The European Tour yesterday confirmed that they would not, as had been expected, be revealing this week the identity of Europe's Ryder Cup captain for next year's contest with the Americans at Oakland Hills in Detroit.

Apparently, the Tournament Player's Committee (TPC), who will make a recommendation to the Ryder Cup Committee - they ratify the decision - had not decided on a suitable candidate. The TPC is expected to meet this week.

The announcement is now likely to take place at the end of next month ahead of the first tournament in the European team qualifying process for the 2004 Ryder Cup, the BMW International Open in Munich from August 28th-31st.