EurAsia Cup 2014 in Malaysia - Inaugural tournament featuring Europe and Asia in a Ryder Cup like format

The EurAsia Cup 2014 - to me an exciting addition to the game of golf worldwide.



Here we go. Players and team captain alike arrived in Malaysia for the EurAsia Cup 2014. A Ryder Cup like event featuring 10 of the best players each of Asia and Europe. It is the first event in an attempt to create a competition between top players of those two continents which will be held every two years.

It is not supposed to be a copy of the Ryder Cup, but a first step in an outreach of the European Tour towards Asia to strengthen the relation ship. I have read many articles about this upcoming event. There a few writers who did not necessarily like the creating of the event, relating their concerns to the Royal Trophy. That argument is meaningless. The Royal Trophy is a an event in cooperation with three different golf governing bodies and is not sanctioned by the European Tour.

But I do not want to go into further details. If you like to find out more about the differences between some players, organizers and the European Tour, go to the official European Tour Website.

I want to focus on this exciting event which brings some of the best players of  Asian and European Golf together. Especially the Asian players are rare to be seen on TV and news about those competitors are not often published in main stream media.

 The format is exciting. Fourball, Foursome and Singles. The event offers all kinds of other competitions including a Pro Am and other events where players can compete against each other.  Looking at the schedule I think it will be a wonderful golf week and spectators and fans are going to see some excellent golf.

Born in Europe I certainly am a fan of some of the players on our team. Miguel Angel Jimenez being one of my all time favorite golfers and golf personalities. His team includes some very exciting players.

Dubuisson being one of them. This  young gun plays some exciting golf and has no fear on the course. That will be refreshing and with his talent he can be a point winner.

Graeme McDowel. The fighter, the player, the man who never gives up. I like his style and no doubt he will put some good rounds on the board.

Thomas Bjorn. This veteran is not only nice to watch, but he leads the Race to Dubai, which is self explanatory.

Also playing on the European Team are Fernandez Castano, Donaldson, Larazabal and Gallacher. All tournament winners. All players on the European Team are in the top 70 of the World Rankings. Now that is some promising stuff. With a captain like Jimenez I am almost tempted to say that they will be unbeatable. Here is what Miguel had to say when ask some questions about the EurAsia Cup .



But, I am in the golf business for years and I know, that there is no such thing as unbeatable. The Asian team is a powerhouse in itself. With the fearless leaser Tongchai Jaidee leading the charge the players on this team have the ability and the talent to win. Tongchai is one of the most decorated golf players in Asia.

He showed on endless locations his calm, talent and ability of leadership. His team has some Asian Tour Heavy weights.

Leading of with a veteran who has plenty of wins to show for Prayad Marksaeng. Born 1966 is not the youngest. That shows confidence by the captain and will bring experience to the team.

Koumei Oda. Not exactly a newcomer Oda had a great year in 2013 and played himself into this team.

Hideto Tanihara. Plenty of wins are on his account and again an experienced player for this team.

There is younger players in this team of which I like Kiradech Aphibarnrat the best. He is an exciting player to watch and is able to beat anyone at any time.

My feeling is that Jimenez will lead his time to an exciting win and set the foundation for an event which hopefully will be part of golfs history from here on.

Wednesday the players will be part of the Pro Am. Not sure if I there will be much on TV. But I will follow it closely online and surely will have some comments available. Thursday both teams will be on the course for the first time. No idea bout the pairings. I just will wait and let the team captains surprise me.

It would be interesting to hear what other writers and players think. About the tournament and about the outcome. So leave comments if you are interested.

Official EurAsia Cup Website

The following videos related to the EurAsia Cup Q&A I also found online.