight holes from 12 to 14 to take control at the same part of the course that turned their first match on Thursday against China.

Seven of the eight teams kept the same pairings on day two with only Japan switching up. Yuka Saso played with Hinako Shibuno a day after losing a match to Thailand with Ayaka Furue. Furue teamed with Nasa Hataoka.

It didn’t end up helping, with Furue and Hataoka losing 2-up to Australia’s Minjee Lee and Stephanie Kyriacou. Saso and Shibuno tied Hannah Green and Sarah Kemp but it wasn’t enough to stave off elimination.

Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall birdied five of the first six holes to beat Yu Liu and Ruixin Liu 2-and-1, while Madelene Sagstrom and Maja Stark beat Ruoning Yin and Xiyu Lin 2-and-1 in the other match.

Thailand, who came into the week as the sixth seed, remained perfect with the sister tandem of Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn beating South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and In Gee Chun 2-and-1, and Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya Thitikul beating Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim 3-and-2.

This is the fourth time this tournament has been held after being cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watch the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues Saturday from 11pm on Sky Sports Golf.