Europeans line up for The Royal Trophy

Europe has assembled a team packed with match play experience in their attempt to defeat Asia and win The Royal Trophy for the third successive year when the 2008 contest takes place at Amata Spring Country Club, Bangkok, Thailand from January 11-13. Of the nine players in Captain Seve Ballesteros’s team, five - Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, David Howell, Robert Karlsson, Paul McGinley - have previously played in this international team match play with Anders Hansen, the reigning BMW PGA Champion, Grégory Havret, Raphaël Jacquelin and Graeme Storm making their debuts in the match. Indeed Clarke, Fasth, Karlsson and McGinley were all in the European team which retained The Royal Trophy with a comprehensive 12 ½ - 3 ½ victory at Amata Spring in January this year, a victory which followed a 9-7 success in the inaugural contest at the Bangkok course in January 2006. The talented quartet have also all played in successful Ryder Cup and Seve Trophy teams. Clarke, Howell, Karlsson and McGinley were Captain’s picks for the contest while Fasth qualified automatically from The European Tour Order of Merit. Joining the Swede from the Order of Merit is his fellow Scandinavian Hansen, Englishman Storm and the French duo of Havret and Jacquelin. Storm made his professional match play debut in September, winning twice as part of the successful Great Britain and Ireland team in The Seve Trophy, while the trip to Bangkok will give Havret and Jacquelin an opportunity to rekindle their sensational Seve Trophy partnership which saw them win three matches out of four for the Continental European cause in Ireland. As with the 2007 match in January, the format of the contest will see four foursomes matches open proceedings on Friday January 11 with four fourball matches following on Saturday January 12. The contest will close with nine singles matches on Sunday January 13, a team requiring nine points for an outright victory. As well as battling for the beautiful Royal Trophy, donated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, each member of the winning team will pick up US$106,250, while each member of the losing team will receive US$53,125. Seve Ballesteros will lead the European team for the third successive year while the Asian team will be captained for the second time by Japan’s Naomichi ‘Joe’ Ozaki, who took over from his fellow countryman Masahiro Kuramoto, the captain for the inaugural contest in 2006.

European Team:
Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland)
Raphaël Jacquelin (France)
Niclas Fasth (Sweden)
Robert Karlsson (Sweden)
Anders Hansen (Denmark)
Paul McGinley (Ireland)
Grégory Havret (France)
Graeme Storm (England)
David Howell (England)