2025 International Crown

[DuenPhen]

As the 23 June 2025 world rankings are out, the nations in the International Crown 2025 have been decided.

 

If my reading of the ranking is correct, here should be the teams as they stand. The players can still change until after the Women's Open + later withdrawals.

 

Seed 1: The United States 🇺🇸 (Total Ranking: 34)
Nelly Korda (1), Angel Yin (7), Lilia Vu (12), Lauren Coughlin (14).
Next up: Yealimi Noh (20), Megan Khang (32)

Seed 2: South Korea 🇰🇷 (Total Ranking: 53)

Hae Ran Ryu (5), Hyo Joo Kim (9), Jin Young Ko (15), Hye Jin Choi (24)

Next up: Amy Yang (26), Yewon Lee (28)

 

Seed 3: Japan 🇯🇵 (Total Ranking: 57)

Mao Saigo (10), Rio Takeda (13), Ayaka Furue (16), Miyū Yamashita (18)

Next up: Akie Iwai (25), Chisato Iwai (27)

 

Seed 4: Thailand 🇹🇭 (Total Ranking: 88)

Jeeno Thitikul (2), Ariya Jutanugarn (22), Chanettee Wannasaen (29), Patty Tavatanakit (35)

Next up: Pajaree Anannarukarn (76), Jasmine Suwannapura (106)

 

Seed 5: Sweden 🇸🇪 (Total Ranking: 115)

Maja Stark (8), Madelene Sagstrom (30), Linn Grant (38), Ingrid Lindblad (39)

Next up: Anna Nordqvist (140), Linnea Strom (160)

 

Seed 6: Australia 🇦🇺 (Total Ranking: 128)

Minjee Lee (6), Hannah Green (11), Stephanie Kyriacou (42), Gabriela Ruffels (69)

Next up: Grace Kim (96), Hira Naveed (134)

 

Seed 7: World Team 🌐 (Total Ranking: 165)

Lydia Ko 🇳🇿(3), Celine Boutier 🇫🇷 (17), Brooke Henderson 🇨🇦 (44), Wei-ling Hsu 🇹🇼 (101)

Next up: Charley Hull 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (19), Gaby Lopez 🇲🇽 (62), Ashleigh Buhai 🇿🇦 (79), Shannon Tan 🇸🇬 (117)

Seed 8: China 🇨🇳 (Total Ranking: 256)

Ruoning Yin (4), Xiyu Lin (60), Weiwei Zhang (90), Yan Liu (102)

Next up: Ruixin Liu (132), Yahui Zhang (168)

 

Some notes:

• The World Team is restricted to 1 players from each of Europe, North America, Africa/Oceania, and Asia. (Thanks to @JungleJimbo because I forgot to add this caveat!)
• Under the new World Team system, all the top 18 of the World Ranking are in!
• Janet Lin being pregnant likely means Ruixin Liu will be in for China. Even not counting Janet, China's total ranking is better than that of the England team (Charley Hull - 19, Mimi Rhodes - 92, Georgia Hall - 104, Cara Gainer - 124).

 

I really look forward to this event. The Korean fans are almost certainly gonna bring it and covered right this tournament can really take off with the teams we have here. I will probably do an analysis of the teams at some point soon.

Edited June 24 by DuenPhen

[JungleJimbo]

10 minutes ago, DuenPhen said:

Seed 7: World Team 🌐 (Total Ranking (165)

Lydia Ko 🇳🇿(3), Celine Boutier 🇫🇷 (17), Brooke Henderson 🇨🇦 (44), Wei-ling Hsu 🇹🇼 (101)

Next up: Charley Hull 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (19), Peiyun Chien 🇹🇼 (128)

 

thanks @DuenPhen ... genuine question on the "World Team"

 

... why would Charley Hull (world / Rolex ranking = 19) = only shown as "Next Up" (presumably this means "1st Alternate"?)

... vs Brooke Henderson (44) and Wei-Ling Hsu (101)??

[JungleJimbo]

 

Seven Countries Locked in for 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown | News | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association [2025-06-23] 

 

 

Quote

 

Seven Countries Locked in for 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown

lpga.com/news/2025/seven-countries-locked-in-for-2025-hanwha-lifeplus-international-crown

LPGA Communications

By:

LPGA Communications

 

"United States, Republic of Korea, Japan, Thailand, Sweden, Australia, People’s Republic of China qualify for the biennial team competition following KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

... Qualified athletes and World Team to be named following AIG Women’s Open"

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 23, 2025)

 – Seven countries have booked their spots at the 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, the exciting team match-play competition, an event that showcases the best female golfers from across the globe. The four-day match-play event will be held Oct. 23-26 at New Korea Country Club in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.

