Minjee Lee (L) of Australia Team celebrates the birdie with her teammate Stephanie Kyriacou (R). (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)
The opening day of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown delivered thrilling match play action at the Emirates Golf Club, with Team USA, Australia, and Korea setting the early pace across Pool A and Pool B.
Team USA dominated their Pool A encounters, winning both matches to take full points on Thursday.
Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin secured a convincing 5&4 victory over China’s Yan Liu and Ruoning Yin. Yin credited their strong partnership for the result, saying, “We can always lean on each other, that’s why we have teammates. I think we built that trust in a short time, and it’s showing.”
Noh added, “When I didn’t make a birdie, Angel would make it. We were just having a good time.”
In the second match, Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin edged out Weiwei Zhang and Ruixin Liu 1-up. Coughlin noted the shift in mentality between formats: “Match play is so different than stroke play, you’re always in it, no matter what.” Vu echoed the sentiment, joking, “We were alternating bad shots, but it worked out. I saw Angel and Yealimi already done on the 15th and thought, ‘This is great.’”
Australia split their opening matches against Thailand, with Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou earning a 2-up win over Chanettee Wannasaen and Jasmine Suwannapura.
“I just made an executive decision,” Lee laughed about the pairings. “We’d have been fine regardless, everyone’s happy to play with each other.”
Pajaree Anannarukarn (L) and Jeeno Thitikul (R) of Thailand Team celebrate their 1up victory. (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and Pajaree Anannarukarn fought back in the second match, defeating Hannah Green and Grace Kim 1-up. “Australia’s always one of the strongest teams,” said Thitikul. “But we did a really good job today — match play can be unpredictable.”
It was an even start between Korea and Sweden, with the teams sharing a win apiece.
Jin Young Ko and Haeran Ryu halved their match with Ingrid Lindblad and Madelene Sagstrom in a lively atmosphere. “It was the loudest first tee I’ve ever been on,” said Lindblad. Sagstrom praised the camaraderie: “We don’t get to do this often, having dinners, practicing together. It’s been lovely.”
Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi clinched the decisive point with a 3&2 win over Maja Stark and Linn Grant. Kim said, “Hye-Jin got off to such a great start that I just thought, ‘I’ll support her.’ I didn’t do much on the back nine except cheer her on!”
Team World took one match and halved another in their face-off with Japan.
Lydia Ko (L) of the World Team celebrates the birdie to tie with her teammate Charley Hull (R) on the 18th green. (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)
Miyu Yamashita and Rio Takeda tied with Charley Hull and Lydia Ko, whose chemistry was on full display. “Lydia is so clutch under pressure,” said Hull. Ko praised her partner’s flair: “Charley’s creativity and power are so impressive.”
Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu delivered for Team World, beating Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo 2&1. “The front nine was rough, but we got hot on the back,” said Henderson. “The ending was very fun.”
