2007 Lexus Cup

The first match of the day was perhaps the most compelling, featuring three top ten golfers and a fourth breakout American star. It pitted Jee Young Lee and Seon Hwa Lee, two great young Korean stars who always played this event well, against Natalie Gulbis and Suzann Pettersen. Seon Hwa had never lost a match at the Lexus Cup, and she was also undefeated in match play in the past year, winning all three matches at the 2006 Lexus and all six of the matches she played at the HSBC Women's World Match Play in July. Jee Young had already had a nasty encounter with Pettersen at the Michelob Ultra, when the Norwegian beat the Korean in a three hole playoff to capture her first career LPGA win. The Internationals got out to a strong start on the front nine, grabbing a two up lead at one point, but on the back, the Koreans dominated, winning 4 of 5 holes at one point. The Korean squad had a lot of mojo on their side; at one point, Jee Young Lee even dunked an approach shot for eagle (they are seen celebrating this shot at right). But even when they weren't doing that, the combination of Jee Young's length and Seon Hwa's short game prowess worked magic. They would go on to win 3 & 2.

A similar result happened in the fifth match, which pitted Ji Yai Shin and Amy Hung against Maria Hjorth and Brittany Lincicome, the two longest drivers on the International squad. Perhaps it was not a good idea to put these two bombers together, though. The match was close on the front nine, with Asia taking a one up lead at the turn. But on the back, it was all Asia. They won three more holes and closed out the win 4 & 2 on the 16th hole.

The second through fourth matches were key ones for the Asians. In the second match, the other two Lees, Sarah and Meena, took on Cristie Kerr and Nicole Castrale. Although Sarah has had a good year, she had been slumping the past few months, and Meena Lee had had a pretty weak year by her standards. Meanwhile, Kerr, who has not played in general all that well in 2007, did have that one magical week at the Open, and Castrale had been pretty solid all year when not injured. It was a match that seemed to favor the American twosome, but it was a back and forth affair all day. Neither team was able to get more than a 1 up lead the entire match. The Americans had a one up lead with two to play, in fact, but the Lees rallied, won the final two holes, and captured the 1 up win to keep the Asian win streak going.

The third match featured three ethnic Koreans and an Aussie. It pitted Jeong Jang and Shi Hyun Ahn against Angela Park and Nikki Campbell. Jang did not have a very good Lexus Cup, and Ahn had never been that good in these team events, but Campbell was perhaps the weakest of the International players. Angela Park, meanwhile, was having a great season, and had a great week in Perth. But on this day, the back and forth match ended with Ahn and Jang capturing the final two holes they played for a 2 & 1 triumph.

Another match that could have gone either way was the fourth, which pitted Asia's captain, Se Ri Pak (pictured with some friends above), and the youngest gun on the Asian team, 19 year old In-Kyung Kim, against Nabisco winner Morgan Pressel and 2007 Fields Open winner Stacy Prammanasudh. Some interesting history in this match up as well. Se Ri had lost the Nabisco after leading in the final round, only to see Pressel waltz in to claim the crown. A few months later, they went head to head at the Jamie Farr, with Se Ri claiming the title in a great comeback after Pressel made a hole in one on the 6th hole in the final round to take a temporary three shot lead. Se Ri was struggling with a shoulder injury that definitely affected her game, but she and Inky made for a great team. This was another case of pairing a great short game golfer with a long bomber, not to mention an enthusiastic rookie with a proven veteran. The two Koreans held a slim advantage much of the day, finally putting the two Americans away on the 17th hole to win 2 & 1.

That left just one match: Sorenstam and Matthew, both Solheim Cup vets, against Candie Kung and Ayako Uehara. This looked like the surest win for the Internationals in the batch. But the Asian squad surprised by winning the first two holes, and constantly kept the Internationals at bay after that. Annika and Matthew birdied the 6th to square the match, but shortly thereafter, the Asians won two holes to move again to a 2 up advantage. They would close out the match by winning the final two holes to complete the sweep with a surprising 3 & 2 win.

And so, after the first day, Asia had a commanding 6-0 lead, and only needed 6 1/2 points over the next two days to clinch the cup. For the four ball competition on day two, both teams decided to play the same six teams they had presented the first day. One can see why Pak kept those six teams together, but it's a little less clear why Sorenstam did. Annika had one more thing to worry about: Pettersen, arguably her top player, was ailing, and it was unclear whether she would make it through the week. In fact, she was forced to drop out of her second pairing with Natalie Gulbis after 10 holes, leaving the American to face the formidable Jee Young/Seon Hwa Lee team (pictured) all by herself for the remaining holes. Interestingly, this seemed to energize her. In the first 10 holes, the Lees dominated, taking a 3 up lead. But when Gulbis was all by herself, she made a comeback, cutting the lead to 1 up after a short time. In the end, though, the Lees were too much. They both birdied the 18th hole to capture the one up win. Seon Hwa collected her fifth Lexus win in five tries, while Jee Young also remained undefeated for 2007.

The Asian squad would not sweep the action on day two, nor did they expect they would. But they tried their best to rally the troops. To keep the momentum on their side, In-Kyung Kim suggested they paint their faces with positive slogans. For the next two days, the Asian team increasingly bonded as a team, cheering wildly for each other, painting the slogans on their faces and arms, and generally keeping good mojo going. But still, there were a few down turns in their fortunes on this day. In the first match, JJ and Ahn were not able to beat Angela Park and Nikki Campbell again. This time, both Internationals were on fire, with Park making three birdies and Campbell two on the front nine alone. JJ and Ahn struggled, and were down 4 by the turn. They would go on to lose 3 & 2, as the International squad finally claimed their first points of the week.

Sarah Lee and Meena Lee also struggled in their match against Kerr and Castrale. The pivotal moment in that match up came in the middle of the round, when the Americans won six straight holes starting at the 5th. The Lees only won one hole after that, and the International team prevailed 3 & 2.

The fourth match between Kung and Uehara vs. Pressel and Prammanasudh now became important. The Internationals had won two of the first three matches, and if they could win another, the momentum might swing enough that they could seriously close the gap on their opponents. This one was close all day, but in the end, neither team could put the other away, and the match was halved. It was the first tie of the week.

The final two matches were also nailbiters. In the 5th match, Hung and Shin took on Lincicome and Hjorth. After squaring the first four holes, Shin won the fifth to give her team an advantage. Hung helped with a birdie on 8 to give the Asians a 2 up lead. They were able to hold off the two Swedish bombers the rest of the round, claiming a 2 & 1 win on the 17th hole. That left just the final match, and it was a humdinger: Se Ri and In-Kyung vs. Annika and Catriona. It might have meant more four years ago, but to have the former #1 and #2 golfers in the world go head to head in a match play setting like this is the very reason the Solheim Cup should have been including the Asian golfers all these years. This one lived up to its billing, with both team playing well. Sorenstam knew how important this point could be for her team. She birdied to claim the first hole, with Pak squaring the match on 5. Sorenstam won the next hole for her team, but Inky responded on the next to square things again. The match continued to be back and forth, with all four players contributing wins for their teams. On the 15th, Se Ri made another birdie to give them a 2 up lead, but Sorenstam birdied the next to cut that lead to 1. But the Korean twosome hung on to square the final two holes and capture the crucial one up win. It was the first time in Annika's Lexus history that she had lost both of her first two matches. Asia, meanwhile, captured the day 3.5 to 2.5 points to take a 9.5-2.5 lead. All they needed now was to win a few more matches in the singles and the Cup would be theirs. But it is not unheard of for a team to go on a rampage in the singles and come from behind. So the Asians had to come out as determined as ever on Sunday.