In July, eight countries will compete for one crown when the Merit Club, outside of Chicago, plays host to the second playing of the UL International Crown. Based on the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, the eight countries have been determined, but their final seed and team members are still up for grabs.
With the conclusion of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June, the four highest ranked players from each of the eight qualifying countries will make up their respective teams for the matches. The eight countries will be seeded #1 through #8, and they will be divided into two pools based on the cumulative team score of the four players’ Rolex World Ranking. The competing countries include Republic of Korea, United States, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, England, Australia, and China.
After last week's Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic there was some movement on the teams including Ariya Jutanugarn taking over the top spot for Team Thailand after her win and Amy Yang moving into the second spot for the Republic of Korea team with her T-2 finish in Alabama.
Players currently on the bubble had a great opportunity to shake up the teams with many top players taking last week off. Simin Feng continues to close the gap for the fourth spot on Team China moving up seven spots in the Rolex Rankings within four points of Yuting Shi after her solid play in Alabama. Florentyna Parker moved into the top bubble position after her second place finish at Lalla Meryem Cup on the Ladies European Tour (LET) which moved her up 44 spots in the rankings moving her within seven points of Jodi Ewart Shadoff for the fourth and final spot on Team England.
UL International Crown Standings as of May 9, 2016
STANDINGS | COUNTRY/PLAYER | RANK | STANDINGS | COUNTRY/PLAYER | RANK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Republic of Korea | 23 | 2 | United States | 40 |
Inbee Park | 2 | Lexi Thompson | 3 | ||
Amy Yang | 6 | Stacy Lewis | 4 | ||
Sei Young Kim | 7 | Cristie Kerr | 16 | ||
In Gee Chun | 8 | Gerina Piller | 17 | ||
Ha-Na Jang | 9 | Brittany Lincicome | 24 | ||
So Yeon Ryu | 11 | Jessica Korda | 27 | ||
3 | Japan | 149 | 4 | Chinese Taipei | 223 |
Haru Nomura | 23 | Teresa Lu | 22 | ||
Shiho Oyama | 39 | Candie Kung | 36 | ||
Mika Miyazato | 41 | Yani Tseng | 58 | ||
Ayaka Watanabe | 46 | Ssu-Chia Cheng | 107 | ||
Erika Kikuchi | 63 | Wei-Ling Hsu | 126 | ||
Momoko Ueda | 65 | Min Lee | 167 | ||
5 | Thailand | 304 | 6 | England | 360 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | 21 | Charley Hull | 26 | ||
Pornanong Phatlum | 33 | Holly Clyburn | 84 | ||
Moriya Jutanugarn | 96 | Melissa Reid | 97 | ||
Nontaya Srisawang | 154 | Jodi Ewart Shadoff | 153 | ||
Thidapa Suwannapura | 177 | Florentyna Parker | 160 | ||
P.K. Kongkraphan | 213 | Hannah Burke | 171 | ||
7 | Australia | 375 | 8 | China | 393 |
Minjee Lee | 12 | Shanshan Feng | 10 | ||
Karrie Webb | 49 | Xiyu Lin | 52 | ||
Rebecca Artis | 151 | Jing Yan | 129 | ||
Su-Hyun Oh | 163 | Yuting Shi | 202 | ||
Sarah Jane Smith | 188 | Simin Feng | 206 | ||
Katherine Kirk | 237 | Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu | 230 |