Paul McGinley has tendered his resignation as Vice Captain of the Ryder Cup Team for Valhalla.
McGinley who was chosen by Nick Faldo as one of his two assistants for the event back in May has now announced that he would prefer to compete for a playing place on the team.
“On reflection, and after careful consideration, I feel it’s in my best interest to concentrate on playing myself into the team, which I said from the outset was my first objective,”
The timing of this announcement has some of the commentators speculating that all is not well in the European camp. McGinley made his announcement on the eve of the Seve Trophy, which is being held in Ireland this year – an event which pits Great Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe. The interesting facts are that despite being held in Ireland there is no Irish golfer playing on the Great Britain and Ireland team and many felt that McGinley would be picked as a wild card by Nick Faldo (who also captains this event.
OK, so it’s all rumour and conjecture at this point but at the very least it points to a lack of clear communication in the European team and at worst it signals a serious rift between Faldo and his erstwhile Vice Captain (whom you think would have been singing from the same hymn sheet!). McGinley’s form is not great of late and he currently stands 70th on the European Tour order of merit, however he has 3 Ryder Cup wins from 3 appearances so his experience is not to be sneezed at.
Tags: Paul-McGinley, ryder-cup, Vice-Captain