A Match Made in Heaven

Think;  Golf  at it's most exciting best... it has to be The Ryder Cup...
 

Following closely in it's footsteps, the third edition of the now prestigious Royal Trophy took place on January 9-11, 2009 at the highly exclusive Amata Spring Country Club, Bangkok - Thailand.

The unique and emotionally-charged competition played between the continents of Europe and Asia featured foursomes, four-ball and singles matches – all played in a team match-play format with Team Asia winning the trophy for the very first time! The best players from Europe and Asia competed for stewardship over the perpetual Royal Trophy – graciously donated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and for the pride and honor of their respective continents and people.

The Royal Trophy is the result of the legendary Seve Ballesteros’ dream of bringing the three billion people on the Asian continent together to compete against the Masters of team golf – Europe, in a Ryder Cup format. The first two editions of the Event were staged with great success as the matches attracted record galleries and featured the highest standard of professional golf.

Over the two inaugural editions of the Royal Trophy, the five-time Major winner and all-time Ryder Cup hero Ballesteros led the European effort as Captain and counted with some of the continent’s very best players including Ryder Cup stars Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, David Howell, Robert Karlsson as well as legends of golf Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.

The Asian Team was led by Japan Tour Lifetime Member Massy Kuramoto in the first edition and then by 35-tournament title winner Joe Ozaki in 2007. The Asian troops to battle the Europeans have included many of Asia’s top talents including Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal from India, Zhang Lian-wei from China, Japan’s number one player Toru Taniguchi, Korea’s Y. Yang and Thailand’s golf stars Thongchai Jaidee, Thaworn Wiratchant and Hua Hin’s own Prom Meesawat.

Ballesteros’ vision in creating this magnificent championship is to drive the growth of Asian professional golf and the popularity of the sport to a level comparable to the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. “The Royal Trophy is becoming the greatest force for the further development of golf in Asia, in the same manner that the Ryder Cup played such a role for the European Continent in the 1980s and 1990s. I believe the Royal Trophy will grow into one of the world’s most important sporting competitions,” said the charismatic Spaniard.

“We expect the 7,470-yard Amata Spring layout to be in flawless condition, the purpose-built VIP Champions Club to feature the most luxurious golf corporate hospitality in Asia and the Entertainment Village to have on offer to the fans great food, refreshments, games and the latest in golf equipment,” said Lincoln Venancio, Managing Director of Tournament owners Entertainment Group Limited. And was he right! An amazing 3 days of golf at it's very best. Being out there in the crowd applauding the wonderful shots and commiserating with the unlucky ones, regardless of which team, the audience was of one, a true feeling of friendship...!"

“The atmosphere at the Royal Trophy is electrifying, the quality of golf is outstanding” added Venancio.

This years teams were again exceptional, the supply of young talent mixed wonderfully with the seasoned experience of Paul McGinley, Toru Taniguchi and Open Champion Paul Lawrie. 17 year old Japanese sensation Ryu Ishikawa, "The Shy Prince" may be Asia's "Official Copy" of Tiger while the passion of Seve was all apparent in new Spanish Star, Pablo Larrazabal.
 

The Friday Foursomes saw the first point to Europe but they never really got a look in after that as the day ended 3 -1 in favour of Asia. Saturdays Fourball's saw Team Asia end an impressive day with a commanding 6 1/2 - 1 1/2 lead, requiring only 2 points in the Sunday Singles. A brave fight back by Europe proved to be too little too late as Toru Taniguchi saw in a long putt on only the 12th, earning Team Asia their first ever victory in the tournament. See you in January 2010 for the 4th edition...!!!

Exclusive Packages to the 3rd Event

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