The family of Seve Ballesteros has offered some choice words to the European Tour, accusing the organization of being “disrespectful” to the memory of the late Hall of Famer with the sanctioning of a new event.
According to a Reuters report, the issue at hand is the European Tour’s recent launch of the EurAsia Cup, which will make its debut in March and pits teams from Europe and Asia against one another in match play. It’s an identical format to that employed by the Royal Trophy, an event started in 2006 by Ballesteros and one which was previously sanctioned by the European Tour.
While the Tour’s chief executive, George O’Grady, claimed last month to have the support of the Ballesteros family in creating the new event, statements issued this week by the family appear to indicate otherwise.
“I am certain that Seve would have found this new proposal to be in very bad taste and very disrespectful,” said Vicente Ballesteros, the brother of the five-time major champion. “My brother Baldomero and I do not support this new proposed event at all. In fact, we find this attempt disrespectful and I personally find incredible that anyone takes the liberty to talk on Seve’s behalf.”
The creation of the new event appears rooted in the split between Asia’s major circuits, the Asian Tour and OneAsia Tour. While the Royal Trophy continues to be sanctioned by the Japan Tour, which co-sanctions many events with OneAsia, the EurAsia Cup is sanctioned by the Asian Tour in addition to the European Tour.
The inaugural EurAsia Cup is scheduled to take place March 27-29 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
