ANOTHER BOOST FOR BATHGATE PLAYER AFTER DUBAI WIN
Björn, Gallacher, Jiménez and Luiten qualify for EURASIA CUP Team
Thomas
Björn, Stephen Gallacher, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Joost Luiten have
qualified to represent Europe at the inaugural EURASIA CUP presented
DRB-HICOM.
Those
four players join Graeme McDowell, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson
and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño as the eight automatic qualifiers for the
European team, which will be captained by Jiménez, at the Glenmarie Golf
and Country Club
in Kuala Lumpur from March 27-29.
The
Spaniard announced the second batch of four qualifiers, taken from
Official World Golf Ranking, at The European Tour’s Wentworth
headquarters today, just hours after Gallacher’s brilliant
victory in the Dubai Desert Classic
propelled the Scot into the world’s top 40.
Jiménez said: “I have a very nice
team with the addition of these qualifiers. Thomas Björn has been
playing very well for some time and particularly at the end of last year
in winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He is right on form.
“Stephen
Gallacher has just won in Dubai for the second year in a row at the
Emirates so he is clearly hitting the ball very well. Then we have Joost
Luiten, who beat me last year in Holland, and he is a very good player
who is improving
all the time. He is very consistent.
“And
then there is me with half a century on my shoulders but I can still
play some golf! I won at the end of last year in Hong Kong and I’m
really looking forward to leading this side in the first EurAsia Cup.
“The
combination of experience and the power of youth will work very well.
Graeme McDowell, Thomas and I have plenty of experience from many Ryder
Cups and playing all around the world for many years while the young
guns bring power
and fresh spirit. It’s a great mixture for any team.”
With
35 European Tour wins and six Ryder Cup appearances between them, Björn
and Jiménez will bring a wealth of experience to the ten-man European
team to face Thongchai Jaidee’s Asian side at the Glenmarie Golf and
Country Club, while
Gallacher and Luiten are two of the latest European stars to have
recently broken into the elite top 50 of the world game.
Björn
has been in brilliant form of late, winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge
against a world class field in December before continuing that fine form
in January to put himself in pole position in The Race to Dubai.
He
said: “I am looking forward to the event and really happy to be able to
support Miguel and the team because it is an event that has real
potential with Europe taking on Asia. A lot of work has gone on behind
the scenes to make the
event happen and to be a part of the first one will be great.
“We
are going to have a really good team that has a very good balance to
it. Obviously Miguel, Graeme and I will bring a lot of experience and
hopefully we can help the young guys realise what these team events, and
representing Europe
and our Tour, are all about.
“There
are a lot of players on our team who will have a great chance to play
The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and it will be great for Paul (McGinley) to
see them in the team environment and look at how they handle it all.
“It will be a very hard competition
to win because the Asian team is full of top class players and will be
desperate to win on their home turf. The heat and conditions will be to
their advantage too, but if we play to the best of our
abilities we can win.”
Gallacher,
now a three time winner on The European Tour, was still pinching
himself after defeating Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and co to become the
first man in the 25 year history of the Dubai Desert Classic to
successfully defend the
title, but was delighted to have qualified for Jiménez’s team.
The
Scot said: “Winning in Dubai again has put me in the top 50 which
obviously opens a lot of doors for me. I didn’t realise how quickly the
first one would open though and it’s brilliant to be part of the
European team for the
EURASIA CUP.”
Luiten,
another three time winner on Tour, is relishing the chance to represent
Europe again, having played a starring role in the most recent edition
of the Seve Trophy, where Continental Europe defeated Great Britain and
Ireland.
The
Dutchman said: “I can’t wait to play the EURASIA CUP. It is totally
different when you play a team event and it a great opportunity to spend
some time with a lot of guys who have a lot of experience and see how
they do it and to
learn about playing for Europe.
"That should help me grow as a player
and we have a great mix of players and a strong team as well as an
amazing captain in Miguel. It’s certainly not going to be a boring
week!”
Jiménez will add two captain’s picks to complete his ten-man team to face Asia in the near future.
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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