China is once again back in the International Crown team and for the second time in a row, will be playing as the No. 8 seed. In 2023, China finished with two points, which wasn’t enough to advance out of the group stage, but was still respectable.
In 2025, China will once again be led by its superstar, the No. 5 ranked player in the world, Ruoning Yin. Yin has been consistent, but hasn’t had some of the high finishes we are used to seeing out of the five-time LPGA Tour winner and major champion. She has only missed two cuts, but they were in the last two events she has played in. She went on a nice run in the middle portion of the season, securing top-five finishes in three out of four events including two majors. She is currently ranked No. 21 in the CME Standings.
Even if Ruoning Yin isn’t in her strongest form, she is still one of the most dangerous players in the world, and when she plays at her best, few if any players are more well-rounded.
Wei Wei Zhang will be making her International Crown debut, and will have some pressure on her to perform as the No. 2 player on the team. After a solid 2024 that saw her make cuts at a much higher level than any other time in her career, she has come back down to Earth a bit in 2025. She did notch a top-five finish in Mexico, but her only other top-20 finish on the season was at the Chevron Championship. She is currently just inside the top 100 in the Rolex Rankings at No. 99.
The third player who will be teeing it up is Yan Liu. Liu had some impressive performances in the first quarter of the season, getting into contention at the LA Championship, Chevron Championship and Black Desert Championship. She lost a lot of that momentum recently, missing six out of her last nine cuts. She did have a solid finish at the AIG Women’s Open though, with a T19, so maybe some of that early season groove is coming back.
The other spot on the team was intended to go to Xiyu Lin, the Olympic Bronze medalist and second highest ranked player from the country. Lin announced her pregnancy in May though, and hasn’t played an LPGA event since. She will likely be replaced by the next highest player Ruixin Liu. Liu hasn’t finished in the top 20 this season yet, but she has made a nice percentage of cuts, going 9/13.
This team has potential on paper. If Yan Liu can recapture some of her form from early in the season, and Ruoning Yin plays like the superstar we are used to seeing, it can be a dangerous squad. There just isn’t enough experience in big-time competitions here for me to have much confidence in their chances to advance.
