Jose Maria Olazabal masterminded the Miracle of Medinah in 2012 and this year produced another piece of magic as Europe took the Royal Trophy on a dramatic final day at the Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, China.
The Spaniard’s Ryder Cup side won eight and tied one of 12 last-day matches in Chicago a year ago to take the trophy.
His Royal Trophy side faced a similar situation yesterday. Europe started day three 5-3 down to Asia and when the hosts got out to lead 7-3 after singles losses for Scottish duo and Press and Journal columnists Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher, the writing was on the wall.
A stunning turnaround ensued, though, and Europe won 8
Yang appeared to be vindicated when his men lead at the end of day two and then stretched out in front as Kiradech Aphibarnrat beat Lawrie 3 and 2 and Gallacher was toppled 4 and 2 by Thongchai Jaidee.
Asia needed a point and a half with six games out on the course at that stage and, even when Scot Marc Warren took the two putts he needed to beat Ryo Ishikawa, it appeared nothing more than a consolation. But that gave Europe some momentum and then HS Kim picked up three bogeys on the way home which allowed David Howell to make birdies on the 15th and 16th to level.
Howell then took the match with a brilliant last-hole up-and-down from the greenside bunker.
The rush stopped partly as KT Kim halved with Alvaro Quiros.
But Europe quickly got a move on again as Thorbjorn Olesen saw off Wu Ashun with two holes to spare.
Bernd Wiesberger and Hiroyuki Fujita reached the turn all square.
But the former then ramped up the power and four birdies over the first six holes heading home earned him a 3 and 2 win.
Europe’s middle order had put them in with a chance and going into the last match between Liang Wen-chong and Colsaerts everyone knew this would be a trophy-winning duel.
Colsaerts edged ahead first and then twice recovered as Liang nipped in front.
But the Belgian went out on his own again with three left.
Liang then had a 15-footer to level on 16 but missed before he messed up an approach on the 17th. He needed a 30-footer to take the match to the last hole but he three-putted and Colsaerts dropped in from two feet for the win.
Olazabal said: “I want to thank these fantastic eight guys who did something extraordinary. It is something, to be honest, I had a few doubts about, especially through the round.”
Asian captain Yang lamented his side’s costly errors on a sloppy Sunday for his charges.
“Unfortunately, we had a shocking loss and, hopefully, next year we will learn from the mistakes we made and come back stronger,” said the South Korean.