Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal has warned there is no margin for error after watching his side slump to a 3-1 foursomes defeat on the opening day of the Royal Trophy at Guangzho, China, yesterday.
Yong-Eun Yang’s Asian players were dominant from the outset as they won all three of their opening matches, with Scotland’s Marc Warren and Englishman David Howell stopping the rot by winning the final match of the day.
While Korean Yang had much to smile about after watching his team live up to his pre-match dominant billing, Spaniard Olazabal was left to reflect on a day of disappointment.
The former Ryder Cup-winning captain said: “It was a bad day for us. We didn’t expect that start.
“Now we have to be spot-on for the last two days and that’s our goal. We have to play aggressively and go for it. We do not have much room to manoeuvre.”
Yang needs five-and-a-half points to gain victory but has warned his players against complacency heading into today’s fourball matches.
He said: “We just have to keep playing the same way. Most of our Asian team are playing very well and if we can keep up this form then I’m confident that we can win the Royal Trophy again.”
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat set the tone by putting the first point on the board with a 5 and 3 thrashing of Press and Journal columnists Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher in the lead-off game.
Jaidee and Aphibarnrat, the two highest-ranked Asian players at 46th and 59th respectively in the world rankings, were four up through the first six holes and they were never seriously threatened. Aphi- barnrat sealed an emphatic win with a 35ft eagle putt at the 14th.
Ryo Ishikawa and Hiroyuki Fujita extended the home team’s advantage with a 3 and 2 defeat of Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. The Japanese duo raced into a three-hole lead after four and comfortably held their big-hitting opponents at bay.
Behind them, Koreans Kim Kyung-tae and Kim Hyung-Sung combined brilliantly to see off the challenge of Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, 4 and 2. The highlight was Kim Hyung-Sung holing a nine iron from 150 yards for an eagle 2 at the fourth.
The sole bright spot for Olazabal came in the final clash where Howell and Warren salvaged a much-needed point with a 2 and 1 success against China’s Liang Wenchong and Wu Ashun, ensuring the Europeans avoided a foursomes whitewash.
All square through seven holes, the turning point came at the par-5 eighth where Warren holed out with a fantastic bunker shot from a plugged lie for a winning birdie. The Europeans won the next two holes and were able to ease home.
Scot Warren said: “Playing an Asian team in Asia there was always going to be an onslaught.”