With a Late Comeback, Australia Shows ‘Grit’ in Winning LPGA International Crown

The fourth-seeded Aussies topped the United States after Minjee Lee’s and Hannah Green’s singles matches wins over Angel Yin and Yealimi Noh. 
Team Australia, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou, wins the International Crown.
Team Australia, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou, wins the International Crown. / Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images

“I think having grit throughout the week got us over the line.”

That was how Steph Kyriacou described Australia’s victory at the LPGA’s International Crown at New Korea Country Club. 

The fourth-seeded Aussies topped the United States after Minjee Lee’s and Hannah Green’s singles matches wins over Angel Yin and Yealimi Noh. 

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Lee’s match against Yin went back and forth, but the three-time major champion clinched it with a par on the 17th hole, where Yin made bogey. Green then claimed the triumph with a 10-footer on No. 17 to close out her match. 

Therefore, that made Kyriacou’s and Grace Kim’s matches against Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin irrelevant. 

“I think you share the joy of winning, so I think it is really nice and special because we don’t have too many opportunities to play for our country and as a team,” said Lee, who went 4–0–1 and was named the event’s MVP. “I do think it’s much more special to be able to do it with a group of girls that I see on Tour pretty much week in, week out.”

Australia, however, had to rally in the semifinals. Kim, playing with Kyriacou, made a birdie on the 18th hole against Lydia Ko and Wei-Ling Hsu of the World Team and won it on the second sudden-death playoff hole. And Lee, who was once down by three, chipped in on No. 17 to force an 18th hole and eventually won the match, 1 up. 

That set up the Aussies’ title, two years after finishing runner-up to Thailand. 

“Obviously, we all played with a lot of grit and a lot of perseverance and resilience this week just to get into the final match,” Lee said. “I’m just really happy we're all sitting here in the champions’ press conference.”


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Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.