Euros Begin The Sensitive Process Of Endorsing Their Next Captain Without Offending The Next Captain
/From a lengthy, unbylined account of the Turkey Final where Tiger and Rory lost their opening matches (zzzzzz....), came this far more interesting discussion of 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy.
In a nutshell, Justin Rose thinks Darren Clarke might be better suited to an American captaincy because of his popularity here, while Lee Westwood makes his case for buddy Darren Clarke.
“I think we have three or four good options,” Rose said. “I’m hearing Paul and Darren and maybe Paul Lawrie, but he is in the top 30 in the world and would probably want to play at Gleneagles.
“They (McGinley and Clarke) would both be great, I don’t know if Darren might be more suited to America in 2016 as he is very popular over there.
“Paul will be very strategic and won’t put a foot wrong tactically. He has holed the winning putt before and it means a lot to him. We have good options across the board.”
Well done young Mr. Rose. Your rebuttal, Mr. Westwood?
“There are a lot of good candidates but if I was asked to pick I would pick Darren,” Westwood said. “He’s been a Ryder Cup stalwart for many years.
“The one at the K Club (in 2006) will be remembered for him and his great performance under the stress of what he was going through at the time (his wife Heather had recently died); he’s a major champion, he’s a very good public speaker which I think has to be taken into account, tactically very astute. I think Darren has a lot of good things going for him.
“Paul is good in the team room and makes a great vice-captain. He’s done a good job with the Vivendi (Seve) Trophy (twice a winning captain).
“Paul has played three (Ryder Cups), Darren has played five and got a Major championship and won a lot more tournaments than Paul. You have to have a criteria somewhere and I think Darren just edges it for me.”