Jose Maria Olazabal did it again.
A year after leading Europe to a stunning comeback at Medinah and breaking America’s hearts at the Ryder Cup, Olazabal captained Europe to another miracle finish Sunday at the Royal Trophy in China, according to Reuters.
Trailing 5-3 heading into Sunday’s singles matches, and 7-3 after Asia won the first two points, Europe won five of the last six matches to win the Royal Trophy for the fifth time. It was Olazabal’s first win after captaining Europe in losing efforts in 2009 and 2012.
“I want to thank these fantastic eight guys who did something extraordinary today,” Olazabal said. “It is something, to be honest, I had a few doubts (about), especially through the round. Thank you very much for your contribution.”
Marc Warren started the comeback for Europe by defeating Ryo Ishikawa with a par on the 18th hole. According to Reuters, Ishikawa shanked a chip shot on the last hole.
Europe’s comeback continued as Thorbjorn Olesen defeated Wu Ashun, 3 and 2; David Howell beat Kim Hyung-sung, 1 up; and Bernd Wiesberger topped Hiroyuki Fujita, 3 and 2.
After Alvaro Quiros halved his match with Kim Kyung-tae, the championship came down to Nicolas Colsaerts against Liang Wenchong
Colsaerts held a 1-up advantage going into the 18th, and he was able to save par, while Kim three-putted for bogey, to secure the win for Europe.