EUROPEAN TOUR PRESS RELEASE

MARC WARREN ONE OF WILD-CARD

PICKS FOR SEVE TROPHY

MATCH NEXT WEEK

Europe’s 2008 Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo will have the chance to study the team match-play credentials of several up and coming European golfers when he captains Great Britain & Ireland against Continental Europe in the fifth edition of The Seve Trophy at The Heritage Golf & Spa Resort at Killenard, Co. Laois next week (September 27 to 30).
There will be 10 newcomers to The Seve Trophy competing across the two teams, including Nick Faldo’s picks of Englishman Simon Dyson and Scotland’s Marc Warren (pictured right) and Seve’s selection of the exciting Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño. The other wild-card player in Seve’s team is Thomas Björn, making his fifth appearance in the event.
Also making their Seve Trophy debuts will be Ryder Cup hopefuls Graeme Storm, Phillip Archer and Oliver Wilson from England, plus Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, Denmark’s Søren Hansen, Frenchman Grégory Havret and Austria’s Markus Brier. The debutants have nine Tour titles between them this season.
Commenting on his two wildcard selections, Nick Faldo said:

“Captaining the Great Britain and Ireland team offers me a great opportunity to see some of the young players who have been performing well on tour this season in action at a match play event. This was the most important factor for me when making my wild card selections; with that in mind, these were two obvious choices for me.
“In Marc Warren, I’m bringing a player to the team that has come through a sudden-death play-off to claim each of his four professional wins, proving that he has a cool head under pressure. He has also partnered Monty with great success in the World Cup.

"In Simon Dyson, we have a player that has proved that he can perform under the spotlight following a gritty performance at this year’s US PGA Championship. On the whole, I’m delighted with the players that I will be working with next week and wish Seve and his team the very best of luck for the tournament.”
Seve explained his thinking behind his choices of Björn and Fernandez-Castaño.

“I’m delighted to have someone of Thomas’ experience in the team and we know what a great competitor he is in this format. Gonzalo is one of the most exciting young players on the Tour and I believe he will play a good role in the team. I hope this year we will redress the score in the Seve Trophy series.”
The Seve Trophy 2007 teams are as follows:

Great Britain & Ireland- Continental Europe

Colin Montgomerie (Sco) - Robert Karlsson (Swe)
Justin Rose (Eng) - Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spa)
Paul Casey (Eng) - Raphaël Jacquelin (Fra)
Bradley Dredge (Wal) - Mikko Ilonen (Fin)
Graeme Storm (Eng) - Søren Hansen (Den)
Oliver Wilson (Eng) - Grégory Havret (Fra)
Nick Dougherty (Eng) - Markus Brier (Aus)
Phillip Archer (Eng) - Peter Hanson (Swe)
Simon Dyson (Eng) - Thomas Björn (Den)
Marc Warren (Sco) - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (Sp)

They will compete in four-balls, foursomes, greensomes and singles matches over the four days and play for prize money of €2m, with the winners sharing a €1.25m purse.
The Seve Trophy was last staged in Ireland at Druids Glen in 2002. Other events have been held at England’s Sunningdale in 2000, El Saler in Valencia, Spain in 2003 and The Wynyard in North-east England in 2005. The current score between the teams stands at 3-1 to Great Britain & Ireland.
The 5-star HERITAGE GOLF & SPA RESORT, with its 7,319 yard, par 72 parkland course an hour from Dublin is staging the Seve Trophy contest in this year and again in 2009. The course was co-designed by Seve and Jeff Howes. It features 98 bunkers and its five lakes and a stream bring water into play on 10 holes. It was selected by Golf World in June 2005 as one of the best new courses in Great Britain & Ireland and staged the AIB Irish Seniors Open in 2005. The resort also boasts a 125-bedroom hotel and luxury health spa, plus
the Seve Natural Golf School, with its own dedicated practice course.

Tickets to see Europe’s top golfers battle it out are now on sale from Ticketmaster on 0818 719392 or at www.ticketmaster.ie .