Spain’s Pablo Martin holed the winning putt as Europe capped a magnificent fightback by retaining the Royal Trophy with a dramatic 9-7 victory over Asia yesterday.
Martin produced a magical flop shot to 12 inches at the 18th to defeat Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, by a hole in a glorious moment for European golf.
It was also a personal triumph for captain Colin Montgomerie, coming just three months after he led Europe to Ryder Cup success over the United States at Celtic Manor.
Europe came into the final day trailing 6-2, but showed great character and commitment to win the singles 7-1 as Asia were crushed by a barrage of birdies at Black Mountain Golf Club.
“To come back from 6-2 behind and not to lose a match today against the strongest Asian team we have seen in this event was a fantastic performance, and all credit to the players,” said a delighted Montgomerie.
“It was one of the most remarkable days that I have been part of, and I have been part of a number of remarkable days for European golf. Today probably beat the lot,” he said.
“It proves the overall strength of European golf and it was an honour and a privilege to captain the team to success again after the win last year. I would love the opportunity to come back next year and go for three wins in a row.”
Asia captain Naomichi Ozaki said the loss reflected the fickle nature of matchplay.
“I did not think it was going to be easy to win today – I expected the European team would come back at us and try hard,” he said.
“It just shows the difficulty of matchplay golf. As a captain and a Japanese I take responsibility for the loss but I cannot say at this stage if I will continue as captain.”
Montgomerie levelled the scores 6.5-6.5 with a 3 and 1 triumph over Japan Tour number one Kim Kyung-tae, of Korea, the highest ranked player in the field.
The 47-year-old Scotsman bounced back from a heavy defeat in the fourballs on Saturday – keeping alive his astonishing record of never having lost a singles in eight Ryder Cup and two Royal Trophy matches – to put Europe within touching distance of a famous victory.