By Godfrey Robert

MONKEYS are part of Singapore Island Country Club's four courses.

In fact for some golfers, especially those playing at the New course, they can be an additional hazard.

First-time golfers at SICC are warned about these primates, and there are enough signs to warn you about them, especially those that can snatch food and drinks from your buggies.

But there was no monkeying around on the first day of the Lexus Cup at the Bukit course.

All 24 players - from the veteran Annika Sorenstam to the newbie Mayumi Shimomura - were serious about their displays despite it being difficult to raise your game at the tailend of a long and hectic LPGA season.

So it was not surprising that Team International and Team Asia go into today's second round all square (3-3) after some exciting and entertaining play.

The spectators saw what nerves are all about when Christina Kim, one of the coolest players on the women's Tour, missed a six-foot putt on the 16th hole that led to her partnership with Helen Alfredsson crashing out.

Sorenstam, captain of the International team since the Cup's inauguration in 2005, showed us that yo-yo golf could seethe into any player, even for someone with her legendary status.

In the mid-part of her foursome game alongside Angela Stanford, the maestro played some below-par shots.

But all that was forgotten with just one shot - her tee shot on the par-three 14th that headed for the pin but stopped just 15 centimetres short.

Victim

Stanford, a seasoned campaigner on the LPGA Tour, also fell victim to nerves when she missed a short putt on the 16th to concede the match to Jang Jeong and Candie Kung.

And that both captains Sorenstam and Pak Se Ri lost their matches was indicative of the fire in the bellies of some up-and-coming players from both sides.

South Korea's Lee Seon Hwa continued her personal Lexus Cup milestone by extending her flawless record to 7-0-0 after partnering Taiwanese rookie sensation Tseng Ya-ni to victory over Norway's Suzann Pettersen and American Natalie Gulbis.

And as it is par with every successful winning combination, Lee said: 'We played really solid golf today. She (Tseng) hit good drives all day long and I was good with my irons.'

However, if Sorenstam, with 90 career victories to her name and in her farewell LPGA appearance, is serious about her statement on Thursday, that 'I don't like finishing second', then Team Asia should take a leaf from Lee's book and make the Swede eat her words.

Simply put, Lee's secret formula would read: 'In matchplay, get the monkey off your back in the early holes.'