Lexus Cup Day One - Hard fought foursomes end in 3-3 draw

Experience and quality won the day after the first round of the Lexus Cup. Grace Park (Kor) and her team of Asia’s best fought tooth and nail to secure a 3-3 draw in the foursome matches - something that they could not do previously. In a see-saw manner that had both teams exchange leads throughout the round, surprise upsets from both sides have proven that this year’s competition will be more than just a walk in the park for the previously dominating Team International.

For one, Solheim Cup veteran Laura Davies (UK) and HSBC World Matchplay Champion Brittany Lincicome (USA) hardly bared their teeth against a relatively inexperienced team of Young Kim and 2006 Rookie of the Year Seon-Hwa Lee (Kor). Leading with a birdie on the first, the British-American combination floundered from the fourth hole on, making “bogey-bogey-double bogey-double bogey” to go 3-down. From there, the Koreans never looked back, playing consistent golf to draw first blood at 6&5.

Another exciting match was to come in the second group with the Solheim Cup-winning pair of Natalie Gulbis (USA) and Paula Creamer (USA) shooting 3-under after nine holes and leading Jee Young Lee (Kor) and Meena Lee (Kor) by as much as 4-up. But things were to take a different shape on the inward nine when the Korean pair got their game together and the Americans struggled.

“They started really well and we struggled but then they started missing fairways and putts and we pulled up the pace,” recalls J Y Lee.

“Meena was feeling good about her putter and we won a string of three or four straights holes. That helped us continue to gain confidence while Paula and Natalie got frustrated (with their game),” continues the 20th-ranked player in the world.

“I think the game turned around when it came to Jee Young and Paula teeing up and Jee Young had about a 50-yard advantage,” proffers playing partner Meena Lee.

But many things could have gone quite wrong for Team Asia, who at one stage was down five matches and running out of holes to play. Captains Grace Park and Annika Sorenstam (Swe) had a mix of fortunes with their round with the Asian pair of Park and Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor) starting well and leading early before going down by one after the first nine and then grinding to a halve right up to the finish.

The leader of the international pack took some time to get her groove with fellow Swede Carin Koch, trailing by as much as two to Joo Mi Kim (Kor) and Sakura Yokomine (Jpn). But eventually, experience prevailed over youth as the Swedes romped to a 3&2 victory, displaying bogey-free golf from the fourth hole on against an erratic finish by the younger girls.

When it came down to it, the foursomes matchday felt more like a final with both teams tied at two-and-halve and Team International’s final pair of Nikki Campbell (Aus) and Sherri Steinhauer (USA) leading by one over Jennifer Rosales (Phi) and Candie Kung (Tpe) coming up the 18th. Two shots from the tee and both were left with a pitch to close the deal. Campbell made a tough pitch over a bunker to leave her playing partner with an 8-foot putt to seal the deal but Kung replied with a near-perfect chip that hit the pin and stopped barely a foot from the hole for a gimme. Steinhauer, with the pressure of saving a point, missed her putt to return a halve to Team Asia.

“It seems like the Asians are played well today and there were some tough matches out there that went all the way to the 18th. The next two days, I hope to see some different scores,” says international captain Sorenstam.

“All in all, I’m very happy with the result. The difference between this year and last was that we had quality players and we played better on the back side,” reveals the Asian captain.

After a day of thrills and spills, a draw can only mean a weekend that will see players from both sides hungry and motivated to play well.

December 15, 2006