Eurasia Cup Is On Its Way This Week In Europe And Jimenez Will Be A Great Capitano - My First Look At The Tournament

It is easy to oversee what is going on in golf in Europe and Asia with all the hype, news and great play here in the USA. While it is true, that the PGA Tour and events in the US in general are a big deal, we should not forget, that many of the European and Asian players who compete on our tour and offering us a great show, are also playing and competing overseas and despite the price money often being much smaller, there is great golf you can follow when you have a chance.

Now this weeks competition is one of my favorites. The newly introduced EurAsia Cup is a competition between, you guessed it , Europe and Asia, two continents which account for a good group of great golfers competing all over the World. The format is similar to other team competitions and it's structure reminds me at times on the Ryder Cup ( although that is one event which you can not compare easily to any other). Europe and Asia will bring out the best they have to compete in three different formats. Match-Play, Forsome and Fourball.

Being played in Malaysia, one might think that Asia lead by Tongchai Jaidee as captain has the home advantage and sits in the driver seat of this event. There is some truth to it, as many of the Asian players spent more time in this country playing than most European professionals and are more familiar with and comfortable on those tracks. But before a conclusion like that can be made, one has to look at the European Team, which features 10 players in the top 70 of the World Golf Rankings. There is some serious quality in this team.

All lead by Graeme McDowel, who is a player in every aspect. Never giving up and always fully aware that any match can change within a hole, followed by players like Dubuisson, who is one of the top new comers in the World of professional golf and Thomas Bjorn. A veteran who is not new to team competition and the current leader of the Race to Dubai.

But I think the most significant advantage the European team has, is its Captain. Miguel Angel Jimenez is one of the most interesting characters in golf. A great and successful player and an ambassador for the game of golf as it is meant to be played. In a relaxed and gentleman like manner. His style, in life and on the course, will give those players on the European team great comfort and confidence. While being a very laid back person, Jimenez is a fighter, a competitor and his record shows that he is a winner, even in his age right now. He will translate all of the qualities to the course.

Those guys in his team I think have one of the best captains available today and it will show. Jaidee is a wonderful golfer and man himself and when you look at his career, there is no doubt that he will bring lots of experience and knowledge to the table when getting his team ready and when helping them on the course.

His team is very strong as well. Bringing in Kiradech Aphibarnrat, a fun and exciting player to watch as well as tournament win collectors like Prayad Marksaeng who can account for 8 Asian Tour wins and some wins on other tours or Nicholas Fung a 24 year old who already can show 8 professional wins and is from Malaysia. Just to mention a few of his team mates.

But I am positive, that you will not see him sitting on a table with his mates, having a good cigar and an excellent glass of wine, expressing confidence and transmitting calm ( not saying that this is the key to get players in a relaxed mode). Both so important and yet sometimes not brought on to the players the right way, if there is such thing.

However, he will lead by great example when playing and competing on the course. Showing focus on the task and the unbreakable will to win. It will be an interesting event and you can be sure I will watch as much as I can and that you will read more about the EurAsia Cup all over the media.

My tip is, that Europe will succeed in a relaxed and strong manner. But golf is unpredictable, so do not take my word to place your bet. One never knows what will happen on any given day on the course. Overall I am very excited to see this new competition being played. It will give us the opportunity to see more of the Asian based players. Some of them fun to watch. Also it will give us a chance to see more of those wonderful golf courses overseas and learn more about golf in those countries. The EurAsia Cup will be a great addition to the pro golf World.