Smyth’s early Ryder practice run

European Ryder Cup vice-captain Des Smyth will get an early chance to reacquaint himself with the rigours of the role when he teams up with Miguel Angel Jimenez for the inaugural EurAsia Cup in Malaysia in two weeks.

Smyth, a vice-captain to Ian Woosnam in Europe’s 2006 victory over the United States at the K Club, was last Thursday honoured with the role for this year’s matches at Gleneagles in late September when 2014 captain Paul McGinley named his fellow Irishman and Scotland’s Sam Torrance as the first of his assistants.

McGinley had already flagged the involvement of Torrance, the Dubliner’s first Ryder Cup captain as a player in 2002 at The Belfry, by selecting the Scot to captain Great Britain & Ireland against Continental Europe in last year’s Seve Trophy in Paris. And the European skipper believes Smyth, 61 and a Ryder Cup player in 1979 and 81, will benefit massively from the experience alongside playing captain Jimenez in Kuala Lumpur later this month.