The opportunity of playing here again at Murrayfield is a very appealing one
The opportunity of playing here again at Murrayfield is a very appealing one. The hairs on the back of my neck always rise when I am playing in this great stadium."The decision to join the Scottish side, who open against the London Monarchs at White Hart Lane in April, was "really just an extension of the business relationship" he already enjoys with the Claymores, Hastings said.. Athletics Jonathan Edwards, who hopes to add the Olympic triple-jump title this summer to the World Championship gold medal he won last year, said yesterday that he was capable of a legal jump of 18.50 metres - 20cm more than his current world record. Edwards, who was announcing a sponsorship deal with Puma said to be worth a potential pounds 500,000 over three years, said he was determined to concentrate on his own efforts, rather than worrying about his rivals.Having won in Gothenburg last summer with 18.29m, the 29-year-old said he is now trying to combine the speed and adrenalin of that performance with the technical excellence he displayed a wind-assisted 18.43m in the European Cup at Lille."If those qualities come together, a legal 18.50 is feasible," he said. He insisted he was "well-acquainted with the hype" of the game but "did not know an awful lot about the actual playing"."It's interesting, something new, I am looking forward to it," he said. They also conceded that the former Lion had yet to don the full regalia or play a single game. But they praised him as a unique talent and said they were confident he would "translate his coveted kicking skills" to the new game.Although Hastings said he had spent "a very long time" thinking about his new playing role, he appeared somewhat bemused at yesterday's press conference.
He is to join his new US team-mates for a two-week training session in Atlanta, Georgia, next month where he will practise his kicking. He is has been named as kicker for the 1996 World League season which begins in April.Team managers admitted yesterday that they had only seen Hastings kick an once - at the Denver Broncos training ground four weeks ago. "He has been the clear candidate, indeed the only candidate." Gallacher said: "I don't think Seve was the only choice but he is the best choice. I don't think a playing captain is the ideal solution but it can be done.".
American football Gavin Hastings, the former Scotland captain who retired from international rugby union after the World Cup in South Africa last year, has switched sports to join the Scottish Claymores team. Hastings, whose company Hastings International markets the Claymores, announced his decision yesterday at Murrayfield, the home of the Edinburgh- based side. "Seve will bring his inspirational qualities as captain just as he has as a player," Ken Schofield, the European Tour's executive director, said. The club said the offer was for Ballesteros' help in redesigning the 17th at Valderrama. Ballesteros resigned from the Ryder Cup committee.The matter blew over and Ballesteros, has since made further changes to the infamous 17th again.
Yesterday he said: "It is a great honour for me to captain the team particularly as the Cup will be in Spain. That gives me great personal satisfaction."The last playing captain was Arnold Palmer in 1963, but Tom Kite, the new US captain, has not ruled out the possibility. My motivation will not be the same."Two years ago, seven clubs in Spain bid to host the biennial match for '97 and Ballesteros promoted Novo Sancti Petri, a public course which he designed. It stood no chance against Valderrama, an exclusive club owned by Bolivian billionaire Jaime Ortiz-Patino and venue for the Volvo Masters.
Prior to the meeting that chose Valderrama, Ballesteros alleged Patino offered him a $1m (pounds 649,000) "sweetener" to support his bid and hinted that Ryder Cup officials had been bribed. He was supported by the European Tour but the PGA favoured The Belfry. The stalemate was broken by the late Lord Derby who was president of both bodies. Despite the fact that Spain was promised the Cup in 1997 Ballesteros said: "I feel very disillusioned. Six years ago, he made an impassioned plea that the 1993 Ryder Cup should be staged at Club de Campo in Madrid. The Tour resisted and Neil Coles, then chairman of the selection committee and the current chairman of the Tour's board of directors, voted against the Spaniard's inclusion.Ballesteros's relationship with authority on the matter of the Ryder Cup has since lurched between love and hate.