McIlroy opts out of Seve Trophy

Rory McIlroy has ruled himself out of Britain and Ireland’s team for the Vivendi Seve Trophy in Paris.

The US Open champion was part of the winning side two years ago and the event played an important role ahead of his Ryder Cup debut by getting him to enjoy team golf.

New cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal had wanted as many of his big names as possible to appear in the match – not just to see them in action, but to honour the memory of event founder Seve Ballesteros in the year of his death. But McIlroy said yesterday he has commitments with his sponsors and also wants some time at home before embarking on 12 weeks of travel.

“I want to try to get two weeks at home and do a few things before I head off on that big run,” he told European Tour radio.

Lee Westwood has yet to make up his mind whether to play but, with Mark Foster in line for a debut, he commented: “It would be nice if Worksop had two people there.”

Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Martin Laird and Justin Rose are likely to miss the event because of the FedEx Cup play-offs in America.