Ryder Cup captaincy should return to Ian Woosnam

Passion doesn’t necessarily win you a Ryder Cup, but it goes a long way.

America had it at Valhalla, had it in bucketfulls, embodied by the energised rookies Boo Weekley, Anthony Kim and JB Holmes.

Europe used to have exclusive rights to Ryder Cup passion - it’s what drove them to three successive victories from 2002 to 2006.

That was stripped of them at Valhalla, and now it must be restored, not on the first tee at Celtic Manor in two years time - but now.

The decision of who will succeed Nick Faldo, as captain and hopefully as a more inspired leader, will occupy the agenda when stalwarts like Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke join 13 other Tour officials at St Andrews to begin discussions over the new captain.

The sooner the better.

Three names top the list - Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Jose Maria Olazabal.

For me, the man to do it is Woosnam.

I know the days of a player captaining the side more than once are over, consigned to history after Bernard Gallagher’s victory over the States in 1995.

But Woosnam engendered a real passion in the European team at the K Club two years ago, building on the platform of unity begun by Sam Torrance at the Belfry and by the quiet authority of Bernhard Langer two years later.

He showed great leadership, inspired his rookies, leant on his elder players and utilised the huge well of sympathy for Clarke, whose wife Heather had passes away just three weeks before the match.

Clarke responded with three points from three as Ireland adopted Woosnam as one of its own.

One other factor is that Woosnam is Welsh and with the competition in his homeland, the former Masters champion and World No 1 will generate huge support in the valleys.

The Welsh will help whip up a storm of passion on the undulating fairways of Celtic Manor.

Lyle is Woosnam’s likely challenger to the crown, and Woosnam may yet withdraw himself from the race.

The amiable Scot won major championships at home and across the pond, and would bring the same degree of quiet authority Langer commanded at Oakland Hills.

If Lyle misses out again though, he will rightly consider himself to have been overlooked harshly by the Tour committee who looked favourably on the other members of Europe’s big five who transformed the Ryder Cup in the 80s and were rewarded with their shot at captaining the team - Seve Ballesteros (1997), Langer (2004), Woosnam (2006) and Faldo just last week.

Olazabal continued Europe’s renaissance in the 90s and with his two major wins coming in America and making much of his living on the PGA Tour, he would be a better choice to lead the team at Medinah in 2012.

Olazabal’s playing days may be numbered as fatigue ravages his body, but reports coming out of the team room at Valhalla in the aftermath of Europe’s defeat cast a new light on the quiet Spaniard.

As Faldo’s only assistant, it was according to rookie Oliver Wilson, Olazabal who led the passionate rallying calls in the team room.

With Montgomerie almost certain to captain the side at Gleneagles in 2014, Europe can at least be confident that passion will be restored with the next men to take the hotseat, particularly if Woosnam retakes the mantle in two years time.

Wildcard race reaches boiling point

Paul Casey, Darren Clarke or Ian Poulter?

Those three names will have Nick Faldo’s head spinning this week as he tries to determine which two he should make wildcard selections to complete the European team for the Ryder Cup match at Valhalla, Kentucky next month.

They are three big names, all with their merits for being selected, who have left their Ryder Cup fates in the hands of Faldo, the six-time major winner, and no slouch in the Ryder Cup neither having won 11 caps against the United States.

Seven players are already assured of selection through either the world or European points lists.

They are: Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington, the Irishman who has elevated his game to such an extent that with three major titles out of the last six contested, he is now the leading contender to Tiger Woods’ dominance.

Those at Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles seeking to still play their way into the three remaining spots are Justin Rose, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty.

Only a catastrophe can prevent Rose making a belated Ryder Cup debut, and it is to be hoped that this fierce competitor finally gets a chance to get stuck into the Americans.

It would also be good to see Martin Kaymer join the party after two wins this year that have shown what a promising talent this young German is.

That leaves one of Hansen, Wilson, Fisher or Dougherty to make up the qualifying 10, all of them potential rookies but with experienced campaigners like Harrington and Westwood to feed off, that shouldn’t be too much of a concern.

One man who could still have played his way onto the team was Poulter, until he elected to stay in America and play in the second leg of the FedEx Cup play-off series.

That could prove a foolish move even for a man who showed potential Ryder Cup temperament by holing a 15-foot putt on the 72nd green at Royal Birkdale just last month.

Ignoring the chance to play his way in might tip the balance in favour of Clarke, who a month ago was considered a long shot, but now after his runaway victory at the Dutch Open, is considered the man in form.

Casey has shown considerable improvement in recent weeks and while he remains winless, his role in Europe’s record equalling victory at the K Club two year ago was inspirational and passionate.

One name missing of course is Colin Montgomerie, or field marshall Montgomerie as he should be known in the Ryder Cup.

It’s unlikely he will make it onto the slip of paper Nick Faldo issues to the press on Sunday evening.

The proud Scot, whose Ryder Cup record is used as a leveller against those who have won the majors that have so often eluded him, has struggled all season with his game, and not even a win in his native land this week would elevate him into the top 10.

