Golf Central

"In 20 years when we're both legends and you have your own tournament...i'm going to CRUSH you"

Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros have named their wildcards for the upcoming Seve Trophy. Faldo has chosen England's Simon Dyson and Scotland's Marc Warren while Seve has chosen fellow Spaniard, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Dane, Thomas Bjorn.

Both captains lost no time in bigging up their choices; Faldo said “In Marc Warren I'm bringing a player to the team that has a cool head under pressure and in Simon Dyson we have a player that has proved he can perform under the spotlight.”

Ballesteros was similarly bullish: "I'm delighted to have someone of Thomas's experience in the team and we know what a great competitor he is in this format, Gonzalo is one of the most exciting young players on the tour and I believe he will play a good role in the team." Bjorn's inclusion also means that he'll be retain his ever-present record in the event.

This news comes hot on the heels of Padraig Harrington's withdrawal which somewhat ironically leaves the Ireland hosted tournament without an Irish player in its ranks.

Teams:

Britain and Ireland: Colin Montgomerie (Scotland), Justin Rose (England), Paul Casey (England), Bradley Dredge (Wales), Graeme Storm (England), Oliver Wilson (England), Nick Dougherty (England), Phillip Archer (England), Simon Dyson (England), Marc Warren (Scotland).

Continental Europe: Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Raphael Jacquelin (France), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), Soren Hansen (Denmark), Gregory Havret (France), Markus Brier (Austria), Peter Hanson (Sweden), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain).
 

Runaway mine train just out of shot

 The Mercedes Benz Championship's prohibitively elite field ensured that the rookies were all kicking their heels last week. Not literally hopefully as we want them to do well at the British Masters this week.

Zane Scotland @ 66/1
Sam Walker @ 125/1
Kyron Sullivan @ 200/1
Mark Pilkington @ 250/1
Marcus Higley @ 250/1

Has Tiger gone? Can I get out now?

Last week, our highest placing tip Steve Stricker finished at a tied 17th  score of six-under-par, a whopping 17 shots behind the winner, Tiger Woods. This week, in a Tiger-less field, the rank and file of the PGA Tour get their chance for some glory and our chance to pick a winner for a change.

Carl Pettersson @ 25/1

The portly Swede finished 10th last week at the BMW Championship and fifth at the Wyndham Championship. Is sixth in total overall birdies this season and is well priced to bag his first win of the year.

Sean O'Hair @ 33/1

Will be buoyant from a recent World Cup call-up and performed well at both the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Brian Gay @ 80/1

Not just a funny name, Brian Gay is also an excellent putter and went reasonably close at the recent Wyndham Championship. 80/1 represents decent each way odds.

Nick Faldo: The Matthew Corbett of the golfing world

When I was 19 and had a week off from university, invariably it would involve feats of drinking and laziness that would have had my GP crying into his stethoscope if only he knew. Ollie's week off is more likely to have involved sustained periods of practise and rest. As such, an each way bet on the precocious Mr Fisher at 125/1 is not a bad prospect. Similarly, if Paddy Power were to offer you 125/1 on me having renal failure by thirty, you should bite their hand off.

Oliver Fisher to Win Quinn Direct British Masters @ 125/1

Crenshaw's putting expertise was second only to his beat-boxing

On this day, in 1976, Ben Crenshaw chalked up a one stroke victory over Andy North in the Ohio Kings Island Open.

Ben Daniel Crenshaw was born in 1952 in Austin, Texas and turned pro in 1973. He won his first event in his rookie season, The San Antonio Texas Open and would go on to savour a total of 19 PGA Tour victories including the 1984 and 1995 Masters. Regarded as one of the best putters ever to grace the game 'Gentle Ben' was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

Also on this day, in 1900, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid commit their first robbery together. The Lizard Gulch Happy Shopper never knew what hit it as the rascally pair escaped with enough sweets to last them for weeks.

Meanwhile, in 1959, Nikita Khrushchev was barred from entering Disneyland. Not for his extreme communist ideals as is widely believed; but rather for the fact that he wasn't tall enough for the rides, made lewd suggestions to Snow White and refused to put a shirt on.

And it's Lajos Kossuth! As they say in Hungary, to; super-Swedish super-model Victoria Silvstedt (33), Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker (44) and moustachioed 'keeper David Seaman (44). It would also have been clickety-click 66 for Mama Cass had her fondness for ham sandwiches not outweighed her fondness for living.