The art of the concession
Jack Nicklaus concedes Tony Jacklin’s putt in the 1969 Ryder Cup.
To give or not to give a putt, that is the question.
Frankly, the art of the gimme depends on so many factors that you could write a doctoral thesis on the subject. Or a website article, like this one.
McIlroy breaks another lance for McGinley at Nike launch
Rory McIlroy makes his entrance as a Nike Golf staff player in Abu Dhabi on MondayRory McIlroy’s eagerly awaited announcement as a Nike Golf player ended with him making another impassioned plea for Paul McGinley to get the Ryder Cup captaincy in 2014."High level of confidence" in Monty camp - Sky Sports News
Colin Montgomerie, who led Europe to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010, would be open to reprising his role as Ryder Cup captain. Photograph by Tom Jenkins via the Guardian.co.ukSky Sports News is reporting that Colin Montgomerie’s camp is confident he will get the nod tomorrow:
Sky Sports News golf reporter James Haddock revealed on Monday morning that a source very close to the Montgomerie camp is saying they have “an extremely high level of confidence that the vote is going to go Colin Montgomerie’s way.”
McIlroy wants McGinley not Monty as skipper
Rory McIlroy was impressed by Paul McGinley’s captaincy of GB&I in the Vivendi Seve Trophy and wants to play under the Irishman in Gleneagles in 2014.World No 1 Rory McIlroy has unequivocally called on the European Tour Players Committee to resist any temptation to hand Colin Montgomerie (or any ohter past captain) the Ryder Cup captaincy and again called for Ireland’s Paul McGinley to be handed the job of leading Europe’s defence at Gleneagles in 2014.
It’s the umpteenth time in the space of 10 weeks that Europe’s leading player has made it clear that he wants McGinley to be handed the captain’s armband. This time, in the wake of growing murmurs that his 2010 skipper might be considered for a second bite of the cherry, he went a step further this time.
"Captain" Clarke to abandon ship?
The Times wondered about a McGinley-Clarke battle for the Ryder Cup captaincy just last Monday. Could it be McGinley v Montgomerie now?So Darren Clarke says he’s contemplating a Ryder Cup captaincy exit stage left to concentrate on his career. It’s also possible that he’s simply trying to save some pride in the face of a potential committee room defeat when the 2014 job comes up for discussion in Abu Dhabi next Tuesday. Even if Clarke follows through and steps aside, you can be sure that Paul McGinley won’t be uncorking the champagne just yet.
Monty the dark horse in Ryder Cup race full of intrigue
Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley will be at the epicentre of Europe’s Ryder Cup captaincy debate next week. But could another name emerge at the last minute?Europe will almost certainly name its 2014 Ryder Cup captain next week as the European Tour moves to put a man in place and begin the search for sponsors for what could be a challenging staging at Gleneagles.
According to sources close to the European Tour, the powers at Wentworth are keen to delay no longer and get the marketing campaign up and running and appoint the man to do battle with Tom Watson, who the Americans appointed last month as the man best equipped to wrest back the trophy in Scotland in 625 days’ time.
Talk that the decision could be put off for a month is no longer on the agenda but while it appears clear which candidate or candidates will be at the centre of discussions when the Tournament Players Committee sits down in Abu Dubai next Tuesday, no-one is ruling out a surprise.
