2018 UL International Crown Oct 04-07

[fredogolfer]

So, Korea won. Must feel great for them. Good performance from England. Why do I feel like the English players who have Eurocentric career trajectory tend to do better than those who pursue college/opportunities in the US? Georgia and Charley have done better than Jodi. Bronte is relatively new so it's hard to tell. Laura Davies once joked her US base was wherever her suitcase and hotel room happened to be.

 

The US did well despite having a player coming off an injury.

[Warrick]

I am very happy for In Gee, filled in and went 4-0-0, should help her confidence a bit.

 

I thought it may be a bit too much pressure at home, but all 4 are Major Champions, well done.

[ClairefromClare]

Hopefully they get the 3rd session completed today, and cut over from the PGA tournament that's airing early this morning.

 

I watched the 2nd session again, and noted the number of shots shown for each team. I counted 234 live shots, with 46 shots for the U.S. (20%), 42 shots for Australia (18%), 38 shots for Thailand (16%), 37 shots for Korea (16%), 19 shots for England and Taiwan (8%), 17 shots for Sweden (7%), and 16 shots for Japan (7%). Sweden and Japan played a combined 29 holes, the U.S. and Thailand 29 holes, England and Taiwan 31 holes, and Korea and Australia 33 holes.

 

We love you, Argonne, but you need to get a life.

[legitimategolf]

South Korea proved it has not only the best LPGA players but also the best fanbase.

 

Sung Hyun Park has now reached superstardom in Korea it seems. I enjoyed the rapturous reception from the Namdalla army. Easy to overlook over here in the west but 2018 has been a major year for her, in which she has firmly established herself as a top 2 (at worst) player. If anyone is going to dominate in the near future it is her (and Ariya perhaps).

 

K-golf mania is going to roll straight on into next week's Hana Bank Championship. Provided they are not exhausted from this week I'd say all four Crown holders are favorites to win.

[jumpcut]

K-golf mania is going to roll straight on into next week's Hana Bank Championship. Provided they are not exhausted from this week I'd say all four Crown holders are favorites to win.

 

Doubtful, since Inky and So Yeon are skipping the Hanabank.

[denvergolf]

So, Korea won. Must feel great for them. Good performance from England. Why do I feel like the English players who have Eurocentric career trajectory tend to do better than those who pursue college/opportunities in the US? Georgia and Charley have done better than Jodi. Bronte is relatively new so it's hard to tell. Laura Davies once joked her US base was wherever her suitcase and hotel room happened to be.

 

The US did well despite having a player coming off an injury.

Annika made it work okay...realize she's not English.

[ChronicSlicer]

South Korea proved it has not only the best LPGA players but also the best fanbase.

 

Sung Hyun Park has now reached superstardom in Korea it seems. I enjoyed the rapturous reception from the Namdalla army. Easy to overlook over here in the west but 2018 has been a major year for her, in which she has firmly established herself as a top 2 (at worst) player. If anyone is going to dominate in the near future it is her (and Ariya perhaps).

 

K-golf mania is going to roll straight on into next week's Hana Bank Championship. Provided they are not exhausted from this week I'd say all four Crown holders are favorites to win.

 

Now if Sung Hyun would smile more and loosen up a bit, she might get a nice following over here as well.

[78Staff]

I'll preface this by saying I didn't' get to watch the entire broadcast, too much going on today, but I did watch a good portion of it and the last hour and a half or so... but I might have missed something said or discussed during the broadcast.

 

That being said, Good for S. Korea to get the win on home soil. Especially with the other teams gunning for them with their top player in the singles draw. As someone stated earlier, they definitely earned it today.

 

Although, I'm not sure I am on board with the points carryover. I get that they are rewarding the team play in the previous 3 rounds, but take Thailand for instance, the 5th place/wildcard team basically has to win all four singles matches to have any chance, so once they lose or halve the first match, it takes the wind out of their sails, so to speak. In a perfect world, it would not affect how the other three players play in their matches, but once they know it's over, it has to be a huge letdown early. And it could affect the outcome and placing of other teams as well. I'm not saying they should change it, but it kinda puts a stain on the wildcard spot, especially when a lower point team gets in due to the 3rd and ties plan.

