Clarke says McIlroy can be new Monty
Out in the cold in the vice-captaincy stakes this year as a result of the deterioration in his friendship with Paul McGinley, there’s a danger Clarke may never get to captain Europe.
But his opinion is always eagerly sought on Ryder Cup matters and when asked if he thought McIlroy could step into the leader’s role at Gleneagles, he had few doubts.
“I will take the fifth on this one, and not get involved whatsoever,” Clarke said of McIlroy’s legal battle with Horizon and the naming of McDowell in court papers. “But I think the Ryder Cup will be fine.
“I think the two of them are professional enough, no matter what’s going on, that the end outcome, the end goal for all the guys there is to be part of a winning team. It will make no difference what’s going on.”
Clarke has no doubt four-time Major winner McIlroy has the personality and game to lead Europe.
“He’s Tiger-esque as well, anybody would want him on their team,” Clarke said. “Is he ready to be the European talisman a la Monty? I think he’s getting that way. So wherever Paul puts him, he will get Europe points.”
Clarke will be working for Sky Sports this week rather than assisting McGinley in the team room.
The fraught campaign for the captaincy has reduced their previously close friendship to little more than common courtesies.
Clarke had written to McGinley wishing him the best in his bid for the job but then decided to put his name forward publicly, only to stand down and suggest Europe needed a big name to go up against Tom Watson. That was taken as tacit support for a repeat captaincy for Colin Montgomerie, but Clarke is adamant this perception is wrong.
Shooting down a suggestion he was highly vocal in his support for Montgomerie rather than McGinley, he said: “Is that from what you’ve been told, that I was quite vocal? Or have you just decided I was quite vocal?
“That wasn’t the case, but anyway, I have no issue with Paul, whatsoever.
“I think he’ll be a fantastic captain. Paul is very statistically minded, you know he’ll know every player’s strength and areas of the game where they’re maybe not quite so strong. I’m sure he’ll make his pairings accordingly with the help of his vice-captains He will be a fantastic captain.”
The 2016 Ryder Cup match will take place at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Minnesota and given his high-profile in the US, Clarke will be mentioned as a potential European captain, alongside Thomas Bjorn, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Pádraig Harrington, who are all in McGinley’s support network in Scotland.
The US certainly looks like a better fit for Clarke than Paris in 2018 but Clarke says he’d be delighted just to be asked.
“If they were to offer me the job, I would certainly not be picky as to when it would be,” he said.
“It would be too big an honour to differentiate between doing it in America or doing it in Europe.
“Wherever, I just hope at some stage that they do ask me to have the honour and be Ryder Cup captain.”
As for this week’s hostilities, Clarke believes it going to be “very, very close” with Europe bookmakers’ favourites, and “rightly so.”
The Claret Jug apart, nothing means more to Clarke than the Ryder Cup. Indeed, that performance at The K Club, especially that tee shot on the opening morning, arguably prepared him for winning The Open.
“The utmost pressure I have felt, in my whole career playing golf, was the first tee at the K Club,” admits Clarke.
“Anything subsequent to that, was never going to be as nerve-wracking, as pressurised as that was.
“I went through my routine and I still had no idea if I was going to top it, duff it, or hit it sideways. Thankfully it went straight down the middle, but you know routine is what we all go back to when we are under pressure.”
n Sky Sports will ‘Bring The Noise’ from The 2014 Ryder Cup exclusively live on TV, mobile, online and via NOW TV, including the Week Pass.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
