South Koreans Lee Jee-young, Lee Seon-hwa and Kim In-kyung won early matches yesterday to give Asia an insurmountable lead en route to their second straight Lexus Cup title, a 15-9 victory over Team International.
"Everybody knows now that the strength of women's golf in Asia is growing," Asia captain Pak Se-ri said. "There is a lot of pressure. I was very proud of them. Very proud of them ... I think we all bonded as a team. It doesn't matter that we come from different places ... Overall, this is a great team, great teamwork."
"I didn't really need to say anything to my team," Pak said. "When I got to the first tee, I saw that our players thought there would be tight matches. However, they all did a really, really good job."
PHOTO: AP
Taiwan's Amy Hung noted that the Asian team seemed to have better spirit than their opponents.
"All of the players arrive here much earlier [than the Internationals] each day," she said. "We really worked on the strategy."
"I think that's the Asian personality, we always fight, and we were much more like a group," Hung said.
Sorenstam opened the singles with a 4-and-3 victory over Taiwan's Candie Kung 4 and 3, but Lee Jee-young countered with a 2-and-1 decision over Nicole Castrale in the second match. Team International's Angela Park then beat Hung 3 and 1, before Kim secured at least a tie with a 2-and-1 victory over Stacy Prammanasudh.
Lee Seon-hwa, the HSBC Women's World Match Play winner, clinched Asia's victory, beating US Women's Open champion Cristie Kerr 3 and 2.
"No, I don't own the Lexus Cup, but it is a good feeling," she said through a translator. "First and foremost, good teammates helped me score the points. Second, I'm lucky to be in the position, but I did work hard to be in this spot. Having some younger players around actually helped the players loosen up a bit, feel more comfortable, play their own game."
Sarah Lee also won for Asia, beating Australia's Nikki Campbell 3 and 1.
Ayako Uehara and Shin Ji-yai earned half-points for Asia. Catriona Matthew won the 18th with a par to halve with Uehara, and Shin took the 17th and 18th to finish all-square with Natalie Gulbis.
"I enjoyed it very much and it was great playing with so many big-name players," said Uehara, the lone Japanese player in Asia's lineup. "I was very nervous at the start, but I had fun."
Maria Hjorth, Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lincicome won matches for the International side. Hjorth beat Ahn Shi-hyun 3 and 2, Pressel defeated Jang Jeong 2 and 1, and Lincicome won the 18th with a par to edge Meena Lee 1-up.
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