Seve Ballesteros’ son hits out at DP World Tour

One of the late Seve Ballesteros’ children has hit out at the DP World Tour following the circuit’s decision to bring back the Seve Trophy minus the golf legend’s name.

Javier Ballesteros, himself a professional golfer, took to Twitter to release a statement about the Hero Cup, announced by the tour yesterday.

The event, set to take place in Abu Dhabi in January, will see the best golfers from Great Britain & Ireland take on their continental European counterparts in a matchplay contest, designed to serve as a warm-up for next September’s Ryder Cup.

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This mimics the format of the Seve Trophy – named after five-time major champ and European Tour stalwart Ballesteros – which was staged between 2000 and 2013.

Many observers wondered why the DP World Tour had chosen not to include the Spaniard’s name in the event’s revival.

Now, Seve’s son has provided the answer – and it doesn’t reflect well on the embattled circuit.

In a statement, Javier wrote: “Last October, an ET player came to me to say that European Tour was thinking about bringing Seve Trophy back (I was very happy to hear this).

“I heard nothing more about it until only one day before the announcement was made, when ET contacted me to let me know there was a ‘new’ match play event – being an exact copy of The Seve Trophy – and wanted my Dad ‘to be involved in some way’.

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“We obviously said NO. We don’t want anything out of this, but only The Seve Trophy back, not a copy of it.

“We believe our Dad deserves something better from The European Tour, given the unconditional support he always gave to The European Tour and the legacy he left behind.”

This is yet more bad PR for the tour, which is currently preparing for a legal battle against some of its own members over the LIV Golf Series.