Each country is hoping for a better weekend.
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Team USA qualified for Sunday’s final day of competition at the LPGA’s UL International Crown on Saturday, winning its two best-ball matches before a severe storm hit the Merit Club course.
Gerina Piller picked up Team U.S.A.’s first two points of the Sunday singles session with a dominant victory over Yani Tseng of Team Chinese Taipei.
“That’s what this format is. You play good golf and you’re going to lose matches, and that’s the way it goes”, Lewis said. “I do my best and we try to do our best”. “It’s just a testament to them and their will to want to win this thing”. The top two teams in each pool and the victor of wild-card playoff between the third-place teams will advance to the singles matches Sunday, with each player from the winning country taking home $100,000 apiece. They are one point clear of Japan and Thailand.
However, wins from Piller, Lewis and Kerr saw US come from behind to claim a one-point win over Team Korea.
Taiwan topped Pool A with six points after it split its two matches with top-seeded South Korea.
“I kind of had a feeling last night if we all played really well, and things feel into place”, said Kerr, “that my match could be huge”. Australia also was shut out in the first session, but Karrie Webb and Rebecca Artis teamed for a 2-and-1 win over China’s Jing Yan and Simin Feng, and Minjee Lee and Su Oh halved their match with Xi Yu Lin and Shanshan Feng. Thailand and Japan were one back with four points apiece, and the USA was last after it finished sixth in the inaugural event in 2014.
When the United States had a chance to win the UL International Crown, she finished the job. “We tried to make as much birdies as we can instead of one play aggressive and one play more smart and safe”.
Thompson and Kerr never led in their match. “I didn’t know that it had come down to me winning that match that we had won until Stacy told me”, Kerr said.
Kerr took control early, opening with a birdie to win the first hole and then a 40-foot eagle putt at the third to go 2 up. A wild card playoff for the last of five berths in Saturday’s concluding singles matches also was postponed to Sunday morning. We had zero points the first day, and we still ended up with the most. “So we’re pretty proud of that, so we’re already on a victor”.
Hull and Reid won three straight holes to go from 1 down to 1 up heading to the back nine.
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Thompson was 1 down when she reached the par-5 eighth hole in two but then needed three putts, missing a 3-footer for birdie.
