• Vivendi Seve Trophy

Westwood leads Seve Trophy charge

Lee Westwood is the highest-profile player to commit to the Vivendi Seve Trophy © Getty Images

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Lee Westwood's participation in the Vivendi Seve Trophy has been confirmed - with the world No. 2 spearheading the Great Britain and Ireland team against Continental Europe.

Jose Maria Olazabal, who will captain the Europe Ryder Cup team next year, had spoken of his disappointment that a number of the world's leading players had elected to miss the event in the year of Seve Ballesteros' death.

But the Spaniard will have been buoyed by the decision of Westwood, Darren Clarke and Ian Poulter to commit to the event at St Nom la Breteche in Paris.

"It is a huge boost for our team that players of the calibre of Lee, Darren and Ian have opted to play next week," GB and Ireland captain Paul McGinley told the European Tour's website. "These are players with big worldwide reputations and impressive Ryder Cup pedigrees. I think we have an extremely strong side with a good blend of youth and experience and I am certain that our four rookies will learn an enormous amount from playing with the likes of Lee and Darren, who have performed at a very elite level for many years."

A strong Continental Europe team, captained by Jean van de Velde, boasts six players in the top 50 of the world rankings - notably the in-form Thomas Bjorn.

"It is great to see so many great champions in the field and so many fantastic young prospects like Matteo Manassero," Van de Velde said. "With eight rookies in the two teams, it means that 40 per cent of the sides are newcomers to the Vivendi Seve Trophy and this will be great preparation for the day they step up to play in The Ryder Cup. We have Miguel Angel Jiménez playing in his seventh Seve Trophy and Thomas Bjorn his sixth. However we are 5-1 down in the series and I hope we can reverse the trend."

Continental Europe:
Jean van de Velde (captain), Thomas Bjorn, Nicolas Colsaerts, Anders Hansen, Peter Hanson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal, Matteo Manassero, Francesco Molinari, Alexander Noren, Alvaro Quiros

GB & Ireland:
Paul McGinley (captain), Darren Clarke, Jamie Donaldson, Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher, Mark Foster, David Horsey, Scott Jamieson, Ian Poulter, Robert Rock, Lee Westwood

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