Two Events Remain to Lock Their Spots for the International Crown

With only two events left, players are looking to lock in their spots and represent their countries in the inaugural International Crown. Scheduled to take place July 24-27 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., the International Crown is a first-of-its-kind, biennial, global match play competition featuring teams from eight countries battling for the right to be “Crowned” the world’s best golf nation. Each of the countries will be represented by four players based on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings announced on Monday March 31st at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

South Korea and the United States remain firmly entrenched in the top-2 positions with Japan trailing both by 94 points. Thailand looks close to locking up the fourth seed with 239 points while Spain, Sweden, Chinese Taipei and Australia are all battling it out for seeding.  

Several notable players, including Ha Na Jang (South Korea), Angela Stanford (USA), Mamiko Higa (Japan), Thidapa Suwannapura (Thailand) and Lindsey Wright (Australia), sit narrowly outside of the cutline for their respective countries. Three of those players (Stanford, Suwannapura and Wright), as well as numerous others, can make a push for a roster spot with strong showings at the JTBC Founders Cup and the Kia Classic.

The International Crown will feature three days of team four-ball matches and Sunday singles. The eight countries will be divided into two pools and each country will play two four-ball matches versus each of the other three countries in their pool. The top two point earning teams from each pool and one wild-card team will advance to Sunday singles play based on total earned points in pool play. Each match will be worth two points, with two points for a win and one for a draw. 

All points will be carried over to Sunday’s singles matches where each country will play one singles match versus each of the other four countries. At the conclusion of play on Sunday, the country with the highest four-day combined point total will be “Crowned” the best golf nation in the world.