The final day of the International Crown kicks off late this afternoon in the United States. Here are our predictions for how it will turn out:
SEMIFINALS
Team USA vs Japan
The United States are sending out its two most powerful players first to try to win it on the singles, but the superstar rookies stand in their way. Angel Yin will be taking on Rio Takeda, while Yealimi Noh plays Yamashita. I think the United States get 1 1/2 points here with Yin defeating Takeda and Noh tying Yamashita. Takeda is tough competition but Yin has been in terrific form this week and it is hard to see her not gaining a full point.
The team of Lauren Coughlin and Lilia Vu will play Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo in the foursomes match. I am calling a tie here, which will send the United States to the finals. I like the pairing of Coughlin and Vu, who have played well this week, but the consistency of Furue and Saigo is hard to overlook. While United States players may be a touch more used to foursomes play, it is hard to imagine Furue and Saigo making many bogeys.
UNITED STATES WINS 2-1
World Team vs Australia
Charley Hull vs Hannah Green is the first match out, and while this is a fun pairing in theory with two stars of the tour, I think it is a pretty easy pick for Hull. Hull is a dominant match play performer, while Green hasn’t been at her best this week. I see a relatively easy win by hole 16 for Hull. In the other singles match, it is hard to pick against Minjee Lee who is taking on Brooke Henderson. Obviously these players are both terrific, multiple time major champions, but Lee is looking just a bit too strong right now, and wins a tight one against Brooke.
In the foursomes match, Wei-Ling Hsu and Lydia Ko take on Steph Kyriacou and Grace Kim. Ironically for both teams, the bigger names in this group have been stronger so far. It is tempting to take Lydia Ko having a big day, and her short game prowess should help her a lot, but I’m actually taking Australia in a tight one here. Kyriacou has been fantastic, and really brought fireworks in the third round. I also think Grace Kim could really step up and show off some of her elite shot making.
AUSTRALIA WINS 2-1
FINALS
Australia against the United States is interesting. Obviously the instinct after the dominance the rest of the week would be to take the United States easily, but Australia is just one of those teams you can’t count out.
I do think they will probably split the singles matches, with Australia getting a win out of Minjee Lee but a loss out of Hannah Green. If Lee and Yin play, I do think there’s a great opportunity for team USA to just sweep the singles. If they do lose one of the first matches though, I can see Coughlin and Vu really coming through. These are two clutch match play performers, and it can’t be overstated how fantastic Coughlin is in these formats.
UNITED STATES WINS 2-1