It might make Faldo think though. Let’s hope so, because no-one encapsulates the Ryder Cup spirit better than Monty, Europe’s on-course general, who has led from the front in past Ryder Cups, notably in 2002 when his resounding victory over Scott Hoch at the top of the singles order set the tone for Sam Torrance’s side’s narrow victory and the subsequent years of unprecedented dominance for Team Europe.

So who would my picks be, and who do I think Faldo will go with?

For me, it should be CASEY and CLARKE, but I think the captain will go with CASEY and POULTER.

Open excitement

Having spoken to Yorkshire golfers Simon Dyson and Richard Finch over the past few days to find out how much they’re looking forward to the Open Championship next week, I find myself desperate for someone to ask me the same question.

Because I’m unbelievably excited.

I’ve been to Opens before, as a spectator from 2001 to 2006, but this will be my first as a working journalist.

I’m only doing a day or two to follow Finch and Dyson’s fortunes in the early rounds, and then I’m back there on the Saturday as a fan, but I find myself giddy with excitement.

Having missed last year’s dramatic finale at Carnoustie due to funding issues, it feels like I’ve been away for far too long.

I’m so excited I’m even enjoying the working build-up to the Open; talking to the golfers, writing the previews, planning the coverage, finding the quickest route from home.

It’ll be my first Open in the media tent as well. I was fortunate enough to cover the Ryder Cup at the K Club two years ago, and the goody bag was awesome.

Free document wallet, free tie, free baseball cap, even a free mouse mat that has followed me to the Yorkshire Post.

Wearing my media credentials around the house for two weeks after returning home from Ireland was perhaps a bit too much, but you get the picture.

I’ve covered a few other smaller scale European Tour events from the Celtic Manor Wales Open to the British Masters.

At Celtic Manor the media room is in the same main building as the players’ locker rooms, so members of the press and players waiting for their tee times can mingle in the same space.

I guess it’s like that at a lot of other Tour events, giving journalists instant access to the players.

I doubt it will be the same next week, nor for that matter in two years time when Celtic Manor hosts the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Can’t imagine Colin Montgomerie reacting too cheerily to a group of hacks as he unlaces his Footjoys, shortly after duck-hooking the ball into the water on the 18th to lose a half.

Next week will be the same, the players ushered in and out of press conferences.

No matter. It’s not going to diminish my enthusiasm for the week ahead.

There’s nothing like an Open Championship as a spectator.

Stalking up and down the undulating fairways, matching players like Ernie Els stride for stride on the back nine on a Sunday, paying over the odds for a burger and chips but going back to the same catering van day after day because it’s the Open Championship and eating bad food is part of the week. Well it is for me anyway.

The Open Championship is a special occassion, one of British sport’s crown jewels, whether you’re playing, working or spectating.

And I for one, cannot wait.

Fond farewell to World Matchplay

The decision to move the World Matchplay to Spain and end a 44-year association at Wentworth is a huge blow to English golf fans.

One of the country’s most popular tournaments has been revamped after losing HSBC as the sponsor after five years.

No other company came forward to bail it out - perhaps one of the biggest prize funds in golf putting off prospective sponsors - so England loses it’s richest tournament.

After a one-year break, the tournament will return to the European Tour schedule at the end of the 2009 season under the new benefactor of Volvo.

It has been a tournament on the decline for a number of years with a large contingent of the leading players from America not bothering to cross the pond, even for the vast sums of money on offer.

Tiger Woods only played in the tournament twice.

Jeff Maggert contested the event a couple of years ago, took a sound hammering from Retief Goosen in the first round and hopped on a flight later that day with $60,000 in his back pocket.

Not bad for half a day’s work, and yet the World Matchplay has consistently failed to attract the big names.
An entry system centred around the top four players in the majors became confusing when major winnners dropped out, leaving wildcards and former champions to get late invites to the tournament.

But despite this muddled strategy, the World Matchplay has always had a big named winner.

Ernie Els, who won what will be the final World Matchplay to be staged at Wentworth when he defeated Angel Cabrera last autumn, has made the championship his own in recent years.

It helps that he lives just a lob wedge away from the 14th hole on the Wentworth estate, but winning the tournament a record seven times is still a remarkable achievement.

Over the past 20 years the World Matchplay at Wentworth has been one of the biggest titles to win, it’s roll call of champions illustrating the high esteem in which it is regarded by players of this continent.

Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood have all claimed one of the European Tour’s grandest honours.

They have honed their Ryder Cup skills in the fierce matchplay environment at Wentworth.
From personal memory, I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon strolling the magnificent Surrey course in 2003.

Thomas Bjorn was in the middle of a character-defining spell having two months earlier thrown away the chance to win the Open Championship.

I watched him defeat Mike Weir in an early round, the Canadian who had won the Masters at the start of the year, having no idea how to stop a European marching to yet another matchplay triumph.

Bjorn reached the final, scored a hole-in-one on the back nine, but lost out to great friend and Wentworth neighbour Els.

It was a memorable duel, one of many to be contested at Wentworth, and one that we will look back on fondly in years to come when the World Matchplay has established its new home in Spain.