When Des Smyth first threw his hat into the ring for the captaincy of the European team at the K Club in 2006, some rather churlish remarks emanated from media sources, particularly, for some reason, those with a Scottish bias. Philip Reid reports

"Des Who?" asked one Scottish columnist in a well-respected Sunday newspaper from that part of the world. While, in last week's edition of Golfweek, another columnist - who also happens to be a Scot - makes the point: "Irish contributions to the Ryder Cup are well documented and readily acknowledged, but there is no sound argument for having an Irish captain in 2006. The Irish are being completely selfish on this issue and should drop it quickly."

The timing of the anti-Irish captaincy bashing couldn't have been worse, could it?

In the British Open at Muirfield, Smyth, at 49, not only led the championship during the third round, but, in contrast to Colin Montgomerie, one of those whom outside agencies believe should be captain when the Ryder Cup is held in Ireland, behaved with considerable aplomb.

And, as far as Darren Clarke, for one, is concerned, Smyth is very much the man for the job.

"I think Des should be the captain anyway," insisted Clarke, "and I think he will make a very good captain. Who knows what you need to actually make a good Ryder Cup captain, but I do believe he will. He knows the players, he has been there before as a Ryder Cup player himself and he is unquestionably one of the most popular guys on the tour. You can't ask for more than that."

The ingredients for making a good Ryder Cup captain don't automatically mean that the person needs to have won a major. The Golfweek article included a list of possible non-Irish captains, all of whom happened to be major winners, including Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal.

In truth, not many Irish people would argue with the respective merits of these players, but do you really have to be a major winner to be respected? And do all major winners have the man management skills that would be required to keep a team together.

What everyone wants for the captaincy of the team is for the best man to get the job. But rather than saying, as some of our Scottish friends have done, why have an Irish captain? Maybe we should be asking, why not? Especially if that person is as respected and knowledgeable as Smyth - and never has a sour puss.

After his tied-28th finish in the British Open, Smyth has decided to take two weeks off before resuming play in the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, where Paul McGinley will defend his title. McGinley, though, will seek to rediscover some form before then by competing in the Dutch Open this week, where the Irish contingent is completed by Padraig Harrington, Ronan Rafferty and, possibly, David Higgins, who has entered but who must wait to see if he gets to play. Clarke, meanwhile, has taken two weeks off after a stretch that saw him play 10 tournaments in 11 weeks.

Although financial considerations were far from the minds of the three Irish players who made the cut at Muirfield, with their real focus on contending, it proved to be rewarding nonetheless. Harrington's tied-fifth place earned him £140,000 (€219,000); Smyth got £24,000 (€37,500) for tied-28th, and Clarke £16,916 (€26,300) for tied-37th.

Graeme McDowell, meanwhile, finished runner-up to Iain Pyman in his debut European Challenge Tour event in Hamburg last weekend - and, for the recently turned professional, it could be a route towards obtaining a tour card for next season without the need to go to tour school.

Although time is against him, McDowell has a number of Challenge Tour events on his itinerary over the coming weeks and next up for him is the Charles Church Championship in Bowood, in Wiltshire, starting on Thursday, where Damien McGrane and Paddy Gribben will also be competing.

ORDER OF MERIT - Irish: 5th, P Harrington €1,085,066 16th, D Clarke €654,022 46th, P McGinley €265,588 120th, D Smyth €96,380 141st, E Darcy €67,064 166th, M Hoey €38,967 171st, G Murphy €35,430 194th, P Walton €19,457 214th, G McDowell €14,000.