Ko Jin-young vs Korda "Hanwha International Crown Showdown"

Group Stage Top 1-2 from 8 Countries Advance to Semifinals
Korea's Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo, Jeon In-ji, Choi Hye-jin Participate
USA's Korda, Thompson, Boo, Danielle Kang Compete

Ko Jin-young and Nelly Korda (USA) will face off in a battle of pride at the women's golf international team competition.

The two players will clash on the 4th (local time) at TPC Harding Park (par 72, 6,550 yards) in San Francisco, California, USA, at the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown (total prize money $2 million). This tournament was established in 2014 and was temporarily suspended after the third edition held in Incheon in 2018, resuming after five years. It was scheduled to be held in England in 2020 but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ko Jin-young (left) and Nelly Korda will compete in the women's golf international team event, the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown.

In the tournaments held in the USA in 2014 and 2016, Spain and the USA won respectively. In 2018, Korea took the championship. This year, eight countries including Korea, the USA, Japan, Sweden, England, Thailand, Australia, and China will participate, divided into Group A and Group B for a group league. The top two countries from each group will advance to the semifinals and determine the champion through a knockout tournament. Group A consists of the USA, Sweden, England, and China. Group B includes Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Australia.

The tournament format for the group league is a four-ball format where teams of two players each play their own ball, and the better score counts towards the team score. The semifinals, finals, and third-place match consist of one foursomes match where the two players alternate shots with one ball, and two singles match play matches. In the group league, teams play two four-ball matches against each opposing country, earning 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The semifinals, finals, and third-place match are decided by the first team to reach 2 points.

Korea is led by world No. 3 Ko Jin-young, along with Kim Hyo-joo, Jeon In-ji, and Choi Hye-jin. They aim for a second consecutive tournament win and the first-ever two-time championship. Ko Jin-young struggled with a wrist injury after winning the major Evian Championship in July last year but made a perfect comeback by defending her title at the HSBC Women's World Championship in March. This marked her 14th career win and ended Korea's streak of 18 consecutive tournaments without a title.

Ko Jin-young has shown strong form this season, finishing in the top 10 four times in six tournaments. She ranks 3rd in Player of the Year, 4th in both earnings and scoring average, and 5th in the CME Globe Race. Korea will face Australia on the first day of the tournament, the 4th, followed by matches against Thailand on the 5th and Japan on the 6th to determine their advancement to the semifinals.

The USA lineup features world No. 1 Korda, Lexi Thompson, Lilia Vu, and Danielle Kang. Korda leads the team. Although she has not won this year, she has demonstrated strong performance with six top-10 finishes in seven tournaments, including runner-up at the HSBC Women's World Championship. Her recent three tournament results are tied 5th, 3rd, and tied 6th. Korda ranks 2nd in all categories including earnings, CME Globe Race, scoring average, and Player of the Year. The USA aims to reclaim the title for the first time in seven years since 2016.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.