Europe romp to emphatic Golf victory over Asia
Europe demonstrated their matchplay superiority over Asia Sunday, claiming an emphatic 13-point victory in the EurAsia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Europe won 10 of the deciding 12 singles matches for an 18.5 to 5.5 points triumph on the Glenmarie Golf and Country club course. Darren Clarke's Europe team were leading by three points after Friday’s opening four-balls and extended their lead to six following Saturday’s foursomes. The Asian team, who had forced a dramatic 10-all draw in the inaugural event in 2014, had no answer to their Europeans rivals, winning just two of the singles and halving another. England’s Danny Willett claimed the crucial point, defeating last year’s European Tour "Rookie of the Year" An Byeong-Hun 3 & 1 to give Europe an unassailable 13 to 3 advantage, before Clarke raised the trophy as rival Asian captain Jeev Milka Singh looked on. "I feel really sorry for Jeev and his team as they just came up against a red-hot, a very hot European team this week," said Clarke. "These are some of the best players in the world, never mind Europe." He added: "Guys are proud to represent Europe and that’s why we are Europeans and that’s why they are all here because we want to win." The victory confirmed Europe's domination of the world stage, and later this year the team will vie to capture a fourth straight Ryder Cup over the Americans. Clarke’s quest to clinch the trophy has received a shot in the arm from his success in Malaysia as he prepares to head to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He said he was looking forward to going back out on Tour for the next couple of weeks. "And then sitting down with the European Tour and figure out what I did well as captain or what I could have done better, and work on those areas and hopefully get the whole package even better for September." Ian Poulter, who entered as a wildcard, claimed the opening point on the closing day with a 4 & 3 win over local hero Danny Chia, with Poulter making six birdies ahead of sealing his success at the 15th. Like Poulter, fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan remained undefeated in his three matches, claiming a 4 & 3 triumph over Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee. Lee Westwood, also playing as a wildcard, made it 12 points for Europe after thumping Malaysia's Nicholas Fang 7 & 6. Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg defeated Japan’s Shingo Katayama 5 & 4 before Asia salvaged some pride. Current Asian Tour number one Anirban Lahiri from India defeated Ireland’s Shane Lowry 2 & 1 while Korean K.T. Kim silenced Austrian-born Bernd Wiesberger 3 & 2. Lahiri called on the Asian Tour, the world's third largest, to step up to the challenge of competing on the global stage. "We need to set in train, like Europe and the PGA Tour, some system in helping groom the Asian Tour players more so that they get used to competing in more matchplay events," said Lahiri. His call was echoed by Singh, who was appointed last month to the Asian Tour Board of Directors. "We do need to follow the same course as the European Tour because we have seen it for years now that they are the best team in the world when it comes to matchplay competition," he said. "They start their preparation for these team event a good year before and we need to do exactly the same."
