Can England upset the odds at the UL International Crown?
Making their second start in the UL International Crown, England are looking to upset the home favourites at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in South Korea this week.
The four-player English team, represented by Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Bronte Law, will begin their week on Thursday by taking on Australia in fourball format.
Chinese Taipei will be up next on Friday before the English quartet take on the fearsome South Korea on Saturday, who will be supported by an ebullient home crowd.
“It’s in their home country, and I think there’s going to be so many crowds supporting them,” Georgia Hall, the British Open champion, said in the team’s press conference.
“We’re just going to like stay in our own kind of bubble and focus on our own shots, but before that, we’ve got two important matches to play anyway, so we’re just going to focus on Thursday first.”
Bookmakers have Korea as favourites, with the USA and Thailand close behind – but Hall believes that her side can upset the odds.
“I’m quietly confident that I think we’re going to do very well.”
“I think maybe that people underestimate us. I think that we have a lot of very competitive players.”
It’s a notion that team-mate Law goes along with.
“A lot of English players have that fight. There’s just something about representing your country and being very proud of that,” Law said.
“From a very young age you get that fire in your belly when you play on a team, it just escalates on a bigger level as you get to this stage.”
England are the third youngest team in the competition, yet they have perhaps the best matchplay pedigree across the eight teams in the competition.
Hull has a 7-3-1 record in Solheim Cups, while Hall impressed on her Solheim debut two years ago under Captain Annika Sorenstam. The two 22-year-olds even struck up a partnership at GolfSixes earlier this year, where they defeated the South Africa men’s team while halving their match against Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace.
Shadoff was unbeaten in the UL International Crown two years ago when defeating the likes of Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson, and Bronte Law, who will be making her debut in this event, became the first ever GB&I player to win all five matches at the Curtis Cup two years ago in Ireland.
And perhaps there is an added bit of motivation this week having watched the European Ryder Cup team triumph in Paris.
“Absolutely, there was a fair few England faces playing in that team, so it’s definitely cool to obviously carry that on,” Law explained.
“I saw the singles match on Sunday. I arrived Sunday afternoon, so I managed to see it all,” Shadoff added.
“It’s very inspiring to see these guys playing so well, especially last weekend. I think the strength of English golf is at a high right now, and it’s going to be nice to see in 10 or 15 years’ time how it inspires the younger generation. It’s great to see.”
How does the UL International Crown work?
You can watch the UL International Crown highlights on Sky Sports Golf at 8.00am and 7.30am on Saturday and Sunday.
Meet the 32 players
UL International Crown draw
Thursday – Pool A
Korea vs. Chinese Taipei
Korea vs. Chinese Taipei
England vs. Australia
England vs. Australia
Thursday – Pool B
USA vs. Sweden
USA vs. Sweden
Japan vs. Thailand
Japan vs. Thailand
Friday – Pool A
Korea vs. Australia
Korea vs. Australia
England vs. Chinese Taipei
England vs. Chinese Taipei
Friday – Pool B
USA vs. Thailand
USA vs. Thailand
Japan vs. Sweden
Japan vs. Sweden
Saturday – Pool A
Korea vs. England
Korea vs. England
Australia vs. Chinese Taipei
Australia vs. Chinese Taipei
Saturday – Pool B
USA vs. Japan
USA vs. Japan
Thailand vs. Sweden
Thailand vs. Sweden
More on the ULIC
