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SEVE TROPHY

September 26, 2007

KILLENARD, IRELAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Ladies and gentlemen, we have two familiar faces with us, the respective captains of Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros. Maybe some introductory remarks from both captains. Seve, take us away, please.
SEVE BALLESTEROS: Hi, everybody. Thanks for coming. First of all, I would just like to say congratulations to you, Nick, for accepting the captaincy of the British and Irish team. Hopefully you're not as successful as Colin Montgomerie in the past three. But, you know, I just hope that we have a great week, we have great matches and the best team wins the competition.
NICK FALDO: Looking forward to the week as we discussed. A great opportunity for me as a dry run as the captain to spend some time; we've got a lot of players that are playing that I don't know. You know, see what I get from the week. It's a great course, I'll have my eyes and ears open from every angle for the opportunity to ascertain some gems and get ready for next September in Valhalla.

Q. Regarding McGinley withdrawing as Vice Captain designate.
NICK FALDO: Of course as you know from the start he was really concerned about the workload of being a vice captain and he wants to play. I spoke to him about two weeks ago and asked him if he wanted to come to Valhalla with me and he said no, "I'm playing, so I think he felt, you know, disappointed about that."
He would have loved to have been there and been involved in that capacity. And I think he finally -- I spoke to him last week and he said, you know, I've got a lot of events coming up. I could sense the rumblings, and then we spoke this morning and he decided to withdraw his position.
I said all along, if he wants to play, great. He's a hell of a Ryder Cup player. The man holed a winning putt on the Ryder Cup, and that's the sort of player I want on my team. And I said right from the start, if that's his priority and if anything changes, absolutely fine. So I'm more than comfortable with it.

Q. Would you consider re-appointing Paul if he didn't qualify?.
NICK FALDO: Could do. You never know. As I said, I want to have four guys, and I think he's done the same thing and I'm going to wait through the year to see what unfolds and see -- things could all change.

Q. What about asking Sandy Lyle?
NICK FALDO: Yeah, I obviously would think about that. Obviously I've been occupying playing the Pro-Am today so I was in full flow. Yeah, I'll think about that and see what I need to do. I'll have a chat with Sandy. We shall see.
SEVE BALLESTEROS: He shot 69 at The Belfry and didn't sign -- I spoke to him last night, it's been a long time, I said, you were all upset and you forgot to sign.
NICK FALDO: We don't do it very often. I'll take a tip on that for next week. If I sign it before I start just in case.

Q. Paul said he wanted to Paul his way in?
NICK FALDO: Was his priority, he stated it at the beginning, that was his concern. It took him two weeks to think about it, he said he wanted to play and we had that agreement that if it changes at any time, that's absolutely fine. If you think anything is disturbing, you know, your concentration, whatever to play, or your commitment to play, then absolutely fine.

Q. (Regarding McGinley).
NICK FALDO: Yeah, we trek the world together. No, I understand. That's his priority and he wants to do that and I fully understand that. Simple as that.

Q. Had you asked him to come this week?
NICK FALDO: Yeah, I asked him and he said, "I'm preparing to play." Maybe all of these little things added up and he realised he can't fully commit to it in two minds. Great, you can only play this game in one mind, and he's decided he want to play and commit to it 100%

Q. Inaudible
NICK FALDO: I'll end up playing (at Valhalla), as well, the way we're going -- (laughter). Anyway (chuckling) I might have to start again. I might be the only man, but I've got big enough shoulders.

Q. Do you feel you can win back the Seve Trophy this week?
SEVE BALLESTEROS: No doubts, I think we would win.
NICK FALDO: Funny, I have the same feeling.
SEVE BALLESTEROS: I think we have a small difference here, but I have to say that I'm very -- I think a little bit disappointed to play in this event because it's a great competition and this is a place where it's best for match play.
And, you know, Harrington is not playing for the Great Britain and Ireland team. Obviously he's the Open Champion and, you know, I would really love to see him playing. Even though on the other hand, I feel lucky because, you know, he's the Open Champion and he's playing very good and he has a great confidence; and also on the other hand since there's no -- between Great Britain and Ireland, I have the impression that the country will pull for the continental and European Team. (Laughter).
Overall, I'm very happy.

Q. (Even though you are retired, would you play)?
SEVE BALLESTEROS: Me? No, Nick knows what he's doing. Nick knows what he needs for his team for the future team with the Ryder Cup and I think everybody has to respect his decision. You can't really have the grandmother drunk and a full bottle -- you cannot have your grandmother drunk and the bottle full at the same time. That's a Spanish saying. (Laughter)
NICK FALDO: I heard big crowds going through Spain -- (laughter).

Q. Your picks were straight off the list?
NICK FALDO: Well, I went with one and two. I think Marc Warren, he's won four times and he's won four in playoffs. And I personally switch to match play in playoffs, so I thought that shows good grit and good determination.
And Simon Dyson has been very consistent and he's finished No. 2 in the standings and is chomping at the bit to play.
So, you know, that is really as far as I wanted to go because you know, I feel this is a great opportunity. Who knows, this might be a great stepping stone for them. This might be the break they are looking for. They have to impress themselves; you come out here and play well, the course is very good, it's a good tough golf course. You've got to play some clutch shots which I think is good. Some really tough shots across the water in some of these pin positions that, you know, I like that, there's enough to think about and that will get your attention, put it that way, let alone match situations.
So I think these guys, I might throw them on the deep end, as well. I think I've I'd have gone for a nice, easy draw if they want. But maybe as the match goes on, who knows, I might put them on the defense just to see how they can handle it. As you say, it's a big learning curve for all of us, for players and me, for Valhalla.

Q. Inaudible.
NICK FALDO: Yeah, but my priority was to pick the team to play, to come and play. As I've just explained, I think that is very important. These guys have done so much and they want to play, 1 and 2, you know -- when you're a youngster, I know how I would feel. I would want to go and play, and they have done enough to be here. It's pretty justified for them to be playing. I want to give them a shot.

Q. Would it have been easier to pick an Irishman?
NICK FALDO: Would it have been easier? Probably not.

Q. What did you say to all the guys last night?
NICK FALDO: That's between these four walls. I forgot to mention it was between these four walls! (Laughter).
To be completely honest, and between these four walls here -- no, seriously, seriously, I've got some strong feelings on how I feel I can help my team, and I've led them to be doing that. It certainly helped me in my career. Seve agreed with me, said he did the same thing. So without saying what I was talking about, without saying word for word what I was talking about, I just want to paint the right picture of what we're going to do.
GORDON SIMPSON: Captains, best of luck tomorrow and thank you very much for coming in.

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