With only two weeks left for a team to earn a spot in the second playing of the UL International Crown, this week's Kia Classic plays an important role with teams securing one of the eight team spots. The Republic of Korea continues to have a firm hold on the top spot in the standings with the United States sitting comfortably in the second position.
The eight competing countries will be finalized by the combined rankings of the top four players from each country as of April 4. Countries must have a minimum of four ranked players to be eligible. Even though the countries are determined at that time, the final field of 32 players won’t be named until the rankings of June 13.
We saw major movement in the team standings after last week's JTBC Founders Cup with Team Thailand moving into the fifth position in the team standings and China taking the seventh spot. With a win on the CLPGA Tour, Yuting Shi helped move Team China into the seventh spot bumping Team Australia to eighth and Team Sweden into a bubble position in the standings.
There continues to be movement on the bubble for Teams Thailand and Japan, with Thidapa Suwannapura and Nontaya Srisawang trading position for Thailand and Ayaka Watanabe and Momoko Ueda trading positions for Japan over the past month. Other players to watch on the bubble for teams Republic of Korea, United States and Chinese Taipai are In Gee Chun, Alison Lee and Wei-Ling Hsu all sitting in the top bubble spot within a few points of taking that fourth position on the team.
UL International Crown Standings as of March 21, 2016
| Standings | Country/Player | Rank | Standings | Country/Player | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Republic of Korea | 20 | 2 | United States | 39 |
| Inbee Park | 2 | Lexi Thompson | 3 | ||
| Sei Young Kim | 5 | Stacy Lewis | 4 | ||
| Ha Na Jang | 6 | Cristie Kerr | 14 | ||
| Amy Yang | 7 | Brittany Lincicome | 18 | ||
| In Gee Chun | 9 | Alison Lee | 21 | ||
| So Yeon Ryu | 11 | Jessica Korda | 22 | ||
| 3 | Japan | 177 | 4 | Chinese Taipei | 190 |
| Mika Miyzato | 35 | Teresa Lu | 19 | ||
| Haru Nomura |
42 | Candie Kung | 33 | ||
| Shiho Oyama | 43 | Yani Tseng | 44 | ||
| Ayaka Watanabe |
57 | Ssu-Chia Cheng |
94 | ||
| Momoko Ueda |
62 | Wei-Ling Hsu | 117 | ||
| Sakura Yokomine |
64 | Min Lee | 162 | ||
| 5 | Thailand |
342 | 6 | England |
347 |
| Pornanong Phatlum | 25 | Charley Hull | 38 | ||
| Ariya Jutanugarn | 51 | Holly Clyburn | 73 | ||
| Moriya Jutanugarn | 113 | Melissa Reid | 85 | ||
| Thidapa Suwannapura | 153 | Hannah Burke | 151 | ||
| Nontaya Srisawang |
163 | Georgia Hall |
165 | ||
| Onnarin Sattayabanphot |
195 | Florentyna Parker |
178 | ||
| 7 | China | 369 | 8 | Australia |
376 |
| Shanshan Feng | 10 | Minjee Lee | 17 | ||
| Xiyu Lin | 45 | Karrie Webb | 34 | ||
| Jing Yan | 132 | Rebecca Artis | 137 | ||
| Yuting Shi | 182 | Su-Hyun Oh | 188 | ||
| Simin Feng | 236 | Katherine Kirk |
218 | ||
| Yan-Hong Pan | 237 | Sarah Jane Smith |
219 | ||
| 9 | Sweden |
383 | 10 | Denmark | 460 |
| Anna Nordqvist | 16 | Nicole Larsen | 66 | ||
| Pernilla Lindberg | 80 | Emily Kristine Pedersen | 110 | ||
| Maria McBride | 127 | Nanna Koerstz Madsen | 114 | ||
| Caroline Hedwall | 160 | Malene Jorgensen | 170 | ||
| Camilla Lennarth |
186 | Line Vedel Hansen | 222 | ||
| Lina Boqvist |
324 | Daisy Nielsen | 501 |
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