 

The countries that will compete at New Korea Country Club are the United States (34 points), the Republic of Korea (53 points), Japan (74 points), Thailand (88 points), Sweden (115 points), Australia (128 points) and the People’s Republic of China (256 points). The competing athletes will be determined via the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings published after the conclusion of the 2025 AIG Women’s Open on Aug. 4. The top four ranked players from each pre-qualified country will qualify for their respective country’s team.

 

“Last time we played the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, it was in America. This time it’s in Korea and it’s at a golf course that I personally like. I’m really looking forward to it and I think it will be a lot of fun,” said Hyo Joo Kim, who is currently one of the four leading athletes for Korea. “Representing your country, whether that is at the Olympics or at International Crown, means I’m playing with Korea’s flag instead of a sponsor logo. That’s a very proud moment and I think it will be very exciting.”

 

“Anytime you can wear your colors, you wear them with pride. Sweden is super strong, so it's going to be a real fun time to see how we're doing there,” added Madelene Sagstrom, who made her International Crown debut for Sweden at the 2018 competition held in Korea. “It's a lot of youngsters coming up with Ingrid winning this year. We're always super proud to be representing Sweden and even having a chance to play really well is even better.”

 

An eighth World Team will consist of the top-ranked player from each of the following four regions, not from a country already qualified: Americas (North America and South America); Europe; Asia; and Africa and Oceania. That team will also be determined on Aug. 4.

 

The Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown will take place over four days, with Thursday, Friday and Saturday featuring four-ball matches. The top two countries from each pool will then advance to Sunday. Two semifinal matches will be played Sunday morning, with each match consisting of two singles matches and one foursomes match. The winning semifinal countries will compete in the final match on Sunday afternoon, with the match played in the same format as the semifinals.

 

The most recent playing of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown was in 2023 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Calif. The team from Thailand (Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Patty Tavatanakit, Jeeno Thitikul) emerged victorious.

 

The International Crown was first staged in 2014 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland and was won by the Spanish Team (Carlota Ciganda, Belen Mozo, Azahara Munoz, Beatriz Recari). The 2016 edition was won by the host nation, with the U.S. Team (Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Mendoza, Lexi Thompson) emerging victorious at Merit Club in Illinois. The 2018 International Crown took place at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, Republic of Korea, where the Korean Team (In Gee Chun, In Kyung Kim, Sung Hyun Park, So Yeon Ryu) claimed victory. The 2020 playing was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

 

[DuenPhen]

14 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

thanks @DuenPhen ... genuine question on the "World Team"

 

... why would Charley Hull (world / Rolex ranking = 19) = only shown as "Next Up" (presumably this means "1st Alternate"?)

... vs Brooke Henderson (44) and Wei-Ling Hsu (101)??

Thanks for the question, I probably should add this to the Notes.

 

When the World Team was announced, a restriction was added so that only one player can come from each of Europe, North America, Africa/Oceania, and Asia. Charley has the ranking but Celine is blocking her.

Edited June 23 by DuenPhen

[GolfMoose]

Wow, three out of four spots for Japan are changed...and those players falling out aren't even in the "next up" spots....Nasa, Hinako and Yuka (and that's with the latter winning a major since the last playing).  Sure looks like Japan will pass SK in seeding over the next couple of years.

 

Recall last time we had the Hall/Hull withdrawals and a sense that not that much importance was attached to the event, surely its stature has rightfully grown since then. And this year the Brits don't qualify for an individual team.  We know (or assume?) the desire to loop in players like Lydia and Brooke was one of the drivers of the format change, wonder if this...off-putting... ambivalence shown last time made it just a touch easier to decide to transform the 8th spot.

[BadgerLin]

3 hours ago, DuenPhen said:

Thanks for the question, I probably should add this to the Notes.

 

When the World Team was announced, a restriction was added so that only one player can come from each of Europe, North America, Africa/Oceania, and Asia. Charley has the ranking but Celine is blocking her.

Hopefully Celine will stay ahead of Charley in the rankings.  The extremely late withdrawals by Charley and Georgia Hall before the last playing of the International Crown was not a good look.  

[DuenPhen]

23 hours ago, GolfMoose said:

Wow, three out of four spots for Japan are changed...and those players falling out aren't even in the "next up" spots....Nasa, Hinako and Yuka (and that's with the latter winning a major since the last playing).  Sure looks like Japan will pass SK in seeding over the next couple of years.

 

Recall last time we had the Hall/Hull withdrawals and a sense that not that much importance was attached to the event, surely its stature has rightfully grown since then. And this year the Brits don't qualify for an individual team.  We know (or assume?) the desire to loop in players like Lydia and Brooke was one of the drivers of the format change, wonder if this...off-putting... ambivalence shown last time made it just a touch easier to decide to transform the 8th spot.

