New EurAsia Cup to challenge existing OneAsia event
New Ryder Cup-style tournament, backed by the Asian Tour, will challenge Royal Trophy, which is backed by the rival OneAsia Tour
A new Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the best players in Europe and Asia was launched yesterday, but is bound to antagonise Chinese officials who back a similar event.
The EurAsia Cup, a biennial team competition in Malaysia starting next March 28-30, will be in direct conflict with the established Royal Trophy, which will be played in Guangzhou for the first time in December.
This will be by far the biggest in the seven-year history of the Royal Trophy and China is committed to host it for the next two editions. This is a step up
The announcement of the new event by the Asian Tour and its partner, the European Tour, will spark another round in the turf war for golf in the region as the Royal Trophy is co-sanctioned by rival OneAsia, which is backed by the China Golf Association. "China will see this as a confrontational move," said one insider, as the Asian Tour is persona non grata on the mainland after relations between the two broke down many years ago.
The EurAsia Cup will pit 10 golfers from each region against each other in a three-day matchplay format, while the Seve Ballesteros-inspired Royal Trophy has eight players from the same two regions also played over three days, featuring fourballs, foursomes and singles - like the Ryder Cup.
The seventh edition of the Royal Trophy will be held at Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou from December 20-22, with Yang Yong-eun leading the Asia team and Ryder Cup-winning captain Jose Maria Olazabal heading the Europe team. Asia has also signed up China's most accomplished players, Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong, along with Japan's budding superstar Hideki Matsuyama. The trophy was previously held in Thailand, with the sixth edition in Brunei.
Lincoln Venancio, comanaging director of the Royal Trophy, said yesterday his event would only get bigger now they had moved into the mainland market. "The history of the Royal Trophy will prevail," said Venancio as he questioned the timing of the EurAsia Cup, just two weeks before the Masters at Augusta.