‘RORY WRONG ON RYDER CUP’

ANDY SULLIVAN has argued against controversial calls from Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood for a Ryder Cup selection overhaul, insisting the European team should remain the sole preserve of players who support the Tour. European golf’s biggest names claimed this week that membership of the European Tour should not be an obligatory part of qualification, pointing to the debilitating absence of world No 12 Paul Casey from this year’s defeat after the Englishman focused solely on playing in the US. Sullivan (right) was part of the European side crushed 17-11 at Hazeltine last month, but refused to join his team-mates in lobbying for change. ‘To get that qualification, you’d want players to support the Tour,’ he said. ‘The rule as it is, that is the way it should be. ‘Paul knew that and he didn’t want to come over and do it. He wasn’t massively bothered by the Ryder Cup. If he was, he would have come over and played. ‘That is his decision and the rules are the rules. Everyone knows where they stand. If they want to change it, they can, but at the moment it works well enough.’ The European Tour is said to be discussing changes to the selection criteria for the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris. McIlroy spoke out in favour of change earlier this week and Westwood echoed the sentiments ahead of the Turkish Airlines Open. On the course, the Englishman’s form has been not nearly so convincing. He briefly carried his own bag between the 13th and 14th holes yesterday after caddie Billy Foster aggravated a knee injury, and ultimately carded a second straight round of one under to sit two under for the championship, 13 shots off the brilliant Thorbjorn Olesen. The Dane carded eight birdies, an eagle and only one bogey in a course-record 62 to go 15 under. It was a level of consistency that Danny Willett has rarely hit since he won the Masters in April and familiar problems returned for him yesterday. His poor round of 74 left him on one over in a tie for 58th in a 78-man field, which is not as bad as the 75th-placed finish in Shanghai last week, though it now seems unlikely he will reclaim top spot this week in the Race to Dubai from Henrik Stenson. Willett needs a top-five finish in this event to overtake the Swede going into the Tour’s final two events, but sits nine strokes back from where he needs to be. David Horsey leads the English charge, having gone to a tie for fourth on eight under with a second straight 67. The four-time winner on Tour said: ‘My game’s been good and I’ve just been staying very patient and trying to be disciplined with that and it’s paying off. Now I just need more of the same at the weekend.’