Ireland will have an unchanged, and powerful, team of Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley when they contest the Alfred Dunhill Cup world team title on the Old Course at St Andrews next month. Clarke, whose latest boost in a fantastic season is an invitation to the Toyota World matchplay, is joined by Harrington, who narrowly missed out on Ryder Cup selection, and McGinley, last year's Austrian Open champion. But, despite the strength of the Irish team, they will have their work cut out against a star-studded line-up.
British Open champion Justin Leonard will head the US trio who defend the title. He will be joined by Mark O'Meara, winner of the Lancome Trophy last Sunday, and Brad Faxon. All three are members of the squad which will try to regain the Ryder Cup from Europe at Valderrama next week.
Jose-Maria Olazabal returns to the Spanish team for his first appearance since 1993, partnering Ryder Cup team-mate Ignacio Garrido and rejected Ryder Cup candidate Miguel Angel Martin.
US Open champion Ernie Els makes his sixth successive appearance and will be supported in South Africa's team by David Frost and Retief Goosen, while Zimbabwe send their perennial trio of Nick Price, Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone.
Sweden also look strong with Jesper Parnevik, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Joakim Haeggman. Scotland, the 1995 winners, are again led by Colin Montgomerie, but England are once more without Nick Faldo, who declined for the fourth successive year to play. Russell Claydon will make his England debut. The 31-year-old, who has earned over £1 million on the European tour despite never winning a title, joins Lee Westwood and Mark James.
India, who provided the shock last year by beating then-holders Scotland in the round-robin phase, are not included in the event, the draw for which will be made on October 15th. The event runs from October 16th to 19th.
