Asia-Japan golfers share honours

Asia shared the honours with Japan after an action-packed opening day in the inaugural Phoenix Dynasty Cup, presented by VISA, which ended in a 3-3 tie, on Friday.

Chinese stars Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong, picked by non-playing captain Hsieh Min-nan for the opening foursomes, drew first blood for Asia at Mission Hills Golf Club when they held off Nobuhito Sato and Hajime Meshiai to win by 1-hole.

But the home side failed to ride on the early momentum as the historic Ryder Cup-style showdown ended in a thrilling stalemate after six foursomes matches.

Hiroyuki Fujita and Katsumasa Miyamoto drew level for Japan with a convincing 3 and 1 victory over Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh while Taichi Teshima and Keiichiro Fukabori put them 2-1 ahead after holding off Lin Keng-chi and Kang Wook-soon by 1-hole.

Asia's Thai connection Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng battled back from two holes down after the turn to edge Tohru Suzuki and Katsunori Kuwabara 2 & 1 and level the match. Tommy Nakajima and Tomohiro Kondo were never behind in their showdown against Thammanoon Srirot and Thaworn Wiratchant, winning 2 & 1.

But Asia's strategy to send out reigning Asian PGA Tour number one Jyoti Randhawa and Korea's Charlie Wi as the last pairing paid off when they beat Kiyoshi Murota and Yasuharo Imano 2 & 1 in a thrilling final match.

"The scoreline shows that the Asian team is very good," said Japan's non-playing captain Isao Aoki. "We knew that the players would be nervous on the first day, so it's good to have three points in the bag."

Hsieh was delighted with the way his players fought back after red numbers favouring Japan showed up prominently on the leaderboard at one stage in the opening day.

"We had a bad start and I was worried after the first nine holes, but we fought back very well. Asia have every reason to feel proud today. I was confident at the start of the day but got a bit worried after a poor start. We have a good team, good pairings and good players -- that was why we managed to come back."

Shenzhen-based Zhang and Liang were never behind against Sato and Meshiai and were two-up after eight holes. But the Japanese duo ensured a nerve-jangling finish after winning the ninth and 17th holes, the latter following a 30-foot birdie from Meshiai. However, a poor drive by Sato, second on the Japan Tour money list last year, led to a bogey at the last and handed the first point to Asia.

The 24-year-old Liang said: "We got a bit nervous when Sato and Meshiai drew level on 17. But Zhang hit a great shot into the last green and I just missed the birdie putt. It was good to get Asia's first point."

Sato conceded that the pressure was tremendous in the day's top match. "We were a bit stiff from the first hole until the 18th and sometimes we didn't know what we were doing. After Meshiai holed the long birdie on 17 to draw level, we thought we had a chance. But I hit a poor drive at the last which cost us the match."

Thailand's Prayad struggled with his short game as he and partner Thongchai trailed Suzuki and Kuwabara by two holes at the turn. But after switching to his own golf ball on the back nine, Asia's fortunes turned for the better.

"I didn't have any feel using Thongchai's ball. That was why we decided to switch to my regular ball and started to play better. We had a good teamwork going and I told Thongchai to simply concentrate on his putting, which worked out well. It was good to come from behind and win this match."

Veteran Nakajima summed up Japan's determination to bring the first Dynasty Cup home after a battling first day.

"The Asian team showed that they have strong players and we had to convince ourselves that the level of play on the Japan Tour is also good. We kept saying 'we can do it, we can do it' in our match against Thammanoon and Thaworn," said the 48-year-old Nakajima.

In the final match, Wi, who has never played the foursomes format previously, and Randhawa pulled away from Murota and Imano with three straight birdies from the 14th hole for a 2 &1 victory.

"I was very nervous, much more than I''d expected," said Wi. "We went two-down immediately which wasn't the best of starts but I told Jyoti to play it one hole at a time.

"I think the turning point was on the ninth hole when we squared the match despite a poor tee shot from me. And to birdie three in a row in foursomes was a good run," said Wi.

Randhawa paid tribute to his partner. "On the back nine, Charlie started hitting approach shots straight at the pins and it made things easy for me. Although I had only a four-footer on 17 to end the match, there was a lot of pressure on me. I hit it too firm but luckily, it slid in from the back of the cup," said the Indian star.

Six fourball matches will be held tomorrow followed by 12 singles shoot-outs on Sunday. Asia have retained all their combinations for the fourball while Japan have switched their players around in hope of pulling ahead. The teams need 12 1/2 points to win the first Dynasty Cup.

Results:

Asia 3 - Japan 3

Foursomes: Zhang Lian-wei/Liang Wen-chong (Asia) bt Hajime Meshiai/Nobuhito Sato (Jpn) 1-hole

Hiroyuki Fujita/Katsumasa Miyamoto (Jpn) bt Arjun Atwal/Jeev Milkha Singh (Asia) 3 & 1

Taichi Teshima/Keiichiro Fukabori (Jpn) bt Lin Keng-chi/Kang Wook-soon (Asia) 1-hole

Thongchai Jaidee/Prayad Marksaeng (Asia) bt Tohru Suzuki/Katsunori Kuwabara (Jpn) 2 &  1

Tommy Nakajima/Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) bt Thammanoon Srirot/Thaworn Wiratchant (Asia) 2 &  1

Charlie Wi/Jyoti Randhawa (Asia) bt Kiyoshi Murota/Yasuharo Imano (Jpn) 2 & 1

Saturday's draw:

Fourball (Asian team first): Thammanoon Srirot/Thaworn Wiratchant vs Tommy Nakajima/Hajime Meshiai (10.15am), Thongchai Jaidee/Prayad Marksaeng vs Katsumasa Miyamoto/Tohru Suzuki (10.27am), Lin Keng-chi/Kang Wook-soon vs Nobuhito Sato/Yasuharu Imano (10.39am), Arjun Atwal/Jeev Milkha Singh vs Hiroyuki Fujita/Keiichiro Fukabori (10.51am), Zhang Lian-wei/Liang Wen-chong vs Kiyoshi Murota/Tomohiro Kondo (11.03am), Jyoti Randhawa/Charlie Wi vs Taichi Teshima/Katsunori Kuwabara (11.15am).