Seve’s son lambasts DP World Tour following news of Hero Cup

Bernie McGuire
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Seve Ballesteros celebrates victory during The 108th Open Championship held at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club from July 18-21,1979 in Lytham, England. (Photo by R&A via Getty Images)

Bernie McGuire

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Javier Ballesteros, the son of the late Seve Ballesteros, has lambasted the DP World Tour following news of the launch early next year of the inaugural hosting of the Hero Cup.

The Hero Cup will be an inter-European team match play contest aimed at boosting Europe’s bid to regain the Ryder Cup and will be the same format as the former Seve Trophy and also the Euro/Asia Cup.

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Rome Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will oversee the event in Abu Dhabi from January 13-15 along with two playing captains, with two 10-man teams competing in foursomes, fourballs and singles and all 20 players taking part in each session.

The competition effectively fills the gap left by the Seve Trophy, which was held eight times between 2000 and 2013 and gave captaincy experience to future Ryder Cup skippers Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn.

Ballesteros, who died from complications of a cancerous brain tumour in 2011, also captained the European side four times, including to a one-point victory in the inaugural event at Sunningdale in 2000.

In an article by the Press Association (PA) the five-time major winner’s son Javier wrote on Twitter: “Last October an ET player came to me to say that the European Tour was thinking about bringing Seve Trophy back (I was very happy about this).

“I heard nothing more about it until only one day before the announcement was made, when ET contacted me to let me know there was a “new” match play event – being this an exact copy of The Seve Trophy – and wanted my dad to be involved in some way.

“We obviously said NO. We don’t want anything out of this, but only The Seve Trophy back, not a copy of it.

“We believe our dad deserves something better from The European Tour, given the unconditional support he always gave to The European Tour and the legacy he left behind.”

PA indicated they had contacted the European Tour and are waiting for a response.

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