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EASY RYDER –
JOBS FOR THE BOYS ?
The biennial bash between Europe and the USA will inevitably boil down to which of the 12 players on each team performs best , individually and collectively , but key decisions made my captains , in the case of Europe ( Thomas BjŒrn ) versus the USA ( Jim Furyck ) in Paris this month , may well influence the final destination of Samuel RyderÊs small gold cup . But , whilst Team USA captaincy appointments tend to be made on merit , there is more than a hint of the , ÂOld boyÊs network , Ê when it comes to who fulfils the role for the European team .
There were more than a few collective European eyebrows raised when , back in December 2016 , Danish golfer Thomas BjŒrn was anointed Ryder Cup captain for the 42nd staging of the biennial event , a process about as transparent as the election of a new Pope , a 22-month gestation period in which to get all his ducks in a row . To his peers , Bjorn was widely viewed as ÂMr . European Tour , Ê a golfer of some repute - but some way short of greatness or legendary status - the long term chairman of the TourÊs influential Tournament Committee , as BBC Sport attested , ÂThis appointment is due reward for his service to the Tour . Ê
BjornÂs experience from playing on three winning Ryder Cup teams could prove invaluable , and having been an assistant to past captains like Bernhard Langer , Colin Montgomerie , José María Olazábal and Darren Clarke , he will have gained a wealth of knowledge and inside information to take to Paris in 2018 . But , as most golf writers will tell you , the Dane can be a fully-paid-up member of the , ÂAwkward squad , Ê known not only for ducking and diving from post round interviews when things have not gone his way , but also for an acerbic and sarcastic disposition when asked questions he does not like .
It was pretty much a below the belt type punch when I didn ’ t get the captaincy ,” Lyle said , adding , “ It just seemed a little unusual Colin should be appointed captain as it seemed to me , a forgone conclusion that I would win the captaincy ,
Then there was the late 2009 scandal , lost in the brouhaha of Tiger Woods extra-marital affairs when an Australian air stewardess , Dagmara Leniartek , with whom he had been having a five-year affair , revealed that she was pregnant .
The Dane , married with three children , summarily broke off the relationship with Leniartek , initially denying paternity of the child , but subsequent DNA tests proved him wrong , casting a shadow over his morality and veracity . There are those who view the European Ryder Cup captaincy as something of an old boyÊs club , a sinecure for sterling service to the European Tour , a number of credible candidates , such as two-time ÂMajorÊ winner Sandy Lyle , 1999 Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie and the evergreen Spaniard Miguel �ngel Jiménez amongst them . Scotsman Lyle had been viewed as nailed-on for the European captaincy role in Wales in 2010 , but was superseded by Colin Montgomerie who parachuted himself into the reckoning , leaving Lyle , deprived of a prestigious and strategically-important vice captainÊs role by his compatriot , bitter and disillusioned .
„ It was pretty much a below the belt type punch when I didnÊt get the captaincy ,‰ Lyle said , adding , „ It just seemed a little unusual Colin should be appointed captain as it seemed to me , a foregone conclusion that I would win the captaincy ,‰ said Lyle in the wake of his being overlooked . And , another Scot , 1999 Open champion and two-time Ryder Cup player , Paul Lawrie , was regarded as a strong candidate for a backroom job on home soil at Gleneagles in 2014 ; however , European captain Paul McGinley ( three appearances as a player , three victories ) instead picked Pádraig Harrington , Miguel �ngel Jiménez and José María Olazábal to join Sam Torrance and Des
Off to a Tee , Europe captain Thomas Bjørn is confident of victory
Smyth as vice-captains .
Lawrie said at the time , „ IÊm extremely disappointed not to be involved at Gleneagles . IÊve known for some time my game wasnÊt up to playing , but I thought I would have been involved in the backroom team .‰ Late last year , European captain Thomas BjŒrn announced that Luke Donald , Padraig Harrington , Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood would join Robert Karlsson to complete the European Vice Captain lineup for the 2018 Ryder Cup , no place for a Frenchman such as Thomas Levet or Jean van de Velde , and with the playing squad looking unlikely to have a Frenchman in EuropeÊs ranks .
There are many , your Bunker Mentality correspondent amongst them , who believed that Irishman Pádraig Harrington , a threetime ÂMajorÊ champion should have been European captain for Hazeltine 2016 , rather than the ill-fated Darren Clarke ( another favourite in the European TourÊs inner circle ) or , at least , captain ahead of BjŒrn in Paris this month . BjŒrnÊs leadership record is mixed ; he suffered a heavy defeat leading a strong Continental Europe side against GB & Ireland in the 2009 Seve Trophy , but made amends in what is seen as the European Ryder Cup captainÊs biennial dress rehearsal , leading Europe to victory in the EurAsia Cup earlier this year .
He is a fiery character , as evidenced by his bad-tempered response to being left out of the 2006 Ryder Cup team by the-then captain Ian Woosnam , and there are few golf writers who will not have been on the end of an acerbic of sarcastic rejoinder to an entirely legitimate question , hence doubts must exist over the 47-year-old DaneÊs diplomacy skills when under the kind of pressure only the Ryder Cup can bring . As a player , he was a Ryder Cup winner in 1997 , 2002 and 2014 ,
38 G o l f P l u s SEPTEMBER 2018