{{ubiquityData.prevArticle.description}}
{{ubiquityData.nextArticle.description}}
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA | Winning European team captain Thomas Bjørn said the ebb and flow of the EurAsia Cup – where his team won, 14-10, after being down against underdogs Asia for the first two days – reinforced his belief that the most important part of leading a team is good relationships and complete faith in his players.
Pre-tournament favourites Europe were trailing by one point – 6½-5½ – after the first two days of four-ball and foursomes matches, before claiming 8½ points out of a possible 12 in the singles to retain the title.
“I never for once thought that we’d lose. I had complete belief and trust in my players,” said the 46-year-old Dane, who also will captain the European Ryder Cup team in September when they take on the United States in Paris. “When you play, you do your own thing. You concentrate about yourself and that’s all you can do … you’re an individual sportsman. But also in team events, you’ve got to look at yourself and look after your point. You can’t take too much note of what your teammates are doing.
“As a captain, you live all 12 of them, and you can’t do anything about it. On the golf course, you watch them and you live all those moments. That’s the difference.
“Relationships with the players (are) what matter. Not just during this week, but in general, you’ve got to have those relationships so there’s a trust and a belief in each other. I have the complete faith in all these 12, and another 20-25 European players around the world who are trying to get into that Ryder Cup team.
“And I am proud and glad that they have lived up to my faith today.”
Captaining a team was new territory for Asia’s Arjun Atwal, but he was not short on advice.
It helps when Tiger Woods, hailed by many as a brilliant strategist during his recent stints as vice captain of the winning American teams in the 2016 Ryder Cup and the 2017 Presidents Cup, is a close friend.
Atwal revealed that he not only picked the brain of the 14-time major champion, but that Woods also was constantly messaging him throughout the tournament.
“He has been following what we are doing here,” the 44-year-old Indian said. “He has been sending me text messages. Obviously, he can’t tell me now what to do, but it has been more like telling us it can be done and congratulating us for what we did.”
“I did reach out to him a little while ago, just to see what to expect in this type of tournament and format. I pick Tiger's brain a little bit because we are really close. I also saw Davis (Love III) at a range somewhere and told him that I was captaining.
“Not like calling them every day and bothering them. Just a few things to get an idea of what to deal with and what to expect, like pairings and all.”
The EurAsia Cup marked the return of Paul Casey to the European Tour fold.
The 40-year-old Englishman may have lost his singles match on Sunday, but he played an important role in the first two days and delivered two crucial points – in the company of Tommy Fleetwood in the four-balls and with Tyrrell Hatton in the foursomes.
The Arizona-based Casey, who took up European Tour membership again this year after playing solely on the PGA Tour since the beginning of 2015, said the team room atmosphere has rekindled his fire to be a part of the Ryder Cup team against the United States in September.
“It felt great. It’s been brilliant. Team golf is unlike anything else," he said. "It’s a different team than any other I have played on. I am now the old guy and there are a lot of kids in that room. It’s a different dynamic. I have a different role and to be one of the leaders feels very good.
“I missed being in that room. It does make me hungry for the Ryder Cup. That’s why I rejoined the tour. I want to help Europe regain the Ryder Cup and this is the start of it.”
Last week’s event was the third EurAsia Cup in Malaysia, but the tournament might be moving on. It possibly won’t be held at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club, where all three editions have been contested, in 2020, but organisers have assured that the biennial battle between Europe and Asia will continue.
“When we launched the event in 2014, we wanted it to rotate among cities and countries,” tournament director Charlie Tingey said. “But we were completely taken by surprise when the prime minister of Malaysia said they wanted to host it for the first three editions.
“So, under that agreement, it is the last tournament in Malaysia. But the tournament has grown. We have had some very good talks with others. It’s not possible for me to say right now where it is going to go. Could it stay in Malaysia? Quite possibly. Could it go to any other country? Quite possibly.
“But one thing is for sure. We will have the tournament in 2020, and then in 2022.”
The tournament is owned by the European and Asian tours, but Tingey said it would difficult to host the event in Europe given the European Tour schedule and the January weather on the continent.
Little-known Asians Sunghoon Kang and Poom Saksansin dropped the hammer on Europe’s Henrik Stenson and Alex Levy during Friday’s four-balls.
What looked like one of Captain Atwal’s weakest pairings, Kang and Saksansin produced a mesmerizing start. Dovetailing brilliantly, the pair made eight birdies in the first eight holes, and were 5 up at that stage before winning, 5 and 4.
“We bumped into a team that was having a very, very special day,” a stunned Stenson said. “You know, they lipped out on the ninth hole not to go nine straight birdies, and when you have opponents like that, there’s not much to do.
“I’ve been lucky enough to hand that kind of stuff out on a few occasions over the years, and it was my turn to receive it back. So, you know, just tip our hats.”
During Saturday’s foursomes, the talk of the tournament was the match between Asia’s Gavin Green and Yuta Ikeda and Europe’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Levy.
The lead kept changing throughout the match, until a rules infraction on the 14th hole cost the Asian pair, putting them 2 down.
Ikeda hit a bunker shot and grounded his club. The problem was that he had still not come out of the bunker and Green was to play his next shot from there.
But the setback only helped fire up the Asian duo. “We just said let’s restart,” Green said. “Let’s just make birdies from here and give them a fight.”
They did exactly that. Thanks to birdies on the next three holes and a half on the 18th, the Asians prevailed, 1 up.
The result of the singles match between Thomas Pieters and Byeong Hun An proved to be decisive in the tournament, but there was more to it than just the winning putt.
Pieters, the 25-year-old Belgian, was fast off the block, helped by a slew of mistakes by An, as he raced to a 4-up lead after six holes. South Korea’s An, now a regular on the PGA Tour, then started coming back, winning four of the next eight holes to make it all square.
In danger of losing a key match, Pieters won the next two, lost the 17th and then halved the 18th to win the point that took Europe to 12½ points.
“I didn't know that everybody was standing there,” a relieved Pieters said. “I didn’t play great coming in, but just about got it done. That’s what Thomas (Bjørn) said last night. Doesn’t matter how do you it, if you just get it done, then I’ll be happy. I am just happy that I made him happy.”
After the tournament was over, Asian captain Atwal sat in the team room with his wife, Sona, chatting with players and staff when he remarked: “I can’t tell you how tense I was. It was all up to the players. There was nothing that I could control.”
Which is when Sona, accustomed to watching from the gallery, quipped: “One week and you are complaining … We have to go through this similar situation each and every week.”
Joy Chakravarty