Spain Wins Inaugural International Crown


Spain won all four of its singles matches Sunday to take home the first-ever International Crown. The four-person LPGA Tour event, which will be held in off-years from the Solheim Cup, took place at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mill, Md.

The team from Spain - Carlota Ciganda, Belen Mozo, Beatriz Recari and Azahara Munoz - finished with 15 points, four ahead of second-place Sweden (Caroline Hedwall, Anna Nordqvist, Pernilla Lindberg and Mikaela Parmlid), five better than South Korea (Na Yeon Choi, I.K. Kim, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu) and Japan (Mamiko Higa, Mika Miyazato, Ai Miyazato and Sakura Yokomine), and six in front of Thailand (sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, Pornanong Phatlum and Onnarin Sattayabanphot) among the five teams qualifying for singles.

Spain won its singles matches to romp to the victory. "Even though we were maybe the underdogs because of the seedings, I knew deep inside that what you need in a team championship is what we have," said Ciganda, who routed Choi 8 and 6 to get the Spaniards momentum going.

The affinity between the winners was cited as the key to their win. "We're so good as a team because we're used to, since we were younger, playing together," Munoz said. "I always played with Belen and Carlota. They were always my foursome partners. It just is so special to be on a team with them."

For scoring details, visit http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/IntlCrown.aspx.