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Ballesteros is final
addition to World Matchplay
Seve Ballesteros, who has not won since 1995 and missed the cut in all but
two tournaments this year, was added to the 12-man field Monday for the World
Match Play Championship.
Ballesteros will play Mike Weir of Canada in the first round Thursday at Wentworth.
``I'm not afraid of competing against anybody,'' Ballesteros said. ``In match
play, if I have a good day I can beat anybody. I have proved over the years I
am a very strong competitor.''
The World Match Play, which invites only the top players to compete in 36-hole
matches, will not include an American in the field for the first time.
Several players declined offers because of concerns playing overseas after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The last hope was John Daly, a runner-up Sunday in the German Masters.
Mark McCormack of IMG, which stages the tournament, said organizers declined
Daly's request for a private plane to return home after the matches.
``We wouldn't do that,'' McCormak said. ``We have always withstood paying appearance
money or other inducements, and that is still our policy.''
Daly said last week he preferred to play in Las Vegas this week because it
offers a $4.5 million purse and he is trying to finish in the top 40 on the PGA
Tour money list, which would qualify him for the Masters.
Ballesteros hardly fits the role of players the World Match Play typically
attracts.
While the 44-year-old Spaniard is a three-time British Open and two-time Masters
champion, he hasn't won in six years and has fallen to No. 1,187 in the world
ranking.
Ballesteros is guaranteed last-place money of $73,500 -- seven times more than
he has earned this year.
He will be making his 20th appearance in the World Match Play, tying the record
set by Gary Player. Ballesteros also tied Player's record for most victories when
he won his fifth Match Play title in 1991.
In other first-round matches, Nick Faldo will play Padraig Harrington; Ian
Woosnam takes on U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen; and Thomas Bjorn plays Adam Scott.
Vijay Singh, Darren Clark, Colin Montgomerie and defending champion Lee Westwood have byes in the first round.
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