Asia wins Royal Trophy

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei - Korea’s Kim Kyung-tae made an 8-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff Sunday to lift Asia past Europe in the Royal Trophy.

After the teams finished singles play tied at 8, Kim and countryman Yang Yong-eun edged Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Italy’s Francesco Molinari in the fourball playoff at The Empire Hotel and Country Club.

Colsaerts had a chance to match Kim’s birdie, but missed a 5-footer.Yang forced the playoff, beating Molinari 2 and 1 in the final singles match.

After falling behind 3 1/2-1/2 on Friday in the opening foursomes, Asia cut it to 4 1/2-3 1/2 in fourball play Saturday, and tied it with 4 1/2 points in the closing singles. Europe leads the series 4-2.

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh pulled Asia even at 7 with a 1-up victory over Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson restored Europe with 1-up decision over Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa. Yang then finished off Molinari with a halve on the 17th to send the competition to the playoff.

AP