Have a look below to see the star letter from Issue 73.

Star Letters in Issue 73

Dear Bunkered...

Whoever dreamt up the concept of the Royal Trophy needs a right good shake. After all, if a team made up of the best American golfers – roundly considered to be the best individual golfers in the world – cannot beat Europe’s best players, what in God’s name makes people think the best players from Asia can do so? No disrespect to the Asian Tour or Asian golfers but, well, America have 17 golfers inside the world’s top 20 to Asia’s four, and still they can’t match Europe in the Ryder Cup. So, surely the result of the Royal Trophy was a foregone conclusion?

The gulf between the two sets of players in this year’s event was as big as the Grand Canyon and the 121/2-31/2 scoreline was an embarrassment to golf. It’s events like these that make you wonder if there are too many team matchplay events these days.

It’s like the old saying goes: “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.” This certainly rings true for the Royal Trophy.

Bryan Morris, via email

Editor’s Reply: You’re right, Bryan, the event was a ‘no contest’ but I think events like it do a lot to develop the game in places such as Asia. And, given Asia’s ever-increasing involvement on the European Tour schedule, I don’t think it did any harm to stage it, from a PR point of view if nothing else.