European golf’s golden boys are all washed out, so who’s next?
NOT so long ago Europe’s Ryder Cup captaincy issue was how to accommodate the abundance of candidates a golden generation had delivered.
All of a sudden it is about finding someone, anyone, to take over from Luke Donald.
This week’s landmark ruling from Sport Resolutions which decreed that the DP World Tour has the power to punish its LIV rebels as it sees fit for their disloyalty, has huge repercussions for the Ryder Cup.
In essence it will close the door on any of them ever captaining Europe in the most compelling golf event of them all.
Sergio Garcia, Graeme Mcdowell and Martin Kaymer had already ruled themselves out of the picture by failing to fulfil their membership obligations after their defection to LIV last season. Paul Casey, another rebel, is no longer a member of the Tour either.
The hearing verdict will effectively cross out Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood too.
PRE-LIV, these players were the ones jostling for position to fill the position over the next decade, veterans of Ryder Cup battles past with a passion for the contest.
Then along came a fistful of dollars…..and now they are outcasts.
With Henrik Stenson already persona non grata having been stripped of the captaincy for Rome this autumn for signing up with LIV, Europe’s captaincy cupboard is left alarmingly bare.
So, as Europe’s Tour bosses celebrate their victory over LIV, they are left with the question of who on earth they will turn to now.
The next away match, at boisterous Bethpage in 2025, will be an exacting challenge. Europe were hammered in the States last time out at Whistling Straits.
And the captain will need to be a leader relevant to the next generation of European players, a tactician capable of squeezing every last drop out of the available talent, as well as a diplomat able to deal with the New Yorkers.
The list of possibles is a short one. Justin Rose might fit the bill. He is a good communicator, strategically smart and is respected on both sides of the Atlantic. However he will only be 44 by then. He may well still be needed as a player.
If you value Major-winning clout then Sandy Lyle and Paul Lawrie are examples of Europeans who have been overlooked for the role in the past but their ships have sailed. Europe could always look to the present day and promote from within.
Donald’s assistant captains for Rome are Nicolas Colsaerts, Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn. Of these Bjorn has led the side before - to victory in 2018.
While the captaincy has evolved into a one-stop shop there is no reason why a previous incumbent cannot do it again. It was the norm in the Tony Jacklin era.
BJORN did a fine job in Paris, as did Paul Mcginley four years previously at Gleneagles, but an away tie is a very different proposition. The last time any travelling team won was in 2012 – the so-called Miracle of Medinah – when Jose Maria Olazabal led Europe to victory but he will be 59 by then and is no longer as close to the players as he was then.
The truth is there is no perfect solution.
In the circumstances the best policy is to hope Luke Donald goes well in Rome this year and if he does to make his a two-term appointment.
The Tour do not need to act in haste – they can wait and see how it unfolds for Donald at Marco
Simone – but the hunch of those who have worked closely with him is that he has the calm, analytic attributes to be quietly effective in the role.
His management style will have a lot in common with that of Bernhard Langer who masterminded Europe’s crushing 18.5-9.5 away win over the USA at Oakland Hills in 2008.
Donald knows the lie of the land for an away gig – he lives in the US and has an American wife.
The formerworld No.1 is a serial Ryder Cup winner. He played in four editions and was never on the losing side.
And he said no to LIV, unlike his contemporaries.
It is a shame that it has come to this given what the discarded rebels have done for Europe’s cause down the years.
Garcia is Europe’s record points scorer. Mcdowell holed the winning putt at Celtic Manor. No European has played in more Ryder Cups than Westwood.and Poulter is Mr Ryder Cup.
But they knew what they were getting into when they went for the LIV cash and they were warned there would be consequences.
Not even the best lawyers Saudi money could buy has saved them from those. It is left to Europe to pick up the pieces without them.