I still maintain that Golf Channel's coverage of the 2023 event is the most criminal massacre I've ever seen. Like I emerged from that event thinking it's second rate despite being a die-hard Thai team fan, and the fact that they made me feel that way about our premier team competition is not something I can forgive. 

 

So I really, really, really hope they do it better this year. Being in Korea should help with the total broadcast hours.

 

Hall & Hull withdrawals were particularly obscene givent how they did it (not even informing their teammates until the news broke) and the fact that they came back to play the last two Solheim Cups. I was quite glad  the 2023 edition had two non-SC teams in the final after that.

(P.S. I remember that Yuka and Hinako were reserves after some JLPGA withdrawals. It might've been Yamashita who withdrew actually but don't quote me on that.)

Edited June 24 by DuenPhen

[subrew]

We attended the last International Crown at Harding Park.  I love this style of format, with group play, multiple teams etc.  

[GolfMoose]

22 hours ago, DuenPhen said:

P.S. I remember that Yuka and Hinako were reserves after some JLPGA withdrawals. It might've been Yamashita who withdrew actually but don't quote me on that.)

Good memory.  According to posts here at the time Min-ji Park qualified but didn't play for South Korea, similarly Linn Grant for Sweden and Yamashita for Japan.

 

In an alternate universe, according to AI generated Search results, Yamashita showed up and played on the team.   🙂 

 

[TiScape]

22 hours ago, subrew said:

We attended the last International Crown at Harding Park.  I love this style of format, with group play, multiple teams etc.  

Possibly an unpopular opinion.
IMO, Harding Park is overrated. 

[Argonne69]

15 hours ago, TiScape said:

Possibly an unpopular opinion.
IMO, Harding Park is overrated. 

 

Very overrated. Torrey Pines South gets flak for being an uninspiring muni, but it's several notches above HP.

 

[DuenPhen]

Fun fact: If Lottie Woad made her charge a few months earlier, England would have likely qualified for the Crown! 

 

Alas that was not how history panned out, and with one week to go to players' confirmation, here is the state of play

 

🇺🇸: Nelly Korda (1), Angel Yin (7), Lauren Coughlin (14), Lilia Vu (16) -- Yealimi Noh (23), Andrea Lee (28)

 

Lilia's free-fall has seen her dropped to 4th in the order. However, Yealimi/Andrea will need a high finish at Porthcawl to overtake. LC herself also hasn't been doing too hot form-wise, but her place is likely secured.

 

🇰🇷: Haeran Ryu (7), Hyo Joo Kim (8), Jin Young Ko (13), Hye-Jin Choi (21) -- Amy Yang (31), Yewon Lee (34)

 

The Korean team looks settled as Hye-Jin's recent high finishes see her separated from Amy. 

 

🇯🇵: Mao Saigo (10), Rio Takeda (12), Miyū Yamashita (15), Ayaka Furue (19) -- Akie Iwai (27), Chisato Iwai (29)

 

Ayaka Furue's pedestrian year has left her vulnerable to a charge from an Iwai twin. Even then, there likely can be only one of them. Whichever the combination, this team is a formidable murderers' row.

 

🇦🇺: Minjee Lee (5), Hannah Green (11), Grace Kim (26), Steph Kyriacou (42) -- Gabriela Ruffels (63)

 

Grace Kim's miracle at the Evian has seen them leapt into the 4th seed. The 2023 edition was already a strong team with serious camaraderie and this one looks even stronger with LAB Minjee and the next generation. The best of Australia is truly yet to come.

 

🇹🇭: Jeeno Thitikul (2), Ariya Jutanugarn (18), Chanettee Wannasaen (32), Patty Tavatanakit (38) -- Pajaree Anannarukarn (80)

 

As Jeeno challenges Nelly for the No. 1, do you know that Ariya is back in the top 20? She has quietly been having a very good year since that disaster at Chevron and all she needs is a win. This is one of the most settled teams, but where is Patty lately?

🇸🇪: Maja Stark (9), Madelene Sagstrom (30), Ingrid Lindblad (36), Linn Grant (43) -- Anna Nordqvist (155)

 

This is the other most settled team. I don't believe Anna Nordqvist will make a serious challenge. The Stark-Grant friendship will lead this team and the other two bring serious firepower. Maja needs to not break her putter, though.

 

🇨🇳: Ruoning Yin (4), Xiyu Lin (72), Weiwei Zhang (95), Yan Liu (113) -- Ruixin Liu (124), Miranda Wang (176), Yahui Zhang (182), Mary Liu (188)

 

Given Janet's continuing pregnancy and relatively low rankings, the Chinese team can fluctuate with a good finish at Porthcawl. Yahui Zhang is not in the field. Miranda Wang and Mary Liu, on the other hand, are.

