RANCHO MIRAGE, CA, March 31, 2014 — At the conclusion of the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, CA, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced the final field of 32 players who will represent the eight pre-qualified countries in the inaugural International Crown event to be held July 24-27 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, MD.
At the Kia Classic, the United States rallied to overtake South Korea on the final day of qualifying for the inaugural tournament. When the International Crown event was announced in late January, the U.S. team trailed South Korea in combined World Rolex Rankings 45-21. The final country seeds and team rosters are as follows.
| Pool "A" | Pool " B" | ||||
| 1. | United States | 32 | 2. | South Korea | 33 |
| Stacy Lewis | 3 | Inbee Park | 1 | ||
| Paula Creamer | 8 | So Yeon Ryu | 6 | ||
| Lexi Thompson | 9 | Na Yeon Choi | 11 | ||
| Cristie Kerr | 12 | I.K. Kim | 15 | ||
| 4. | Thailand | 230 | 3. | Japan | 131 |
| Pornanong Phatlum | 30 | Mika Miyazato | 27 | ||
| Ariya Jutanugarn | 34 | Ai Miyazato | 31 | ||
| Moriya Jutanugarn | 80 | Sakura Yokomine | 36 | ||
| Onnarin Sattayabanphot | 86 | Rikako Morita | 37 | ||
| 5. | Spain | 236 | 6. | Sweden | 318 |
| Azahara Munoz | 19 | Anna Nordqvist | 10 | ||
| Beatriz Recari | 23 | Caroline Hedwall | 24 | ||
| Carlota Ciganda | 45 | Pernilla Lindberg | 112 | ||
| Belen Mozo | 149 | Mikaela Parmlid | 172 | ||
| 8. | Australia | 360 | 7. | Chinese Taipei | 351 |
| Karrie Webb | 5 | Yani Tseng | 46 | ||
| Katherine Kirk | 110 | Teresa Lu | 48 | ||
| Minjee Lee | 115 | Candie Kung | 97 | ||
| Lindsey Wright | 130 | Hsuan-Yu Yao | 160 | ||
The eight qualified countries were seeded #1 through #8 and divided into two pools based on the cumulative team score of the four players’ Rolex World Ranking. Each country will play two, four-ball matches between each of the other three countries in their pool (Thursday - Saturday). The top two point-earning countries from each pool and one wild card country will advance to play in Sunday’s single matches. Two points will be awarded per match (two for a win and one for a halve). The total cumulative points from Thursday - Sunday will determine the champion.
When the first of its kind, global team match play event tees off at Caves Valley, the current world #1 ranked player, Inbee Park (South Korea) and four other former world #1 ranked players, according to the Rolex World Rankings, will highlight the field including Stacy Lewis (United States), Yani Tseng (Chinese Taipei), Ai Miyazato (Japan) and Cristie Kerr (United States). In addition to the top ranked players, the field also boasts eight major champions which represent 23 major championships led by World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb of Australia with seven major titles.
Based on final country seedings, the following matchups will be used during pool play.
|
Pool "A"
|
Pool "B"
|
||||||||
|
Thursday
|
Thursday
|
||||||||
| #1 | United States | vs. | #8 | Australia | #2 | South Korea | vs. | #7 | Chinese Taipei |
| #4 | Thailand | vs. | #5 | Spain | #3 | Japan | vs. | #6 | Sweden |
|
Friday
|
Friday
|
||||||||
| #1 | United States | vs. | #5 | Spain | #2 | South Korea | vs. | #6 | Sweden |
| #4 | Thailand | vs. | #8 | Australia | #3 | Japan | vs. | #7 | Chinese Taipei |
|
Saturday
|
Saturday
|
||||||||
| #1 | United States | vs. | #4 | Thailand | #2 | South Korea | vs. | #3 | Japan |
| #5 | Spain | vs. | #8 | Australia | #6 | Sweden | vs. | #7 | Chinese Taipei |
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to the International Crown are currently on sale at www.LPGAInternationalCrown.com. Weekly Grounds tickets (Tuesday – Sunday) are just $99, with single-day Competition Round tickets starting at just $25. Upgraded weekly International Pavilion tickets can also be purchased, beginning at $185 for the week (Wednesday – Sunday). Children 17 and under receive complimentary admission to the Grounds with a paying adult.
)
)
)
