Rose tips Irishman to be Ryder Cup captain

JUSTIN ROSE has backed Padraig Harrington to be the next Ryder Cup captain for Europe.

World No.2 Rose was part of the European team led by Thomas Bjorn that beat the United States in Paris at the end of last month.

And talk has already turned to who will take charge when Europe defend their crown at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, in 2020.

Rose believes Irishman Harrington is an ideal candidate – and reckons Lee Westwood is in contention too.

He said: “I’d say Padraig would be the front-runner. If he doesn’t do it this time then I’m BY DALE RANKIN not sure – you’ve got to start fitting guys in.

“Lee’s still capable of making a team next time round – and so is Padraig.

“Padraig has been on the leaderboard a bunch this year so I would say three-time Major champion, clearly a European legend, he is the front-runner and then you’ve got Westwood.

“It gets pretty interesting when you try to project out who the possible captains are for the next 10 Ryder Cups.”

Rose, who had a brief spell as world No.1 last month, is hosting the British Masters at Walton Heath this week.

And the 2013 US Open champion and Olympic gold medallist still has plenty of personal ambition.

Rose dreams of securing a career grand slam by winning the Masters, The Open and the PGA Championship.

The Englishman added: “I would say I’ve accomplished a lot of my dreams, for sure.

“This season has given me a couple more strings to my bow.

“To be able to say I’ve got to world No.1 is a nice tag line and it’s a nice milestone to say you’ve achieved in your career and in your sport.

“There is still plenty more to achieve and obviously I’d love to win more major championships because as a kid that’s what I dreamed about.

“I would love to win three more – and I’d love to win the right three.

“A career grand slam would be the icing on the cake but there’s a lot of hard work there. I still love the game, I’m not complacent.”