The Ryder Cup hiatus, which has stretched to almost five months, will end on Wednesday when the European team captain for next year’s clash with the United States at Hazeltine will be named.
Darren Clarke is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Paul McGinley in seeking to continue a terrific European run in the event. In short, it would rank as a major shock if Clarke is not given the nod by the five-man selection panel but, because Wednesday morning inside the Wentworth Club's Ryder Cup Room will make the first and last meeting of that committee and a vote must be taken, there cannot be certainty. History tells us that politics can play a part in these affairs, despite the streamlining of the selection process.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez is apparently the only legitimate alternative to Clarke, with Thomas Bjorn a long-shot outsider. Colin Montgomerie, McGinley, David Howell, José María Olazábal and the outgoing European Tour chief executive, George O'Grady, are the men to make the call. An announcement is expected in the afternoon.
Unlike the USA team, recent glories mean Europe aren’t in need of anything revolutionary, rather somebody who can take forward the template that has proved so fruitful in recent times.
Clarke's appeal is obvious. The 2011 British Open champion has enjoyed a successful Ryder Cup spell as both player and vice-captain. Crucially, the Dungannon man has commanded the public support of the people who should matter most in the event – the players. Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Martin Kaymer are among those who have backed the Clarke cause. After his belated British Open success, Ryder Cup captaincy was the next obvious step for Clarke, a matter which won't have been lost on the man himself.
The case for Jiménez is tougher to make. For all he is depicted as something of a jolly inspiration to middle-aged men who enjoy wine and cigars, there is little to actually suggest he could command the necessary level of respect as a captain. Jiménez rarely communicates publicly in English, especially to the media. When he does, a language barrier – deliberate or otherwise – is apparent.
In the context of the venue, Clarke commands more respect from US golf followers than Jiménez. Partly that is because of the blunt reality that Clarke has enjoyed the more impressive playing career on the big stage, despite the admirable on-course longevity of Jiménez, which continues to this day.
And yet, it is unquestionable that the European captaincy should not remain the want of golfers from Britain and Ireland, as has been the case for too long. It is that which makes the Jiménez candidacy intriguing, a point which certainly won’t be lost on Olazábal.
McGinley and Clarke, having once been close friends, have suffered a more recent breakdown in their relationship, but the Dubliner has always been adamant he will do what is best for the European team rather than on the grounds of personality.
In theory, Montgomerie would be in the Clarke camp, as would Howell, who shared a management stable with the 46-year-old until recently.
Meanwhile, fascinating Ryder Cup news has emanated from across the Atlantic in recent days, with the leaking of suggestions that Davis Love III is poised for a return as their captain at Hazeltine. Love took charge of the USA team at Medinah, where they were famously upstaged by an outstanding European Sunday comeback.
Two factors are pertinent here. Fred Couples had been widely quoted as the man who would lead his country at Hazeltine, a matter that would have been raised by the task force specially set-up to arrest ailing Ryder Cup fortunes. Couples brings a lot of qualities but the intense planning the USA will now insist on wouldn't be his forte. Couples and Love are close friends.
The role of Phil Mickelson is also highly pertinent. In a notable Medinah aftermath moment, Mickelson made it clear he had personally requested not to play in the Saturday afternoon session, rather than letting this issue seem like a captaincy blunder. Two years later, Mickelson wasn't so much veiled as scathing in implied criticism of Tom Watson at Gleneagles.
The next staging of the Ryder Cup won’t so much feature new characters, as those catapulted back into prominent roles. The countdown is about to begin.
(Guardian service)
