Singapore: The United States claimed victory in the women’s World Amateur Team Championship in the most dramatic of fashions, edging Spain and Korea on a tie-break.

All three countries finished the 31st edition of the Espirito Santo Trophy with 72-hole aggregates of 18-under-par 558 at Tanah Merah Country Club in the event in which the best two daily scores in each team of three are counted.

Rather than a play-off, tournament terms and conditions determined that the deadlock be broken by assessing the final-round score of the ‘non-counting’ player in each team. For the US and Spain that was 71, while Korea’s 74 meant the Asian nation’s bid for a successful title defence was denied.

The tie-break then went back to the third round with Megha Ganne’s 72 bettering Andrea Revuelta’s 73, delivering victory to the US by the finest of margins.

While the gold medal-winning Americans raised aloft the glittering trophy, the players and captains from Spain and Korea squeezed into the second-place space on the podium after the International Golf Federation, the tournament organisers, declared them joint silver medallists.

Non-playing US Captain Kendra Graham caught the mood perfectly during the prize presentation ceremony when she said: “Wow! What a fantastic week. I’m not sure there’s ever been a tie-breaker go this distance.”

The tears – and screams – of joy of Ganne, Catherine Park and Farah O’Keefe were in stark contrast to the tears of disappointment shed by the Korean trio of Oh Soo-min, Sung Ai-jin and Park Seo-jin and the Spanish team of Paula Martin Sampredro, Carolina López-Chacarra and Revuelta.

Despite their nerve-shredding loss, the Korean team were praised by Won Ko-sang, Director of International Affairs and High Performance, Korea Golf Association (KGA).

He said: “Golf can be very harsh – and that’s a tough way to be beaten. But I’m so proud of our girls and what they’ve achieved this week. They will learn a lot from this experience.”

There was kudos, too, for China’s Xu Ying, who posted a closing five-under-par 67. That gave her a four-round total of 13-under 275, securing her the distinction of finishing as the low individual – four shots clear of Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, Oh and Martin Sampredro.

“Xu has exceeded our expectations. It was a good performance from all of our players,” said He Zhenhua, China’s captain, referring to the tied fourth finish of Xu, Zhou Shiyuan and Ren Yijia, the country’s best ever showing in the championships. Between them, Xu, Zhou and Ren have already won seven titles on the CLPG Tour. More good times lie ahead for the talented teenagers.

China and England ended just two shots shy of the leading three teams, while the Philippines, inspired by Malixi and Grace Quintanilla, who closed with a 66, climbed into joint seventh spot.

*Tanah Merah Country Club is a Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.