MANILA, Philippines ? There are no relationships in golf.

Out in the fairway, there are no spirited team huddles, no clasping of hands in a circle of human bodies, no counting one to three followed by a chorus of ?go team, fight!?

There is only the golfer. And there is the golf course.

Then, tattooed around a windswept lay-out are the other golfers, each with the individual mindset that you either beat the rest of the field, or end up being beaten.

In golf, there are no relationships.

Small wonder then that Tiger Woods, who history will soon bear out is the greatest golfer to ever spike a tee into a manicured mound, can literally lap a field and win by jaw-dropping margins like eight, 10 or even 15 shots, and then fail miserably on easy putts during team competitions.

Golf is not a team sport. Unless, of course, you talk to Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin?two fierce competitors with personalities residing in different zip codes.

As Ladies? Professional Golf Association (LPGA) card-holders, the two know what it takes to gut out a victory against 140-plus individuals. They know what it takes to hold your nerve while perched atop a leaderboard filled with Hall-of-Fame names who are just a 25-foot birdie putt away from snatching your lead.

They know how me-against-the-world the game can be.

But they also know how to play together. At the very least, they knew what their mission was when they represented the country in the recent Women?s World Cup of Golf in Sun City, South Africa.

?We weren?t going down without a fight,? Rosales said of the game held at a Gary Player golf and country club course that has hosted some of the best tandems in the world.

The icy Rosales and the bubbly Delasin aren?t exactly a perfect fit personality-wise. Worse, they are rivals on the LPGA tour. And even beyond that, there is a sort of natural wedge between the country?s top two female golfers who know that every win of theirs is celebrated like crazy in the country.

But they had a galvanizing factor. ?We really wanted to win for the country,? Delasin said.

The fact, though, that the US was fielding superstars Patti Hurst and Julie Inkster made the job difficult. The fact that the Philippines had never won a World Cup, even in the men?s division, made it twice as daunting. The fact that every other country, including rising powerhouse South Korea, wanted to win it made the feat nearly impossible.

If there was ever a time that Rosales and Delasin needed to bond, this was it.

Fused by their mission, though, it looked like they had become the best of friends over three rounds. And a snapshot will be forever engraved in the minds of people who thought it could never happen: A bubbly Rosales, flashing a teenybopper smile, receiving an enthusiastic high-five from Delasin after a splendid par save.

The way they dealt with each other?s flops showed just how much they had bonded in their try to win a World Cup for the country.

At the last hole, with Korea breathing down their necks and then getting a reprieve from an amazing approach that skipped the green, hit a rock and bounced back into the green, Rosales and Delasin could?ve just ditched all the pretenses of friendship and started manufacturing statements of blame to churn out to the media.

Instead, Delasin looked over to her partner for confirmation and assurance, especially after hitting into a particularly tough lie in the rough.

?[The ball] was sitting down and it was covered. I was like, ?Jen, you got a shot?? and she was like ?Yeah,? ?All right,? and I went and hit. I crossed my fingers and it went through,? said Delasin.

In golf, you trust no one for advice but your caddie. On the fairways, your caddie is your best friend. In Sun City, Rosales and Delasin were each other?s caddie.

?We just wanted to go out and play our own game. Sometimes we?d look at the board and see some countries moving up, but I couldn?t worry about them because I was worrying about how I was going to make par on six. I really didn?t pay any attention. I would look at the scoreboards a few times, but I didn?t really pay attention. I was more focused on our team playing well,? Delasin explained.

Rivals? Maybe the years spent on the LPGA tour trying to beat each other helped forge a relationship that was unshakeable during the most crucial of moments.

After all, as Delasin put it: ?Between Jennifer and me, we have six wins on the LPGA tour and we know how to win.?

And then came the oft-repeated line Rosales kept uttering throughout the rush of interviews that overwhelmed her upon her arrival in the country.

?Thanks to Dorothy and the wonderful golf she played. I couldn?t have done this without her,? Rosales said.

?This is a great win for the Filipinos,? she added.

No one questions the individuality of golf. Sometimes, though, when the stakes are high, a couple of golfers come along and forge a relationship that rips that individuality to shreds.