Captain Jose Maria Olazabal gives Nick Dougherty advice on day one

Asia hold a commanding 3-1 lead over Europe after day one as they bid for their first Royal Trophy victory.

Europe made a bright start in all four pairings at the Amata Spring Country Club near Bangkok but Asia battled back to claim a healthy first day lead.

The only European victory came from the pairing of Denmark's Soren Hansen and Scotland's Paul Lawrie.

English pair Nick Dougherty and Oliver Wilson endured a frustrating day and lost their match on the 18th hole.

Ireland's Paul McGinley and Spain's Pablo Larrazabal lost the last three holes of their match against Charlie Wi and Liang Wen-chong as the Asian pair finished two up.

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"We've both played Ryder Cup and you learn to expect the unexpected," said Lawrie.

"They holed a few big, big putts just to stay one up, but you expect that in these types of team matches.

"You've just got to keep going and keep grinding away and hope for a break.

"Sixteen was a big hole for us. I decided to knock it down there and Soren hit a beautiful chip into the green - much the same as he had on 15 - and I managed to roll the putt in."

Europe are captained by Jose Maria Olazabal, with his Spanish compatriot Seve Ballesteros hoping to captain the team next year as he battles back from brain surgery.

Day one results:

Soren Hansen/Paul Lawrie (Den/Sco) bt Ryo Ishikawa/Toru Taniguchi (Jpn/Jpn) 2&1

Charlie Wi/Liang Wen-chong (Kor/Chn) bt Paul McGinley/Pablo Larrazabal (Ire/Sp) 2 up

Hideto Tanihara/SK Ho (Jpn/Kor) bt Nick Dougherty/Oliver Wilson (Eng/Eng) 1 up

Prayad Marksaeng/Thongchai Jaidee (Tha/Tha) beat Johan Edfors/Niclas Fasth (Swe/Swe) 5&4

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