Bjorn relying on fight-back at Eurasia Cup
SHAH ALAM: Team Asia have proven that they can put on a strong challenge despite winning by just one point in the opening round of the biennial EurAsia Cup with three-and-a-half points at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club, here, Friday.
Team Europe captain, Thomas Bjorn is relying on his team to come out fighting on Saturday after they fell behind on Day One.
He noted that there were a lot of matches that could have swung either way on the back nine.
“The results speak for themselves on both sides. There are some guys who played extremely good golf. You look at our top pairing today, quality all the way through.
“They are a class act, both of those boys. It was nice to see Paul (Dunne) come back into the fold of European golf and go out and being determined at delivering a performance that’s just world class,” Bjorn told a press conference after yesterday’s round.
After making a shaky start in the fourball matches, the defending champions rallied in the afternoon and had a chance to head into the weekend on level terms but a brilliant birdie at the last hole from China’s Li Haotong saw Team Asia finish the opening day of the 2018 EurAsia Cup with a 3½ - 2½ lead.
They managed to turn the tide in the afternoon as putts began to fly in all over the course.
“You’ve always got hopes and thoughts in your minds of how you think the day is going to pan out and obviously we didn’t send the team out to be behind. Yeah, it’s not what we were looking for, but some very positive things and there were a few rusty things, as well, and there was some unbelievable golf from a couple of the Asian pairings, as well. But we expected that,” he said.
For today’s foursome matches, Bjorn noted that he had studied his team players strengths.
“Statistically, you look at players and look at what they are good at and try and pair them in a way where, you know, some guys are very good iron players from the fairway. Some guys hit a lot of greens, a lot of some guys hole a lot of putts and are good around the greens. You try and mix and match in that way, and personalities come into the fray, as well.
“...Foursomes is a very different game. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead, but we are in a position where we feel like we knew we could find ourselves in this position, and we knew this Asian team is very strong and very much ready to play,” said the captain. -