2007 Lexus Cup

The Internationals suffered another setback when Pettersen revealed Saturday night that she would not be able to return to action for the singles. If Se Ri had wanted to, she could have claimed that point right there. Instead, she agreed to sit herself out of the action and halve the match with Pettersen, quite a nice gesture that Annika acknowledged. Se Ri was not 100% either, of course, as she was struggling with a shoulder problem. But she still could have sat a weaker player and played herself, or else claimed a full point for herself, and did neither, in the spirit of fair play.

In singles, Sorenstam put a bunch of her top guns at the start, hoping to ignite a comeback. She herself played the first match against Candie Kung, the Taiwanese star who had been an unsung hero in this event for several years. But Kung was no match for Annika, who finally claimed her first point in the 2007 matches with a 4 & 3 win. The next match featured Jee Young Lee against Nicole Castrale. This was an important one for the Asians to get. Castrale is good, but Jee Young is one of the Asian team's best. It was not an easy match, though, and at one point late, Castrale even had a one up lead after winning three straight holes. But Lee dug deep and righted the ship, whipping off wins on three of the next four holes to capture the win 2 & 1. Asian moved to 10.5 points, needing just 2 more for the cup.

In the third match, Amy Hung came up against Angela Park. Park may have lost her first match of the Lexus, but she had been a tough golfer ever since. She teamed with Campbell to win the second, and now looked to take the third against Hung. But Hung, um, hung tough, winning 3 of the first five holes to take a 3 up lead. Park kicked things into gear on the 12th, winning five of the last six holes to stomp Hung 3 & 1 and keep the Internationals in the hunt. The score: 12.5 to 4.5.

Matches four and five proved to be the pivotal ones for the Asians. Match four had In-Kyung Kim (pictured) facing Stacy Prammanasudh. Inky is a great young talent, but on paper this was going to be a tough one to take. But on the front nine, she quickly took charge, going 4 up by the turn. Prammanasudh fought back brilliantly, winning three of the next four holes to cut the lead to one. Inky then caught a break when Prammanasudh struggled on the 14th hole, carding a 7 to give Inky a 2 up lead. From there, Kim kept squaring holes until she won the match 2 & 1. She may not have been one of the more high profile golfers coming in, but In-Kyung Kim's talent caused her to go undefeated, and her team spirit, rallying her teammates with the face painting idea, helped everyone to keep focused and kick butt. She was one of the most valuable players for Asia this week. And now, her win put Asia just a point away from claiming the Cup.

The fifth match featured Cristie Kerr against Seon Hwa Lee. Lee had been the player who had clinched the Cup for Asia in 2006, and now she was in a position to do it again. To some fans, this might have seemed like a clear advantage for Kerr, the 10 time LPGA winner and US Open champion, but Lee was a monster in match play, and had actually finished ahead of Kerr on the money list in 2007. In fact, one could make a case that, in this format, Seon Hwa Lee is the best player Asia has. She certainly didn't let Kerr have much of a chance: she claimed the lead early with three wins in the first four holes, and held onto it the rest of the day, eventually winning her match 3 & 2. With her win, the Asians again clinched the Cup, the second time in three years. What a major bounce back from the slaughter they had suffered the first year!

Although the remaining matches didn't much matter, the teams played on for the fans and for pride. At this point, the Internationals actually made quite a run. Sarah Lee beat Campbell, but Maria Hjorth topped Ahn, Matthew squared her match with Uehara, Pressel edged Jang, and Lincicome topped Meena Lee. In the final match, Ji Yai Shin squared her match with Natalie Gulbis, making the final margin 15-9 in favor of the Asians. A decisive victory any way you looked at it. After the win was official, the Asian team celebrated by giving each other champagne baths and tossing Captain Se Ri Pak in the air several times. Hip hip hooray!!

In assessing the event, who deserves the title of MVP? Certainly rookie In-Kyung Kim was brilliant, going 3-0 and helping to shut down the International rally with her win against Prammanasudh. Jee Young Lee and Seon Hwa Lee were also undefeated, and both Ji Yai Shin and Se Ri Pak won twice and tied once. Even the players who didn't win all their matches had their moments: for instance, Kung and Uehara's win over Sorenstam and Matthew to preserve the sweep on day one was essential in demoralizing the International squad, and Sarah and Meena Lee contributed that close win over Castrale and Kerr in round one. I'd probably lean towards giving the MVP to In-Kyung, because she was one of the bigger question marks coming into the event, and she faced every challenge perfectly in going undefeated. For the Internationals, the best record was turned in by a Seoul Sister, Angela Park, who went 2-1 in her three matches. Her rookie debut at this event was not quite as good as In-Kyung's, but it was still quite a good one.

Best of all, the Koreans got a chance to experience one more win in 2007 before the year ended. They had been shut out of the winner's circle ever since July on the LPGA, and couldn't even claim the Kyoraku Cup against an overmatched Japanese squad. But the nine Koreans on the Asian team were fantastic in helping to claim this title. Taking nothing away from the three other Asian players, who were also essential parts of the recipe, the Sisters should be proud that Kimchi power helped Asia so much to claim the Cup!