Harrington qualifies for Seve Trophy team

Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Paul Casey are the first four players to qualify for the Britain and Ireland team to defend the Seve Trophy against Continental Europe at The Heritage in Ireland in two weeks’ time.

The quartet earn places based on their world ranking positions today. Four more will come from the European Order of Merit after this week’s Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany and then captain Nick Faldo will add two wild cards.