A sparkling late English surge has put Australia unexpectedly on the back foot after day one of the UL International Crown in Korea today.
Charley Hull and Georgia Hall made a furious late rally, including a chip-in eagle and a closing birdie, to halve their match against Aussie combination Minjee Lee and Sarah Jane Smith.
It capped a flat afternoon for the Aussies, with the team of Katherine Kirk and Su Oh also beaten, leaving Australia off the pace in Pool A.
Hot favourite Korea took a while to get going but eventually wore down Chinese Taipei in both their clashes to leap to the pool lead.
Lee and Smith had looked winners for most of their match, and were left pondering what could have been after their halved match.
Hull and Womens’ British Open champ Hall took the early lead with a birdie on the first, but Smith’s precision iron play converted birdies on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th and a promising 3-up lead through 13.
But when Hall chipped in for eagle on the par-4 14th, it proved the turning point for the English duo who roared back into the contest with some impressive golf.
World No.33 Hull also turned up the heat and left the Australians with no answer as her pressure putting on 16 and 17 extended the match to the final hole, where the powerhouse pairing won the final hole to square the match.
“I think we played really well. Definitely feels like a loss,” Smith said afterwards.
“We both felt like we were in pretty good control of the match, so to come away with a square doesn't feel like a win.”
In the second match, English duo Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff secured full points with a 4&3 victory over Kirk and Oh set up by an early charge.
Oh, 22, managed to claw Australia back into the contest on the 8th hole with a birdie, but Law proved too strong cementing the win on the 15th hole with a par.
Korea leads Pool A with four points, with England on three, Australia on one and Chinese Taipei on one.
In Pool B, Thailand holds top spot with three points after a win and half against Japan (1 point), while the United States and Sweden had a win each in their contest to sit joint second on two points.
The biennial teams matches continue tomorrow with the final on Sunday.