Captain Langer facing Ryder Cup headache
With a different system for team selection the top five off the world rankings and five off the European Tour rankings plus two captain's picks trying the predict the composition of Bernhard Langer's side is a more hazardous exercise than ever. And in spite of Darren Clarke's heroics in the United Sates over the past fortnight, Lee Westwood's very welcome but totally unexpected return to the victory rostrum in Munich at the weekend and Justin Rose's fine form in Boston over the past few days, the next European side will still be travelling with far more hope than confidence.
Until Clarke struck his magnificent blow in the NEC World Invitational and then followed up with an excellent few days in Boston, the Europeans had taken such a pasting all year until you wouldn't have given them a chance had the Ryder Cup taken place this year. In spite of what Clarke, Rose and Westwood have done in very recent times, it is a salutary thought to look at the teams which have been finalised for the President's Cup match in South Africa and wonder if Europe could cope with either of them!
