LPGA: Sorenstam's Team Wins World Cup

[email protected] · January 23, 2006

By Stacy Solomon via TheSandTrap.com

The Swedish team of Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann easily take the World Cup from last year's defending Japanese team. Team USA was no threat.

It should not be surprising that the world's number one female golfer in the world grabbed the World Cup this weekend in Sun City, South Africa. Annika Sorenstam was the driving force behind the Swedish team today as her defining eagle on the 492-yard par-5 set the stage for a singles score of 70 which was the certain reason for her team's three stroke victory over Team Scotland.

Her partner, Liselotte Neumann scored a 77 and did not contribute today as much as in earlier competition. "It's nice to have the number one player in the world as your partner," said Neumann.

The Swedish duo will each receive a check for $110,000 and the glory of having the first unoffical victory of the 2006 season.

Yes this is an unofficial event but it is still a satisfying one and possibly the trend of things to come for Sorenstam. "This is the first win of 2006. It's great to start the year this way. Hopefully it's a sign that this will be a good year,â€ she said.

There was no real strategy during the event. Both women played their own games and tried not to worry too much about their scores although Sorenstam is "one of those players that always looks at the leaderboard."

Annika made note that some of the pin placements were hard to reach and that the only way to score on this course was to keep the ball in play. "There are so many different type of pin placements you can have on these greens and I think that's a sign of a good design. You know we played for three days, three practice rounds and it just felt like every hole was really different. I must say I enjoyed coming here. I thought it was a true test."

Annika is a closer so it was no surprise that she turned the pressure on today. The Swede birdied the 2nd and 9th holes and eagled the 14th, three par-5's which was crucial for the team's victory because teammate Neumann bogeyed the 11, 12 and 13th.

Liselotte may have had trouble in the Sunday singles event but she helped carry the team earlier in the competition. Her putting was remarkable during the first two days but went cold today. "It was definitely my short game which let me down today. You know that made me shoot 5-over."

The Swedes were in the lead or shared it since Friday's better ball competition where they posted a 7-under-par-65. They pulled clear of the pack and took the outright lead on Saturday during alternate shot format. A 3-under 69 gave both Sorenstam and Neumann a comfortable three-stroke gain heading into Sunday singles.

The Scots placed second at the World Cup. The team of Janice Moodie and Catriona Matthew scored a combined 4-under-par 284 to contend with the Swedes. Their 3-under combined Sunday finish was the only score to dip into red figures. Each lady received $80,000 for their effort.

Janice Moodie who scored even par today was satisfied with her round. "I'm happy with the way I played. I didn't hit too many greens, but I just got up and down. I hit some good shots, but they just ended up on the fringes."

Although Korea and Scotland had their moments, neither team was any real challenge to the Swedish pairing this weekend. A double-bogey on the 14th for Meena Lee took the Koreans out of contention. The Scots simply faded out by dropping three strokes in a four hole stretch to give Sorenstam and Neumann a comfortable lead.

The combination of Becky Morgan and Becky Brewerton led Team Wales to a brilliant third place finish. Although Brewerton missed some essential putts early on in her singles match a putt on the 18th secured their leaderboard position. "I guess everybody was playing for second behind Sweden who had it wrapped up."

The American team of Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis ended day-one of the World Cup only three strokes behind the Swedish and Korean teams. Gulbis made the only eagle of the day at the par-5 ninth hole with a tremendous 45-foot putt.

Team USA struggled during alternate shot format on Saturday as they dropped dejectedly into seventh position. Although tied with the Scots on Saturday the Scots survived the weekend but the team of Creamer and Gulbis faltered. Although they finished in fourth place, it was a struggle. Each lady wound up with a score of 73 and $41,250.

Paula Creamer, aka "the Pink Panther" shared her thoughts after the final round. "I started off pretty good and Natalie didn't start off quite as well as I did, but when I started playing poor she started making birdies. And then you know, we kind of hung in there on the back nine. She started making some putts. She made a long one on that par 3 and then a chip in on the par 5. We had it in our clubs this week. I think that we would have played a couple of holes a lot differently looking back on it. Seventeen killed us and nine killed us. Those are the two easiest holes on the golf course."

Her golfing buddy, Natalie replied, "This is a great warm up. I am just so excited Paula invited me here to be her teammate."

Both ladies will be playing in Hawaii at the season opener in a few weeks and are looking forward to practicing and dusting off their clubs after a few weeks of winter recess.

"I took two weeks off. It was very difficult, but I did it. The five few days of it I was struggling without my golf clubs. It definitely motivated me when I got back out there and I practiced hard and get stronger. It was a good off-season and I'm glad I have this event before Hawaii. Then I will have about three weeks before Hawaii and get back to practicing and find out what I need to do to get better after this week." The world will be watching Paula. I hope that you do even better than you did last year and give Sorenstam a run for her money!

Ai Miyazato didn't get the results she anticipated during her first tournament of 2006. With a final round score of 76, the Japanese team speckled both rounds one and two with double bogeys and uneventful golf. Miyazato is going to have to do better than this to be able to compete against the top of the money list.

Michelle Wie did not compete at the World Cup this weekend. She was busy passing her driver's test. Hooray!

1. Annika Sorenstam Sweden 65-69-147=281 (-7) 70 $110,000
Liselotte Neumann Sweden 77 $110,000
2. Catriona Matthew Scotland 70-73-141=284 (-4) 69 $80,300
Janice Moodie Scotland (E) 73 $80,300
3. Becky Brewerton Wales 70-70-148=288 (E) 73 $55,000
Becky Morgan Wales 75 $55,000
4. Paula Creamer U.S.A 68-75-146=289 (+1) 73 $41,250
Natalie Gulbis U.S.A. 73 $41,250
5. Meena Lee Korea 65-72-153=290 (+2) 77 $33,000
Bo Bae Song Korea 76 $33,000
6. Marisa Baena Colombia 69-69-153=291 (+3) 73 $27,500
Cristina Baena Colombia 80 $27,500

Photo Credit: © LPGA.com.

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