Asia’s first major champion Yang Yong-eun appeared confident that his youthful teammates will not be intimidated by older and more experienced European rivals, as the Royal Trophy teed off at the Empire Hotel and Country Club in Brunei on Friday.

Yang and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh are the only two members of the Asian side that are over 27 years of age. Four of the younger players are making their Royal Trophy debuts.

The youthful Asian team will be put to the test this weekend during the three-day tourney’s sixth edition this year. 

“I have no worries about my Asian teammates regarding age or experience ―it seems players mature so much younger these days because the amateur and college systems are so good,” Yang said in a Royal Trophy press release on Friday at the start of the tournament.

Yang is making his first appearance in the Royal Trophy since 2007 for the Asian side.

Teammate Ryo Ishikawa is only 21, but he has already made a name for himself.

Ryo won the Order of Merit in the Japan Tour, and two other members of the Asian team ― Bae Sang-moon and Kim Kyung-tae ― have done the same thing in their mid-twenties.

Although Wu Ashun of China, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and Yoshinori Fujimoto of Japan are young, they all have tournament wins under their belts and have played well in big events.

The generation of Asian players has seen what Yang and Choi Kyung-ju have achieved, and that makes them hungry for international competition which will help them achieve greater success, Yang said.

The Royal Trophy is a crucial step in achieving international recognition.

The question is whether the young Asian players competing in this year’s Royal Trophy have the right stuff to challenge top-tier golfers in the future.

The Royal Trophy originated from the vision of legendary five-time major winner, the late Severiano Ballesteros, who intended to build a highly competitive international tournament that can provide the same golf growth impetus the Ryder Cup lent to Europe in the 1980s and 1990s.

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 by 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 in Valderrama, Spain.

By Philip Iglauer, Korea Herald correspondent
(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)