World No. 3 Minjee Lee played like the star she is, and Hannah Green won the clinching point to power Australia to a 2 ½ to victory in the championship of the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown team event on Sunday.

Good on Australia.

Lee led by example and went 2-0 in singles matches on Sunday and won the first match in the finals against top-seeded United States at New Korea Country Club in Goyang, Korea. Lee was named the MVP.

This win for fourth-seed Australia will go down as one highlighted by comebacks. Lee and Grace Kim won majors this season, so there was no surprise they made pressure putts, and Green and Stephanie Kyriacou did the same.

Lee beat Angel Yin, 2 and 1, in a thrilling back-and-forth match. Lee made a short par putt on the 17th, when Yin made bogey, and that was the first crucial point.

“I'm really excited that we were able to win all together,” Lee said. “I think it's even sweeter because I could do it with all of these girls. We all played with a lot of grit and a lot of perseverance and resilience this week just to get into the final match. I think we all did really well.”

Green then finished her match against American Yealimi Noh—a late addition who replaced World No. 2 Nelly Korda—on the 17th hole by making a 10-foot putt and winning 2 and 1.

Kyriacou and Kim were tied with Lauren Coughlin and Lilia Vu when Australia clinched the victory.

“I think it takes a lot of grit to win. In a lot of our matches, we were behind the eight-ball,” Kyriacou said. “Going to the back nine, I don’t think we were up in a match. We managed to come back in every match. I think having grit this week got us over the line.”

The four Aussies played like good mates and celebrated with a group hug. They earned $ 500,000 ($ 125,000 per player) from the $ 2 million purse.

Australia beat the World Team in the semifinals, but that wasn’t easy either. Kim made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff. She and Kyriacou didn’t lead their semifinal match over Lydia Ko and Wei-Ling Hsu until the 20th hole (she won on the second playoff hole). Lee chipped in on the 17th hole to force the match to the 18th hole. Lee, who was 3 down at one point in the semifinals, finished 1 up over Brooke Henderson.

Charley Hull beat Green 2 and 1. That’s the resiliency Australia displayed.

The U.S. beat Japan in the semifinals and the World Team finished third by beating Japan.

Each teams had four players, and there were two singles matches and one fourball match. The World Team was a new part of the tournament this year, and it was comprised of the four best-ranked players that didn’t qualify as part of a country team. It was the first time World No. 4 Ko was able to play in the event, and she took advantage of the opportunity. So did Hull. In the third-place match, Hull beat Ayaka Furue 4 and 3 and Ko beat Rio Takeda 3 and 2.

Kyriacou, in playing with Lee a day earlier, made a critical putt, and every Australian came up big in different spots.

“I finished first and then saw Hannah’s [winning] hole and obviously we were done after that,” Lee said. “It was really lovely. I’m so happy I could do it with these girls. It was a lot of fun this whole week. Match play is something different and we don’t get to do it too often.”

Yoshimasa Nakano

Noh was impressive in the semifinals, birdieing 11 holes and beating major winner Miyu Yamashita 4 and 2 for the United States. But as she was trying to beat Green, her tee shot on the 17th went left in rugged terrain on a steep hillside. She made a nice out onto the green, but it wasn’t enough to give herself a makeable putt.

And Australia was tough to beat, with Green having the final say.

“I feel like I played probably my best golf today,” Green said. “I knew it was going to be a tough match against Yealimi. We both have pretty similar games. We were both neck and neck off the tee. When I would make a birdie putt, she would make one top of me, so it was going to be a tough match.

“When I got to 3 up, I knew I needed to keep my foot on the gas and not let her creep in. My putt on the last hole, I was very nervous. I knew exactly what it was for. I said to the girls, I was just happy I got on the board. I'm glad I could contribute in some way this week.”

Golf News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos