List grows for Ryder captain vacancy

IT MAY be very much the silly season where major golf is concerned but one subject keeps cropping up.

The Ryder Cup, it seems, is never far from some peoples minds. On the same day late last week, two reports came out on the wires one indicating that a battle for the 2006 captaincy lay in wait between Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie and the other clearly suggesting that the means of selecting the European team will be altered in time for the 2004 renewal at Oakland Hills, Michigan.

The captaincy issue is certain to remain a hot potato for several years to come. Jockeying for the position at Oakland Hills had been going on even before the last putt was holed at The Belfry in September and won't be resolved between Ian Woosnam and, probably, Bernhard Langer until the week of the Volvo PGA Championship next May, while several hats are already in the ring for The K-Club in 2006.