Apologies for the lack of a Lexus Cup preview post.  Please allow The Constructivist's preview at Mostly Harmless and his analysis of the first-day matchups to sub for my indiscretion.  While I agree with TC's assessment that Team International may have the edge on paper, I'm not sure any team with Yani Tseng, Seon Hwa Lee, Jeong Jang and Na Yeon Choi (four of my Top 12 players of 2008) can really be considered underdogs.  It should be a close one.

The two teams split the six Friday foursome matches (two players alternating shots on one ball) with three wins apiece.  All six matches were competitive, none being settled before Hole 16.  The two "easiest" wins were both 3&2 - one of these, somewhat surprisingly, was Annika Sorenstam and Angela Stanford winding up on the short end against Jeong Jang and Candie Kung.  Five birdies on the front nine put Jang/Kung 4-up and they held on from there.  The other 3&2 was also in favor of the Asian team, as Inbee Park and Song-Hee Kim took down Helen Alfredsson and Christina Kim.  Park/Kim went dormie with birdies at 14 and 15 and a halve at 16 ended the match.  Team Asia's third win came 2&1 thanks to Yani Tseng and Seon Hwa Lee, although they probably could thank Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis more - the International pair didn't post a single birdie on the day.

Paula Creamer and Nicole Castrale won the only match which played 18.  After a bogey at 17 extended the match, Creamer/Castrale birdied 18 for a halve to beat Se Ri Pak and Eun-Hee Ji 1-up.  Cristie Kerr and Karen Stupples parlayed two birdies into a 3-up lead through 13 and held on to best Na Yeon Choi and Sarah Lee 2&1.  "Team Australia" (Katherine Hull and Nikki Campbell) birdied 17 to win 3&1 over "Team Japan" (Namika Omata and Mayumi Shimomura).

Saturday's fourball pairings feature Sorenstam/Pettersen vs. Ji/Park, Creamer/Castrale vs. Jang/Choi and Kerr/Alfredsson vs. SH Lee/Pak.  Interesting that Captain Pak shuffled all of her pairings, even the winning ones.  Captain Sorenstam left two of her winning teams intact - Creamer/Castrale and "Team Australia".  Singapore is 13 hours ahead of EST so the first match tees off at 8:45 Eastern tonight.