 

Uneven play today by the US. Korda with a great round the only highlight. I think the US MVP should be Pernilla :derisive: Pernilla's turnaround on the 18th (or Jodi Hyphen's collapse on 18 more likely) essentially allowed the US to be T2 with England instead of coming in 3rd (or worse possibly).

 

I was also surprised Lexi and So Yeon Ryu just didn't walk it on in on 18 since they were all square and it was over, but then I remembered they are getting prize money for this for the different places, so it's not like the SC or RC where once it's won it's done so to speak.

 

Also, we'll never know but I suspect Danielle Kang would have gotten more than one point.

[ChronicSlicer]

 

 

Also, we'll never know but I suspect Danielle Kang would have gotten more than one point.

 

I suspect if she didn`t miss the cut 6 times out of her last 8 events you may have got a chance to see her out there.

[Argonne69]

Well, that was a nail biter. Congrats to Korea for the win, which was basically set up in sessions 1 through 3 with 5 out of 6 outright wins. As expected, I'm very happy for In Gee for her undefeated week.

 

England definitely had a legitimate chance to steal the crown, but Jodi's final holes proved costly.

 

I thought Michelle had a good week, but she certainly looked rusty, and should have sat out for a fresher player.

 

I was expecting a halved match with Ariya and Sung Hyun. It would have been fitting, but Ariya seemed to have a hotter putter.

 

The course looked great. 'Love Jack's greens. The fans appeared to be very supporting of all the teams, and quite respectful. Isn't it nice to watch a tournament and not hear a single stupid "mashed potatoes"?

 

Finally, thanks to Mother Nature for bringing her worst, and then getting the heck out of the way.

[denvergolf]

Well, that was a nail biter. Congrats to Korea for the win, which was basically set up in sessions 1 through 3 with 5 out of 6 outright wins. As expected, I'm very happy for In Gee for her undefeated week.

 

England definitely had a legitimate chance to steal the crown, but Jodi's final holes proved costly.

 

I thought Michelle had a good week, but she certainly looked rusty, and should have sat out for a fresher player.

 

I was expecting a halved match with Ariya and Sung Hyun. It would have been fitting, but Ariya seemed to have a hotter putter.

 

The course looked great. 'Love Jack's greens. The fans appeared to be very supporting of all the teams, and quite respectful. Isn't it nice to watch a tournament and not hear a single stupid "mashed potatoes"?

 

Finally, thanks to Mother Nature for bringing her worst, and then getting the heck out of the way.

I hadn't followed much of the LPGA until the last year or two. I've read your posts (and others) about In Gee, but never watched her play or followed what she is doing. She really has a great personality, and looks like she's having fun out there - very easy to root for. You have a lot of work left to have me root for Sung Hyun at this point :)

[78Staff]

Also, we'll never know but I suspect Danielle Kang would have gotten more than one point.

 

I suspect if she didn`t miss the cut 6 times out of her last 8 events you may have got a chance to see her out there.

 

lol ok I'll give you that :). Kang is usually a match play killer though, two US Am's and a very good SC record in her 2017 appearance, is where my head is at.

[Mellow]

Couldn't have turned out much better, very happy!

 

Thrilled with how Inky did.

 

Oh man, I don't know how much the ANA does still loom. It absolutely shouldn't. But I was still on edge of the seat with So Yeon vs Lexi... halves is probably a good thing. I do like So Yeon as team captain, it suits her.

 

In Gee was the most precarious coming in, I also hope this is a big confidence boost too. One of the best stages in the world for her to do this. It's easy to want any good thing to be a turning point, but this is pretty convincing, maybe! She so showed she belonged there.

 

Only thing I'm not happy about is like others said, Australia getting eliminated. If the Korea team was close to my dream team, Minjee + Su could be dream team 2, wanted them to win that so bad! It is amazing how impactful the bracket structure is. I guess it has to be something. That's a good insight as usual from 4waymiss, always on point.

