United States (with 34 points), South Korea (53), Japan (74), Thailand (88), Sweden (115), Australia (128) and China (256) already have a place in the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown 2025, the unofficial women’s team world championship to be held from 23 to 26 October at the New Korea Country Club in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, in South Korea. A biennial event that the Spaniard Carlota Ciganda still aspires to.
The seven countries already qualified after last week’s KPMG Women’s Open Championship will define their four members after the AIG Womens’ Open on 4 August (the top four from each of these countries according to the Rolex Rankings of that day will enter). It will be then that the Navarrese golfer will also know if she manages to enter the last team needed to complete the field, known as the international team.
This eighth squad will be formed by the highest-ranked player from each of the following four regions that does not belong to any of the countries that already have a place: America (North America and South America); Europe; Asia; and Africa and Oceania. The Spaniard, currently ranked 23rd in the women’s world ranking, has just over a month to try to surpass for the European place Boutier (17th), Hull (19th) and Henseleit (21st) and secure a spot in an event she knows perfectly.
Carlota was part, along with Belén Mozo, Azahara Muñoz and Beatriz Recari, of the Spanish team that won the first edition of the International Crown, held in 2014 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. The 2016 edition was won by the host country, United States (Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Mendoza and Lexi Thompson) at the Merit Club in Illinois. In 2018, at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, the victory went to the host team (In Gee Chun, In Kyung Kim, Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu). Meanwhile, the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last precedent of the tournament was the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown 2023 at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. The team from Thailand (Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Patty Tavatanakit and Jeeno Thitikul) claimed victory in a tournament with four days of competition, with fourball matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and a final phase on Sunday with the top two countries from each group with semi-finals in the morning, with two singles matches and one fourball, and a final in the afternoon, with the same format.
