Thailand women beat Australia to win LPGA International Crown

SAN FRANCISCO, AFP: Thailand captured the LPGA International Crown on Sunday, blanking Australia 3-0 in the championship match to complete a near-perfect run in the global team event at Harding Park.

Patty Tavatanakit defeated Hannah Green 4-3 and Atthaya Thitikul beat Stephanie Kyriacou 4-2 in singles to clinch the trophy before Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn downed Minjee Lee and Sarah Kemp 4-3 in foursomes to complete the sweep.

“It means a lot for all of us,” said Thitikul.

“It’s incredible work we put in this week to get this trophy for our country.

“We’re one of the best teams in the world and I think we can beat every team in the world.” Sixth seed Thailand went 11-1 in all matches during the week, making a perfect streak through round-robin play before ousting top seed United States 2-1 in a Sunday morning semi-final.

The seventh-seeded Aussies beat Sweden 3-0 in the other semi but had no answer for the Thai stars.

Launched in 2014, the International Crown is a biennial team event that returned this season after a five-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.