 

Hope Taiwan still had fun. Going to keep an eye on them more. And hey, don't be mad at us, be mad at the C C P!

 

I keep thinking how things might have gone differently with different pairings and match-ups. Lot of what-if's there. I'm not sure I love match play, but this is a lot of fun and I do love the extra level of team strategy on it.

[Mellow]

Now if Sung Hyun would smile more and loosen up a bit, she might get a nice following over here as well.

 

But ... but that would subvert her entire thing!

[Raving Shanker]

Even as an Aussie I am glad Korea won, because simply they are so utterly dominant. As expected, the pressure of expectation on them was intense - and possibly more of a burden than a lift. Imagine if they had to field a second team. Could you really tell much difference in quality?

 

I think the carry-over points system was good. It means the tournament starts in earnest from the first hole. It doesn't give the wild card teams much chance, but so what? They got into that position.

 

As for the wild card system that eliminated Australia - it was brutal, but every team played under the same system. As an Aussie I was hoping we'd win, and it was ironic how we were eliminated, as 7 points was above expectation. Su Oh is the real wild card for us - erratic, but potentially brilliant, especially in a format such as this.

 

My pre-tournament tip was Thailand, but I think ultimately they didn't go deep enough.

 

Great tournament all round, and I really hope it flourishes.

 

Oh, and Namdalla is fine!

[dlongstaff]

For all the complaints we have with the coverage throughout the season, I have to say this is the best coverage we've seen by far. Eight groups covered by eight cameras. Plenty of reporters on the course. Most importantly there is a minimum of fluff pieces, and an almost endless stream of shots. Wow. Actual golf.

 

The downside being that a home viewer gets a better idea of exactly how glacial the pace is out there. I had a hockey game to click over to, otherwise I would have fallen asleep.

 

Trust me, I said on more than one occasion over the 3 days I was there..."wake me up when she's ready to putt." Though, it wasn't much better for some of them from the fairway. Case in point: IK Kim layed-up on 14 (right side fairway) yesterday while Law drove it in the left greenside bunker, so there is a good 75-100 yards between them. Kim got to her ball first, but Law wasn't too long getting up to the green to check out the lie; from that point Kim still took another 3-4 minutes to play her shot. Some of the 2nd round matches on Friday were verging on 5 hours just to get to 14 or 15 because player B still hadn't pulled a club after player A had already hit.

[Argonne69]

I've been saying it for years, golf needs a proper shot clock, and not just when a group is on the clock. I timed one of Cristie's shots at 1:45, and that started when the camera cut to her and her caddie discussing the shot in the fairway. I'm sure they were at the ball for a short while before the camera picked them up.

[Argonne69]

With 8 points available for each team on the final day, it was still a four team race yesterday. It sure looked like England was going to steal the crown until Jodi came apart late in her match. At one point it looked like the U.S. was going to steal it, but In Gee and In Kyung sealed the win.

 

Trying to project a winner with 5 teams out there is much tougher than in a two team match, but I think the broadcast team did a decent job of keeping up with the constant changes. Thailand only picked up 1 point in their first two matches, but otherwise it seemed that the other four teams all had a chance of winning. As such, it sure seemed that every match counted, or at least had the potential of being a spoiler match.

 

I don't mind the wildcard system, but I think it should be a minimum of three holes before switching to sudden death.

 

It looks like the crown will be hosted in a new country in 2020. My bet is on Thailand. Japan is a golf crazy country, and would be a logical choice, but Tokyo is hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics, and I'm not sure that would be a wise choice.

[18majors]

Argonne69

 

Can't say enough about In Kyung Kim; I've so much trust on her that I's sure she would get her 2 points when she's down 2 through 7.

On the contrary, I've so much doubts on In Gee even when she led by 4 through 10.

[Argonne69]

Argonne69

 

Can't say enough about In Kyung Kim; I've so much trust on her that I's sure she would get her 2 points when she's down 2 through 7.

