POULTER: WE LEFT EGOS IN THE BAG

IAN POULTER has revealed how the European team kept their egos in check in pursuit of team glory in the Ryder Cup.

Poulter has been a talismanic figure in the contest, earning the nickname of “The Postman” because he always delivers a point for his side.

The 38-year-old was given a wild card by European captain Paul McGinley and expected to feature prominently once more after winning 11 of his previous 12 matches, but played just twice before the singles.

“There are no egos that week, it’s about holding that Ryder Cup trophy,” Poulter said. “Everybody in this team would have wanted to play five times.

“You’re a player, you want to be on the golf course, you don’t want to be rested. But we knew what we had to do and we knew we had a strong enough team to be able to win that trophy.

“It’s about winning the Ryder Cup, not personal records.

“Yes, everybody wants to play. But the masterplan was to play everybody on the first day, keep players as fresh as possible, only fatigue a couple of players but those players could take it and therefore we would come out victors at the end of the week.”

The discussion over who will follow in McGinley’s footsteps has already begun, with Lee Westwood adding his voice to those backing Darren Clarke to be captain at Hazeltine in 2016.

World No.1 Rory McIlroy has already backed Clarke and the former Open champion’s friend Westwood agrees.

“It’s about the right time in Darren’s career to take up the captaincy,” Westwood said.

“He is very popular in the United States and I think he would make a good captain.”