Asian Dream Comes True at The Royal Trophy

The Third edition of The Royal Trophy has ended with the first remarkable victory of the Asian team, captained by 35-time tournament title winner Naomichi 'Joe' Ozaki. After the two defeats in 2006 and 2007, this memorable 10-6 Royal Trophy win over Europe is "a dream comes true".

Ozaki wanted his team members to play aggressively and confidently which resulted in Asia winning both the Foursomes and Fourballs, to take an impressive 6 1/2 - 1 1/2 lead into Sunday's singles. That meant they needed just two points from the eight remaining matches, and Ozaki felt his team's belief that the job was as good as done was one of the main reasons the European team shaded the final session 4 1/2 - 3 1/2.

The European captain Jose Maria Olazabal accepted the outcome of the tournament: "We went out trying to get the points on the board early to try and change the momentum of the match and we almost achieved that - almost, but not quite."

Europe will surely learn this year's lesson and will come back angrier and more determined to beat Asia next year.

Singles results: Ishikawa halved with Hansen; Liang lost to Lawrie 3&2; Wi lost to Dougherty one down; Prayad beat Larrazabal 5&4; Tanihara lost to Wilson 3&2; Ho lost to Edfors 5&4; Taniguchi beat Fasth 7&6; Thongchai beat McGinley 5&4.

Match result: Asia 10 Europe 6.

About The Royal Trophy:

This Europe VS Asia Golf Championship is a prestigious competition played between the best players of Europe and Asia in a team match-play format. Since 2006, the competition is held annually at Thailand's world-class Amata Spring Country Club with 7,300 yards course. The principal award for this competition is a 16-kilogram solid-silver Trophy graciously donated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. In fact, the third edition of the Royal Trophy had previously been planned in January 2008 but was subsequently postponed because Thailand was in mourning due to the passing away of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana.

Thailand News Archive