Alex Cejka of Germany and England’’s Lee Westwood have been named as the two wild cards for the second edition of The Seve Trophy, to be played between Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe at Druids Glen, Co Wicklow, Ireland, from April 19-21.
Cejka was nominated by Seve Ballesteros, Captain of the Continental Europe team, while GB & I Captain, Colin Montgomerie, decided to select Westwood, the man who succeeded him as Volvo Order of Merit winner in 2000.
Both Cejka and Westwood competed in The Seve Trophy at Sunningdale Golf Club two years ago. Cejka collected one and a half points out of a possible five while Westwood was the leading points winner on the GB & I side with four wins out of five.
The announcement of the wild cards completes the ten-strong teams, which include eight qualifiers at the conclusion of the Madeira Island Open, the two playing Captains and the Captains’’ picks.
There will be a total of seven new faces involved in The Seve Trophy this year, three on the GB & I side and four in the Continental Europe line-up. England’’s Paul Casey, a professional for only a year, Paul McGinley of Ireland and another Englishman, Steve Webster, will be the three rookies on the GB & I team while there are four newcomers in the Continental Europe side, Niclas Fasth and Mathias Grönberg of Sweden and Frenchmen Raphaël Jacquelin and Thomas Levet.
Continental Europe go into the event as defending champions, having won an enthralling contest at Sunningdale in 2000 by the minimum margin of 13 ½ - 12 ½ with Ballesteros – after whom the trophy is named – rolling back the years with a marvellous singles victory over his rival captain, Montgomerie.
At the end of the qualifying process, following the conclusion of the Madeira Island Open, Northern Ireland’’s Darren Clarke led the GB & I list with Fasth topping the table for Continental Europe.
The battle for the final spot on the GB & I side went down to the wire in Madeira, with both Webster and Volvo PGA Champion Andrew Oldcorn in the frame for the final qualifying place.
In the end, the pair were separated by one shot, Oldcorn finished tied 18th and Webster tied for 23rd, but the Midlander claimed his place in the team by a margin of 11,630 points.
A relieved Webster said: “I’’m looking forward to the challenge of playing in The Seve Trophy at Druids Glen. Obviously I was worried about Andrew (Oldcorn) when he was nine under par and I was level.
“I’’ve played a lot of team golf for England at amateur level but nothing like The Seve Trophy, so it is a new and exciting challenge for me. There are a lot of brilliant players in the team and I am just glad to be part of it.”
José Maria Olazábal of Spain and Ian Woosnam of Wales, who were nominated as wild cards at Sunningdale, both qualified for the teams on merit this time.
Teams:
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
Colin Montgomerie (Scotland, Captain)
Paul Casey (England)
Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland)
Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
David Howell (England)
Paul Lawrie (Scotland)
Paul McGinley (Ireland)
Steve Webster (England)
Lee Westwood (England)
Ian Woosnam (Wales)
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
Seve Ballesteros (Spain, Captain)
Thomas Björn (Denmark)
Alex Cejka (Germany)
Niclas Fasth (Sweden)
Matthias Grönberg (Sweden)
Raphaël Jacquelin (France)
Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spain)
Robert Karlsson (Sweden)
Thomas Levet (France)
José Maria Olazábal (Spain)
NB: Bernhard Langer and Sergio Garcia qualified for the Continental Europe team but declined to play.
