Olly banks on green card

European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal last night underlined just how highly he values his Irish stars by claiming Rory McIlroy was almost as good as Tiger Woods in his circa 2000 pomp and Graeme McDowell was one of his main men at Medinah this week.

McDowell’s contribution to Europe’s win over the United States at Celtic Manor in 2010 is already the stuff of legend after he kept his nerve to clinch the victory for Colin Montgomerie’s team with a singles defeat of Hunter Mahan, while McIlroy completed an assured debut at his fellow Ulsterman’s side in two fourballs and one foursomes match before halving his singles with Stewart Cink in the 14.5-13.5 success.

McIlroy has since won two Major championships and risen to the top of the world rankings and when asked about both his and McDowell’s importance to the European cause this week in Chicago, Olazabal said: “Well, it’s important to have the best players on your team, and according to that, we do have two great players.