Royal Trophy:Defending champions Europe got off to a flying start on the first day of the Royal Trophy, surging to a healthy 3 1/2 -11/2 lead over Asia after Friday's foursomes matches.
Seve Ballesteros's team, hoping to repeat their victory from the inaugural contest last year, made the early headway after three of their four partnerships registered convincing victories over the hosts at the Amata Springs Country Club.
Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke survived a test on the front nine to win 4&3 over South Korea's SK Ho and Japan's Toru Taniguchi, while Swedes Johan Edfors and Henrik Stenson saw off Tetsuji Hiratsuka and Prom Meesawat 6&5.
Thai pair Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant trailed on all but one hole as they slumped to a 3&1 defeat at the hands of another Swedish pair, Niclas Fasth and Robert Karlsson.
Asian number one Jeev Milkha Singh and YE Yang salvaged some pride for the home side after they battled back from two holes down with three to play to earn a half against Anthony Wall and Paul McGinley.
Ballesteros, captaining the team for a second successive year, said his players had performed beyond his expectations, but warned the second day would not be so easy.
"I predicted 3-1, and that was even better," he said. "I'm very happy with my players. They played flawless match play.
"It will be a totally different game tomorrow. Four-balls is totally different."
Asian counterpart Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki said he would prefer to put the first day behind him.
"I just want to forget about what just happened," he said.
"The European boys played so well, I'm really impressed with the way they play," he told a news conference in Chon Buri, an hour east of Bangkok.
After a close first nine holes, Westwood and Clarke turned the game around with birdies on the 10th, 11th and 15th to register the first win of the day.
In the next foursome, Stenson and Edfors birdied the first three holes and moved ahead of Hiratsuka and Prom with birdies on the seventh and 11th before tying-up the match at the 13th hole.
Thongchai and Thaworn reduced Fasth and Karlsson's lead to one by the 15th but a Fasth birdie on the 17th won Europe the points.
Wall and McGinley had the toughest test of the day against top Asian pairing Singh and Ye, who twice came from behind to take the lead on the eighth.
They trailed after the 11th but levelled the score on the final hole to halve the match.
McGinley said the Europeans were confident of winning back the trophy but said his match showed it would be no walkover.
"This is still a strong Asian team, and we're not underestimating them," he told a news conference. "But with this lead, we're still confident of victory."
