Stricker to be named US captain for Ryder Cup

Steve Stricker is set to be announced as the US Ryder Cup captain tomorrow. The 51-year-old from Wisconsin will assume the honour in his home state at Whistling Straits next year as the US try to make amends for their drubbing in Paris five months ago.

Stricker has been an assistant captain in the past three matches and took the helm successfully at the Presidents Cup two years ago. The former world No 2 is close friends with Tiger Woods. Although he is unassuming, he commands the respect of the locker room and will be seen as the perfect adversary for Padraig Harrington, the Europe captain.

Since forming the famous “Task Force” in the wake of the 2014 humbling at Gleneagles, the PGA of America has tried to create a bootroom mentality, similar to Europe’s. Stricker is the next man in line and had made no secret of his wish to succeed Jim Furyk. Last week, he was named as Woods’s assistant for the Presidents Cup in Melbourne and he was asked about the Ryder Cup. “I would love to be a part of it,” Stricker said.

Meanwhile, JB Holmes has defended himself against accusations of slow play during his win on Sunday at the Genesis Open, when he saw off a high-quality leaderboard including Justin Thomas, Rory Mcilroy and Woods. “When I first got out here I was really slow, but I’ve sped up quite a bit,” he said. “I was never on the clock. Never even got a warning. TV wants everything to be real fast all the time.”