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U.S. Team Comes From
Behind
To Win 2007 Handa Cup
By Lisa D. Mickey
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.,
Dec. 16, 2007 – The U.S. Team trailed 14-10 going into today’s singles matches
of the second annual Handa Cup. And the World Team showed that it had no
intention of letting up when Jan Stephenson won the first singles match today
for the World Team.
But while the World Team gave
the Americans a run for their points in the 12 singles matches at the Slammer &
Squire Course at the World Golf Hall of Fame, the U.S. Team prevailed with a
26-22 victory to retain the 2007 Handa Cup.
“The World Team players
certainly got our attention,” said U.S. captain Kathy Whitworth. “I knew it was
going to be hard this year. Our players put themselves in a bad spot yesterday,
but they dug themselves out today.”
The World Team got a jump in
the points race by dominating Saturday morning’s alternate-shot matches 9-3, but
the U.S. Team rallied in Saturday afternoon’s best-ball event with a 7-5 showing
to trim the World Team’s lead to 14-10 heading into today’s singles.
When the singles started, the
World Team needed 11 points to win the Handa Cup, while the U.S. Team needed 14
points for a tie to retain the Cup. A total of 24 points were available in
Sunday’s 18-hole singles and the U.S. Team outscored the World Team 16-8 in
those matches to clinch the Cup.
“I got off to a great start
with an 18-foot birdie on the first hole today and I wanted to play well because
we really, really need to win this,” said Australia’s Jan Stephenson of the
World Team, who defeated Nancy Scranton 6 and 5 for the World Team’s first
Sunday points.
But the U.S. side answered
with wins in three straight matches. Playing in the first pairing, U.S. Team
rookie Sherri Turner edged South African Sally Little 2 and 1, followed by Beth
Daniel with a 2 and 1 win over Canadian Dawn Coe-Jones, and Patty Sheehan’s 4
and 2 victory over Alicia Dibos of Peru.
“I appreciate the vote of
confidence for the captains to put me out first,” said Turner, who was 2-down at
one point in her match against Little. “Sally played well and I knew I’d have to
play even better to beat her.”
Little carded three birdies
in the round, while Turner rolled in four birdies. The South Carolina native
held a 1-up lead going into the 17th, when Little hooked her tee shot
into the water and eventually conceded the match to Turner.
Sheehan’s two points for her
win tied the team matches at 16-16, but the former U.S. Solheim Cup team member
and U.S. Solheim Cup captain knew her side had some golf yet to play.
“We were down and we had a
lot of work to do, and just like in past Solheim Cups, we knew we could bring it
back in the singles,” Sheehan said.
The course received more than
an inch of rain overnight, making the turf soggy, while winds kicked up
throughout today’s matches, making club selection tricky. But players marched
on, eyes glued to every leader board as they attempted to add critical points
for their sides in a tight race.
World Team members Anne-Marie
Palli of France edged Christa Johnson 1-up, while World Team rookie Nancy Harvey
of Canada took Amy Alcott to one extra hole to win 1-up. Palli and Harvey each
contributed six of six possible points for their team.
“Amy and I were handing it
back and forth to each other all day and it could have gone either way, so I
feel fortunate to win,” said Harvey.
But the World Team would get
no other points until Angie Tsai of Taiwan closed out her 4 and 3 win over Texan
Sandra Haynie. Adding more points for the U.S. Team was: JoAnne Carner, who
edged Mieko Nomura of Japan 2 and 1; Cindy Rarick, who defeated Canada’s Barb B.
Sherbak 5 and 4; Pat Bradley, who beat Japan’s Nayoko Yoshikawa 5 and 4; Rosie
Jones, who edged Japan’s Michiko Okada 3 and 2; and Marilyn Lovander, who
defeated Brazil’s Maria Alice Gonzalez 7 and 5. Lovander, who contributed four
points for the U.S. Team, was the only U.S. Team member who earned one or more
points in all of her matches.
Carner’s win against Nomura
broke the tie and helped the Americans surge ahead.
“She’s a really good ball
striker and a dangerous putter,” said Carner. “We see-sawed back and forth with
the lead, screwed up and battled back. It was a lot of fun.”
And Bradley, who lost both of
her Saturday team-matches with Sheehan, came blazing back to form today with her
singles win over Yoshikawa. Even the Hall of Famer admitted that she was nervous
when she stepped on the first tee today.
“It was a nerve-racking,
nail-biting competition and my heart was pounding,” said Bradley, playing in her
second Handa Cup. “But we all knew that we had to buckle down and get the job
done. ”
The U.S. Handa Cup Team today
looked much like past U.S. teams in Solheim Cup singles matches. They stepped up
and performed, and sealed the win against a much-improved World Team.
“Last year, the margin of
victory was a bit more uncomfortable, so it elevates the event that the
competition was close this year,” said Jane Blalock, president of the Legends
Tour – the women’s professional tour for veteran players age 45 and over. “The
World Team has stepped up and now, I think the swords are out.”
“We gave the U.S. Team a
close fight,” agreed acting World Team captain Catherine Panton-Lewis of
Scotland, who played on the LPGA Tour from 1985-1988. “You’ve got to go for it
and I think we did.”
Of course, the task of
beating the U.S. Team is more difficult with its all-star cast of six World Golf
Hall of Famers, who own a total of 246 LPGA wins between them. Alcott, Bradley,
Carner, Daniel, Haynie and Sheehan, plus Hall of Fame captain Whitworth, with
her own record 88 tournament titles, is a formidable assignment anywhere. More
than half of the U.S. Team has played on U.S. Solheim Cup teams. Whitworth,
Carner, Bradley and Sheehan have served as U.S. Solheim Cup captains, with
Daniel slated to steer the U.S. Solheim Cup team in 2009.
Each of those players has
watched the Solheim Cup grow into one of the most premier events in all of
women’s golf. With the same kind of growth over time, they hope the Handa Cup
can mature into a viable international team match-play event for veteran LPGA
Tour members and players on the various world golf tours. Such players – and
former Solheim Cup members – as Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas, Meg Mallon and
Helen Alfredsson will soon be age-eligible for the Legends Tour and the Handa
Cup.
That’s a fun thought, says
Sheehan.
“There are younger players
coming up all the time and the Handa Cup will only continue to grow and get more
competitive,” Sheehan said. “And, you know, what goes around is coming back
around. You’ll be seeing a lot of those players again soon out here.”
Results from Sunday’s
singles matches (players earned two points for a win and one point each for a
halve):
Sherri Turner (U.S. Team)
def. Sally Little (World Team) 2 and 1
Beth Daniel (U.S.) def. Dawn
Coe-Jones (World) 2 and 1
Patty Sheehan (U.S.) def.
Alicia Dibos (World) 4 and 2
Nancy Harvey (World) vs. Amy
Alcott (U.S.) 1-up, 19 holes
Jan Stephenson (World) vs.
Nancy Scranton (U.S.) 6 and 5
Anne-Marie Palli (World) vs.
Christa Johnson (U.S.) 1-up
JoAnne Carner (U.S.) def.
Mieko Nomura (World) 2 and 1
Cindy Rarick (U.S.) def. Barb
Scherbak (World) 5 and 4
Pat Bradley (U.S.) def.
Nayoko Yoshikawa (World) 5 and 4
Rosie Jones (U.S.) def.
Michiko Okada (World) 3 and 2
Angie Tsai (World) vs. Sandra
Haynie (U.S.) 4 and 3
Marilyn Lovander (U.S.) def.
Maria Alice Gonzalez (World) 7 and 5 |
