It's playoff time in the International Crown! To see how we got to the point where Team USA and Team ROK are in a playoff for the 5th and last spot in Sunday's singles play, check out my play-by-play post. Either the #1 or #2 seed will be out of the race for the crown in a few minutes. Who will it be? Time to go back to not-quite-live-blogging!
[Update 1 (7:18 pm): Here's the deal with the playoff: they switch to hi-lo, where both balls count, and play until somebody wins.]
[Update 2 (7:21 pm): Correction, it's only hi-lo in the sense that if the low balls tie, the high ball loses the match.]
[Update 3 (7:22 pm): As expected, it's Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu vs. Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr. They'll start on the par-5 16th.]
[Update 4 (7:28 pm): Team USA has the honors. Kerr puts her drive in the right-center of the fairway. Lexi puts hers about 20 yards past Cristie. Ryu puts hers about 10 yards and a little right of Cristie's. Inbee hits it low and straight, but maybe 20 yards shy of So Yeon.]
[Update 5 (7:34 pm): Inbee lays up even with trap on the right side of the fairway. So Yeon goes for the green but flies it right into the neck's hill guarding the front of the green. Cristie tries to draw a 5-wood in and it kicks off the backstop at the back of the green hard left and roll back to the front-middle-left of the green. Lexi has a 5-iron and lands maybe an inch short of the top of the bank, almost hangs there, but rolls back down to where she was earlier in the day.]
[Update 6 (7:35 pm): Looks like Lexi will get to chip before So Yeon. Let's see what Inbee can do with her approach.]
[Update 7 (7:36 pm): From 70 yards, she spins one back to maybe 7 feet past the pin.]
[Update 8 (7:38 pm): Lexi decides to putt it and barely makes it past the top of the hill and maybe makes it to the edge of the fringe. Cristie's next.]
[Update 9 (7:40 pm): Let's see if Cristie can hit as nice a lag here and now as she did a little while ago. Almost as nice. Maybe 3 feet for birdie.]
[Update 10 (7:41 pm): So Yeon is looking to bump a wedge up the hill. Nice touch, maybe 3 feet by the hole on the high side.]
[Update 11 (7:43 pm): Lexi has a longer birdie try than Inbee. But it's uphill. After everyone who's allowed to looks at it, Lexi putts and has it a tiny bit left the whole way. If Inbee and So Yeon can both make their putts, they defeat Lexi and Cristie!]
[Update 12 (7:46 pm): They're taking a long time to look at Inbee's putt. She puts it in the left-center of the cup with perfect speed! Now Cristie has to match Inbee's birdie. Dead center for Cristie. Up to So Yeon to seal the deal now.]
[Update 13 (7:47 pm): And she makes it. Team ROK knocks out Team USA!]
[Update 14 (7:48 pm): Cristie is a great teammate. She's absolutely right that Lexi's par was not the problem. Day 1 was.]
[Update 15 (7:54 pm): The playoff was designed for a fast resolution, but I'm wondering about other formats. The teams tied, so why not send out all players on each team out in singles matches?]
[Update 16 (7/27/14, 5:34 pm): If you're not reading Staying in the Short Grass, you should. Here's an example of why!]
5 comments:
Thanks for the postings. I no TV and you had the best (only maybe) play by play of the sudden-death. Cheers, Mike, California
I've been in your shoes most of the time. I decided to splurge this summer, mostly because of this event! So I figured why not go all out this weekend?
Bruce, are you surprised that Stacy did not go out for the playoff? If Norway had a team Pettersen would go out. If New Zealand had one Ko would go out. Inbee went out.
How does the #1 player in the world sit?
Wondered that myself for a second. If she had been putting better I'd have been all for it, but, man, those greens had her confused and frustrated! Don't think she would have done any better than either player on the team with the mo....
The right team went out. Paula and Stacy were not playing well; just lost their match, emotionally down. In match play, rankings does not mean much; witness the results. If Lexi's approach had gone an inch further, she would have made eagle.
Did you catch the scene, after Paula and Stacy lost and before the playoff, where Paula was talking (crying?) to Stacy and tapping her heart a few times? Seemed pretty emotional. I do wish to find out what they were talking about!
BogeyDude
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