As far as dress rehearsals go, the EurAsia Cup proved to be a bit more challenging than European captain Thomas Bjorn had hoped for. Yet with an eye towards preparing for the Ryder Cup in September, Bjorn and his European squad rallied in Sunday singles, winning eight of the first nine matches after starting the day one point behind, to beat their Asian counterparts, 14-10.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters earned the decisive point at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, defeating South Korea’s Byeong-Hun An, 1 up.
The European side had six of the world’s top-20 competing, compared to an Asian squad with just one from the top-40 and half the team ranked outside the top-100. Still, the home side won Friday’s fourballs, 3½-2½, and split the Saturday foursomes, 3-3.
Yet the Euros took back momentum on Sunday. Alex Noren started the day with a 4&2 win over Nicholas Fung. He was followed with wins by Tommy Fleetwood (who was undefeated on the week), Henrik Stenson, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Bernd Wiesberger, Alexander Levy and Tyrrell Hatton.
“They knew they had to keep going until the end,” Bjorn said, “they knew they were up against something – there was a special atmosphere in that Asian team – and they knew they had to work hard. Today, I can only say that every single one of them stood up and did everything they could and I’m just very proud of these boys.”
Captain's Take: @ThomasBjornGolf's thoughts on an epic final day. pic.twitter.com/CXL3Zi3HlC
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 14, 2018
