Olazabal Names Seve Team

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A Continental Europe team featuring five Ryder Cup players will take on defending champions Great Britain & Ireland at next week’s Seve Trophy following confirmation of the two ten-man teams for the eighth edition of the biennial contest.

Led by Captain José María Olazábal, who steered Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 2012, the Continental Europe Team includes three of the Spaniard’s stars from the ‘Miracle at Medinah’, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Swede Peter Hanson and Italian Francesco Molinari, as well as two of his vice captains, Denmark’s Thomas Björn, the winner of the Omega European Masters, and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez.

They will be joined at St-Nom-La Bretèche Golf Club, in France, by Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and Italian Matteo Manassero, who played in the contest in 2007 and 2011 respectively, and three debutants, Frenchman Grégory Bourdy, Dutchman Joost Luitenand Dane Thorbjørn Olesen.

Olazábal, who will undertake his second stint as captain in the contest, having been at the helm at The Wynyard Club in 2005, said: “I think we have a very strong team this year with a good mix of players with Ryder Cup experience and some exciting, talented younger players such as Matteo, Joost and Thorbjørn.

“It is a tournament and a competition that was very close to Seve’s heart, and we will have to show some of his fighting spirit to win this year and improve on our recent record.

“It’s not going to be easy as the Britain & Ireland team is also strong and they have dominated in recent years, but I’m looking forward to working with my players and hopefully we can do it.”

Sam Torrance, the victorious 2002 European Ryder Cup captain, will lead the Britain & Ireland team, which includes Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, another member of last year’s historic Ryder Cup team, and Englishman Paul Casey, a three-time Ryder Cup player.

Englishman Chris Wood, who was undefeated on his last appearance in 2009, returns to the fold, along with Scotland’s Marc Warren, who last featured in 2007, and WelshmanJamie Donaldson and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, who were both part of the victorious team two years ago.

There are also four debutants, with the English trio of Tommy Fleetwood, David Lynn, and Simon Khan joined by Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.

Torrance, who will captain a team in the Seve Trophy for the first time, said: “I think we have got a good blend of players in the team, and I’m really looking forward to working with all of them.

“We have a couple of Ryder Cup players in Paul Casey and Paul Lawrie, the latter being an Open Champion, and the debutants are very strong. Simon Khan is a former BMWPGA Champion and was runner up again this year at Wentworth, and Stephen Gallacher and Tommy Fleetwood have both won this season, while David Lynn has had a fantastic year in America.

“So we have a lot of experience in the team, as does the Continental Europe Team, and it promises to be an exciting contest next week. I’ve a few ideas about pairings already, and hopefully we can retain the trophy and make it seven in a row.”

Qualification for both teams began at the Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa in December 2012, and concluded after last week’s Italian Open. The two teams were chosen from the leading five available players from the Official World Gold Ranking on Monday, and the leading five available players from The Race to Dubai.

The event format will be similar to previous editions, the only slight alteration coming on Saturday which will now consist of two sessions of four foursomes contested instead of four morning greensomes, followed by four afternoon foursomes.

The rest of the format remains the same, with a series of five fourball matches on each of the first two days and ten singles on the final day. As with The Ryder Cup, a team requires 14½ points for victory.

Continental Europe won the first edition of the contest 13 years ago, while Britain and Ireland have won the last six matches in succession, claiming a 15½-12½ success two years ago at St-Nom-La Bretèche Golf Club, which hosts the event for the third consecutive time.

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EurAsia Cup Tees Off in 2014

Europe's top golfers will take on Asia in a new matchplay tournament, the EurAsia Cup, from next year.

The inaugural EurAsia Cup will be held at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Malaysia on 28-30 March 2014, with a format similar to the Ryder Cup.

Europe's 10-man team will consist of the Race to Dubai 2013 top four, the top four available from the world rankings and two captain's picks.

The captain will be selected by the European Tour at a later date.

The Asian team will include the top four players from the final 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit, the leading three players invited on the basis of their world ranking, and three captain's picks.

Hideki Matsuyama, 21, is expected to be the star of the Asian team with three top 20 finishes in majors this year.

It will become the third matchplay event involving Europe after the Ryder Cup and the biennial Seve Trophy, which began in 2000 and is contested between teams from Great Britain and Ireland, and Continental Europe.

The EurAsia Cup, which will be an early part of the European Tour 2014 schedule, is one of two new events announced.

The Nedbank Golf Challenge, which takes place in South Africa from 5-8 December 2013, will now feature a 30-player field instead of the usual 12.

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Guan Tian-lang Misses Volvo Cut

Guan Tian-lang has missed the chance to become the youngest player to make the cut in a European Tour event at the China Open in Tianjin.

