Ireland’s finest in the frame to lead Europe
Many are surprised that the captaincy issue has gone so public, bearing in mind that the appointment won’t be made until January in Abu Dhabi. And for Irish observers, the situation could hardly be more ironic, given we now boast the two strongest candidates when nobody in our previous 65 years involvement in the event was deemed worth of the honour.
It is hardly surprising that McGinley and Clarke are keen to lead Europe in 2014. There is a widespread belief that McGinley should be the man at Gleneagles and Clarke at Hazeltine two years later but it’s not as simple as that. Neither is blind to how shabbily their countrymen have been treated in the past and that several rivals with strong backing are flexing their muscles.
And it’s here, too, that Pádraig Harrington enters the equation. Quite rightly, his aim is to be a playing member of the side in two years’ time and all going well, he would entertain similar ambitions for 2016. However, he’ll be 46 in 2018 and as a three-times major championship winner and a veteran of many Ryder Cup battles, would surely feel entitled to the job.
Three Irish captains in a row? You must be joking.
It all makes for animated conversation at the 19th in clubs all over the country at a time when lesser lights are trying to make as much as they can from the diminishing and less rewarding number of tournaments currently taking place on the European Tour.
That won’t unduly worry Shane Lowry now that his magnificent victory in Portugal at the weekend guarantees him involvement in a number of very valuable late season tournaments. He has jumped from 128th to 74th in the world rankings and so earned his place in the €5.4m WGC-HSBC Champions event in China on November 1-4 and the season-ending Tour Championship in Dubai on November 28-December 3.
For several of his Irish colleagues, however, there is still a deal of work to be done if 2012 is to finish the season as they would have wished.
Harrington has promised more than he has achieved this year, top 10 finishes in the Masters and US Open hardly compensating for a failure thus far to pull off a tournament victory. He is 30th in the Race to Dubai order of merit but unable to break back into the world’s top 50 and with it a return to the game’s most lucrative and point-laden events. He is 54th after tying for 16th in Portugal.
Harrington’s short game has invariably been used as the chief reason for the outstanding success he has enjoyed throughout an illustrious career but at present, it is his fallibility over short putts that is causing most problems. As if to make this point, he used the blade 34 times in Sunday’s final round to close in a tie for 16th when he should clearly have been a whole lot better having hit 16 of the 18 greens in regulation, no mean feat on a water-strewn course swept by winds of up to 30 mph. A yield of three birdies was disappointing in the circumstances. As if to further make the point, Lowry headed the putts for greens in regulation and was third in putts per round.
The number of tournaments on the European Tour has shrunk alarmingly but the good news for most other Irish players is they are sure to retain their cards for 2013 while Rory McIlroy enjoys a commanding 437,334 point advantage over Justin Rose at the top of the Race to Dubai list.
Graeme McDowell, Lowry and Harrington have also clinched their places in Dubai while Peter Lawrie and Michael Hoey are five and four places respectively inside the cut-off mark of 60th.
* Gareth Maybin is the only Irish player in the field for this week’s Perth International in Western Australia.
