12 of world’s top 50 to play in Vivendi Trophy
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Captains Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn have names their teams for the inaugural Vivendi Trophy at Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Golf Club in Paris from September 24-27.
Great Britian & Ireland captain McGinley has called up two of the brightest prospects in world golf in the shape of Rory McIlroy and Chris Wood.
But Scotland and Wales don’t have a single representative as the rest of the team consists of Irishman Graeme McDowell and seven other Englishman; Nick Dougherty, Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher, Robert Rock, Anthony Wall, Steve Webster and Oliver Wilson.
McGinley said: “I am going to be captaining some of the most exciting talent in world golf at the moment and that is a challenge in itself. I am looking forward immensely to working with quality players and see where we go. I am very much going into it with an open mind because I have things to learn and I’ve never done it before.”
Continental Europe captain Thomas Bjorn will have world number five Henrik Stenson – the highest ranked player in the field – at his disposal, along with compatriots Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson.
The strong Scandinavian influence is continued with the inclusion of Anders Hansen, Soren Hansen and Soren Kjeldsen.
Spain are represented by the trio of Miguel Angel Jimenez, Alvaro Quiros and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and the ten-man team is completed by Italy’s Francesco Molinari.
Bjorn said: “I have a good bunch of guys and I can sense that they want to go to Paris next week and do a good job. It’s important everyone on the team stands together and gets right behind each other with heart and soul.
“When you get ten guys together they will not all necessarily be playing great golf, but it’s a question of getting everybody believing and dreaming the same dream and I am confident we can do that.”
The Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, formerly the Seve Trophy, pits Europe’s leading golfers against each other in a team competition format similar to The Ryder Cup.
There will be five fourballs on both Thursday and Friday, four greensomes on Saturday morning, four foursomes on Saturday afternoon and ten singles matches on Sunday.
In 2007 Continental Europe led 9½ – 8½ going into the last day, but Great Britain and Ireland won the singles 8-2 for a decisive 16½ – 11½ victory.
