close

Wie, Sorenstam tumble in Match Play quarterfinals

4 min read

GLADSTONE, N.J. (AP) – Brittany Lincicome and Juli Inkster spoiled a possible Michelle Wie-Annika Sorenstam final in the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship. The long-hitting Lincicome knocked out Wie with a 4-and-3 victory in the quarterfinals Saturday, and the 46-year-old Inkster beat Sorenstam 1-up with a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole – moments after Sorenstam missed a 6-footer.

“What can you say other than that Juli beat me today,” Sorenstam said. “She played very good. I got off to a really good start and she finished very strong. So it was a great match. There’s not much I could do.”

The 16-year-old Wie, winless in 30 starts on the LPGA Tour, beat Se Ri Pak 2 and 1 in their morning third-round match, but fell behind early against the 20-year-old Lincicome and was unable to close the gap.

“I thought I played really well. I just had a lot of bad breaks,” Wie said. “Brittany played really good today and that’s how match play is.”

Lincicome, who hits as long or longer than Wie off the tee, saw it differently.

“I don’t remember there being any like bad kicks. I don’t think,” she said. “She had a couple of putts where she blew it by.”

Sorenstam, coming off a playoff victory Monday in the U.S. Women’s Open, was 3-up after eight holes and 2-up after 11 before Inkster fought her way back.

Inkster has thrived in match play, going 5-1 in Solheim Cup singles and winning 18 straight matches in her 1980-82 U.S. Women’s Amateur victories.

The Hall of Famer will face fifth-seeded Paula Creamer in the semifinals Sunday morning on the Hamilton Farm course. Creamer beat fourth-seeded Karrie Webb 3 and 2.

Lincicome will meet No. 3 Lorena Ochoa, a 3-and-2 winner over Sophie Gustafson.

“My driving and putting are coming together,” Lincicome said. “Normally, I would do one good, but the other one won’t be there. So, this week, for some reason they are both coming together. I’m hitting the fairways and making the putts.”

The 39th-seeded Lincicome, best known as the first-round leader in the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur, had a 2-up lead after five holes. She won the par-4 first, fourth and fifth holes with birdies and lost the par-3 third on Wie’s birdie.

The second-seeded Wie, set to play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic next week in Illinois, matched Lincicome with pars on the final four holes on the front nine, with Lincicome lipping out a 12-foot birdie try on the par-5 ninth.

“I got up early, which was a huge help,” Lincicome said. “I missed like one fairway all day and I was making everything I looked at.”

Lincicome, second in the tour’s driving-distance stats with a 281.7-yard average, took a 3-up lead on the 380-yard 10th, hitting a wedge to 2 feet to set up her fourth birdie of the round. After they halved the next two holes, Lincicome won the par-4 13th with a par, and Wie took the par-4 14th with a birdie.

Lincicome ended the match with a conceded par on the par-4 15th after Wie took two shots to get out a fairway bunker and left her fourth shot 12 feet short. Wie conceded after Lincicome’s putt from just off the back green stopped a foot from the hole.

Sorenstam routed former Duke star Brittany Lang 6 and 5 in the morning, holing a 75-yard wedge shot for an eagle on No. 9, then got off to a fast start against Inkster.

The Swede birdied three of the first four holes to take a 3-up lead. She lost the par-4 sixth with a bogey – her first in 29 holes – but regained a three-hole lead with a birdie on the par-3 seventh. Inkster won the par-4 eighth with her first birdie of the match and cut the deficit to a hole with a par on No. 10.

Sorenstam bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 11th, but Inkster birdied 14 and 15 to tie it. On the par-4 16th, Inkster holed a birdie chip and Sorenstam matched her with a 7-foot putt.

They halved the par-3 17th with pars and Inkster made the big putt on the par-4 18th to avoid extra holes.

In the third round, Creamer beat fellow teenager Morgan Pressel 3 and 1, Ochoa eliminated Mi Hyun Kim 3 and 2, and Lincicome beat Kyeong Bae 3 and 2. On Friday in the second round, Ochoa overcame a four-hole deficit to beat Karine Icher 1-up.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today