TEAM EUROPE TURN TABLES ON ASIA WITH FINAL-DAY SURGE TO WIN ROYAL TROPHY MATCH IN CHINA

                                                 AND THE WINNERS ARE .... EUROPE!

It was Medinah Revisited for skipper Jose Maria Olazabal as Team Europe staged a stunning revival from a 7-3 deficit to beat Asia 8 1/2-7 1/2 to win the three-day Royal Trophy match at Dragon Lake Golf Club at Guangzhou in China today.
When Scots Paul Lawrie (beaten 3 and 2 by Thai Kiradech Aphibamrat) and Stephen Gallacher (beaten 4 and 2 by another Thai, Thongchai Jaidee) lost their ties for the third day in a row, Asia had extended their overnight lead from 5-3 to 7-3 and needed only 1 1/2pt from the remaining six singles to retain the trophy.
But Europe won five of them and halved the other.
Asia were stunned by Europe as Marc Warren, the third Scot in the line-up, David Howell, Thorbjorn Olesen, Bernd Wiesberger and Nicolas Colsaerts all won their encounters to complete a remarkable turnaround, with Alvaro Quiros three-putting the 18th hole to allow Kim Kyung-Tae to escape with a halved match.
Ryo Ishikawa, who was beaten on the 18th green by Warren, produced his usual cavalier brand of golf, mixing moments of breathtaking brilliance with some careless errors, but that made this one of the most exciting clashes for the spectators to enjoy.
But Ishikawa, who had been two up on the eighth tee, shanked his chip from the back of the green. Unable to hole his long putt for par, Ishikawa left Warren two putts to win the hole and the match.
The Scot sent his first putt racing five feet past the hole, but he steadied himself and made the one coming back to register Europe’s first point in the Singles.
Ishikawa’s defeat prefigured what was to happen to Kim Hyoung-sung. Dark clouds had begun to form above Team Asia.
David Howell of England produced perhaps the greatest comeback yet in the seven editions of the Royal Trophy. Kim Hyoung-sung led Howell by three with four holes to go.
But Howell won every one of them, to then somehow claim a priceless point for the Europeans. There was no sign of the drama to come as Kim, the runner-up on the Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit this year, golfed flawlessly to cover the first 14 holes in five under par.
Howell suddenly began casting magic around the greens, that other-worldly touch that propelled him into the top ten of the world rankings a few years ago, and which brought him a morale-boosting victory in the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in September.
He conjured up winning birdies at the 15th and 16th holes and then produced a magical up and down from a greenside bunker to clinch victory, as Kim stumbled to three bogeys over the final four holes.
The rush stopped partly as K T Kim halved with Alvaro Quiros, but Europe quickly got a move on again as rising star Thorbjorn Olesen saw off Wu Asham with two holes to spare.
Bernd Wiesberger then notched four birdies between the 10th and 15th holes to earn a 3 and 2 win over Hiroyuki Fujita after they had reached the halfway stage level.
It became clear that the trophy would be decided by the winner of the last match, between Colsaerts and Liang Wen-chong.
The Belgian edged ahead and then twice recovered as his opponents nipped in front, before taking the lead again with three holes left.
Liang then had a 15-footer to level on 16 but missed, before he messed up an approach on the 17th.
He needed a 30-footer to take the match to the last hole but he three-putted and Colsaerts took full advantage.

FINAL RESULT:
ASIA 7 1/2, TEAM EUROPE 8 1/2
LAST-DAY SINGLES (2 1/2-5 1/2)
Asia Team names first
Kiradech Aphibamrat bt Paul Lawrie 3 and 2.
Thongchai Jaidee bt Stephen Gallacher 4 and 2.
Ryo Ishikawa lost to Marc Warren 1 hole.
Kim Kyung Tae halved with Alvaro Quiros.
Kim Hyoung-sung lost to David Howell 1 hole.
Wu Asham lost to Thorbjorn Olesen 3 and 2.
Hiroyuki Fujita lost to Bernd Wiesberger 3 and 2.
Liang Wen-chong lost to Nicolas Colsaerts 2 and 1.