The Royal Trophy organisers may consider drafting in top Australian, New Zealander and Pacific Islands’ players to strengthen the Asian team for next year’s edition.

The Australian football team have already aligned themselves with the Asian Football Association, and that has set a precedent the Royal Trophy could follow to make the likes of world number three Adam Scott, former world number one Vijay Singh, Major winner Michael Campbell and US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy eligible. Asian superstars including K.J. Choi and Shingo Katayama are also likely to be targeted to beef up the home team.

The participation of Australian players would provide a far sterner test for the immensely strong Europeans, who followed up their record-equalling Ryder Cup victory over the Americans by beating Asia by the same nine points margin, winning 12 1/2 - 3 1/2.

Strangely, the speculation was prompted by Johan Edfors, who underlined Europe's strength in depth with a maximum three points in his debut appearance. Edfors said: "The talk in the locker room is that the Asians will try to bring in players like Vijay, K.J. Choi and Shigeki Maruyama, and maybe throw it open to the Australians like the football people have done.”

"That would be great for the competition and great for us. Europe is clearly the best team in world golf at the moment, and we would love to take on an Asian team which includes Australian, New Zealand and the Pacific as well.”

The other European rookie, Anthony Wall, suggested Asia may have contributed to their own defeat - by making the Europeans feel so welcome in Bangkok ! He explained: "The Thai people really were the perfect hosts. They looked after us brilliantly, and nothing was too much trouble. It made us feel like we really wanted to play great golf to reward them - and we certainly managed that.”

"I know we beat the Asians convincingly, but I didn't get any sense that the spectators were too put out by it. We were all mobbed every day by autograph hunters, every good shot was applauded, and I felt they were very happy to be able to watch great Ryder Cup players like Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood at their best," added the Englishman who was unbeaten in his first outing for Europe.

Despite the scoreline, the event was hailed as a huge success, and European captain Seve Ballesteros insisted the Asian players had nothing to be ashamed of. Seve pointed out that three of the four fourball matches went to the 18th hole, while the other was settled on the 17th before Europe won the series 3-1 to take a commanding 6 1/2 - 1 1/2 lead into the singles.

He commented: "It could easily have been very different. If a putt had dropped here, or a kind bounce had happened there, maybe Asia could have won that round 3-1 and made it much closer going into the singles. They probably felt they only had pride to play for on the last day, and the chance of victory will always be a bigger motivation.”

"It has been a great week for the European team, and also for the tournament. We had three days of unbelievable golf and unbelievable weather. And the support from the crowd and from the sponsors was fantastic. People may think the Asian team was weak, but that was not the case at all. It was just that all the European team played incredible golf.”

"The Royal Trophy has a great future ahead, and as I have said before, I feel the Royal Trophy will change the face of Asian golf and help to make it much stronger, just as the Ryder Cup did for Europe. I sincerely hope I am right in saying that.”

"It did not happen overnight in Europe. I played in my first Ryder Cup in 1979 when the team became a European one and not just from Britain. But we lost 17-11, and we had to wait until 1985 for the first win. But I sense there is the same will here to improve and to become competitive that there was in Europe nearly thirty years ago. So the next few years will be very exciting for Asian golf and for the Royal Trophy.”

"You look at Prom Messawat, who halved two matches with Darren Clarke, and he is a very exciting player for the future. His experience of playing here this week will help him to develop, and it will give him much more confidence."

Asian captain Joe Ozaki admitted he and his players had been given a real lesson - but warned that they were quick learners. Ozaki said: "I expected the match to be much closer, but my team lacked a bit of experience and so did I. I accept full responsibility for this loss.”

"I can now look back and think about things I could have done differently - like my pairings - but this was my first time as a captain in an international event. If I am invited back next year maybe I can learn from this lesson. And I am sure the players will feel there are lessons they can learn to make them more competitive next time.”

"Experience is most important, especially in this format, and the Europeans have shown how good they are at match play with the way they keep beating the Americans. But they had a hard time in the Ryder Cup before they started to win, and I think we are going through the same process. I believe that in time we can emerge the same way, as better players and a better team."

A spokesperson of the Royal Trophy organizers said: “We are not surprised that Johan has made a comment about the Australian, New Zealander and Pacific Islands’ players joining the Asian team. This has been a point of consideration since the inaugural Royal Trophy. Their possible inclusion will continue to be looked at very seriously and while it is a real possibility, it is not confirmed at this point in time. Naturally, if their players were included in the Asian team, the same would have to apply for captains as well opening up the possibility for someone like a Greg Norman.”

Sponsors of the Tournament include Heineken, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), PTT, Siam Commercial Bank, Advanced Info Service (AIS) and JCB International (Thailand) Co., Ltd. For further Tournament information, please call +662 651 9499 or visit the official website www.TheRoyalTrophy.com. The Royal Trophy is promoted by Entertainment Group Limited and Amen Corner.