Continental Europe will
play Britain and Ireland in a new 1.5 million pounds ($2.40 million) Ryder Cup-style
golf tournament named after Seve Ballesteros.
The new event - the Seve
Ballesteros Trophy - will be played every two years, it was announced on Thursday.
April's maiden event will take place at the Old Course in Sunningdale.
Former European Ryder Cup
captain Ballesteros will lead a 10-strong continental team against a British
and Irish team captained by Colin Montgomerie from April 14-16.
Ballesteros said: "The
first edition ... will be played in Britain because I wish to repay the British
people for making Spain the host country for the 1997 Ryder Cup.
"I have also received
throughout my career fantastic support from the British public whose love for
the game of golf is second to none."
The event will include
foursomes, fourballs, greensomes and singles with each member of the winning
team receiving 92,000 pounds ($147,100).
The teams will include
their leading seven players in the 1999 order of merit, one player who is in
the top 10 of the 2000 order of merit as of April 9 and one wildcard pick.
Montgomerie's team will
include Lee Westwood, Paul Lawrie, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Mark James,
John Bickerton and Gary Orr.
Europe's team will include
Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van De Velde, Thomas
Bjorn, Bernhard Langer and Alex Cejka.
The event will be staged
by the European Tour. Executive director of the tour Ken Schofield said the trophy
will "provide a unique opportunity for many of the best players in the world
to meet in an exciting new team event".
"Significantly Seve
was, in 1979, a member of the first (Ryder Cup) Europe Team to include tour members
from the continent."
Montgomerie is relishing
the challenge. "I am delighted to have been appointed captain of the Great
Britain and Ireland team," he said.
"This will be a very
special match in which to be involved, not simply because it carries Seve's name,
but also as so many great players will be competing.
"You only have to
look at the quality on both sides to see that the competition will be very interesting
and very close."
