Europe extend lead over Asia at Royal Trophy

CHON BURI, Thailand, Jan 13: Europe extended their lead over Asia to five points on the second day of the Royal Trophy with two wins and two halves in the fourball pairings today.

Seve Ballesteros's team were on 6 1/2 after winning the day 3-1 with victories for Henrik Stenson and Johan Edfors and Anthony Wall and John McGinley. Asia, who produced a stronger performance than yesterday, were on 1 1/2.

Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke were forced to share the spoils with Thai pair Prom Meesawat and Thongchai Jaidee despite leading for 11 holes having trailed at the start.

Westwood levelled the score with an eagle on the second and added a birdie on the par-three fourth to take the lead but crucial birdies from 22-year-old Prom on the 15th and 16th holes helped the Asians earn a half.

Prom, who notched up six birdies during the game, said he was disappointed not to get a point against Europe's top pairing.

''We had a good chance to win the full point but it didn't go well on the green,'' he told a news conference. ''If Thongchai had made a couple of putts we could have won but I'm not blaming him.'' After a sorry display on the opening day, an Asian revival looked on the cards when Thaworn Wiratchant and Tetsuji Hiratsuka led for 11 holes against Paul McGinley and Anthony Wall but birdies from Wall on the 10th and 11th allowed the Europeans to creep back into the match.

Wall secured another birdie on the par-four 15th and held the lead to the final hole to win by a single stroke. Stenson and Edfors had the most comfortable victory with five birdies each on the way to a 2&1 win over YE Yang and Toru Taniguchi. Robert Karlsson and fellow Swede Niclas Fasth halved their match with Indian Jeev Milkha Singh and South Korean SK Ho.

Ballesteros praised the Asians for fighting back after their trouncing on the first day and said his team could not afford to be complacent in the singles, despite their lead.

''Every match was exciting, three went to the last hole,'' he told a news conference.

''It's still not decided. There are still eight points remaining and things are decided on the last hole.

''Match play is very unpredictable, it's hard to tell what will happen.'' Asian captain Naomichi ''Joe'' Ozaki said he expected an even better performance from his team in the singles on Sunday.

''My boys played better today, and they'll play even better tomorrow,'' Ozaki told a news conference.

''We had some good matches but the European team showed they have guts. We had two chances to win but it didn't work out well for us.'' Europe won the inaugural contest 9-7 last year having established a 6-2 lead going into the final day.

Reuters