Tiger and Rory lead McGinley praise

World No 1 Rory McIlroy and 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods have led the praise following the appointment of Paul McGinley to captain the2014 European Ryder Cup side.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for Paul. As soon as I found out he had been appointed captain I couldn’t wait to rush down and congratulate him,” said McIlroy.

“I’ve been saying all along that the captaincy should be a one-time only deal because there are so many candidates waiting for their chance and Paul definitely comes into that category.

“I’d like to think it means something when you’ve got players like myself, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Justin Rose all voicing their opinion that they want Paul to captain the team.

“I would like to think that our opinions are valuable, and that the decision would be based on that, at least to some extent.”

The 18-time Major winning Woods, competing alongside McIlroy for the first two rounds of this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, said; “I’ve got to get to know Paul pretty well over the years and more so over the last two Ryder Cups, given his role as a vice-captain.

“He’s going to make a great European Ryder Cup captain as I’ve seen for myself how popular he is and how well he’s liked by everybody.

“So I can see Paul being a good rival to Tom (Watson), and our American team will need to give him every respect given he’s got such a great record for Europe.”

And long-time pal, Pádraig Harrington now has extra special cause to find his place back in the European side.

“The key point was that if you polled the players on the Tour he seemed to have had the support,” said Harrington.

“He’s played in three Ryder Cups and a further two as a vice-captain, and he’s got the Vivendi Trophy where he’s been a winning captain twice. Paul has been involved in the Ryder Cup for so many years and that’s where experience is vital.”