Contender to be Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain “rules himself out”

Whilst we don’t officially who the European captain will be for the 2020 Ryder Cup, we do now know at least one person who it WON’T be.

Lee Westwood, ten times a player in the biennial contest, has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Thomas Bjorn as skipper when the next match takes place at Whistling Straits.

The Englishman had previously intimated his interest in taking on the job but, ahead of this week’s British Masters at Walton Heath, The Telegraph reported that he has withdrawn himself from consideration and that he intends to wait until the match returns to European soil in Italy in 2022 to make his play for the captaincy.

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Westwood later confirmed that story in an interview with Sky Sports News.

“I won’t be putting my name forward for this one, I’d prefer do it in Rome if possible,” he said.”That would be great, I’d be very keen on doing it there [in 2022].

“I’d like to be playing in two years’ time. I think Padraig Harrington is the ideal candidate for the captaincy.

“He is the right age and he’s still in touch with the players because he’s still playing out here. He’s also very high-profile in the States, where he has won a major championship.”

Three-time major winner Harrington is the bookies’ favourite for the job and has already been publicly endorsed by the likes of Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy.

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Should he get the nod, Harrington would become the third Irish captain in the last four editions of the match. A decision is expected to be made in December.

Over in the US, there is one clear favourite to replace Kim Furyk at the helm of the team. Click here to find out who.