The third edition of the prestigious Royal Trophy has been scheduled to take place on January 9-11, 2009 at the highly exclusive Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand.

The unique and emotionally-charged competition played between the continents of Europe and Asia will once again feature foursomes, four-ball and singles matches – all played in a team match-play format. Some of the best players from Europe and Asia will compete for stewardship over the perpetual Royal Trophy – graciously donated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and for the pride and honor of their respective continents and people.
The Royal Trophy is the result of the legendary Seve Ballesteros’ dream of bringing the three billion people Asian continent together to compete against the masters of team golf – Europe, in a Ryder Cup format. The first two editions of the Event were staged with great success as the matches attracted record galleries and featured the highest standard of professional golf.
“We expect the 7,470-yard Amata Spring layout to be in flawless condition, the purpose-built VIP Champions Club to feature the most luxurious golf corporate hospitality in Asia and the Entertainment Village to have on offer to the fans great food, refreshments, games and the latest in golf equipment,” said Lincoln Venancio, Managing Director of Tournament owners Entertainment Group Limited.
“The atmosphere at the Royal Trophy is electrifying, the quality of golf is outstanding and the team match-play format adds a very high dosage of competitive and team spirit. It is an event not to be missed;” added Venancio.
Joe Ozaki, who has been appointed to captain the Asian Team for a second consecutive time and has brought together a fantastic line-up of Asia’s best golfers including the winner of three-tournament titles in the 2008 Japan Tour Prayad Marksaeng and two-time Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, US PGA star Charlie Wi and eight-time tournament champion S.K. Ho of Korea as well as 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit number one Liang Wen-chong of China. The youngest of the Ozaki golfing dynasty also appointed a powerful selection of players from Japan - two-time Japan Tour Order of Merit winner Toru Taniguchi, eight-time tournament title winner Hideto Tanihara and seventeen year old global sensation Ryo Ishikawa.
Ozaki said: “I am very excited about our Asian Team. All of the players selected are great champions and bring fantastic qualities to the Team. I am confident that Asia will pose a very tough challenge to the Europeans this time. We will fight very hard for the Royal Trophy.”
On the European side, Jose Maria Olazabal has been appointed to the captaincy. Ballesteros led the Europeans to victory in the two previous editions of the competition and was already deeply involved in Europe’s preparations for the upcoming series of matches when he was urgently admitted to the La Paz Hospital in Madrid on October 6 after briefly losing consciousness. A brain tumor was discovered and Ballesteros underwent a series of surgeries. The charismatic Spaniard is experiencing a positive recovery and has now returned home from the hospital.

With dazzling good Mediterranean looks, a cavalier style and an athletically beautiful swing, the Spanish wizard Ballesteros was simply a sporting genius during his years on the Tour and amassed victories throughout the world. He made golf history winning 87 professional tournament titles, three British Open Championships, two Masters; playing in three winning Ryder Cup teams and captaining one of the most famous ones in 1997 at Valderrama.

After the Ryder Cup was expanded to include continental Europe in 1979, Ballesteros helped beat the United States in 1985 to begin two decades of European dominance. The notorious golfer known the world over simply as ‘Seve’ made an extraordinary contribution to the popularization of the Ryder Cup, transforming it into one of the world’s most widely televised and tension-packed sporting spectacles.

The ‘short game’ genius, who retired as a professional player last year, has done more than any other European to popularize the sport and changed the face of European golf by captivating and inspiring millions with his magical array of shots, ruthless focus and endless inventiveness. The fifty one year old from Pedrena has produced a career of miraculous shots – including one from a parking lot during his first British Open win at Royal Lytham.

As Ballesteros makes a great recovery from what he himself referred to as “the hardest challenge of my life”, there could be no one better to lead the European Team than the two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal – known to friends simply as ‘Ollie’. The winner of thirty international career titles, Olazabal himself completed a great triumph over adversity when, after recovering from rheumatoid polyarthritis in three joints of his right foot and two in his left, he won the Masters tournament, five years after he first triumphed at Augusta National.

The names of the two Spanish legends will always be inextricably linked because of their peerless Ryder Cup partnership, one of the most formidable in history, with eleven wins and two halves out of fifteen matches. Olazabal is perceived as the ideal person to take the captaincy of the European Team in the present circumstances due to his extremely close friendship with Ballesteros, his well-known leadership skills and his fantastic Ryder Cup experience. The forty two year old was Nick Faldo’s Vice-Captain at Valhalla earlier this year and is regarded as a certain future Ryder Cup Captain for Europe.   

“I am truly honored to have been appointed by Seve to take such an important responsibility and I will do my best to deliver a win for my great friend and for Europe. I plan to stay in contact with Seve throughout the process and to work with him as a partner – just like we did in the golf course for so many years in the Ryder Cup;” said Olazabal.

Olazabal’s European Team will feature a fantastic mixture of experience and youth including Major winner Paul Lawrie from Scotland; undefeated three-time Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley from Ireland; European Order of Merit current number two Oliver Wilson of England; 2008 Ryder Cup European player Soren Hansen of Denmark; winner of twelve professional titles Niclas Fasth of Sweden; 2008 Open de France champion Pablo Larrazabal; three-time European Tour tournament title winner Johan Edfors and two-time European Tour tournament title winner Nick Dougherty.

The Royal Trophy Premier and Major Sponsors include Heineken, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), PTT, Siam Commercial Bank, Advanced Info Service (AIS), Toyota Motor Thailand and Sodick (Thailand). For further Tournament information, please call +662 651 9499 or visit the official website www.TheRoyalTrophy.com. The third edition of the Royal Trophy will be held on January 9-11, 2009 at Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand and is promoted by Entertainment Group Limited and Amen Corner.

THE ROYAL TROPHY 2009 – TEAM MEMBERS