Golf: Kiwis let Sirikit Cup slip away

New Zealand, runaway leaders for most of the tournament, lost the Queen Sirikit Cup after a sudden-death playoff with Chinese Taipei at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club yesterday. The Kiwi women's trio of Natasha Krishna, Sarah Nicholson and Sharon Ahn went into the final round with a five-shot lead but ended up all square with Chinese Taipei on 17 over par at the end of 54 holes.

This forced both teams into a playoff, with the two best scores counting for each hole. Nicholson was first off the number-one tee against Chinese Taipei's He Yong Choi. Both players hit par. Ahn & Krishna then had bogeys against two pars for the Chinese Taipei team handing them the title.

New Zealand performance coach Marnie McGuire said the team got off to good start yesterday but battled with the course to make the playoff.

"They were all-square heading into the 18th and Krishna held her nerve under pressure to sink a crucial birdie putt to make the playoff," she said.

In the final pair in the playoff, Krishna's putt shaved the hole giving the win to Chinese Taipei.

However, Krishna finished second in the individual race to Korea's Mi Jung Hur, who shot an outstanding five-under par 67. She finished on four-over par, just one shot ahead of Krishna, who shot a one-over 73.

The Queen Sirikit Cup involves teams from 13 Asia-Pacific countries including Australia, China, Japan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

-HERALD ON SUNDAY