Asia grabs lead at Royal Trophy
Print Edition
Yang Yong-eun’s Asian team produced a dominant foursomes performance to sweep into a 3-1 lead on the opening day of the seventh edition of the Royal Trophy.
Playing with style and spirit, the power-packed Asian line-up put Jose Maria Olazabal’s European team to the sword at the Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, south China.
While Korean Yang had reason to smile as his players lived up to the high expectations he had placed upon them in the build-up to the three-day contest, Spaniard Olazabal was left to reflect on a day of disappointment.
“It was a bad day for us. We didn’t expect that start,” admitted the former Ryder Cup winning captain. “Now we have to be spot-on for the last two days — and that’s our goal. We have to play aggressively and go for it. We do not have much room to maneuver.”
Requiring 8 1/2 points overall to win and retain the title for Asia for the first time in Royal Trophy history, Yang warned his players against complacency heading into today’s fourball matches.
He said: “We just have to keep playing the same way. Most of our Asian team are playing very well at the moment and if we can keep up this form then I’m confident that we can win the Royal Trophy again.”
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat set the tone by putting the first point on the board with a 5&3 thrashing of Scotsmen Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher in the lead-off game.
Thongchai and Kiradech, the two highest ranked Asian players at 46th and 59th, respectively, came out all guns blazing. Four-up through six they were never seriously threatened. Kiradech put the icing on the cake with a 35-foot eagle putt at 14.
Ryo Ishikawa and Hiroyuki Fujita extended the home team’s advantage with a 3&2 defeat of Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. The Japanese duo raced into a three-hole lead after four and comfortably held their big-hitting opponents at bay.
Behind them, Koreans KT Kim and Kim Hyung-sung combined brilliantly to see off the challenge of Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, 4&2. The highlight was Kim Hyung-sung’s nine-iron hole-out from 150 yards for an eagle-two at the fourth.
The sole bright spot for Olazabal came in the final clash in which England’s David Howell and Scotland’s Marc Warren salvaged a much-needed point with a 2&1 success against China’s Liang Wenchong and Wu Ashun, ensuring the Europeans avoided a foursomes whitewash.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
