Paul McGinley: Britian underdogs despite the presence of Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Ian Poulter
Although having the likes of Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Ian Poulter and recent Dutch Open winner Simon Dyson in a team can fuel up some overconfidence for a captain, Paul McGinley still rendered his team as underdogs heading into the upcoming Seve Trophy.
The Britain and Ireland captain believes Continental Europe, captained by Jean van de Velde, would be the favorites going into the competition.
Jean van de Velde’s Continental Europe team boasts young Italian talent Matteo Manassero, the experienced Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who looks to be in prime form this season, already winning three times.
McGinley is wary of the challenge Continental Europe brings to the table and said in a telephone interview, “There is no doubt Continental Europe is the favourite and a stronger team on paper.”
“Look at the quality and experience they have in the team, where they are in the world rankings and Race to Dubai. Their top players seem to enjoy the event and make themselves available,” he added.
Although the Irish captain realizes that the absence of world No. 1 Luke Donald and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy has been a blow for his team, he understands that both of them are playing other high-ranking tournaments and would make decisions according to their
best interests.
Yet, McGinley is still optimistic about his team’s chances and knows that he has a well rounded team. The Irishman believes he will have to use the experience of Poulter, Westwood and Clarke all the way through to counter the French Captain’s home advantage
and experience, since he is aware that even the crowd will be heavily favoring the Frenchman.
“They have a French captain as well. That's going to mean a vociferous crowd. We're under no illusions we're the underdogs. But we have been before and come out on top,” added Irishman McGinley.
McGinley did not say whether he would pick established pairings or whether he would break them up to blend in with the rookies, although leaving the rookies without an experienced partner might not be such a good idea against the likes of Manassero and Jimenez.
The event was founded by the late Seve Ballesteros and it has seen Britain and Ireland win 5 times out of a total of six times that the tournament has been held. This is also good match-play for the European team outside of Ryder Cup, at least that was the
initial idea behind the tournament.
The Seve Trophy starts on Thursday, September 15.
Tags: