'16 Euro Ryder Cup Captaincy Decision Almost Here, Mercifully

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A Reuters report says the 18th of February will be the day either Darren Clarke or Miguel Angel Jimenez get the buggy keys and while most think it's Clarke's job, the late run of Jimenez should give the gathering committee pause. Or they just like seeing his name out there to bring Clarke back to earth.

Jimenez is too busy leading another European Tour event, this time in Malaysia through 36.

And the 51-year-old can still dance:
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Jiménez Making Late Charge Down Ryder Cup Captaincy Stretch

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Even though it looked like he'd been eased on at the half-mile pole, Miguel Ángel Jiménez is gaining on Darren Clarke, who flew out of the gate in the 2016 Ryder Cup Captaincy Stakes but could be tiring down the stretch.

Brian Keogh has a nice summary of the unexpected jockeying for the keys to the lead blue and yellow Club Car.

But while he's still the 1/4 favourite with the bookies to be named as skipper, Clarke now admits that the five-man selection committee has a choice to make in what looks like a two-horse race.

"At the moment it would look as if it's down to two of us, between Miguel and myself, and I'm sure whoever the committee decide will do a great job. It's up those guys to determine which one they think is going to be best out of the two of us. Those guys have a lot of experience and, having done it all before - there are three previous captains - we'll see what happens."

Keogh is taking votes on who you'd like to see win.

Is there any doubt who most of the world wants? Think of the press conferences people!

European 2016 Ryder Cup Captaincy Stakes: Miguel Angel's English, Darren Clarke's Unpredictability

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While most of the world focuses on the American response to a Ryder Cup loss, the first signs that Europe has concerns about their lead driver options in 2016 is highlighted in a couple of recent stories.

Sergio Garcia is quoted by Bernie McGuire as suggesting the most interesting man's English is poor enough that communication issues could be an issue when serving as a Ryder Cup captain.

“Becoming captain is different. From the time you get appointed there is more than a year-and-a-half of activities, engagements, interviews and so on that a new captain has to deal with.

“So it is important that everyone he speaks to over that period understands exactly what he is saying because words can be misinterpreted.

"Being a Ryder Cup captain is being the spokesman for the Tour and its sponsors – and then when competition gets under way there’s so many speeches he will have to handle.”

It wasn't an issue for Jose Maria Olazabal, who not only didn't communicate well with his players and exhibited questionable sportsmanship judgement, but lived to tell about it and is considered to have been a fine captain.

Meanwhile, Fleet Street has been quick to declare Darren Clarke the overwhelming favorite for the 2016 captaincy decision early next year, but Brian Keogh files one of those columns that we'll look to in a few years if a Clarke captaincy turns out to be a mess. Asking the "real Darren Clarke to please stand up," Keogh writes:

Few golfers have shown as many personas to the world as Clarke - genial and fun-loving one moment, laughing and smiling with cigar in hand as the people’s favourite, only to be transformed into a walking volcano for the waiting press, a brooding presence whose mood varied depending on his score.

So who’s he real Darren Clarke? The bleach blonde amateur in the two-tone golf shoes? The cigar-chomping, beer drinking lad with the gut, beloved of the lads down at the pub? The widower, the hard-worker or the hothead? Or the thin, white-haired Duke of our TV screens during the recent Ryder Cup?

Keogh goes on to detail Clarke's revisionist take on former buddy Paul McGinley and what that says about Clarke.