BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei- Yang Yong-eun and Kim Kyung-tae emerged the sole bright spot for the Asian side, preventing a total route by the Europeans, at the conclusion of the first day of the three-day Royal Trophy golf championship, Friday.

Europe prevailed over Asia 3 1/2 to 1/2, with Henrik Stenson and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano shutting down Ryo Ishikawa and Bae Sang-moon at the 14th hole, up 5 with 4 holes remaining.

Yang and Kim emerged the sole bright spot for the Asian side out of the four matches in Friday’s foursomes, battling European captain Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez to a draw and earning half-of-a-point for their side, as the day’s play drew to a close and the sun set over the South China Sea at The Empire Hotel and Country Club in Brunei.

Naomichi “Joe” Ozaki said he will rally his players Friday night to prepare them for Saturday’s day of play during a press conference following the game.

"I hope the half of a point Kim and I contributed can inspire our team tomorrow,” Yang said. “We have to inflict on them tomorrow the same sort of damage we suffered today.”

East Asia’s first major champion, Yang had confidence that his youthful teammates will not be intimidated by their older and more experienced European rivals.

But age might not have anything to do with it, even though Yang and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh are the only two members of the Asian side that are over 27 years of age.
Four of the younger players are making their Royal Trophy. The youthful Asian Team will be put the test this weekend during the three day tourney’s 6th edition this year.

“I have no worries about my Asian team-mates regarding age or experience – it seems players mature so much younger these days because the amateur and college systems are so good,” Yang said in a Royal Trophy press release on Friday at the start of the tournament.

Teammate Ryo Ishikawa is only 21, but he has already made a name for himself.

Ryo won the Order of Merit in the Japan Golf Tour, and two other members of the Asian team — Bae Sang-moon and Kim Kyung-tae, have done the same thing in their mid-twenties.

Although Wu Ashun of China, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and Yoshinori Fujimoto of Japan are young, they all have tournament wins under their belt and have played well in big events.

The new generation of Asian players has seen what Yang and Choi Kyung-ju have achieved, and that makes them hungry for international competition which will help them achieve greater success, Yang said.

The question is whether the young Asian players competing in this year’s Royal Trophy have the right stuff to challenge top tier golfers in the future.

The Royal Trophy originated from the vision of legendary five-time Major winner, the late Severiano Ballesteros, who intended to build a highly competitive international tournament that can provide the same golf growth impetus the Ryder Cup lent to Europe in the 1980s and 1990s.

The “Spanish wizard,” Ballesteros was simply a sporting genius during his years on the Tour and amassed victories throughout the world.

By Philip Iglauer, Korea Herald correspondent

(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)