Harrington wants quick decision on Cup captain

PADRAIG Harrington believes a neutral figure should be put in charge of course set-up for the Ryder Cup — and would like a decision made sooner rather than later as to who will captain Europe.

Three-time Major winner Harrington is the odds-on favourite to succeed Thomas Bjorn as Ryder Cup captain as Europe seek to defend the trophy they won in emphatic fashion in Paris at Whistling Straits in 2020.

It promises to be a tough task as home advantage takes on increasing significance, with Eu- rope’s win in 2012 the only success by an away side in the last seven biennial contests against the United States.

“It is called the Miracle of Medinah,” Harrington joked ahead of the Turkish Airlines Open which starts tomorrow.

“It’s not impossible to win away, but it does give a distinct advantage to the home team.”

Asked if the set-up of Ryder Cup venues should be taken out of the hands of the home captain, Harrington added: “I think down the road, yes.

“At Hazeltine (in 2016) they just knew. They had a stats guy come in and he said we make more birdies than the Europeans, make this into a birdie-fest and we should win. We knew going into France, make par be very precious and Europe will have an advantage and it proved that way. I don’t see that changing.

“I might have started the conversation off, but it will take 20, 30, 40 years to move to a neutral set-up.”

The good news for Harrington, if he does indeed become captain for 2020, is twofold.

Firstly, he believes that home advantage could be partially negated by the nature of Whistling Straits, and secondly his style of captaincy is likely to resemble that of Bernhard Langer, who led Europe to a record victory at Oakland Hills in 2004.

“For whoever is captain next time, I think the American players aren’t that happy that it’s at Whistling Straits,” Harrington added.

•A PAIR of southern visitors lead the way after the opening day of the 2018 Ulster Boys Championship at Royal Portrush.

Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown) and Thomas Higgins (Roscommon) carded a pair of five-under par 66s over the Valley Links in crisp conditions.

The leading Ulster contender is Keaton Morrison (Greenacres), who posted a bogey-free 67 (-4) to share second place alongside Welsh visitor Harry Watkins.

Lisburn’s Aaron Marshall and Scrabo’s Aaron Blair are three shots off the lead on two-under. Top job: Padraig Harrington is favourite to be next captain