The LPGA's International Crown happens every two years (it's a biennial event), with a format pitting eight four-person teams representing the top eight countries based on combined ranking of their four highest-ranked players in the Rolex Rankings.
Each team has four players, meaning there's a 32-player field.
International Crown team selection process
The eight teams are determined by a qualifying system separate from determining the eight countries in the field. After the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the four highest-ranked teams from the eight qualifying countries were selected to represent each team in the competetion.
International Crown points: How many needed to win, tie
During the week of the UL International Crown, there are four days of competition: three days of fourball competition and one day of singles on Sunday. A team earns 2 points per match win, 0 points for a loss and 1 point for a tie.
The top five teams in the standings after the the first three days of the tournament move on to singles play to determine a winner.
International Crown matches: Formats, scoring
On each of the first three days, a total of four matches are played, with the matchups based on seeding in two pools of four teams. Seeding is based on the cumulative Rolex Women's World Ranking ranking of the four players on each team.
Each team determines an A and B pair, and those pairs compete once in each of the first two days. Each team's pair will play three fourballs matches.
Fourball is also called best ball. On each hole, all four players play out the hole using their own ball, just like they were playing individually. At the end of each hole, each team uses the better score of the two partners and compares it to the other team. The team with the better score wins the hole. Whichever team wins the most holes wins 2 points. The losing team gets 0 points. If the match is even after 18 holes, then the match is halved and each team earns 1 point.
At the end of three days, the top five teams move on to singles on Sunday. The two point leaders from each pool move on and a wild-card team, determined by a sudden-death, fourball playoff of the teams in third or tied for third in their pools.
On the final day, there are 10 singles matches. Each of the four players on the five qualifying teams will compete in a singles match, meaning all 20 remaining players compete. Points are earned in the same way as the fourballs over the first three days: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss. At the end of the 10 singles matches, the team with the most total points over the four days is crowned winner.
In the event of a tie, each team determines one player to represent them in a sudden-death playoff to determine a champion.
