GB & I captain Paul McGinley is betting his ace duo of Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood can come up trumps in retaining this week’s Vivendi Seve Trophy at Saint Nom-la-Breteche to the south-west of Paris.
Clarke is making his first appearance in the biennial event in nine years while Westwood has been recruited into the GB & I side after an eight-year absence.
GB & I captain, Paul McGinley betting Darren Clarke & Lee Westwood came come up trumps in France.
Despite their long absence from the European Tour team’s event, the pair boast between them a dozen Ryder Cup appearances.
And it’s for this reason McGinley also intends leading with the GB & I ‘big-gun’ pair when competition gets underway on Thursday.
“Lee and Darren are my lead pair, they’re the aces in my pack, and they’ll be first out and together,” said McGinley.
“I just feel it’s important to lead with your top pairing. They’re not Ollie and Seve but their record in Ryder Cup’s is pretty sensational.
“But I will show Darren, Lee and Poults (Ian Poulter) plenty of respect given their Ryder Cup experience and will be looking to share ideas with them.
“I’ve got a plan in place that I feel will help us win but if they come up with any ideas, like Rory and G Mac did last time, then I will take their opinions on board.
“I spoke to ‘Poults’ at his home in Florida for about an hour-and-a-half over last weekend, and while it’s probably cost me a bomb in mobile expenses (laughing), he’s really up for this week as he just loves team events.”
Also helping boost McGinley’s hope of retaining the trophy was the fact four of his GB & I team members including KLM Open tournament winner Simon Dyson, Westwood, Ross Fisher and David Horsey were among the top six finishers last week at Hilversum.
In contrast, Continental Captain, Jean Van de Velde’s highest Dutch finisher was Dane Anders Hansen who share 25th place.
“It’s good that so many of my team are on form and that all goes well,” said McGinley who captained the 2009 GB & I side to a five-point success.
“But the best job I did last time was Robert Rock as he came into the tournament playing really badly, and seemed really out of his depth.
“However I worked on him very hard that week and he ended up having a brilliant week winning three of five points.
“That actually gave me more pleasure as opposed to seeing Rory (McIlroy) and Graeme (McDowell) playing so well because they were both well on their games.
“But I think I’ve got a good idea what a captain should do and from the feedback I’m getting from my players, hopefully we can retain the trophy.”
McGinley hosted a corporate outing today (MON) at the K. Club in Ireland and is travelling early Tuesday morning to the French capital.
Both sides will practice Tuesday at the Saint-Nom-la-Breteche club near Versailles before then attending a dinner at the head offices of sponsors Vivendi and located close to the Arc de Triomphe.
Ryder Cup captain, Jose Maria Olazabal will host the dinner where he’s certain to speak of Seve Ballesteros’ legacy.
