Seve Trophy
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The Seve Trophy is a biennial golf tournament between teams of professional male golfers representing "Great Britain and Ireland" (in political terms, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) and Continental Europe. It is named after five times major winner Seve Ballesteros, the most successful golfer ever from Continental Europe who was one of the key instigators of the tournament. He made an exceptional contribution to the European Ryder Cup successes of the 1980s and 1990s, and came to be regarded as an exceptionally keen team man in a usually individualistic sport.
Like the much older Ryder Cup, which is played between teams representing the whole of Europe and the United States, the Seve Trophy is a team event played over three days, with two days of pairs matches (the precise formats used have varied) and a concluding set of singles matches on the final day. Major differences include the smaller size of the teams, which are ten strong, whereas in the Ryder Cup they are twelve strong, and the fact that there is prizemoney involved. Players are willing to play in the Ryder Cup for nothing because of its prestige, although they receive large indirect financial compensation from the boost that participation gives to their prestige and profile, but as a new event, founded only in 2000, the Seve Trophy needed to offer prize money to attract first rate players.
Each team is selected as follows:
- The leading four eligible players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
- The leading four players on the European Tour Order of Merit, not already selected on the first criteria.
- Two captain's picks.
The first criteria is designed to select the biggest stars in European golf even if they do not play much in Europe (in practical terms, this means if they choose to play primarily on the U.S. based PGA Tour). The second criteria is designed to show some favoritism to players who show loyalty to the European Tour, which is one of the sponsors of the trophy.
The event is played in September, in years when there is no Ryder Cup. Initially this meant even numbered years, but because the 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed by a year due to 9/11, the Seve Trophy is now played in odd numbered years. It is held in the same week as Europe's Ryder Cup opponents, Team USA, take on the "International Team" in the Presidents Cup.
The Seve Trophy is an "approved special event" on the European Tour. A week in the tour schedule is set aside for it, but the prize money does not count towards the Order of Merit.
[edit] Results
| Year | Venue | Winners | Losers | ||
| 2005 | Wynyard Golf Club, England | Great Britain & Ireland | 16½ | Continental Europe | 11½ |
| 2003 | Paradores, Spain | Great Britain & Ireland | 15 | Continental Europe | 13 |
| 2002 | Druids Glen, Republic of Ireland | Great Britain & Ireland | 14½ | Continental Europe | 11½ |
| 2000 | Sunningdale Old Course, England | Continental Europe | 13½ | Great Britain & Ireland | 12½ |
