Halved four-ball match for Lawrie
but Asia lead by five points
By MICHAEL GIBBONS, European Tour Press Officer
European team captain José María Olazábal must inspire his men to perform a match-play miracle in Sunday's final set of singles after Asia took a 6½-1½ point lead at the Royal Trophy match today.
The Spanish captain, and the majority of the team he chose, were powerless to stop a flourishing Asian team dominating the scoreboard as the hosts extended their lead by a further 3pt, taking the four-ball foursomes 3-1/2.
Joe Ozaki's side won three of the four-ball contests and halved the other at Amata Spring Country Club near Bangkok to leave them needing two points out of eight on Sunday to claim their first Royal Trophy in the third edition event.
China's Liang Wen-chong and Charlie Wi of South Korea beat English pair Oliver Wilson and Nick Dougherty 3 and 2 before Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie and Søren Hansen of Denmark finished all square with Japanese duo Ryo Ishikawa and Toru Taniguchi.
European team captain José María Olazábal must inspire his men to perform a match-play miracle in Sunday's final set of singles after Asia took a 6½-1½ point lead at the Royal Trophy match today.
The Spanish captain, and the majority of the team he chose, were powerless to stop a flourishing Asian team dominating the scoreboard as the hosts extended their lead by a further 3pt, taking the four-ball foursomes 3-1/2.
Joe Ozaki's side won three of the four-ball contests and halved the other at Amata Spring Country Club near Bangkok to leave them needing two points out of eight on Sunday to claim their first Royal Trophy in the third edition event.
China's Liang Wen-chong and Charlie Wi of South Korea beat English pair Oliver Wilson and Nick Dougherty 3 and 2 before Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie and Søren Hansen of Denmark finished all square with Japanese duo Ryo Ishikawa and Toru Taniguchi.
Japanese teenage sensation Ishikawa and Taniguchi holed several big putts to square the top match with Taniguchi draining a 10-foot birdie on the last green for the half-point
Lawrie and Hansen, Europe's only foursomes winners, are the only members of Olazabal's side to avoid defeat so far.
Thai duo Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng claimed a 4 and 2 victory over Ireland's Paul McGinley and Pablo Larrazabal of Spainmuch to the delight of the huge home crowd, before Swedish pair Johan Edfors and Niclas Fasth lost 2 and 1 to Japan's Hideto Tanihara and SK Ho of South Korea.
But Olazábal, and many of his players, believe that Europe can bounce back if they can inspire an early shift in momentum in the Sunday singles.
"We cannot stop believing," the 42 year old Spaniard said. "We still have a chance - even though it's a slim one. The Asian team putted extremely well today on the greens - they made a lot of crucial putts, a lot of important putts at times when matches could go either way and they would make a ten footer or 12 footer and keep the momentum on their side. Sometimes golf is like that but we have to believe we can change that.”
The European captain has put his form players at the top of the draw for the Sunday singles, hoping that the likes of Hansen, Lawrie, Larrazabal and Wilson can turn the tide and create a sea of European blue on the Royal Trophy leaderboard.
“I have put the players in my Team that are playing the strongest up front in the draw because we need to get as many points as possible and we need to get them quickly. We have a tough task ahead of us. The Asian team played really well and made a lot of putts today, so we need to get out there and get a lot of blue numbers on the board as quickly as possible.”
Hansen and Wilson all echoed the comments of their captain.
Hansen said: “We will give it everything tomorrow – we will do some work tonight and the more we do then the better we will get but it is going to take a lot to turn this one around. We do believe in ourselves and our abilities though, but we need to make a fast start and keep going.”
Wilson said: “We still have hope. I think we played better today than yesterday but we have to have a good start middle and end tomorrow to have a chance – we can only afford to drop one and a half points but it is still possible because it’s only eight matches, not 12.”
Saturday's Four-ball results:
Thai duo Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng claimed a 4 and 2 victory over Ireland's Paul McGinley and Pablo Larrazabal of Spainmuch to the delight of the huge home crowd, before Swedish pair Johan Edfors and Niclas Fasth lost 2 and 1 to Japan's Hideto Tanihara and SK Ho of South Korea.
But Olazábal, and many of his players, believe that Europe can bounce back if they can inspire an early shift in momentum in the Sunday singles.
"We cannot stop believing," the 42 year old Spaniard said. "We still have a chance - even though it's a slim one. The Asian team putted extremely well today on the greens - they made a lot of crucial putts, a lot of important putts at times when matches could go either way and they would make a ten footer or 12 footer and keep the momentum on their side. Sometimes golf is like that but we have to believe we can change that.”
The European captain has put his form players at the top of the draw for the Sunday singles, hoping that the likes of Hansen, Lawrie, Larrazabal and Wilson can turn the tide and create a sea of European blue on the Royal Trophy leaderboard.
“I have put the players in my Team that are playing the strongest up front in the draw because we need to get as many points as possible and we need to get them quickly. We have a tough task ahead of us. The Asian team played really well and made a lot of putts today, so we need to get out there and get a lot of blue numbers on the board as quickly as possible.”
Hansen and Wilson all echoed the comments of their captain.
Hansen said: “We will give it everything tomorrow – we will do some work tonight and the more we do then the better we will get but it is going to take a lot to turn this one around. We do believe in ourselves and our abilities though, but we need to make a fast start and keep going.”
Wilson said: “We still have hope. I think we played better today than yesterday but we have to have a good start middle and end tomorrow to have a chance – we can only afford to drop one and a half points but it is still possible because it’s only eight matches, not 12.”
Saturday's Four-ball results:
Asian players first
Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) and Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) halved with Soren Hansen (Den) and Paul Lawrie (Sco).
Charlie Wi (Kor) and Liang Wen-chong (PRC) bt Nick Dougherty (Eng) and Oliver Wilson (Eng) 3 & 2.
Charlie Wi (Kor) and Liang Wen-chong (PRC) bt Nick Dougherty (Eng) and Oliver Wilson (Eng) 3 & 2.
Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) and S K Ho (Kor) bt Niclas Fasth (Swe) and Johan Edfors (Swe) 2 & 1.
Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) and Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) bt Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) and Paul McGinley (Ire) 4 & 2.
Sunday's Singles pairings
Sunday's Singles pairings
11.06am: Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) vs Soren Hansen (Den)
11.15am: Liang Wen-chong (PRC) vs Paul Lawrie (Sco)
11.24am: Charlie Wi (Kor) vs Nick Dougherty (Eng)
11.33am: Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) vs Pablo Larrazabal (Esp)
11.42am: Hideto Tanihara (Tha) vs Oliver Wilson (Eng)
11.51am: SK Ho (Kor) vs Johan Edfors (Swe)
12.00pm: Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) vs Niclas Fasth (Swe)
12.09pm: Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) vs Paul McGinley (Ire)
11.15am: Liang Wen-chong (PRC) vs Paul Lawrie (Sco)
11.24am: Charlie Wi (Kor) vs Nick Dougherty (Eng)
11.33am: Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) vs Pablo Larrazabal (Esp)
11.42am: Hideto Tanihara (Tha) vs Oliver Wilson (Eng)
11.51am: SK Ho (Kor) vs Johan Edfors (Swe)
12.00pm: Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) vs Niclas Fasth (Swe)
12.09pm: Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) vs Paul McGinley (Ire)
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, January 10, 2009
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