KUALA LUMPUR: Team Asia captain Arjun Atwal has turned to his golf buddy, Tiger Woods, as the EurAsia Cup starts at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club on Friday.
The first-time captain seeks advice from Woods in regard to team match-play event – a format dominated by Team Europe in this biennial event.
“I pretty much pick Tiger’s brain a little bit because we are really close.”
The eight-time winner on the Asian Tour said he needed a clear picture on the pairing as he needs to match the long hitters with the short hitters.
“You’ve got to understand, with my team, I have players from all over. There are two guys playing in Japan, two guys playing on the PGA Tour, two on the European Tour, four or five on the Asian Tour.
“I’m trying to get all these guys together in these two days, to gel and that’s pretty hard,” said Arjun.
Arjun admits Team Asia are the underdogs on paper but he does not want to let that get to his team as he is confident of his selection.
Team Europe captain Thomas Bjorn does not want his team to underestimate Team Asia as he regards them as the “strongest they’ve ever fielded” despite his teammates’ vast Ryder Cup experiences.
Arjun’s team are made up of Gavin Green, Nicholas Fung, Yuta Ikeda, Hideto Tanihara, Li Haotong, Anirban Lahiri, S.S.P. Chawrasia, Poom Saksansin, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Phachara Khongwatmai, Byeonghun An and Sunghoon Kang.
Bjorn’s team consist of Rafa Cabrera Bello, Paul Casey, Paul Dunne, Ross Fisher, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Levy, Alex Noren, Thomas Pieters, Henrik Stenson and Bernd Wiesberger.