Sandy Lyle should be made European Ryder Cup captain for the 2010 match at Celtic Manor, Wales.
At this point, his prospects of getting that job hang in limbo.
The Scotsman has come in for some deserved flak recently for walking
off the golf course after just 10 holes of the Open Championship. There
are those who say that has only offered more ammo to those on the
European Tour’s 15-man tournament committee, the group that selects
Ryder Cup captains, which doesn’t feel Lyle is up to the job.
My sources tell me the majority is not too keen on Lyle getting the captaincy, with a minority supporting him.
Lyle has already declared an interest in the job. “My name is in the
hat,” he said. “I feel more prepared now than I did four or five years
ago and I would love to be given the honor.”
My question is this: How can the committee say no to him?
They can’t.
Lyle was part of that big five of European golf that provided the
backbone of the European team in the 1980s. Along with Seve
Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo, Lyle helped
make the match more competitive. The big five helped restore European
pride to the point where Europe now holds a 5-1 advantage stretching
back to 1995.
Here’s the main problem for the tournament committee – the other four
members of the big five have already earned captainships. Ballesteros
did so in 1997, Langer in 2004, Woosnam in 2006 and Faldo will lead
Europe at Valhalla this September.
How are committee members going to justify turning down Lyle when they’ve already given their blessing to the other four?
The reason they gave for handing the captaincy to Woosnam and Faldo was
on the basis of their playing records. If that’s the main criteria,
then Lyle has no problem. He has two major wins, one more than Woosnam
and the same number as Langer.
Moreover, how can they not make Lyle captain when they have already
given the job to Mark James (1999) and Sam Torrance (2002)? Both
players have weaker playing records than Lyle.
The common refrain is that Lyle is too easy going to be captain, and will find it worrisome to make difficult decisions.
Let me tell you something – the job isn’t that hard. A captain is
responsible for three basic factors: team harmony, pairings and the
singles draw.
Lyle doesn’t have to worry about the first ingredient. As they have
shown in the past, the Europeans form a pretty tight knit group every
Ryder Cup.
As for ingredient No. 2, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to
figure out who gets along with whom. Let’s face it, though, both Langer
and Woosnam could have put all the names in a hat in the last two
matches and drawn names out for the pairings and Europe would probably
still have won both times.
As for the singles, well you pick that on the basis of what happened
over the previous two days. I’m sure Sandy can handle that, and if he
can’t then that’s where his vice captains come in. There are enough
wise heads in Europe that Lyle can draw on to help him.
Lyle has some strong backing. Torrance spoke openly in favor of Lyle’s candidacy at last week’s Senior British Open.
“Sandy deserves his turn because he has been a superb ambassador for the game and is highly respected,” Torrance said.
“He has considerable Ryder Cup experience and must have a reasonable
knowledge of the requirements of captaincy, having been an assistant to
Woosie at the K Club.”
Torrance is right. Lyle deserves the job in 2010. Making him captain
would help facilitate the two appointments after that. It makes sense
for Lyle in 2010, then Jose Maria Olazabal in 2012 and Colin
Montgomerie in 2014. Or vice versa.
Lyle deserves his turn. There is virtually no way the committee can say no.
Posted: 7/29/2008
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