It was interesting to note that the clamour for the next European Ryder Cup captain started as soon as Furyk and Jimenez shook hands at the end of their hard fought match. Inevitably, the name of Jose Maria Olazabal's name was to the forefront, as well as calls for a Woosnam repeat at Celtic Manor in 2010.
However, very few "pundits" have touted Sandy Lyle as a serious candidate. To me, this beggars belief. You might remember big Sandy - for a spell in the mid 1980's, he was the best player in the world. No less a man than Seve even confessed that if the "big 5" of Europe played each other with their "A" games, Sandy would be the winner. As a golfing legend and major winner, he commands respect. As a genial human being with a gentle nature and nary a bad bone in his body, he also commands respect.
But yet... why not the calls for Sandy? Is he worse equipped than Faldo? Actually, let's not answer that one, as that's a whole new can of worms. But if Faldo's idiosyncracies can be overlooked by dint of his stellar major record, why not Sandy's?
Failure to select Sandy as captain for 2010, and at his age this must be his last chance, is a massive insult and slap in the face to a golfing legend. Does he not deserve better? Has the Ryder Cup lost its raison d'etre, when the desire to win at all costs transcends the need to honour one of Europe's finest?
And this all assumes that Sandy has some weakness of character, or is too gentle a spirit, to assume the mantle of captain. I'm not convinced that this is the case, there has to be a core of steel to the man - winners do not have soft underbellies, losers do not hit shots like Lyle's iconic fairway bunker shot at Augusta. If there is genuine concern, then that can be easily addressed by appointing the right vice captains - Bjorn as a "they don't like it up 'em" sergeant major to Lyle's cool Colonel, or Woosie as head of enertainment (aka - piss-up artist in chief).
Sadly, I fear Lyle's quiet insistence that he's the man for the job is not making an impression in the right quarters, and that he'll end up disappointed. If that is the case, it'll be nothing short of a disgrace.
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6 comments:
Yes and no.Sandy blotted his copy book at Birkdale this year by walking off the course in the first round.That was not becoming of a future Ryder Cup captain.As much as I would agree with your comments unless Woosnam states he does not want the Celtic Manor job he`s cooked his goose.
Faldo spent 30 years acting like an ars*. That wasn't becoming of a captain either, but he still landed the gig.
Fair point you made there stumpy, however I have a major problem with Sandy being the captain and it's basicaly down his choice of headwear.
Freddie Couples gets away with it, as does Luke Donald. Montie looks like an utter fandan anyway so you hardly notice it.
I am off course talking about the sun visor.
Can you picture Sandy Lyle driving about Celtic Manor and expecting the respect from his players wearing his dodgy looking sunshade spectacles and his silly sunvisor.
No, me neither. The players would just be thinking, who's that fanny there, has he made a wrong turn from 1978?
No, I don't think Celtic Manor is ready for Life on Mars yet, so I'd propose the very stylish and upto date Ian Woosnam should have another pop at it. At least he'll feel at home in 21st century South Wales with a mullet.
Fair point you made there stumpy, however I have a major problem with Sandy being the captain and it's basicaly down his choice of headwear.
Freddie Couples gets away with it, as does Luke Donald. Montie looks like an utter fandan anyway so you hardly notice it.
I am off course talking about the sun visor.
Can you picture Sandy Lyle driving about Celtic Manor and expecting the respect from his players wearing his dodgy looking sunshade spectacles and his silly sunvisor.
No, me neither. The players would just be thinking, who's that fanny there, has he made a wrong turn from 1978?
No, I don't think Celtic Manor is ready for Life on Mars yet, so I'd propose the very stylish and upto date Ian Woosnam should have another pop at it. At least he'll feel at home in 21st century South Wales with a mullet.
Not this time. I think they should give it to a Scotsman instead.
Having watched Lyle's flabbergasting'ly naive handling of the media this week, I think we can safely say, thank f'k this man isn't the RC captain.
I mean could you imagine it! This is the man who calls a press conference to apologise about calling Monty a cheat and then goes on to answer questions along the lines of "yeah, but what a cheatin' bugger that Monty is"
He then calls him a drama queen 2 days later to help heal the totally unnecessary and avoidable riff.
And Monty's crime for this unprovoked attack? Getting the captaincy over Lyle and not making him his deputy.
The man is a child and has shown to be quite a nasty one at that. Monty should have been focusing on his game this week, instead of having to hide in offices and avoid the media hunting pack.
Really Alan, I disagreed with you at the time, but what a poor judge of character you are championing this buffoon.
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