Luke Donald urges Ewen Ferguson to 'push on' and get in mix for new Hero Cup

Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, and Guy Kinnings, European Ryder Cup Director and the DP World Tour’s Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer, shake on the new Hero Cup. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

In-form Scot Ewen Ferguson has been urged by European captain Luke Donald to use the new Hero Cup as a springboard to be a contender for next year’s Ryder Cup in Italy.

To be held in Abu Dhabi on 13-15 January, the event that effectively sees the Seve Trophy being resurrected will involve two ten-man teams comprising players from Great Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe.

They will be selected by Donald, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, in consultation with two team captains, who will be named in due course but will not be his two current vice captains, Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari.

The two teams will be confirmed following the conclusion of the 2022 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November. With performance on the DP World Tour Rankings taken into account in the player selection process, Ferguson is likely to be in the frame following his two wins this season, which see him sit 11th in the standings.

Speaking at Wentworth in the build up to this week’s BMW PGA Championship, Donald said: “I talked to Ewen last week midway through the (Made in HimmerLand) tournament and congratulated him on his good play and he obviously had another very, very solid week and had a good chance to win.

“Those are the types of players that I'll be looking at. Hopefully that will give him motivation to push on and get a little kind of sense of what team events are like and get his appetite up for the Ryder Cup.”

Introduced to give both captains and players experience in a team event, the Seve Trophy was held between 2000 and 2013. It was then replaced by the EurAsia Cup between 2014 and 2018, which involved Team Europe taking on Team Asia.

“One of the first things I was keen to do when I was appointed as Ryder Cup captain was to reinstate a team match-play contest to give playing and leadership experience to future Ryder Cup players, vice-captains and captains,” added Donald.

“I spoke to a number of former Ryder Cup captains who were strong advocates of how similar events in the past have benefitted players who were pushing to make Ryder Cup teams, as well as their own captaincy journey. I am therefore grateful to Hero MotoCorp and the DP World Tour for supporting the concept of the Hero Cup.”

The new event extends Hero MotoCorp’s long-term relationship with the European Tour Group, which began at the 2015 Hero Indian Open.

Since then, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles, has also supported the Hero Challenge, as well as the Hero Open, held at Fairmont St Andrews the last two years.

Dr Pawan Munjal, Hero MotorCorp’s chairman & CEO said: “We have always supported innovation in golf and this new team match play event on the DP World Tour is certainly an interesting format.

“We are happy to extend our long-term partnership with the European Tour Group. I am sure the Hero Cup will support and provide an opportunity to the talented European players to showcase their incredible skill to a global audience. We are excited to be part of this.”