PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON HAS said he is open and willing to the opportunity of captaining Team Europe at the 2020 Ryder Cup in the United States, following a successful bout as Vice-Captain at Le Golf National in Paris last weekend.
The Dubliner said that his profile in the US would be an asset to Team Europe in two years’ time at Whistling Straits, and said that he would be interested in taking on the role “for the good of the team”.
Admitting that securing Europe’s first victory on foreign soil since 2012 would be a major undertaking, Harrington said that he would still relish the opportunity to lead as team captain in Wisconsin.
“No-one wants to be a losing captain,” he said speaking to Off the Ball on Tuesday. “There’s no doubt that you’ve a better chance at home. You get more involved at home, you’ve no say when it’s away. But saying that, I think the guys in the team would like continuity.
“I think the Vice-Captains who were there [in France] look like they will be captains and around the team for a while to come. It was a very nice mix, right down to guys like Robert Karlsson, in terms of his diligence. He did a lot of the hard work in stats and things like that, making sure we were up-to-date.
Somebody like Robert looks like he could be there forever. The players really appreciated the Vice-Captains, so I think they are looking for continuity. As regards to me going to the States — I think to give the Europeans the best chance it would look like they would line me up for the next one, because of my profile in the States.
“So it’s not a question of me saying ‘oh look, I’d like to do it in Europe because I’ve a better chance of winning’. Overall, Europe has a better chance of winning if I go to the States and somebody else does it in Europe. So for the good of the team, it would probably look like that.”
Harrington was a successful Vice-Captain under Thomas Bjørn alongside Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood and Karlsson in Paris last weekend, and the Dane has recommended the Irishman for the position in two years’ time.
Padraig Harrington thinks he might captain Team Europe in 2020 "for the good of the team." Would he succeed?
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) October 2, 2018
Full interview with Padraig is here, and brought to you in association with @NOWTVIreland: https://t.co/9xFlE5kQ9Q pic.twitter.com/zua3WoMRSJ
“Oh, he’d be brilliant,” Bjørn said on Monday. “He’s got all the tools and all the knowledge. They will all be quality, if they do it or when they do it. But let’s leave that one for a couple of months.”
Harrington added that while he was not undecided on whether or not he wanted to take over as captain at Whistling Straits — which he described as a “European-style” golf course — he did not want to make any presumptions.
“That is another difference,” he said when asked if taking on the captaincy would impact his playing privileges over the next couple of years. “If you go to the US, you have a lot less to do. If you’re in Team Europe you really have to give up everything you’re doing.
“You’ve a lot of work to do with the European sponsors. I will be able to play at least for the next year anyway, but the year of the tournament it wouldn’t be as easy — that’s if I’m going for the captaincy. I’m not undecided, but it’s still a selection.”
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Great choice.
EEEEHHH YEA
good choice but winning away is tough to do.
Make a brilliant Captain, be great if he could talk McGinley into being one of the vice captains. He’s some man for organisation..
Eh, Eh, Eh, not so Eh sure about this Eh possibility, Eh, just the Eh thought of him Eh talking would be enough for me to Eh turn off
@Joseph Dempsey:
Well, at least he is a nice person. A quality many don’t seem to have.
Must stay on the Flora butter to keep the cholesterol at bay until then!
My favourite sportsman ever . Made me fall in love with golf and one of the nicest people you will ever meet . Hope he gets it and we get a nice win over in the states which is no easy task !
Nice guy Harrington and a very likeable fella, but his voice would go through you, don’t know what happened to himself and Walton with their high pitched squeaky voices.
I’d just cancel the whole thing. What’s the point when one of the two sides just don’t care. Take a look at the Laver Cup in tennis played 2 weeks ago. Europe vs rest of the world. The desire to win and passion on both sides was incredible. Now that’s sport.