The Chinese amateur, who on Thursday became the Tour's youngest player at 13 years, 173 days, missed the cut by 10 shots, finishing on 12 over par.

He added a second-round 79 to the five-over 77 he shot on day one.

England's Gary Boyd shares the halfway lead with France's Jean-Baptiste Gonnet on 11 under after they both shot 67.

Boyd, 25, who birdied five of his last eight holes, said: "I had to stay patient and was one over playing my ninth hole but managed to get on in two and two putt for birdie and really get my round going.

"The back nine I managed to take a few more chances and finished it off with a three wood to eight feet on the ninth - it was the shot of the year so far for me."

Branden Grace, who drove the green on the par-four seventh before knocking in a five-foot putt for an eagle two, is third, one shot back, after also shooting a five-under-par 67.

The South African, who won consecutive events at the start of the season in his home country after coming through qualifying school, said: "I didn't take any chances on the holes that could cause me real trouble."

Defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, starting on the 10th, birdied his first two holes as he too carded a 67 to move to nine under.

Overnight leader Matthew Baldwin of England slipped back to six under par after a one-over 73.

Fellow Englishman Paul Casey, who began the day in contention on four under, missed the cut after a quintuple-bogey 10 at the par-five 12th and two further double bogeys in a seven-over-par 79.

The youngest player to make a European Tour cut is China's Jason Hak, who played all 72 holes at the Hong Kong Open as a 14-year-old amateur in 2008.

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Louise Leads Delayed Maybank

Louis Oosthuizen leads the Maybank Malaysian Open by a shot after rain once again meant the event remains behind schedule.

The South African is 13 under through 10 holes of his third round, one clear of Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who has played 11.

The 2010 Open champion had just made back-to-back birdies around the turn before the hooter sounded with storm clouds once again in the area.

Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello, England's Danny Willett and David Lipsky of the United States share third place, three shots off the pace.

Germany's Martin Kaymer is six back through 12 holes and Charl Schwartzel, the first-round leader, is six under through 13 holes.

"It's a tough week but it was always going to be the case this week,"Oosthuizen said. "None of that will matter if I can win tomorrow.

"My swing feels really good and when you are playing like this you really want to get a win because it just boosts the confidence so much, and it's a good time of year to do that."

Oosthuizen - beaten in a play-off at last week's Masters - had to return early to complete his second round on Saturday after a fierce storm deluged the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Starting his third round with little prospect of completing it on schedule, Oosthuizen picked up birdies on the par-three fourth and par-five fifth before he dropped his only shot on the next hole.

He had to scramble with a short up-and-down on the par-four seventh after overhitting his pitch shot through the green. He responded by making a 12-foot birdie on the ninth to join Gallacher at the top of the leaderboard, then picked up another shot on the 10th to go clear.

"You never know with the weather here, so you're trying to get ahead of the guys just in case all of a sudden it becomes a 54-hole event," Oosthuizen added.

"I actually don't think that will be the case now, but at that point on the sixth I was still thinking there was a chance this could be the last round."

The latest interruption follows a one-hour delay earlier on Saturday and a wash-out of the final hours of play on Friday.

Play will resume at 7:45am on Sunday (12.45am BST), weather permitting.

Oosthuizen Leaves Masters Behind

Louis Oosthuizen arrived at the Malaysian Open safe in the knowledge he could not have done anything differently at the Masters. The South African came within a whisker is claiming the green jacket at Augusta only to lose in a play-off to American Bubba Watson late on Sunday.

A year ago it was the turn of his compatriot and friend Charl Schwratzel to make the lmng jersey to Kual Lumpur. However he did so with the Green jacket

His companion on that journey was Rory McIlroy, who after leading the toutnament for 63 holes falterd badly on the 10th tee box.

Twelve months on it is the 2010 British Open champion who spent much of the 30-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur reflecting on what might have been, something he is not beating himself up over.

Oosthuizen admits the near-miss will be tough to get over initially, however, he insists he gave everything and does not feel anything was frittered away.

"Every second on the flight I was thinking about what I would have done different," explained Oosthuizen.

"But I think there probably isn't much I would have done different. I felt like I gave it my all, didn't throw anything away, played the best I probably could have coming down the stretch in a major and I was outplayed.

"Being that close to the green jacket is tough to get over it immediately but I think time will heal it and it just gives me a bit more confidence when I put it on eventually that I will be over it."

Both South Afrcians will look to bounce back from their Masters disappointment together after being paired for the opening two rounds of this week's Maybank Malaysian Open.