By Torleif Sorenson on 1/14/13

BREAKING NEWS:

Paul McGinley has "accepted an invitation" to be captain of the European 2014 Ryder Cup team. European Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills was quoted as saying,

"Paul's meticulous nature and his passion for the strategic aspects of the Captain's role have been evident for many years, through his role as a Ryder Cup Vice-Captain and as Captain of the Great Britain and Ireland Team in the Vivendi Seve Trophy. We already know that he will leave no stone unturned in his quest to retain The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September 2014."

As Westwood pointed out, McGinley has been very popular in the team room and was undefeated in the European squad's record-smashing victory over the U.S. team in 2004.

Rory McIlroy tweeted on Sunday that he would love to play under McGinley in 2014 and added that he thinks the Ryder Cup captaincy should be a one-time occurrence, which is what the U.S. PGA Ryder Cup committee has done for decades... that is, until they "upped the ante" by selecting Tom Watson for the 2014 U.S. captain's job. Assuming that McIlroy continues to play at a world-beating level, he will have that chance.

The stakes are high. The venue is set. The captains have been chosen. Pride runs deep among the players. And now comes the 20-month marathon race for golfers to qualify for the team.

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Originally posted at 11:45 AM CST

Cue the dramatic entrance music...

Like a heavily-scripted soap opera (or a really nasty World Cup ski course), the run-up to Tuesday's European Ryder Cup captaincy selection meeting is now fraught with twists and turns, and rapidly-changing dramatis personæ.

Earlier today, 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke announced that he is withdrawing from consideration for the captaincy of the 2014 European Ryder Cup team - for good reason:

"It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. I have been agonising over what to do since I showed a few glimpses of my old form in Thailand and Australia at the end of last year."

Last month, this writer made a case for Clarke as Ryder Cup captain, based in part on comments by Lee Westwood. At that time, we also noted the hilarious over-reaction by sportswriter Derek Lawrenson of the UK Daily Mail; based on Westwood's comments, Lawrenson went off like a bottle of champagne after being shaken in a hardware store paint mixer, telling the world that Clarke had already won the captaincy.

Lawrenson has since changed his mind, opining that Paul McGinley should be chosen as team captain over Colin Montgomerie and saying that it would otherwise be an "insult" to McGinley.

Meanwhile, Miguel Angel Jimenez is reportedly interested in the job. This is actually fairly logical, given that Jimenez broke his leg in a skiing crash on December 29 and, at age 48, is not likely to qualify for the 2014 matches as a player.

We are human beings. We change our minds in reaction to outside circumstances. We can be too emotionally wrapped up and endure considerable torture as we follow a continuing stoooooory.

But it's funnier when a sportswriter like Derek Lawrenson does it.


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