For European golf, this 12 months’s Ryder Cup is about to mark a break from the previous.
This week may present a touch as to who’s a part of the longer term.
The Hero Cup match-play occasion takes place in Abu Dhabi from Friday to Sunday, pitting Britain & Eire towards Continental Europe in a contest that enables European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald an opportunity to evaluate his choices eight months out from the competition with the USA outdoors Rome.
New blood will probably be wanted in Donald’s Ryder Cup workforce due to the seemingly absence of veteran gamers – similar to Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, who all play within the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league – who’ve lengthy been the spine of Europe’s lineup.
The Hero Cup, basically a renewal of The Seve Trophy that had eight editions from 2000-13, is the right alternative for up-and-coming gamers to show themselves in a workforce format and press their case for inclusion within the Ryder Cup, particularly with Donald having six captain’s picks.
And significantly with Europe’s prime 4 gamers on the earth rating – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland – absent this week.
So, the likes of Guido Migliozzi, a 25-year-old Italian who will probably be eager to play a Ryder Cup on house soil, and US-based gamers Seamus Energy and Sepp Straka can power their manner additional into Donald’s pondering.
The 2 groups within the Hero Cup will probably be captained by Tommy Fleetwood (Britain & Eire) and Francesco Molinari (Continental Europe), who had been inseparable as Europe’s star pairing in its victory on the 2018 Ryder Cup outdoors Paris.
This week, they will get pleasure from a pleasant rivalry at Abu Dhabi Golf Membership and in addition be members of their 10-player groups, which include 5 of the world’s prime 30 – 4 of that are in Britain & Eire’s lineup in Shane Lowry, Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Energy.
Fleetwood, Lowry and Hatton have additionally received on the course on the Abu Dhabi Championship – one of many European tour’s main occasions – within the final six years, giving one other edge to a workforce that received The Seve Trophy on six of the eight editions.
The reigning champion in Abu Dhabi is Thomas Pieters, the Belgian who’s a part of Continental Europe’s workforce. Its lineup was tweaked Monday when Rasmus Hojgaard pulled out due to an unspecified harm and was changed by his twin brother, Nicolai.
The format of the competitors has been designed so that each participant options on day-after-day. There will probably be 5 fourballs on Saturday, 10 foursomes throughout two classes on Saturday and 10 singles matches on Sunday.
Britain & Eire: Tommy Fleetwood (captain), Ewen Ferguson, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Richard Mansell, Seamus Energy, Callum Shinkwin, Jordan Smith, Matt Wallace.
Continental Europe: Francesco Molinari (captain), Thomas Detry, Nicolai Hojgaard, Adrian Meronk, Guido Migliozzi, Alex Noren, Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters, Antoine Rozner, Sepp Straka.