On the contrary, I've so much doubts on In Gee even when she led by 4 through 10.

 

In Gee worried me not because she's prone to blow ups, but because Anna was playing so poorly to start, and I knew she was capable of stringing together a handful of birdies. I was rather surprised that Anna missed her birdie putt on 18. In Gee only had one birdie all day (on the 10th hole). However, with a four up lead, it's very likely she went into uber-conservative mode. She's generally not prone to taking risks.

 

In Kyung played a fantastic round with 6 birdies. She started slow, but caught fire on the 8th. I'm still surprised that Bronte bogied the 18th.

[AWinfortheAges]

 

It looks like the crown will be hosted in a new country in 2020. My bet is on Thailand. Japan is a golf crazy country, and would be a logical choice, but Tokyo is hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics, and I'm not sure that would be a wise choice.

 

I hadn't thought about the Tokyo Games when considering 2020. They will run from July 24 - August 9. I'm betting on Australia. One of the great things about this event is they can go anywhere.

[Argonne69]

In theory they can go anywhere, but would you really want to host them in a country that isn't fielding a team? It would be kind of odd, no?

 

Of course, there's always the possibility that a change in World rankings causes a host country to lose their team if the site selection is done too far in advance. One possible out was mentioned earlier, having the host country receive an automatic entry, with the remaining seven teams selected by World Ranking points.

[the bishop]

In theory they can go anywhere, but would you really want to host them in a country that isn't fielding a team? It would be kind of odd, no?

 

Of course, there's always the possibility that a change in World rankings causes a host country to lose their team if the site selection is done too far in advance. One possible out was mentioned earlier, having the host country receive an automatic entry, with the remaining seven teams selected by World Ranking points.

That's an excellent idea actually. Australia would be wonderful. So many great courses could host there.

[AWinfortheAges]

In theory they can go anywhere, but would you really want to host them in a country that isn't fielding a team? It would be kind of odd, no?

 

 

Yeah, good point. Similar to my earlier question of would Canada and New Zealand fans still strongly support the event if Brooke and Lydia were unable to play.

[AWinfortheAges]

For the WRXers that were in attendance, what is your opinion of the Korean crowds and fans at the UL, those fans aside from the Flying Dumbo's and Attack Girls?

 

From watching the broadcast, it seems to me that they could have been louder and done more to create at home field advantage. I say this because the crowds didn't seem as loud for I.K. and SYR. When I.K. won 14 it seems like there should have been a fan eruption. Also I didn't get the impression that the Flying Dumbo's and Attack Girls went back to support I.K. and SYR when they were finishing up and their favorites were done playing.

 

One other thing that bothered me is when SHP starting losing in the match with Ariya the Attack girls went silent. Maybe that is what SHP prefers they do in that situation(and has instructed them to do) so she can refocus, but I've been seen fans at big program football games go silent like that also and thought that was the time fans should do the opposite and cheer and encourage louder.

 

I could be completely wrong and maybe some of the crowd support was lost in how the event was broadcast. And also maybe some of that was lost because there was a KLPGA major going on as well. I wasn't expecting nor would I have liked a Ryder Cup type atmosphere. I didn't want to hear Ola ola ola, but I did want to see more of the Korean golf fan identity.

[bravedave]

More details on the braining incident, please.

 

I was on my way to the 12th green to watch Korea and Australia who were approaching. I was late though and it was just too crowded so I decided to move on to the 12th tee box to catch Sung-hyun Park. Suddenly I hear "right!" Well I'm right. So I look up and high in the air, I see a ball coming directly at me. I then sidestepped it with Steph Curry like grace while warning my fellow gallery members, "it's right here" as I followed as it landed. The ball had flown over the gallery long and right. Luckily, I avoided one to the dome, the face, the eye even. And fortunately nobody else was close. Of course a woman then walks over and attempts to pick the ball up so everyone yelled at her to stop.

 

Who hit that I wonder when Minjee Lee walks up. All I could think of was Brooks Koepka and the nightmare scenario of the woman fan losing sight in her eye after taking an errant drive. I thought about how the pros only point and don't say anything. Total "Tour Sauce".

 

Was it Minjee who said "right"? I don't know but I told Minjee "thank you for saying right". She noded. With the situation at the Ryder Cup I wanted to acknowledge that's it's fantastic for a pro to verbally warn fans.

 

Let's say if Brooks and his caddie both had said right. Then the volunteers joined in, then maybe fans. Maybe those folks in danger could have turned and the young lady may not have had as serious an injury. I read some of the thoughts by WRXers on the tour thread and everybody's got an opinion on this. I'm just happy I heard a "right".

 

Even the caddies are too cool to say anything. If the player isn't going to say "Right" or "Left" at least the caddie should. The player can point and the caddie can then yell, then the volunteers and fans can all join in. At least folks at the Ryder Cup would have had a fighting chance to turn away from the flight of the ball thus increasing their chance of avoiding one to the eye. I have a few stories of myself and other almost getting hit. I try to stay out of the danger zone but sometimes it's just bad luck. Had I not heard "right" I seriously could have taken one for the team.

 

(any bad grammar or typos is the computers fault)

 

 

 

 

Bubba letting folks know where his ball went.

 

 

Jordan letting everyone know he went right.

[Bingo1976]

I've been saying it for years, golf needs a proper shot clock, and not just when a group is on the clock. I timed one of Cristie's shots at 1:45, and that started when the camera cut to her and her caddie discussing the shot in the fairway. I'm sure they were at the ball for a short while before the camera picked them up.

 

I'd make it mandatory for matchplay events - automatic loss of hole if you exceed it with maybe a number of time outs that can be used during the round. Could add some tactics and interest whilst moving the matches along at a good pace.

[WestTex]

More details on the braining incident, please.

 

I was on my way to the 12th green to watch Korea and Australia who were approaching. I was late though and it was just too crowded so I decided to move on to the 12th tee box to catch Sung-hyun Park. Suddenly I hear "right!" Well I'm right. So I look up and high in the air, I see a ball coming directly at me. I then sidestepped it with Steph Curry like grace while warning my fellow gallery members, "it's right here" as I followed as it landed. The ball had flown over the gallery long and right. Luckily, I avoided one to the dome, the face, the eye even. And fortunately nobody else was close. Of course a woman then walks over and attempts to pick the ball up so everyone yelled at her to stop.

 

Who hit that I wonder when Minjee Lee walks up. All I could think of was Brooks Koepka and the nightmare scenario of the woman fan losing sight in her eye after taking an errant drive. I thought about how the pros only point and don't say anything. Total "Tour Sauce".

 

Was it Minjee who said "right"? I don't know but I told Minjee "thank you for saying right". She noded. With the situation at the Ryder Cup I wanted to acknowledge that's it's fantastic for a pro to verbally warn fans.

 

Let's say if Brooks and his caddie both had said right. Then the volunteers joined in, then maybe fans. Maybe those folks in danger could have turned and the young lady may not have had as serious an injury. I read some of the thoughts by WRXers on the tour thread and everybody's got an opinion on this. I'm just happy I heard a "right".

 

Even the caddies are too cool to say anything. If the player isn't going to say "Right" or "Left" at least the caddie should. The player can point and the caddie can then yell, then the volunteers and fans can all join in. At least folks at the Ryder Cup would have had a fighting chance to turn away from the flight of the ball thus increasing their chance of avoiding one to the eye. I have a few stories of myself and other almost getting hit. I try to stay out of the danger zone but sometimes it's just bad luck. Had I not heard "right" I seriously could have taken one for the team.

 

(any bad grammar or typos is the computers fault)

 

 

 

 

Bubba letting folks know where his ball went.

 

 

Jordan letting everyone know he went right.

 

If you heard "right" with an Aussie accent, followed by the clouds parting under a lound thunder clap, that was Minjee. Incidentally if you did end up getting brained by Minjee nothing bad would have happened, simply your sand save percentage would inexplicably elevate to 80%.