The LPGA Tour will make the trip to the Merit Club in Libertyville, Illinois just north of Chicago this week for the 2016 UL International Crown. This will be the second International Crown event, which is a biennial match play event contested between teams of four players that will represent eight different countries. The first three days of the tournament will feature round-robin pool play matches at fourball with the final five teams eventually being re-seeded based on points earned. Each of those final five teams will play one singles match against each of the other teams on Sunday and the total points earned in pool and singles play will be used to determine the team champion.
Event Details
Event: UL International Crown
Category: LPGA
Date: July 21-24
Location: Merit Club, Libertyville, Illinois
Spain won the inaugural version of this event back in 2014 when it was held at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. The decision to change the venue for the tournament in November left little time for the event organizers to make changes to the course and that could lead to some tough conditions for the golfers competing in this year’s field.
Past Winner
2014: Spain
What To Know About The Course
The scorching temperatures across the Chicago area have absolutely dried out the course heading in to this week while also keeping the rough from growing much higher than its current two and a half to three inches in height. Driving Accuracy will be among the keys to success at this Prairie Style course this week. The 14 ponds that line the course won’t be a major factor for every contender but those players that want to score could bring them in to play if they are aggressive enough. The fairways are expected to be very generous but the players who aren’t able to keep their drives in the short grass will pay with the first 10 yards off the fairways lined with extremely dry and thick rough.
The Field
The eight teams will each feature four players with the Korea Republic listed as the favorite to win at the tournament at even betting odds. Kim Sei-young, Chun In-gee, Amy Yang and Ryu So-yeon are all ranked in the top-11 in the world and they are expected to dominate as a nation at this year’s tournament. The United States team, which is led by world No. 4 Lexi Thompson and world No. 9 Stacy Lewis, is listed at +750 odds followed by Thailand at +1000 odds. It’s hard to envision a team other than the top three getting a win but anything can happen and it will be very interesting to see how things unfold.
A Good Matchup To Bet: United States over Japan
Thompson and Lewis have shown flashes of how good they can be and they will be complimented by another couple of top-20 players in No. 15 Gerina Piller and No. 20 Cristie Kerr. All four players are in strong enough form to trust them heading in to this week and they should be a good matchup against Japan. World No. 22 Haru Nomura is the top player on the Japanese side and the only player ranked in the top-40 on their team so look for the U.S. to capitalize on the home advantage and finish ahead of the Japanese team at the UL International Crown.
Best Bet To Win: South Korea
South Korea is the only team with four players ranked in the top-11 including three in the top-eight so it’s no surprise that they are trading at even money as the obvious betting favorite to win this tournament outright. There is no doubt that this is the deepest and most talented team and as long as they don’t mess it up they should be able to win. There isn’t much value there when it comes to betting on South Korea but they are the closest on the board to a lock to win it.
Odds To Win The UL International Crown
South Korea 11/10
USA 2/1
Thailand 12/1
China 16/1
Japan 16/1
