Hero Cup: Son of Seve Ballesteros criticizes DP World Tour for launching ‘copy’ of Seve Trophy | Golf News

The Seve Trophy, named after Ballesteros, last appeared on the DP World Tour schedule in 2013; The Hero Cup – using a similar format – was announced ahead of the BMW PGA Championship and will take place in Abu Dhabi in January 2023

Javier Ballesteros, son of Seve, criticized DP World Tour on social media

The son of Seve Ballesteros has criticized the DP World Tour after the launch of the Hero Cup, a team competition to boost Europe’s bid to win the Ryder Cup.

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will oversee the event in Abu Dhabi January 13-15 with two competing captains, with two 10-man teams competing in quarter-finals, four-ball and singles and all. All 20 players participate in each session.

The competition effectively filled the void left by the Seve Trophy, being held eight times between 2000 and 2013 and bringing captaincy experience to future Ryder Cup captains like Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn.

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Europe captain Luke Donald says the new Hero Cup will help European golfers prepare for the Ryder Cup by allowing them to experience a team match

Ballesteros, who died from complications of a cancerous brain tumor in 2011, also captained the European side four times, including winning a point in the inaugural event at Sunningdale in 2000.

Javier, the 5-time major champion’s son, wrote on Twitter: “Last October an ET player came to me to say that the European Tour was thinking of bringing back the Seve Trophy (I’m so glad I did). this).

“I didn’t know anything more about it until just a day before the announcement was made, when ET contacted me to let me know there was a ‘new’ match event – this is an exact copy of The Seven Trophy – and wanted my dad involved in some way.

“We clearly said NO. We don’t want any of this, but only The Seve Trophy returns, not a copy of it. We believe our dad deserves it. something better from The European Tour, given the unconditional support he has always had for The European Tour and the legacy he left behind.”

The European Tour was renamed the DP World Tour last November.

DP World Tour Deputy CEO Guy Kinnings said: “The final agreements came together very quickly to allow us to host a team event in early 2023. I personally have been involved Contact the Ballesteros family prior to announcement to brief them and we plan to discuss further with them.

“We honor Seve’s legacy in so many ways. His name adorns one of our main boardrooms at our Wentworth headquarters, we have renamed our player award to the award. awarded Seve Ballesteros in 2017 and I remember at the 2018 Ryder Cup in France Where the last thing our players saw before they left the dressing room to continue on the pitch was Seve’s Ryder Cup bag with the phrase written above, ‘This is why you are here’.

“We honor Seve’s legacy every day and we will continue to do so.”