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Wentworth,
Surrey, 25th March - Efforts to make changes in the way the
European Ryder Cup team is selected by some of the top players has
been scotched by the European PGA tour who said the process would
not be changed for the 1997 matches.
Seve Ballesteros,
the European captain, had requested that he be allowed to pick four
captain's choices rather than the two allowed under the present
system for the 12-man team.
The decision
by the PGA European Tour and the Ryder Cup Committee was made after
taking advice from their solictors.
"After
taking legal advice with a view to holding a ballot on the selection
procedure we must end all speculation as a leading counsel has made
it crystal clear that any change in the procedure could be legally
challenged by any one player," said Neil Coles, chairman of
the PGA European Tour board of directors and a member of the Ryder
Cup team committee.
Coles said
that Ballesteros would be invited to attend future meetings to debate
the issue for the 1999 Ryder Cup.
The present
system allows 10 players on the Ryder Cup points list to qualify
and a further two selected by the captain. However, because Nick
Faldo and Jesper Parnevik are committed to competing in the US they
will not be able to earn sufficient points to qualify for the team.
Also, Jose Maria Olazabal who has only just returned to the Tour
after 18 months of injury will not be able to earn enough points
to finish in the top 10.
To get the
best possible team Seve felt he needed additional captain's choices
because he did not want to leave off any of three aforementioned
players and would also like to pick another Ryder Cup veteran such
as Berhard Langer who is currently in 21st position.
Some of the
players agreed with Seve but others were firmly opposed to any changes.
Jean Van de
Velde said he would have sued had been denied an automatic place
because the captain had been granted his wish to double the wildcard
personal choices from two to four.
The French
No 1 said "I am battling hard to be able to be the first French
golfer to play in the Ryder Cup and I object very strongly to any
changes in the system of qualifying we started last September."
Philip Walton,
the 10th qualifier for Europe in the 1996 team agreed with Van de
Velde. "We have got it right as it is. It would have been very
unfortunate for the ninth and 10th players if we had changed now,"
he said.
Seve Ballesteros
said that "Valderrama is a tough golf course and demands special
players. I don't care what the Americans do in terms of the rules,
I only care about having the strongest team."
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