Young Guns Add Spice To Royal Trophy

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GOLF

Young guns add spice to Royal Trophy

By Lerpong Amsangiam

The Nation

An intriguing mix of old hands and young guns offers a mouthwatering prospect for the fifth edition of the Royal Trophy, with captains Colin Montgomerie and Joe Osaki promising a hard battle on the challenging Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin this weekend.

Montgomerie has stuck to the winning cocktail of experience and youth he used to orchestrate a Ryder Cup win for Europe against America last year. Familiar faces such as Henrik Stenson, Johan Edfors and Peter Hanson will be joined by youngsters Matteo Manassero, a 17yearold European Tour rookie, and Rhys Davies, the 25yearold whose putting skills are rated as among the best in the business.

Japan's Osaki risked even more on youth in forging his team, half of whom are 25 or under. Four, including 2010 Asian Tour No 1 Noh Seungyul of South Korea, Shunsuke Sonoda of Japan, 21, Kim Kyungtae of South Korea, 24 and Yuta Ikeda of Japan, 25, are making their debut in the Europe versus Asia tournament.

"That's the secret of success in the Ryder Cup," the European skipper said, describing the mix of generations. "Europe is on a bit of a high right now. We have [Lee] Westwood as No 1 in the world … we have had so many champions in 2010," said the Scot, who will be playingcaptain for the second year in a row.

"Europe has never been in a healthier state with regards to golf. We would like to sustain that record and try to retain the Royal Trophy here. I'm happy with the team we selected. We are very confident that we can retain the title," said the 47yearold, whose Royal Trophy record is 1 win, one half against one loss.

Naomichi Joe Osaki, in his third year at the helm of the Asian team, hopes to wrest back the title he won in 2009 when he spearheaded Asia to their only victory over the threetime champions.

"It's an honour to be back again as captain. Last year we lost but it was a good game. Europe are a tough team but I will try hard to lead Asia to victory this year.

"We have our strongest ever lineup, a combination of new and experienced players. This should make the competition even more exciting. Asia have four new players who are young. They will grow up and become better players who can win major events and gain reputation for Asia," said the 54yearold, who felt that the draw was key to his team's chances.

Europe have a lucky charm in Stenson, who has never let his team down when their fate was in his hands. Last year he halved Sunday's singles match with Thongchai Jaidee to give Europe an 8 ฝ - 7 ฝ victory.

"I didn't beat [Thongchai] last year. I managed to halve and it was enough for Europe to win. It was one of those nice pressure putts. … Now I'm sure he wants to get me back bad," said Stenson, who also beat Thongchai in the inaugural trophy.

However, the Thai stalwart has already put that match behind him and is ready to square off against anyone. He said he was more concerned with the tricky course conditions. "Last time I didn't play well on the last hole - my tee shot wasn't good. But this hilly course is very tough. You need to get a feel for the greens, have a good plan and putt well to win. I don't care who I have to play - I will focus on my game and do my best," said Thongchai, who has played in every Royal Trophy.

An army of Japanese journalists have arrived to cover the exploits of Ryo Ishikawa. The 19yearold hopes to live up to the expectation. "I have played this tournament twice and the experience should benefit me. I'll be very happy if I can help Asia win," said the Japanese superstar.

The draw for tomorrow's foursomes will be made today at the Sheraton Grand Hotel Sukhumvit at 6pm.

-- The Nation 2011-01-06