Geoff Shackelford

Sadly for admirers of petty politicking and backstabbing the races look to have 1/5 favorites. Bust we mustn't give up hope.

According to Golfweek's Alistair Tait, the oddsmakers will install Thomas Bjorn as the overwhelming favorite.

A separate committee consisting of the three immediate past captains, a player from the tournament committee and the European Tour chief executive now decides who leads Europe’s Ryder Cup charge. That committee will lean heavily toward Bjorn.

Clarke, Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal are the committee’s three immediate past captains. Bjorn, 45, served as a vice captain under all three. He’s also played on three winning teams (1997, 2002 and 2014), compiling a 3-4-2 record.

I'll pause for a moment to let the goosebumps subside.

As we know, the Europeans have had their share of captaincy drama and sought to stabilize the system. But a resounding 17-11 loss might just handicap Bjorn.

Andrew Coltart makes a case for Ian Poulter, who will be 42 in 2018, to bring his unique blend of Ryder Cup passion and success to the proceedings. Poulter became a 2016 driver vice captain after a season-ending injury and successfully got through the week at Hazeltine without running over a spectator.

Poulter is 80-1, perhaps because Derek Lawrenson quotes him in a Daily Mail wrap of the Cup's performers as saying he's eager to get back to his playing career. The rest:

On the U.S. side, Kevin Van Valkenburg at ESPN.com considers how Jim Furyk struck all of the right notes and it became clear that the next U.S.A. captain in Paris 2018 was at Hazeltine. Task force honcho Phil Mickelson was already plotting strategy for the captain, according to Love.

In the post-match celebration, Love said while the win obviously meant a great deal to him, one of the things he was most proud of this year was developing (with Woods and Mickelson and other titans of American golf) an approach the U.S. can use going forward, for years to come.

"We started this process well over a year and a half ago," Love said. "And we're sitting there on the 18th green watching the last few matches come in, and Phil is already explaining what's going to happen in Paris."

Only the task force knows who will get to spend a lot of time in Paris, but in ESPN's four-ball, Bob Harig mentions this.

Harig: If you go by how the task force laid out the plan for the future, it will be Furyk. He was a Presidents Cup assistant last year as well as an assistant at the Ryder Cup. You can expect him to be an assistant for Stricker at the Presidents Cup next year. Furyk has played on numerous U.S. teams. It sets him up to get the gig in France.

Task Force, we are living in your world. Just let us know who you annoint the next captain.