(L-R) Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya Thitikul of Team Thailand. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Thailand’s victory in the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown at TPC Harding Park served to further reinforce the Kingdom’s status as the newest world power in women’s golf.
Atthaya Thitikul, Patty Tavatanakit and the Jutanugarn sisters, Ariya and Moriya, were unbeaten as a team as they powered Thailand to its first victory in four editions of the match play event.
In the final, the Thais steamrolled Australia 3-0 with Tavatanakit beating Hannah Green 4 and 3 and Thitikul seeing off Stephanie Kyriacou 4 and 2 to take her tally to a perfect five wins out of five. The Jutanugarns also ended the tournament unbeaten by taking out Minjee Lee and Sarah Kemp 4 and 3 in the alternate shot match.
It was an impressive performance indeed from the sixth-seeded Thais, as they were the only team to win all three matches in the pool stage with 2-0 victories over Japan, Korea and Australia.
Thailand had to negotiate a tight semi-final against favourites and top seeds the United States earlier on Sunday, winning 2-1. The teams split the two singles matches with Thitikul beating Lexi Thompson 3 and 2, and Lilia Vu fighting back from a two-hole deficit to edge Tavatanakit 1-up and inflict the only Thai loss of the tournament.
The deciding alternate shot match between the Jutanugarn sisters and World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Danielle Kang was a tight, exciting affair. Korda tied the match with an eight-foot birdie on the 16th hole, but the Thais went ahead again when Moriya set up a 10-foot birdie for Ariya at the 17th.
Both teams birdied the par-five 18th to give the Thais a 1-up win and a spot in the final. The United States beat Sweden 2-1 in the consolation match to finish third.
Tavatanakit noted that the victory was “huge for golf in Thailand.”
“It is already growing and I think this is going to inspire a lot of people, even more than what we felt 10 years ago. I’m really excited to see the future of Thai golf,” said the 23-year-old, who has one Major to her name in the 2021 ANA Inspiration (now known as The Chevron Championship).
Two-time LPGA Tour winner Thitikul put down their win to the good vibes shared by the team.
“I did not really expect that we’re going to win coming into the week. But when we had a practice round, I felt like I had more confidence, we had more good vibes. We really had fun out there,” said the 20-year-old.
The International Crown is a biennial match-play tournament featuring teams of four players from eight countries split into two pools, where the format was two four-ball matches. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the semi-finals which consisted of two singles matches and one foursomes (alternate shot) match. The players on the winning team each received US$125,000 in prize money with the runners-up getting US$75,900 apiece.
Spain won the inaugural tournament in 2014, followed by the United States in 2016 and South Korea in 2018. The tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s edition was the first professional women’s event to be staged at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, venue for high-profile men’s events such as the 2009 Presidents Cup and 2020 PGA Championship.
