The Challenge will tee-off at 11am and the event is open to the public free of charge
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR
JOSÉ MARIA OLAZÁBAL AND SAM TORRANCE NAMED AS CAPTAINS
FOR THE SEVE TROPHY PRESENTED BY GOLF+
Spain’s José María Olazábal and Sam Torrance of Scotland have been named as the captains for The Seve Trophy presented by Golf+.
Paul
McGinley, the current European Ryder Cup Captain, selected the duo to
lead the respective Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland
teams in the newly-named contest – formerly the Vivendi Seve Trophy –
which will be played
at St-Nom-La Bretèche Golf Club in France from October 3-6.
The
change of tournament title reflects the fact that, having sponsored the
past two editions, Vivendi has agreed the transfer of the role of
presenting sponsor of the tournament to Canal Plus’ dedicated golf
channel
GOLF+.
It
also means a return to St-Nom-La Bretèche, the Parisian venue which has
hosted the past two editions. GB&I triumphed on both of those
occasions and will defend the trophy after McGinley himself led them to a
15½-12½ victory two years
ago.
Olazábal
and Torrance will bring a wealth of experience to the captaincy
positions, not least for the fact they have both enjoyed the special
thrill of being a winning Ryder Cup captain; Torrance leading Europe to a
memorable 15 ½ -
12 ½ triumph at The Belfry in 2002, while Olazábal was the architect of
the sensational ‘Miracle at Medinah’ last September where Europe
recovered from a 10-6 deficit going into the final day singles to win 14
½ - 13 ½.
“I am delighted to name José María
and Sam as captains,” said McGinley, who will have an overseeing role
during the week at St-Nom-La Bretèche. “They are two men I have the
utmost respect for and who I’ve benefitted from over the years.
I know they will do a fine job.
“I have shared many special moments
with both of them but obviously, having Sam as captain for my Ryder Cup
debut in 2002 was particularly memorable, as was being one of José
María’s vice-captains for that extraordinary week at Medinah
last year.
“I have said many times that this
is a tournament close to my heart, both as a player and as a captain,
and I am delighted that all the parties involved have worked so hard
behind the scenes to ensure this year’s event will go ahead.
From a playing perspective in particular, it gives the players vital
insight into the pressures associated with being part of a team and
therefore having other guys depending on you.
“It is totally different to the
normal pressures of week in-week out tournament golf and, as a result,
the younger players especially benefit from having experienced captains
to steer them through. Therefore, I can say for certain, that
the 20 guys who eventually make this year’s teams will learn a lot from
José María and Sam, as I have done.”
Olazábal,
who will undertake his second stint as captain in the contest, having
been at the helm at The Wynyard Club in 2005 when his Continental
European side went down to Colin Montgomerie’s GB&I team, said:
“Everyone knows how much
I love team golf such as this and therefore it was a big honour when I
got the call.
“I
have a great relationship with Paul as I have with everyone involved at
Medinah. This will be a great way to say thanks to everyone there and
pay them back,” added the Spaniard who, aside from his Ryder Cup
captaincy triumph, was
also part of three winning European Ryder Cup teams – 1987, 1997 and
2006 – in addition to his 23 European Tour titles.
“Everyone
knew my relationship with Seve, through both The Ryder Cup and this
contest, and therefore to be part again of team golf again will be
great. It’s always good to see players in a match play format and it is a
great experience
for them. It benefitted my Ryder Cup team and we will have a group of
players in France with the potential to play in the next Ryder Cup and
beyond.
“I
think I will have a very strong team. We have a lot of players who are
playing well, such as Miguel Angel Jiménez and Thomas Björn, and some of
the younger guys too. So I am very much looking forward to the
challenge.”
Torrance,
who will captain a team in The Seve Trophy presented by Golf+ for the
first time, said: “It’s a great honour. It’s been 11 years since I took
charge of The Ryder Cup team and so you can imagine I’m really looking
forward to
this – it’s tremendous.
“I’ve
been keeping an eye on what has been going on, and so it will be a real
privilege to be involved at the helm once again,” added the Scot who,
aside from his Ryder Cup captaincy success at The Belfry in 2002, was
also part of three
winning European Ryder Cup teams – 1985, 1987 and 1995 – and is the man
who holds the record for the most European Tour appearances in history
with 706.
“It
will also be special to go up against Ollie as I’ve known him all my
golfing life. But I also know it will be a tough challenge as we all saw
the help he got from Seve at Medinah! Seriously though, it’s wonderful
to be part of Seve’s
heritage and legacy through an event I know he was a huge fan of.
“As
for the match itself, there is a wealth of talent out there so I’m
really looking forward to working with some of the British and Irish
boys we currently have on Tour. We’ve won six on the trot, so you know I
will be going all out
to try and make that seven.”
The
Seve Trophy presented by Golf+, which was first played at Sunningdale
Golf Club in England in 2000, was instigated by the late Seve
Ballesteros as a team competition to be contested in non-Ryder Cup
years.
Qualification
for both teams began at the Nelson Mandela Championship presented by
ISPS Handa in December 2012, and will conclude after the
70° Open d'Italia
on September 22. Each team will then be chosen from the leading five
eligible players from the Official World Gold Ranking on Monday
September 23, and the leading five eligible
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 see 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 14 ½ points for victory.
Continental
Europe won the first edition of the contest 13 years ago, while Great
Britain and Ireland have won the last six matches in succession.
England,
looking to regain the title they lost to Scotland a year ago, were
taken all the way by Ireland on the opening day of the Home
Internationals supported by Fairstone Financial Management at Ganton but
managed to edge home 8-7 while Scotland beat Wales more easily.
