Sybase Match Play Championship Friday: Blumenherst, Yang Blow Out Hall of Famers Webb and Inkster

Well, Hound Dog and I continue to go out on our respective limbs when it comes to picking winners of round 2 matches in the Sybase Match Play Championship. Let's see how we did in the early going, shall we?

Wright Bracket
Ai Miyazato (2) v. M.J. Hur (31): A. MIYAZATO HUR 1-up
Catriona Matthew (15) v. Kristy McPherson (18): MCPHERSON MATTHEW 2-up
Karrie Webb (7) v. Amanda Blumenherst (55): WEBB BLUMENHERST 7&6
Angela Stanford (10) v. Pat Hurst (41): STANFORD 4&2

Sorenstam Bracket
Juli Inkster (35) v. Amy Yang (30): YANG 7&6
Morgan Pressel (14) v. Sophie Gustafson (19): PRESSEL 19 holes
Shi Hyun Ahn (48) v. Jee Young Lee (27): J.Y. LEE 2&1
Haeji Kang (61) v. Sandra Gal (46): I.K. KIM H. KANG 3&1

Pretty terrible, eh? I've now lost both my finalists, thanks to Ai-sama losing her last 3 holes in a row to Hur!

[Update 1 (3:44 pm): Here are the other brackets, mostly still in progress:

Whitworth Bracket
Ji-Yai Shin (1) v. Hee-Won Han (32): SHIN 3-up with 5 to play
Beatriz Recari (62) v. Azahara Munoz (54): PAK Recari 2-up with 4 to play
Michelle Wie (8) v. Hee Young Park (25): WIE 5-up with 7 to play
Karine Icher (57) v. Eun-Hee Ji (24): N.Y. CHOI Icher 3-up with 6 to play

Berg Bracket
Ya Ni Tseng (4) v. Candie Kung (29): TSENG 2&1
Inbee Park (13) v. Maria Hjorth (20): I. PARK 2&1
Cristie Kerr (5) v. Sun Young Yoo (28): KERR 3-down with 3 to play
Song-Hee Kim (12) v. Momoko Ueda (21): S.H. KIM 2-up with 2 to play

Looks like I'm losing a lot of my Sweet 16 today!]

[Update 2 (4:19 pm): Shin is 2-up with 2 to play and Icher is 2-up with 3 to play. Wie won 5&4, Yoo 4&2, Recari 2&1, and S.H. Kim 3&1.]

[Update 3 (4:28 pm): Shin won 3&1 and Icher is only 1-up with 2 to play!]

[Update 4 (4:40 pm): Man, Ai-sama shot a 67 today and still lost! Pressel lost 5 holes in a row to Gustafson on the front, but came roaring back on the back for the tie in regulation and the win in overtime. Ji had won 3 of 5 holes late in her match to put some pressure on Icher, but when she lost the 17th, it was all over--Icher 2&1.

So here are the Round 3 matches tomorrow:

Whitworth Bracket
Ji-Yai Shin (1) v. Beatriz Recari (62): SHIN
Michelle Wie (8) v. Karine Icher (57): N.Y. CHOI

Berg Bracket
Ya Ni Tseng (4) v. Inbee Park (13): I. PARK
Sun Young Yoo (28) v. Song-Hee Kim (12): S.H. KIM

Wright Bracket
M.J. Hur (31) v. Catriona Matthew (15): A. MIYAZATO
Amanda Blumenherst (55) v. Angela Stanford (10): STANFORD

Sorenstam Bracket
Amy Yang (30) v. Morgan Pressel (14): PRESSEL
Jee Young Lee (27) v. Haeji Kang (61): J.Y. LEE

Yeah, I "only" lost 2 of my Elite 8, but since I predicted they'd be precisely the ones to go to the finals, I'm basically dead in the water from here on out!]

[Update 5 (8:52 pm): Hope you've been following Stephanie Wei's often-live-blogging from the Sybase this week!]

[Update 6 (8:58 pm): Here's Hound Dog's run-down of the day's matches and picks for Round 3....]