Players to don numbers on uniform at LPGA match play competition

Players to don numbers on uniform at LPGA match play competition

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Taking the spirit of the team competition to another level, players at an upcoming LPGA match play competition will wear numbers on the back of their uniforms, the event's organizers said Wednesday.

The eight-country International Crown will tee off at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco on Thursday. Each nation is represented by four players, and teams for four-ball and foursome matches during this four-day event will feature two players each.

And for the first time in the event's history, players will wear a number of their choice on the back.

For the defending champion Korea, Ko Jin-young, third on the women's world rankings, will wear No. 7 after her birthday, July 7.

Kim Hyo-joo, the next highest-ranked Korean at No. 9, chose No. 10 for her uniform because of her favorite football player, Lionel Messi. Though the Argentine star currently wears No. 30 for Paris Saint-Germain, he had long been defined by No. 10, both in international play and in his days with FC Barcelona.

Chun In-gee, the only member of the Korean team with prior International Crown experience, picked No. 8. She has an August birthday, and has won eight major titles on the LPGA, Korean and Japanese tours combined.

Choi Hye-jin will make her International Crown debut wearing 한국을 No. 23, after the iconic number of her favorite athlete, Michael Jordan. Choi was born on Aug. 23.

The eight teams have been split into two groups. Korea is in Pool B with Japan, Thailand and Australia. Pool A teams are the United States, Sweden, England and China.

The first three days of the International Crown will feature four-ball competition, in which each player in a team plays her own ball and the better score of the two becomes that duo's score on the given hole.

In Thursday's four-ball action, Choi and Chun will be up against Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou of Australia. Kim and Ko will take on the other Australian duo of Hannah Green and Sarah Kemp.