By Bryan Kay
Staff Reporter
Korean golfers Kim Song-hee and Park In-bee carded a opening day victory for Asia against Helen Alfredsson and Christina Kim, representing an international team, in the Lexus Cup in Singapore Friday.
They had the foursome tie sewn up after 16 holes after going three shots up with just two holes to play, with the match finishing 3&2.
Kim Sa-rah and Choi Na-yeon, also of Korea, lost to Cristie Kerr and Karen Stupples (2&1) in the second pairs match, but Yani Tseng of Taiwan and Korea's Lee Seon-hwa won their game 2&1 against Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis.
The other three matches were still ongoing when the Korea Times went to press. Koreans Pak Se-ri and Ji Eun-hee, playing Paula Creamer and Nicole Castrale, were losing by 2 with two holes remaining; Jang Jeong of Korea and Taiwan's Candie Kung were 2-up against Angela Stanford and Annika Sorenstam on the 15th; and Japanese duo Namika Omata and Mayumi Shinomura were down 2 against Katherine Hull and Nikki Campbell on hole 14.
The Lexus Cup, an unofficial event, pitches the best of Asia against a team of international stars from across the rest of the world. Last year, Asia won the cup 15-9 in Perth, Australia.
The three-day event features 12 players on each side battling in foursomes, fourball and singles action for a total purse of US$1 million. Teams were selected via the top four available players from the Rolex Rankings, followed by the top four available players from the LPGA Official Money List for both teams.
The event was Sorenstam's last before her retrial from the women's tour.