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By ALISTAIR TAIT
Senior WriterAUGUSTA, Ga. – No decision has been reached on the 2010 European Ryder Cup captaincy, despite what you may be hearing on the rumor mill.
The
London Daily Mail carried a story this week that said Jose Maria Olazabal had been offered the 2010 job at Celtic Manor, Wales. That set in place a frenzied bout of whispers here at Augusta.
Olazabal spiked the story on Friday after missing the cut at Augusta. “The job was not offered,” Olazabal said.
The Spaniard admitted he had a chat with Thomas Bjorn, chairman of the European Tour’s tournament committee, two weeks ago during the Open de Andalusia.
“We just had a little chat - nothing serious. The job was not on the line. That information (the offer of the captaincy) is not completely accurate.”
Olazabal will act as Nick Faldo’s vice captain this year in Kentucky, but has not given up on making the team – or the 2010 team.
“I’m 42. If I didn’t think I can play in two years’ time I should not be here,” he said
The 2010 waters were further muddied when Sandy Lyle announced that he had been approached about the captaincy.
“There has been a little nudge towards me, yes, but I’m not saying who, where or when,” Lyle said. “It was a case of being asked whether I was still interested and that’s all that was said.”
The former Masters and British Open winner has never pushed himself for the job in the past, but has been making his availability known for a little while now. However, Wales is the only match he is interested in.
“2010 would be my last opportunity,” Lyle said. “I would not accept it in four years’ time - too old.”
Here is how European Ryder Cup captains are selected. The 15-man tournament committee meets to decide which of their peers they think would be good for the job.
In 2005, they met in Dubai to decide who would be the 2006 captain, and came up with Ian Woosnam, but also announced Faldo as this year’s captain.
The tournament committee decides on the best man for the job and makes a recommendation to the Ryder Cup committee. The Ryder committee then rubber stamps the selection.
The tournament committee met in Abu Dhabi this year, but the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy was not discussed. It wasn’t on the agenda.
That’s not to say that committee members have not discussed it privately. Obviously members have talked it over with both Olazabal and Lyle, but those discussions have merely been the sort of sounding out talks any organization would make when considering a candidate for a new position.
Given the media speculation, the matter is likely to be on the agenda when the committee meets at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Championship in May. However, don’t expect a formal announcement then. My guess is that the captain won’t be named until early in 2009.
As for who will take that role, that’s the $64,000 question.
A natural succession of captains would be Lyle, Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie. Lyle in Wales is actually a pretty good fit. Although Scottish by nationality, Lyle was born and raised in Shropshire, England, just over the border from Wales.
That would leave Olazabal for the 2012 match in the United States, and neatly segue into Montgomerie captaining the 2014 match at Gleneagles, Scotland.
Lyle was a member of Europe’s big five in the 1980s and 90s along with Bernard Langer, Woosnam, Faldo and Seve Ballesteros. The other four members of the team have been handed the captaincy, so it is going to be hard for the tournament committee to disappoint Lyle.
Posted: 4/12/2008
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