Asia powered to a famous Royal
Trophy victory on the back of a Thai-
dal wave of brilliant golf on Sunday,
to deepen the mood of misery in the
European camp.
Thai golfers Prayad Marksaeng and
Thongchai Jaidee were the home heroes,
each supplying a maximum three points
as Asia gained handsome revenge for
their two previous defeats in the
'Clash of the Continents'.
They eventually romped home 10-6,
and it was left to Toru Taniguchi
of Japan to hole the winning putt,
as he rattled in a 15 footer for a
birdie on the 12th hole to complete
a crushing 7&6 victory over a
sadly out of sorts Niclas Fasth.
Asia began the singles needing just
two points to clinch victory, and
Prayad had earlier posted an emphatic
5&4 win over Pablo Larrazabal
to nudge them a step closer.
Europe, already hurting from their
shock Ryder Cup defeat in America
four months ago, came out fighting,
and did their best to rattle the home
team's mood of supreme confidence.
But Prayad, Thongchai, and Taniguchi
were always in complete control of
their matches, and the miracle Europe
needed to complete an unlikely fightback
never looked like materialising.
Asia's richly-deserved victory represented
a remarkable change of fortunes from
the last time the teams met two years
ago.
Joe Ozaki's players were simply brushed
aside as Europe won 12 1/2 – 3 1/2
in 2007, and the home team had to
wait for the last of the 16 matches
for their solitary win, when Thongchai
edged out the luckless Fasth 2&1.
It was all so different this time.
The Asians won three out of the four
Foursomes on day one, and followed
up; by taking 3 1/2 points in the
Fourballs to leave them on the brink
of a glorious triumph.
European captain Jose Maria Olazabal
must have had a sinking feeling right
from the start, as he watched events
unfold on the opening hole.
Soren Hansen, Nick Dougherty, Oliver
Wilson and Fasth all failed to convert
birdie chances from around six feet
- criminal misses when it was essential
for them to cast a few seeds of doubt
in their opponents' minds early on.
And when Pablo Larrazabal managed
to knock his approach at the first
to within six inches for a 'gimme'
birdie, Prayad nonchalantly rolled
in a twenty footer to claim a half
that got the huge galleries buzzing
straight away.
And they had plenty more to cheer
as Prayad won the next five holes
to make certain of one of the two
points his team needed.
Larrazabal did not help his cause
with two double bogeys, and even after
he stopped the rot on the seventh,
he promptly dumped his tee shot into
the water at the island eighth hole.
He must have felt like jumping in
after his ball - and when he lay down
with his legs dangling over the lake
to size up his bogey putt with his
second ball, it looked like he might
take a dip.
He stayed out - but so did his putt,
and when Larrazabal carded his second
bogey at the tenth, he was a stomach-churning
eight over par for the nine holes
that followed his opening birdie.
That took Prayad seven up, but he
suffered a bit of a wobble by losing
three holes in quick succession. However,
he eventually put the Spaniard out
of his misery by holing from around
16 feet for a winning birdie on the
14th.
Taniguchi, who lost all three of
his matches in 2007, was clearly enjoying
the experience of giving Europe a
dose of their own medicine.
He played rock solid golf to finish
four under par for the 12 holes it
took him to dispose of Fasth, while
his Swedish opponent was a sad six
over.
Olazabal's decision to send out Hansen
and Paul Lawrie - the only Europen
points scorers in the first two days
- as his advance guard, was fully
justified.
Both men finished unbeaten. Hansen
halved a roller-coaster clash with
Japanese wonderkid Ryo Ishikawa, while
former Open champion Lawrie made it
two and a half points out of three
with a 3&2 victory over Liang
Wen-Chong.
They were the only bright lights
for Europe, although Johan Edfors
romped to a 5&4 win over S.K.Ho,
and the English duo of Wilson and
Dougherty beat Hideto Tanihara and
Charlie Wi respectively to bring a
measure of respectability to the scoreline.
Possibly the biggest disappointment
for Europe was Paul McGinley. He lost
all three matches and suffered his
first defeat in a European team after
three Ryder Cup triumphs and two previous
Royal Trophy victories.
McGinley was suffering from flu all
week and he never got going. He got
no sympathy from Thongchai, who delighted
the massive crowds at Bangkok's Amata
Spring Country Club by putting the
seal on Asia's success with a 5&4
demolition of the Irish ace in the
final singles match. |