Golf - Ryder Cup:Darren Clarke hasn't ruled out playing in the Ryder Cup but today he was named as one of Colin Montgomerie's three vice-captains alongside Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn for the biennial match against the Americans which takes place at the Celtic Manor in October.
Montgomerie was flanked by his new backroom team at today’s announcement at European Tour headquarters in Wentworth.
“Any winning team has fantastic support behind the scenes and it is a great pleasure to introduce three experienced, passionate and well-respected people, people committed to regaining the Ryder Cup here in Wales,” said Montgomerie.
“This is a team, these four of us here have huge respect from the European Tour members and from the 12 players who will play in the Ryder Cup. There will be no more vice-captains, these are the three that will help me hopefully regain Ryder Cup.”
Clarke has a wealth of Ryder Cup experience having played on five occasions since making his debut at Valderrama in 1997 and has been on the winning side four times.
His most memorable contribution was on home soil at the K-Club in Kildare in 2006 when he lined out for the Europeans just weeks after his wife Heather died from cancer and won three points from three.
“It’s a great honour to work under Monty and be part of his team,” said Clarke, winner of 19 tournaments worldwide. “The Ryder Cup is very important to us all and we must work together to try and win the cup back from the Americans.”
McGinley, who holed the winning putt for Europe at the Belfry in 2002 and played on three winning sides, was also confirmed and suggested he is now ready to take on the vice-captaincy role.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with Monty. I feel I am ready to take on a vice-captaincy role now, I wasn’t before,” said McGinley, referring to the last time around when he accepted then later turned down the role under Nick Faldo in 2008.
“I believe on paper this will be the strongest European team ever produced and hopefully we can make the right decisions and win the Ryder Cup back. We all bring a lot of experience to the table.”
Bjorn, who has played on two winning sides, added: “It is an honour to be part of the team behind the scenes trying to win back the Ryder Cup.
“We want to go to Wales and get that trophy back. To work with Monty will be a great experience and I am sure we have a strong team to win the trophy back.”
Montgomerie also said Jose Maria Olazabal, tipped as a future Ryder Cup captain, was not considered because the Spaniard is suffering from poor health at present and hasn’t been closely involved with the players on tour in recent times.
While Bjorn and McGinley effectively ruled themselves out of playing their way onto Monty’s team, Clarke still has a realistic chance if his performances are good enough in the next six weeks.
“It all depends on how results go in the next six weeks. I could be giving Monty another headache but either way I will be involved in October,” added Clarke.
Monty’s team will be finalised in six week’s time after the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles when he will add three wildcard picks to the nine automatic qualifiers from the world and European lists.