Smyth: McGinley will bring cup home

Paul McGinley will use a pod system similar to the one that helped Paul Azinger win at Valhalla to take on a wounded US side at Gleneagles next week.

But while McGinley’s trusted lieutenant Des Smyth believes Tom Watson will rally his wounded troops to “stand up and deliver” for the Stars and Stripes, he’s seen enough of the Dubliner’s man-management style to predict there will be no American redemption in Scotland.

“Not this time!” insisted the 61-year old Drogheda man, who will be a key advisor for a European captain who appears to have done a huge amount of ground work to ensure that the Ryder Cup remains in European hands for the sixth time in the last seven matches.