Colin Montgomerie and Retief Goosen, team captains for the inaugural Goodwill Trophy, have each unveiled their next two picks for the innovative event which pits a team representing Europe and the United States against an International team for the first time.
HSBC World Matchplay Champion Paul Casey and Russian Open Champion Alejandro Canizares of Spain will line up for the Ryder Cup countries, which will feature Europeans and Americans on the same side for the first time ever in team matchplay golf. Korean number one KJ Choi and Thongchai Jaidee, Thailand’s leading player, will take their places in the International Team that is drawn from Africa, Asia, North and South America.
Ryder Cup hero Casey and Russian Open winner, Canizares join England’s Luke Donald, Chris DiMarco of the United States and Swede Henrik Stenson, in Montgomerie’s side, with Choi and Jaidee the new names to be added to Goosen’s International team that already features New Zealand’s Michael Campbell and Lian Wei Zhang of China.
Colin Montgomerie said: “At the moment, Paul is probably in the best form of anyone on the European Tour and this is reflected by the fact that he is likely to win the Order of Merit for the first time this season. In particular, his performances over the last couple of months have demonstrated what a strong matchplay golfer he is. I obviously had first hand experience of this in the semi final of the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth. His hole in one at the 14th at the K Club and defeat of Jim Furyk in the singles capped a terrific Ryder Cup performance as well. As such, I am absolutely delighted that he has accepted my invitation to play in the inaugural Goodwill Trophy”.
Paul Casey said: “It’s an honour to be asked to be a member of the first matchplay team to feature players from both Europe and America and I am very grateful to Colin Montgomerie for extending me the invitation to play. I jumped at the chance to play in another team match play tournament because it allows me another chance to play alongside the likes of Colin, Luke and Henrik, as well as providing the chance to play alongside someone like Chris DiMarco for the first time”.
Retief Goosen said, “I played with KJ Choi in a fourball at the Presidents Cup in 2003 so I know that he’s a keen competitor in the matchplay format. I am pleased that KJ has accepted my invitation to join the International team at the Goodwill Trophy and I hope that he will help us to victory on Asian soil”.
KJ Choi said, “It is my great pleasure to accept an invitation from Retief Goosen to join him in the International team at the Goodwill Trophy. I enjoyed playing team matchplay golf with some great players against the Americans in the Presidents Cup at Fancourt in 2003. It will be fantastic to play in such an exciting event in Asia and I look forward to our visit to Mission Hills in November”.
The Goodwill Trophy will be played on the Jack Nicklaus-designed World Cup course at Mission Hills Golf Club, China on 13th and 14th November 2006. The tournament, which is a joint venture between Mission Hills Golf Club, China and The Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales, will be played the following year on the new Ryder Cup course at The Celtic Manor.
The identities of the remaining players to contest the Goodwill Trophy will be revealed in the coming weeks.