Singapore, 18 November 2008 – On the final practice day before the Lexus Cup 2008 tees-off, both teams made an appearance on the practice green this afternoon to signify the return of the Lexus Cup to Singapore with Captains Annika and Se Ri placing their handprints into a clay mould which will be presented to Singapore Island Country Club as a memento of the event.

Following the photo call, both teams held press conferences where they gave their thoughts on the weekend ahead before making the all-important draw for day one’s Foursomes matches.

“We’re very determined to bring the cup back.  I have a great team next to me.  We had a little gathering and hopefully I got the message out to them.  I’m very, very proud of this team.  We’re going to have a lot of fun and see what happens,” said Team International Captain Annika Sorenstam.

Her opposing captain, Se Ri Pak has similar thoughts on the event, “There’s a lot of pressure to defend, but at the same time it’s a very fun event.  I don’t want to give the team much pressure.  I’m pretty sure they’re going out to have fun.”

Play starts at 10.55am tomorrow morning at the Bukit Location of the Singapore Island Country Club and first onto the course will be Team International rookies Helen Alfredsson from Sweden and American live-wire Christina Kim. They will face two of the six rookies on Team Asia this year, Song Hee Kim and Inbee Park of Korea.

Each of the six matches’ looks set to be a battle with the repeat pairing from 2007 of Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis going against Taiwanese sensation Yani Tseng and undefeated Lexus Cup player Seon Hwa Lee in an expected crowd puller tomorrow.

Suzann said, “I just told Natalie that it will be nice to finish with her this year.  Last year was pretty disappointing to have to pull out [last year due to injury on day two].  It happens and sometimes you have to listen to your body.  This year we are all healthy and in good spirit”

Bringing home the teams on the first day will a match-up of Japan vs Australia where Katherine Hull pairs with her compatriot Nikki Campbell who is playing in her third Lexus Cup. They will look to take the point from Namika Omata who played in the 2005 event and her partner Mayumi Shimomura who makes her first appearance after a solid season on the Japan LPGA.

PAIRINGS FOR DAY 1 – FOURSOMES (NOVEMBER 28, 2008)
TEAM ASIA PLAYER   VS   TEAM INTERNATIONAL PLAYER
Match 1
10:55am
Song Hee Kim (KOR)   VS   Helen Alfredsson (SWE)
Inbee Park (KOR)                 Christina Kim (USA)

Match 6
11:45am
Namika Omata (JPN)   VS   Katherine Hull (AUS)
Mayumi Shimomura (JPN)   Nikki Campbell (AUS)