Paul McGinley, who is headlining this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open, has credited the successful staging of the inaugural EurAsia Cup last year as a vital ingredient in the continent’s victory over the United States.
“The EurAsia Cup (between Asia and Europe) is very important from a European perspective for the captain in preparation for a Ryder Cup. It was a great success and an important ingredient in our success at Gleneagles,” said McGinley.
“I learned about the Graeme (McDowell) and Victor (Dubuisson) partnership (during the EurAsia Cup). That solidified itself there. That was a very important partnership. There were a number of other guys there who looked like they would make the team. Miguel (Jimenez) looked likely – I would say if the team was picked around the time of the EurAsia Cup, he would’ve been one of the picks.
“He played incredibly well there as captain and he’d recently done well in the Masters, too, but he didn’t keep it up over the summer. Joost Luiten was another one. Even though they didn’t make the team, I learned a lot and I was well prepared if any of them made the team. It was a big learning curve and I hope the next captain will get the same out of it next time.”
The Irishman believes the EurAsia Cup, which is slated to be held in 2015, will continue to grow after a tantalizing 10-10 tie in the inaugural edition at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.
“… it will grow. I don’t know what the viewing figures were like back home, but certainly everyone on Tour followed it. It’s never going to get to the level of The Ryder Cup straight away. Even when The Ryder Cup started, even 20 years ago, it was quite small to where it is now,” he said.
“We definitely need another outlet from The Ryder Cup. The Americans have the Presidents Cup and learn a lot from it in terms of preparing for a Ryder Cup. We need an outlet and Asia is the obvious place for it. It’s very important for whoever the next captain may be to have an opportunity to oversee the EurAsia Cup.”
Jimenez, who is playing in Malaysia this week, was the only player to win all his three matches in the EurAsia Cup, which was presented by DRB-HICOM. He will be keen to see the match play showdown grow.
“The EurAsia Cup was very nice. The tournament itself was very good. It was a new tournament and a nice change that it was match play instead of stroke play, which we play every week. It helped keep players in tune for match play, which for the European players was very important,” said the Spaniard.
“It was good for golf in Malaysia and for golf in Asia generally. Of course Europe wanted to win and Asia wanted to win, but in a way it was nice that the match ended in a draw. I think people were more interested for that reason.
“My experience of being a captain at the EurAsia Cup was very good. Some of the European players went on to play in The Ryder Cup later in the year and for that it was very important and very helpful. It gave Paul McGinley an idea of how players play together, and how they cope with match play situations. I think it’s something we definitely need to keep.”
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