 

🌐: Lydia Ko 🇳🇿 (3), Celine Boutier 🇫🇷 (17), Brooke Henderson 🇨🇦 (46), Shannon Tan 🇸🇬 (100) -- Casandra Alexander 🇿🇦 (78), Charley Hull (20) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Lottie Woad 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24), Gaby Lopez 🇲🇽 (59), Wei-Ling Hsu 🇹🇼 (110) 

 

The new Saffa number one Alexander is not gonna challenge Dame Lydia, but every other spot is quite frankly up for grabs with everyone involved playing at Porthcawl! Brooke vs Gaby and Shannon vs Wei-Ling are individual battles to watch out for, but all eyes are on Celine Boutier who is under threat not only from Charley Hull but also Lottie Woad, whose launch has flown so high she may reach the sky at the very first time of asking.

 

Edited July 29 by DuenPhen

[18majors]

 

Despite of good ranking on paper; Team USA didn't distinguish themselves at Harding Park in 2023.  But this 2025 Team is no better!  Angel Yin is probably the only inform player; it won't be a surprise if the other three players fail to win any matches.

Edited July 28 by 18majors

[GolfMoose]

5 hours ago, 18majors said:

Despite of good ranking on paper; Team USA didn't distinguish themselves at Harding Park in 2023

Lexi was not in great form arguably but really this was almost exactly the point in time where things seem to have gone south for Danielle K...she had three top tens in her 9 LPGA events prior to this (plus one in a Saudi LET event), a T10 a few weeks later but then none at all in the over 2 years since, didn't realize how much like a light switch that change was. 

 

There was some debate about how teams matched up players, particularly when switched to foursomes/singles for (semi)finals. Those decisions were described as made by the players themselves (no coach), which could be one of the interesting dynamics for the World team depending how much history they have with each other.

 

I wonder if there's any chance someone qualified will decline to participate this time, particularly for the World team, where it's not a "national pride" situation. Scheduling is intense, eight straight weeks beginning with Hawaii, followed by five in Asia (of which this is the middle week), then the Annika in Florida leading straight into CME, all consecutive events.

Edited July 29 by GolfMoose

[JungleJimbo]

 

Wasn't aware that the field for International Crown would be finalised immediately following this week's AIG Women's Open

 

Source: Five Things to Know About the 2025 AIG Women’s Open | News | LPGA  

[DuenPhen]

The Korean team will have the home crowd behind them, which as you recalled 7 years ago in Incheon stretched from tee to green. So Yeon Ryu led under tremendous pressure to reward prestigious Korean golf with their first trophy. This team doesn't have the stature of that team, but Haeran can have her days (though not lately) and Hyo Joo is an ace up their sleeve.

 

Jin Young though still doesn't like match-play and Hye-Jin the Penguin doesn't swim that well in pressure.

Edited July 29 by DuenPhen

[DuenPhen]

4 hours ago, GolfMoose said:

There was some debate about how teams matched up players, particularly when switched to foursomes/singles for (semi)finals. Those decisions were described as made by the players themselves (no coach), which could be one of the interesting dynamics for the World team depending how much history they have with each other.

Without coaches I find it very interesting to see how players organise themselves. Do they have strategy? Do they have a leader? Last time the Thai team was clearly led by Moriya - except Mo doesn't make it this time, so who will step up in her place?

[DuenPhen]

9 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Despite of good ranking on paper; Team USA didn't distinguish themselves at Harding Park in 2023.  But this 2025 Team is no better!  Angel Yin is probably the only inform player; it won't be a surprise if the other three players fail to win any matches.

I know you have been real down on Nelly lately, but her play is good enough to win at least one match imo. 

[JungleJimbo]

1 hour ago, DuenPhen said:

Without coaches I find it very interesting to see how players organise themselves. Do they have strategy? Do they have a leader? Last time the Thai team was clearly led by Moriya - except Mo doesn't make it this time, so who will step up in her place?

Can Moriya participate as non playing captain? Presumably “yes… if Moriya wants to”??

[DuenPhen]

1 hour ago, JungleJimbo said:

Can Moriya participate as non playing captain? Presumably “yes… if Moriya wants to”??

Actually, no? Not in any official capacity at least. If it's known that a team does it then everyone would want to, so the fact that no one has done that in 4 editions mean there is likely a specific rule against it.

[ceedee]

2 hours ago, DuenPhen said:

Actually, no? Not in any official capacity at least. If it's known that a team does it then everyone would want to, so the fact that no one has done that in 4 editions mean there is likely a specific rule against it.

Can she be caddie?

I think that would be backdoor, if need leadership for team.