GOYANG-SI, South Korea — Charley Hull and Lydia Ko first met as amateurs playing on sponsor invites on the Ladies European Tour. On Thursday, they reminisced on the time Ko competed in the British Amateur. Hull, 29, is a year older, but it was Ko who made her way onto the LPGA first in 2014. Hull followed one year later.
At the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown, the LPGA stars did something neither would’ve ever dreamed – teamed up to represent the World on South Korea soil. Ko birdied the last two holes at New Korea Country Club to tie their match against Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and Rio Takeda in opening four-balls.
“Like the last two holes, it was just pure Lydia,” said Hull, “and I’m glad I wasn’t playing against her.”
How these two ended up being teammates at the Crown is a function of the LPGA making a way to get some of its most popular players involved in the biennial event.
The inaugural World Team consists of the top-ranked player from each of the following four regions, not from a country already qualified: Europe, Asia and Africa/Oceania. The foursome includes Brooke Henderson (Canada), Wei-Ling Hsu (Tawian), Hull (England), and Ko (New Zealand).
While Hull and Hsu have each represented their respective countries on previous occasions at the Crown, this marks a first for Ko and Henderson.
“I kind of knew Lydia was going to make the putt on the last because she had an up-and-down challenge on the last hole yesterday, an impossible up-and-down, and you got up-and-down and won 200 bucks from your caddie,” said Hull, “so that was an easy putt compared to yesterday.”
Henderson and Hsu won their match against Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo, 2 and 1, storming back from 3 down after eight holes.
“Our lockers are always right beside each other, H’s, so we do see each other a lot,” said Henderson, “so I feel like we’ve always been good friends, and we’ve been on tour the same amount of time. So that’s been nice.”
Ko wouldn’t divulge how the foursome decided on pairings, noting they might change each day. They had their first practice round together on Wednesday and will have their first team dinner Thursday night.
Ko, the winningest player on tour and a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, says all four players are captains.
“But Lydia is the chief captain,” Hull explained.
The United States was the only team to win both matches on Thursday. After three days of four-ball competition, the top two countries from each pool will advance to Sunday. Two semifinal matches will take place on Sunday morning with a final match in the afternoon.
“I’ve been so excited for this,” gushed Henderson, “and I’ve been waiting for it for so long.”
An opening victory made it that much sweeter.