Joost's boost
Article posted: 31 March 2014
The Dutchman showed the kind of mental strength and playing ability that will prove invaluable
The inaugural EurAsia Cup proved a huge success and for nobody more than Joost Luiten.
The Dutchman showed the kind of mental strength and playing ability that will prove invaluable for Europe should he, as I suspect, make the Ryder Cup team in September.
Two wins out of three in Kuala Lumpur made Joost one of the outstanding performers in the 10-10 draw, but it was the way he performed in his singles win that impressed the most.
Joost helped to halt Asia’s comeback on the final day as he became one of only two European Tour players to win his singles. And he had to hole a five-foot putt on the last to do that.
On the other side of the world it was a different story for Chesson Hadley who was chasing a top-seven finish and an invitation to the Masters at the Texas Valero Open.
Unfortunately it was a task too far this time and I have no doubt his first drive down Magnolia Lane will come next year.
It says much about a player in how he deals with adversity and Chesson took to Twitter to express how he felt. 'Oops,' he tweeted. Just four letters, but it spoke volumes of the man.
So we have five players at Augusta National next week – Louis Oosthuizen, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Joost and Garrick Porteous.
The European Tour returns to action after a Spring break with the NH Collection Open in Sotogrande – a new tournament dual-ranked with the Challenge Tour.
Follow us on Twitter at @TeamISM to find out how our players are doing and also in the Shell Houston Open where Louis, Darren, Lee, Peter Uihlein and Seung-yul Noh are all playing in the final event before the year's first major.