Rose sees captaincy qualities in Harrington

Justin Rose speaks at the Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort ahead of the Turkish Airlines Open. Picture: Getty Images

Justin Rose believes Pádraig Harrington is the ideal man to captain Europe in the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.

The English star is keen to successfully defend his Turkish Airlines Open title this week and regain the world No 1 ranking.

But when pressed on his ideal choice for the 2020 captaincy, he sees qualities in Harrington he believes make him the ideal man to lead Europe’s Ryder Cup defence in the US.

"I'd go with Pádraig," Rose said. "I think it's his time... There's a bunch of guys who deserve it but there's not enough Ryder Cups for everybody to get it.

"I think with someone like Pádraig who is a three-time Major champion, his record certainly suggests that he deserves it."

Pointing to Harrington's three vice-captaincies as key, he added: "I think he's been brilliant in the team room in his role of vice captain.

“No job is too small. He's happy to muck in and do the most menial of tasks or the biggest of tasks.

”I heard a story this week - Thorbjørn [Olesen], I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but when he was very disappointed about not playing on the Saturday, Pádraig was the one that was around him for most of that day and made his day much better, much easier. I think that's a big task.

"I think he handles his jobs as vice-captain really well and the players respond and respect that. It bodes well for a captaincy.”

Rose claimed his second successive win at the Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort last year when he followed up his WGC-HSBC Champions victory with a one-stroke triumph over Nicolas Colsaerts and Dylan Frittelli in Belek.

Only a win would do this week if Rose is to return to the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking, but with four top tens in his last five European Tour appearances - including a share of third in China last week - the Olympic Golf Gold Medalist is in confident mood.

Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, is also targeting a number one spot of his own over the next three weeks - in the Race the Dubai - as he chases down the sizeable lead of his close friend, Open Champion Francesco Molinari. Fleetwood is also on superb form, with three top tens in his last three events, and has played every Turkish Airlines Open since its inauguration in 2013.

The Turkish Airlines Open kicks off the final stretch of Rolex Series events, the European Tour’s eight premium tournaments each with a minimum prize fund of $7million, as the 2018 Race to Dubai nears a conclusion, with only the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, remaining before the European Tour Number One is crowned.