“I look into their eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck, but I am thinking,
'I am going to bury you.”
Severiano Ballesteros
Showing posts with label Seve Trophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seve Trophy. Show all posts
Monday, 17 August 2015
Friday, 25 October 2013
Olazabal Points to Seve Trophy
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| Getty Images |
Jose Maria Olazabal has called for Ryder Cup qualifying points to be made available at the Seve Trophy in order to entice the top golfers to play in the biennial match between Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe.
Olazabal led Europe to a 15-13 win over Sam Torrance's Britain & Ireland side at St Nom La Breteche on the outskirts of Paris earlier this month but the competition was something of a damp squib.
Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald were among several leading players to shun the event and the match attracted small crowds and generated little media attention.
"We all owe something to Seve (Ballesteros)," said Olazabal of the late Spaniard who won five majors in a swashbuckling career that lit up the European Tour. "And it would be really good to see the top players competing.
"I think to make it fit as a legacy to Seve we need to have the really top players playing in it. That would make it a fantastic tournament.
"Maybe they could get points that would count towards Ryder Cup qualification. That would make it more appealing and more interesting.
"It is a team event after all," Olazabal told Reuters in an interview.
The 47-year-old Spaniard, who also led Europe to a remarkable Ryder Cup comeback victory over the United States in Illinois last year, had mixed feelings about the absence of the tour's leading lights at St Nom La Breteche.
"I was a little sad some of the top players didn't play but on the other hand I understand most of them have a tight schedule," said Olazabal.
"They were committed to the FedExCup in America and they knew they also had four very important events in the European Tour's Final Series at the end of the year that are going to be crucial for them so I guess they have to have time off here and there.
"But I've always believed the Seve Trophy can be a very important tournament," said Olazabal while attending the Nespresso Trophy final for amateur golfers in San Sebastian, Spain where the company was announced as the official coffee supplier for the 2014 Ryder Cup.
"The format is beautiful because we don't play much match play any more and the atmosphere is great.
"We all know each other really well in both teams, we try to beat each other on the golf course but after that we make sure we have a great time so it would be nice to see the top players involved more."
Olazabal, who shed tears of joy after the spectacular Ryder Cup victory at the Medinah Country Club last year, has not ruled out a possible vice-captaincy role when Paul McGinley leads Europe in the 2014 edition at Gleneagles, Scotland.
"After Medinah I don't think it could get any better than that for me," said the 1994 and 1999 U.S. Masters champion, "but if Paul thinks I could be of any help then obviously I would think about it.
"I would talk to Paul, let's put it that way."
Henrik Stenson virtually assured himself a place at next year's Ryder Cup after pocketing $11.4 million for winning the FedExCup last month and Olazabal believes the tall Swede will be a positive influence in Europe's team room.
"We have to take our hats off to Henrik, what a season he's had," said the Spaniard. "It's been quite amazing especially coming from where he has come from, quite extraordinary."
Stenson was outside the world's top 200 not long ago but a string of sparkling performances this season have sent him rocketing to fourth in the rankings.
The Swede has transformed his career in much the same way Olazabal did. The Spaniard won the 1999 Masters after battling back from rheumatoid polyarthritis in three joints of his right foot and two in his left.
"We were both at rock bottom and somehow, in different ways, we managed to find our way back to the top," said Olazabal. "You have to give every credit to Henrik in that regard.
"He is pretty much in the Ryder Cup team already. He played in it in 2006 and 2008 so he's got experience and he is a good team player.
"Henrik has a very open attitude, he's not afraid of showing his emotions and I think he will be a positive asset to the team."
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
View from the Top - Seve Ballesteros
"To give yourself the best possible chance of playing to your potential, you must prepare for every eventuality. That means practice."
Seve Ballesteros
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Olazabal Names Seve Team
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| Getty Images |
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 MarÃa 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.
Monday, 26 August 2013
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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