Power and Lowry named in Hero Cup team

Ryder Cup hopeful Seamus Power has been named in the Great Britain and Ireland team to face a Continental Europe side in next year’s Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi.

The Waterford man currently leads the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings after a win and two top-five finishes in his first three events of the 2022-23 season.

He has been selected along with 17 other players by Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald for the new event which has been introduced to give more players experience of a matchplay team tournament ahead of the biennial event against the United States in Rome next September.

Shane Lowry has also been included.

Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, Ryder Cup team-mates, will lead Europe and GB and Ireland, respectively.

Swede Alex Noren, Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton will provide the experience for both sides.

“We all thought it was important to combine experience and youthfulness and I think we have found that balance with a mixture of major champions and Ryder Cup players, alongside guys who are hoping to secure a spot in Rome next year,” said Donald.

The three-day event consists of one session of foursomes, one session of fourballs and one session of singles matches and all 20 players take part in each session.

In addition to Power and Lowry, Scots Ewen Ferguson and Robert MacIntyre and English trio Callum Shinkwin, Jordan Smith and Matt Wallace have been selected to play under Fleetwood.

Austrian Sepp Straka, Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, Frenchman Victor Perez, Adrian Meronk, the first Polish player to win on the DP World Tour with victory at this year’s Irish Open, Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Italian Guido Migliozzi make up the European team.

“Some of our younger players have already shown incredible maturity in high-pressured situations and proved they can perform in big moments, so giving them the opportunity to compete on this stage alongside the likes of Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters will be really important at the beginning of what could be a big year for them,” said Molinari.

One remaining place for each team will be allocated at the end of the DP World Tour calendar year.