‘An absolute disgrace’ if McGinley loses out

Ryder Cup legend Christy O’Connor Junior last night claimed a failure to appoint Paul McGinley as Europe’s 2014 captain would be “an absolute disgrace.”

O’Connor, who believes the exclusion of McGinley would represent an ‘anti-Irish bias’, is concerned at mounting support for Colin Montgomerie to again lead the continent next year against Tom Watson’s USA.

Reports from British media sources over the last 24 hours indicated an ‘extremely high level of confidence’ in the Scottish man’s camp for the coveted role which will be decided in Abu Dhabi today.