The Dane & Scot will be the ‘Captains Team’ at European Tour’s GolfSixes
European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn and Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew will join forces in a world first for professional golf at the innovative GolfSixes.
The duo will be the first male and female professionals to play together in a competitive matchplay format when they form the ‘Captains Team’ in European Tour event at the Centurion Club from May 5-6.
The ‘Captains Team’ is one of four exciting wildcard selections introduced to this year’s event, with two of the other three being an ‘England Women’s Team’ comprising Georgia Hall and Charley Hull and a ‘European Women’s Team’ featuring Mel Reid and Suzann Pettersen.
They will join defending champions Denmark, represented again by Lucas Bjerregaard and ThorbjørnOlesen. The fourth wildcard team, meanwhile, will be revealed at the end of March alongside the 11 national teams.
All 16 teams at the event – which has a Greensomes format and will be contested over six holes – will be split into four groups of four, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages. The prize fund is €1m, with the eventual winners receiving €100,000 each.
“I am really excited about playing GolfSixes,” said Bjorn. “This is not a normal tournament where everyone is serious and has their heads down. It’s about having fun and portraying the game in a good way.
“I think it’s hugely important to also try and break down the barriers that have existed in golf between the men’s and women’s games. Me and Catriona are both really looking forward to it.”
Chief executive of the European Tour, Keith Pelley, added: “There was a lot of talk about what we were going to do differently this year while remaining credible but entertaining, and this is the result of those discussions.”
Early Bird tickets, priced at just £10 for adults and £4 for children (under 10s go free) are available until 11.59pm on Wednesday, March 21. After that, tickets are priced at £16 for adults and £6 for children.
Read the latest issue of UK Club Golfer online
