European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke and Jeev Milkha Singh of India will lead rival teams at the 2016 EurAsia Cup in Malaysia, organisers announced Monday.
Following a spectacular 10-10 draw at the inaugural edition in 2014, the biennial Ryder Cup-styled showdown between Europe and Asia will take place at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Cup, located west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, from January 15 to 17, 2016.
With Singh, a former two-time Asian Tour number one, and Northern Ireland’s major champion Clarke helming the teams, the EurAsia Cup will have two of golf’s most respected men leading Asia and Europe.
“We want to go to Malaysia and win the EurAsia Cup. I’ve already had a lot of players talking to me about it and no matter who is in the European side, we will be hungry to win,” said 47-year-old Clarke.
“It’s going to be very tough – we saw what happened the last time,” he added, referring to the draw in the first edition.
Meanwhile the 44-year-old Singh, who won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2006 and 2008, said it was an honour to be offered the EurAsia Cup captaincy.
“I am very excited by the prospect of leading what I hope will be a very strong Asian team. I hope I can get a great team out there and keep them calm and collected and get the best out of them,” he said.
The winning 12-player team will share prize money of $3.6 million while the runners-up will share $1.2 million.
Malaysia will also host the EurAsia Cup in 2018.