A Major Month

Only a couple of weeks previously, at the inaugural EurAsia Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Pablo Larrazábal had predicted that his good friend and fellow-countryman, Miguel Angel Jiménez, would win the Masters, after his brilliant showing as playing captain of the European Team. How close he came too, and then followed up brilliantly with a debut wire-to-wire win on the Champions Tour the week after. As I write, he's now only one place out of an automatic Ryder Cup berth. He'll look good in tartan trews. (He'll enjoy the Gleneagles Hotel wine cellar too!)

Talking of the new Asia versus Europe contest, it'll be a big surprise if there's a bigger surprise this year than that result. A European Team well staffed with light-heavyweights, plus a sprinkling of super-heavyweights was surely always going to be too strong for a talented but largely inexperienced Asian Team that included a "compulsory" Malaysian, Nicholas Fung, who didn't even qualify as a featherweight. The whitewash of the first day's fourballs merely confirmed that widely held belief: if major championship golf is unpredictable though, what about team match play?

The commentary team of Dougie Donnelly, Warren Humphreys, Dominic Boulet and yours truly enjoyed a pleasantly heated debate over dinner on the second night, after Asia's brilliant fightback in the foursomes. Europe were still strong favourites, needing only three and a half points from the ten singles matches, so it was obvious that both captains had to "top load" the singles running order with their best, in-form players.

Thongchai Jaidee correctly assumed that Jiménez would lead from the front as he had on the first two days. Thongchai took the intriguing decision of apparently "gifting" Europe a point by putting Nicholas Fung out first. He argued that Jiménez would probably beat anybody in his current form, while Fung would most likely lose to whoever he played. It was cunning psychology, with the added merit that if Fung put up a good fight it would inspire the rest of the Asian Team.

In the event he did better than that. Had his birdie putt dropped on the 18th, he would have stolen at least a half point (possibly even a win) that would ultimately have given Asia a most improbable victory. Messieurs Donnelly and Boulet argued that it was a masterstroke by the Asian skipper. If most matches went the distance would you want Fung in a possible cup-deciding pressure match near the end? Humphreys and Tutt thought it was madness to "gift" a point early on, leaving only two and a half more points for Europe's name to go on the Trophy. I don't believe any of us really believed Asia had much of a chance, but of course Donnelly and Boulet (I hate them!) were spot on as we witnessed a truly enthralling Saturday, where the result was in suspense-filled doubt right up to the last putt of the last match.