Much of the brouhaha in advance of this fifth edition of the Seve Trophy has been about the absence of any Irish player from the team. Now, though, it is time to forget such insularity, writes Philip Reidat The Heritage.
The fact is the Britain and Ireland team which, starting today, defends the trophy - albeit without an Irishman in the side - against continental Europe at The Heritage at Killenard, outside Portlaoise, is composed of many players who represent the future of European golf.
Certainly, Justin Rose, for one, aims to use this match as a stepping stone to making the Ryder Cup in a year.
At number 13 in the world rankings, Rose is the highest-ranked player competing and, dedicating his late-season to events in Europe as he chases Padraig Harrington for the Order of Merit title, he admitted to having one eye cast ahead to Valhalla next year.
"The Ryder Cup is definitely on my radar. It is a goal of mine, and this is the first year that I've made it a priority as such. It is something I'm hoping to achieve."
The programme over the four days will see a series of fourballs today and tomorrow, followed by greensomes (Scotch foursomes) and foursomes on Saturday and singles on Sunday.
For today's first series of fourballs, neither Nick Faldo, the B and I captain, nor Seve Ballesteros have shown any great imagination, as the pairings have a nationalistic look. Swede with Swede, French with French, Spanish with Spanish, Dane with Dane, English with English (three times, actually) and Scot with Scot.
In fact, the only occasions that national boundaries are broken is in Austrian Markus Brier's link-up with Mikko Ilonen and lone Welshman Bradley Dredge's partnership with England's Phillip Archer.
"I've gone for a nice easy draw," conceded Faldo, adding, "Maybe as the match goes on, who knows, I might put them on the defence just to see how they handle it."
Faldo has paired each one of his five debutants with a player who has Seve Trophy experience. So Colin Montgomerie partners Marc Warren in the top match with Peter Hanson and Robert Karlsson; Bradley Dredge, who holed the winning putt at the Wynyard two years ago, partners Phillip Archer against Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano; Paul Casey and Simon Dyson face Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret; Nick Dougherty links up with Graeme Storm against Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen, while Rose partners Oliver Wilson against Brier and Ilonen.
So rivals over the next four days could be team-mates come the Ryder Cup in a year.
But Thomas Bjorn expects competitiveness to erode the friendliness.
"When it comes down to the weekend, it seems everybody gets down to business. It always gets hard. I think we've seen in the past how hard and how competitive people are . . . but the one thing this was created for was to prepare us better for the Ryder Cup, and I think in all honesty that has worked," said Bjorn.
On paper, at least, B and I seem stronger. In Rose (13th), Casey (22nd) and Montgomerie (45th), they have the three best players off the world rankings.
"Great Britain and Ireland, or whatever you want to call it, has to be the favourite going into these matches," said Bjorn. "But I look at my team and I think it will stand together. We will give it a run. We will go in as underdogs and feel comfortable in that position."
While the B and I team has had to plan without British Open champion Padraig Harrington, who withdrew from the team to rest neck, knee and thumb injuries with an aim to resume playing in next week's Dunhill Links, and Luke Donald, who declined to play, the continentals are without Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Niclas Fasth, who decided to bypass the event.
While B and I are ostensibly the "home" team, Ballesteros - the co-designer of the course along with Jeff Howes - believes those spectators who do show up might switch loyalties.
"Since there's no Irishman (playing), I have the impression that the country will pull for the continental European team," said Ballesteros.
He was only half in jest.
Britain and Ireland
Philip Archer (World ranking 102): Making his debut. Has enjoyed a rich vein of form, finishing runner-up in the European Masters and Mercedes Benz championship.
Paul Casey (22nd): One of only seven players to make the cut in all four majors in 2007 with top-10 finishes in the US Masters and the US Open. Fourth appearance in the Seve Trophy. He finished runner-up to Padraig Harrington on last year's PGA European Tour order of merit.
Nick Dougherty (98th): His second appearance. This protégé of Nick Faldo had a career-high finish in a major at the US Open at Oakmont where he finished seventh.
Bradley Dredge (48th): Welshman sealed B&I's win in the 2005 Seve Trophy at Wynyard, and is a noted team player, having also partnered Stephen Dodd to victory in the 2006 World Cup.
Simon Dyson (80th): A wild card pick, the Englishman enjoyed a career-high finish in a major in the US PGA at Southern Hills where he was sixth. He is making his Seve Trophy debut.
Colin Montgomerie (45th): With over €22.5 million in career earnings on the European Tour, Monty - who has swopped the playing-captain role he has occupied in the previous four Seve Trophy matches into being just a player this time - carries a wealth of experience.
Justin Rose (13th): Chasing Padraig Harrington in the race to top the European Tour money list, the 27-year-old Englishman has overcome early-season injury to rise to a career-high position in the rankings.
Graeme Storm (128th): Claimed his first European Tour title at the French Open in July. The former Walker Cup player (1999) is making his debut.
Marc Warren (127th): The other wild card. Captured the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles last month, his second win on the European Tour following his Scandinavian Masters win in 2006. Was rookie of the year last year.
Oliver Wilson (132nd): Making his debut after a stellar year which has seen the Englishman finish runner-up in the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe and the Johnnie Walker Classic.
Continental Europe
Thomas Bjorn (World ranking 84th): Having missed out on the last two Ryder Cups, Bjorn, who won the Irish Open last year, his ninth career win on the PGA European Tour, has appeared in all four Seve Trophy matches, the last three on the losing side.
Markus Brier (95th): The Austrian is making his debut, having enjoyed a fine season that saw him secure his second European Tour win in the Volvo China Open in April. He made his breakthrough win in the Austrian Open in 2004.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (140th): A wild card, the Spaniard won the Italian Open this season. He was the European Tour's rookie of the year in 2005, when he captured his maiden tour title, the Dutch Open.
Peter Hanson (76th): This is his second appearance, having played in 2005. He has had a good season, including making the cut at the US Open, the British Open and the US PGA.
Soren Hansen (47th): Ended a five-year drought on tour when he captured the Mercedes Benz championship in Cologne earlier this month. Although he has represented Denmark in the World Cup on four occasions, this is his Seve Trophy debut.
Gregory Havret (123rd): Claimed the third tour win of his career in the Scottish Open this season, The Frenchman, who is paired with compatriot Raphael Jacquelin for the opening day's fourballs, is making his first appearance in the Seve Trophy.
Mikko Ilonen (65th): Enjoying a breakthrough season on the European Tour, having won the Indonesian Open and the Scandinavian Masters. This is his debut.
Raphael Jacquelin (71st): This is his third appearance and, although he featured on the losing teams in 2002 and 2003, Jacquelin's record of 5-4-2 represents an above average strike-rate.
Miguel Angel Jimenez (60th): Playing in his fifth Seve Trophy, Jimenez - a 13-time winner on the European Tour - is also a Ryder Cup veteran, having played on three occasions.
Robert Karlsson (49th): A seasoned team player, the 6ft 5in Swede featured on the winning Ryder Cup team at The K Club last year and has played in two Seve Trophy matches, in 2000 and 2002.
Fourballs
Continental Europe v
Britain and Ireland
(European names first)
ON TV: Sky Sports 1, 10.30-17.00
10.35: P Hanson, R Karlsson v
C Montgomerie, M Warren.
10.50: MA Jimenez, G F'ndez-Castano v
B Dredge, P Archer
11.05: R Jacquelin, G Havret v
P Casey, S Dyson.
11.20: T Bjorn, S Hansen v
N Dougherty, G Storm
11.35: M Brier, M Ilonen v
J Rose, O Wilson
