The first day of the International Crown ended with some big surprises. Team USA, the No. 1 seed in Pool A, was soundly beaten by Chinese Taipei the lowest seeded team in the tournament.
The International Crown is a new team event featuring four-woman teams from eight countries. Each team qualified via individual player status on the Rolex Ranking.
Team USA, with three players ranked inside the Top 10 in the world, is the No. 1 seed. The highest ranked player on the Chinese Taipei team, Yani Tseng is a five-time major champion and was a former No. 1, but has fallen to No. 46.
Cristie Kerr (10) and Paula Creamer (12) were no match for the duo of Teresa Lu (48) and Candie Kung (99) and lost 4&3.
No. 1 ranked Stacy Lewis was paired with No. 5 Lexi Thompson. They faced Tseng and her partner Phoebe Yao. Yao is just 21 years old and is the lowest ranked player in the field at No. 164. She has played primarily in Japan and Taiwan with four wins in Asia.
Yao was the perfect partner for Tseng on Thursday and allowed Tseng to play more aggressive on the Caves Valley golf course.
Tseng has struggled over the past two years, but birdied the first hole of the match to take the lead for the Taiwanese women. Both teams were tied after 17 holes and Tseng once again made birdie at the last to secure the win.
Team USA has dug a sizable hole and is the only team of the eight countries without a point on the first day.
All points are cumulative and each team will play three matches versus the teams in their pool. The top two nations in each pool will qualify for singles along with one wild card team to be decided in a playoff on Saturday.
In Pool A Taiwan is the leader with 4 points. Spain has three points, Thailand one point and USA zero points.
Japan is off to a fast start in Pool B with three points. Ai Miyazato and Sakura Yokimine defeated the Swedish duo of Pernilla Lindberg and Mikaela Parmlid 2-UP for two points for the Japanese.
Sweden’s other team, Caroline Hedwall and Anna Nordqvist, was able to eke out a half with Mamiko Higa and Mika Miyazato for a single point for each team.
Korea’s powerhouse duo of Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu defeated Aussie’s Katherine Kirk and Lindsey Wright 4&3 for two points.
The youngest player in the field Minjee Lee paired with the oldest player in the field Karrie Webb won two points for the Aussie’s by beating Na Yeon Choi and I.K. Kim.
Match play continues tomorrow at Caves Valley in the International Crown, with Team USA trying to get on the board tomorrow as they play Spain. Thailand will face Taiwan in Pool A action.
Korea will meet Sweden and Japan squares off against Australia on Friday in Pool B.
Will the Americans maintain the same teams on Friday as they try to put some points on the board or will they try a different pairing?