Colin Montgomerie guided Europe to another victory, this time in the Royal Trophy, which is an event played against some of the best players from Asia. In a similar format to the Ryder Cup, the Asian team led 6-2 going into the final day’s singles with 8.5 points required for victory. Monty’s team, having been outplayed over the first two days, rallied to win the singles 7-1 and take the overall victory 9-7.
Monty sympathised with the heartbroken Asian captain, Joe Ozaki, comparing it to the similar comeback his team were on the wrong end of at Brookline in 1999, saying “That ranks as easily my worst Ryder Cup experience, because quite apart from the bad feeling and the crowd problems there, it was a horrible feeling to see such a big lead slip away, so I know how the Asian players will be feeling at the moment, but the important thing is how they react to this defeat. We lost the first six matches, all by big margins, so that was very tough to take.”
Despite many of Europe’s best players not taking part, big names such as Henrik Stenson, Matteo Manassero and Peter Hanson opted out, and with the drama that unfolded capturing an enthralled audience, the event is sure to grow and grow, especially with the quality of golfers coming from Asia improving year after year.
By Keith Baird. Keith has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.
