BSS
  12 Oct 2022, 08:57

LPGA revives International Crown team event in 2023

WASHINGTON, Oct 12, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The LPGA will revive the biennial team match-play International Crown event in 2023 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the tour announced Tuesday.

The eight-team event will be staged May 4-7, 2023 on the same layout where the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2009 Presidents Cup were staged.

The International Crown made its debut in 2014 at Baltimore, where Spain took the title. The United States won on home soil in 2016 at Chicago, and host South Korea captured the most recent edition of the event in 2018 at Incheon.

A planned 2020 edition in England was wiped out due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The International Crown is a true marker of the global reach of the LPGA," tour commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said. "The 32 athletes who will compete at TPC Harding Park in 2023 will have the ultimate honor of playing under their national colors and representing their countries.

"We're very happy to bring the International Crown back to our schedule."

The eight nations to participate will be selected based upon the world rankings of the top four players from each nation after this year's Tour Championship in November.

The final field of players will be the top four players in the rankings from each of those nations in the world rankings of April 2, 2023.

The first three days will feature four-ball competition with the two top teams from each group advancing to Sunday's morning semi-finals, each of which will feature two singles matches and one foursomes match. The same format will be used for the afternoon championship match.