Sergio Refuses To Confirm He's Penciled In As 2029 Ryder Cup Captain
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Okay, that's not entirely true but believe it or not, some are already eyeing his possible tenure as the absurd 2010 captaincy debate comes to a head with Wednesday's planned announcement.
Bill Elliott writing for The Guardian:
Ewan Murray, the former Tour player who now is lead commentator for Sky Sports golf, is not alone when he articulates the thought that the Tournament Players Committee is making a mountain out of a molehill by prevaricating on the choice of captain.
"Especially when everyone can see how clear-cut it is, or should be," said Murray. "Monty can't do it in the States because the punters over there would just be into him from the start while Ollie would be ideal for America. The fact is that Gleneagles in five years' time might well be too late for Colin. He'd be too old really so surely it has to be now. Look, it's a different European Tour now. Players are younger, potential Ryder Cup men like Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett and Oliver Wilson, for example, are late teens and very early twenties. They need a connection. The Tour is lucky because there is a logical sequence of potential captains through to 2029. I went through this list with a senior official on the flight over and we ended up filling every spot and ending with Sergio García in '29 by which time Sergio will be 49."
I think these people are taking their captaincy talk just a bit far, no?
Mark Garrod weighs the possibilities for both candidates and also lists the endorsement quotes for all of the candidates, including Dennis Kucinich Ian Woosnam.
...the Scot is the one widely expected to be named Ryder Cup captain for next year's match in Wales. Nobody was even guessing such a scenario just a couple of weeks ago.
Both men had expressed their desire to play next year and, if they had stuck to their guns on that, it was almost a given that Olazabal would be in charge in Chicago in 2012, while Montgomerie would lead Europe on home soil at Gleneagles in 2014 and 2010 might have gone to either Sandy Lyle or Ian Woosnam. But they have not stuck to their guns.
Lawrence Donegan reminds us that when you lock grown men in a room and call them a committee, just about anyone has a chance to be named captain.
George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European tour, thought carefully when asked to describe the tenor of debate during a meeting in Abu Dhabi of players and officials – a body formally known as the tournament players committee – two weeks ago to discuss the captaincy of Europe's Ryder Cup side for next year's contest against the United States in Wales.
"Statesmanlike," he said eventually. Two weeks later, not a lot can be said with certainty about the Abu Dhabi meeting but it is safe to say this: it was far from statesmanlike. One of those in attendance, a former Ryder Cup player, was overheard the day after telling colleagues it was a shouting match, while another described the experience of sitting in a basement room of a hotel, albeit the seven-star Emirates Palace hotel, for three hours debating the whys and wherefores of the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy as "exhausting".
Mike Aitken makes a convincing case that the death of Sandy Lyle's bid rests on Nick Faldo's shoulders. Just one more reason the Masters Champions Dinner should be televised.
Karl McGinty believes we have Paul McGinley to thank...assuming Monty gets picked.
Steve Elling and Scott Michaux debate the logic behind each leading candidate.
And Tony Jimenez says it'll be a joint announcement with Monty and Ollie getting the next two jobs.
