Mark James, officially named as the new European Ryder Cup captain on the eve of the BMW International Open in Munich today, will serve for only one match.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr James McDaid, yesterday signed the contracts for the staging of the Ryder Cup in Ireland in 2005.

Under the agreement, the European Tour will receive £7.5 million over equal instalments during the next eight years in return for an extensive range of promotion facilities and opportunities that will be provided to Bord Failte and the three co-sponsoring companies.

Five clubs are bidding to host the clash with the US and although it has not been decided yet the K Club in Kildare is the favourite to stage the event.

James, who was born in Manchester, will captain the team against the United States at the Brookline Country Club in Massachusetts from September 24th to 26th next year and says: "Hopefully, my main aim as captain is to make as few mistakes as possible."

He has appointed Sam Torrance and Ken Brown, both former Ryder Cup players, to be his assistants next year and believes that the present selection policy of the top 10 in the Order of Merit plus two wild cards forming the team is the best possible format.

James, who played in seven Ryder Cup matches and will be 44 next month, takes over the captaincy from Seve Ballesteros just three years after saying publicly that anyone wanting the job "must be mad".

He made that statement at the British Masters and joked yesterday: "I think I now have the experience to handle the job but perhaps after the match next year I may think I was right in the first place."

He added: "I shall be captain only for this one match. I think it has been decided that the captaincy is now a one-term appointment from now on. People like myself and Sam (Torrance) are likely to go through to the seniors and one term is about the limit."

Back in 1979, James, then something of a rebel, was fined £1,500 after returning from the Ryder Cup match at the Greenbriar, West Virginia, for unacceptable behaviour while Brown, his room-mate, was fined £1,000 and suspended from international competition for a year.

However James, who, together with Brown, had refused to wear the official Ryder Cup jackets, preferred to look into the future.

"It all happened 20 years ago," he said. "Oceans of water have gone under the bridge since then."

He added: "I have had nothing but a positive response from the players to my appointment as captain. That is one of my strengths. If there is a problem I have not heard of it."

James does not think the captain's job will be as difficult as playing in the match.

"Playing is much worse," he said, "because you are the one responsible for all the bad shots. As captain everything is done in advance. Who knows? I might be a better captain than player.

"I think I have the experience to get the best out of the team and cope with all the problems that come along. I'm not afraid to make decisions and I know I can handle the job. Otherwise I would not have accepted it.

"Picking the two wild cards is probably the worst job for a captain because someone has to be disappointed. But they will be picked the way I see it."

James is delighted that Nick Faldo is returning to play on the European Tour next year.

"The fact that Nick is coming back is wonderful," he said.

If James qualifies for the team himself he will not play but he is uncertain of whether the eleventh man on the Order of Merit would automatically qualify if he stood down. That decision will only be made if it becomes necessary.