Ballesteros fears Irish trio

Seve Ballesteros sees the Irish trio of Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley as a major threat to his team's defence of the Seve Trophy at Druids Glen near Dublin this weekend.

Continental Europe won the inaugural match at Sunningdale two years ago and Ballesteros is convinced that the Irishmen who performed so well at the Masters last weekend will lead the charge for Great Britain and Ireland.

"Padraig gave a great performance at Augusta to finish in the top five and Paul was very impressive in completing his debut at the Masters in level par," he said.

"Darren will be disappointed with his one-over-par total at Augusta, but his earlier showing in Texas [second in the Houston Open] proves how well he's playing."

The Continental Europe team includes Jose Maria Olazabal, who finished fourth in the Masters to be the leading European, plus Thomas Bjorn, who finished at one under par alongside the British captain, Colin Montgomerie.

The Ryder Cup captain, Sam Torrance, will also be at Druids Glen as an observer. "The Seve Trophy event gives me a great opportunity to look at various pairings and how they might work out for the team later in the year," he said. "It also provides those players who have made the Ryder Cup team with the ideal preparation."