The Royal Trophy was a men's professional team golf tournament which was played between 2006 and 2013. The competing teams represented Europe and Asia. Eight man teams played a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for the right to hold a trophy donated by the King of Thailand.
The first four contests, from 2006 to 2010, were played at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. In 2011 the event moved to a different venue in Thailand and then moved to Brunei and China.
The Royal Trophy was one of several team golf tournaments between teams from different regions of the world started since the 1990s, inspired by the popularity of the Ryder Cup. In March 2014 the European Tour and the Asian Tour launched a new team tournament, the EurAsia Cup, also played between teams represented Europe and Asia. The Royal Trophy planned for December 2014 was cancelled and has not been held since.
Event history Seve Ballesteros, a leading proponent of team golf competitions, captained the European team in the inaugural tournament, and Japan's Masahiro Kuramoto captained Asia. Europe's team included the highly ranked David Howell and Paul McGinley, and former World Number 1s Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam were Ballesteros's captain's picks. Europe won the inaugural event by 9 points to 7.
Europe retained the trophy in 2007 with a 12½–3½ victory. The 2008 event was due to take place from 11–13 January, but was postponed due to a 15-day period of national mourning for the King of Thailand's sister, and was ultimately cancelled. The third edition took place in January 2009 with the Asian team winning for the first time. In 2010, Europe regained the trophy, winning by the smallest possible margin, 8½–7½. Europe won again in 2011 but Asia won the trophy again in 2012 after a sudden-death play-off. Europe won the final edition in 2013, again by a small margin, 8½–7½.
Format The Royal Cup involved various match play competitions between players selected from two teams of eight. The winner of each match scored a point for his team, with half a point each for any match that was tied after the 18 holes. The winning team was determined by cumulative total points. In the event of a tie (8 points each) the Royal Cup was decided by a sudden-death playoff.
Year Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 TotalPoints Morning Afternoon Morning Afternoon Morning Afternoon 2006-08 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 8 singles 16 2009-13 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 8 singles 16
Results Year Venue Winning team Score Europe captain Asia captain 2014 Tournament cancelled2013 Dragon Lake Golf Club, China 8–7 José María Olazábal Yang Yong-eun2012 Empire Hotel and Country Club, Brunei AsiaAsia won on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. 8–8 José María Olazábal Naomichi Ozaki2011 Black Mountain Golf Club, Thailand 9–7 Colin Montgomerie Naomichi Ozaki2010 Amata Spring Country Club, Thailand 8–7 Colin Montgomerie Naomichi Ozaki2009 Amata Spring Country Club, Thailand Asia 10–6 José María Olazábal Naomichi Ozaki2008 Tournament cancelled2007 Amata Spring Country Club, Thailand 12–3 Seve Ballesteros Naomichi Ozaki2006 Amata Spring Country Club, Thailand 9–7 Seve Ballesteros Masahiro Kuramoto
See also
EurAsia Cup
Notes and references
External link Official site as archived in 2014