Asia closes in on Lexus Cup

GOLF- Australia, Dec 8, 2007 (AFP) - Team Asia was on the verge of successive Lexus Cup victories after the second day of play at the season-ending LPGA teams event here Saturday.

Although Team International rallied after failing to secure a point on the opening day, winning two of the fourball matches at the Vines Resort and Country Club, the defending champions claimed another 3 1/2 points to hold a commanding seven-point lead, 9 1/2-2 1/2, with one day to play.

Both sides are going to be a player down on the final day, with only 11 of the 12 singles matches to be played.

Asia captain Se Ri Pak elected to rest her troublesome left shoulder on Sunday with her team well on top, while Norway's Suzann Pettersen withdrew from the tournament due to the recurrence of a serious back injury on Saturday.

Both teams will get half a point as a result, leaving Asia needing just 2 points for victory in the third Lexus Cup.

An out-of-sorts Pettersen walked off the course on the 11th hole, leaving American partner Natalie Gulbis to play the rest of the round alone against Korean pair Jee Young Lee and Seon Hwa Lee.

Second on the LPGA money list after her breakthrough year, Pettersen had been struggling for form on the opening two days and had made four bogeys in the opening 10 holes on Saturday.