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Ryder Cup

McGinley revelling in 'the fun bit' of captaincy as players jostle for Ryder Cup position

The Dubliner is making sure not to over-think his potential captain’s picks before the qualification is finalised.

RYDER CUP CAPTAIN Paul McGinley won’t be caught wallowing in the pressure of guiding Europe to a third consecutive Ryder Cup.

There are few positions in sport like his. Maybe only Luiz Felipe Scolari and Tom Watson can empathise, these men have one single goal that overrides and justifies everything else their job entails. And they’ve only one chance to get it right.

“It’s not like I’m going to be captain for the next two or three Ryder Cups, it’s a one-off, one-event thing,” McGinley told TheScore.ie yesterday.

“That’s what makes it so unique. It’s not like a club manager in soccer where you’re dealing with the same players week in week out.”

“That brings pressure, but it also brings challenges. It requires a huge amount of planning.

“There’s been a lot of planning put in place over the last 12 months and we’re now gliding towards September. The last piece in the jigsaw is the actual team itself and watching them jostle for position over the next two months.”

With one Major down and three to go this summer, that ‘glide’ picks up pace from today with the beginning of the US Open in Pinehurst.

‘Form… not the only factor’

The Dubliner insists he is very much in a watching and learning brief. The challenges posed to European golfers over the over the next four days will be greatly different to that of Gleneagles in September, as will player form on which McGinley will base some of his three prized captain’s picks.

“Form will be a big factor, but not the only factor. There will be a number of things involved. To a large extent the picks will be dictated by who are the nine players who make it.

“Then, after I see who the nine who make it are then you can put the three picks around that in terms of potential partnerships, guys who  are showing form or maybe a bit of experience needs to be added to the team, or maybe inexperience.”

With so many ranking points yet to be distributed in big competitions this summer, it’s little wonder McGinley is keeping his cards close to his chest. It’s worth noting however, the leading lights who are currently outside of the automatic qualification places.

For one, the hero and catalyst for the Miracle at Medinah, Ian Poulter. Plus, of course, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell.

The remaining two vice captain spots mean that McGinley can recruit players with massive Ryder Cup experience and expertise who perhaps just missed out on competing themselves.

At present, McGinley is trying not to look far into the future of which player may or may not be ranked inside the nine automatic places. And, bar his initial two vice captains Sam Torrance and Des Smyth, he certainly won’t be publicly promising a role to anybody before they earn it.

Carrying

“I’m in a very fortunate position in that there are going to be three or four players who will be playing well enough to deserve being included in the Ryder Cup team.

“I don’t think I’m going to have to carry anybody. It’s going to be a strong team and I’ll have tough decisions to make.

“I’ve made it clear that nobody is a cert and don’t be relying on a pick because they’re going to be a very difficult thing to do. If you really want to be on the Ryder Cup team, the best way of making it getting one of those nine spots available for automatic qualifiers.”

McGinley is in regular contact with Ryder Cup hopefuls. And, though his role as a manager of 12 individual athletes coming in for a rare turn within a team dynamic, remains largely unparalleled; he can occasionally share something in common with a coach in a full-time team sport – encouraging the focus to remain on just one game at a time.

After all, for most a long weekend would go a long way to achieving both personal and team goals.

“They’re all focused on winning a major championship and if you win one of those you stand a great chance of being on the team.

“This is the fun bit now, watching the evolution of the players, because ultimately that’s what the Ryder Cup is about. It’s about what the players do, not so much what goes on behind the scenes in terms of uniforms, hotels and logistics or whatever the case may be.”

Pressure is for the players, McGinley is freewheeling.

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