Sam Torrance has backed Bernhard Langer to one day succeed him as captain of Europe's Ryder Cup team but feels the German may still be best used as a player next time round.
"He will make a fantastic captain. He's got great qualities in many ways, and will be a supreme captain one day. But I think he's probably got another match in him as a player. He is very fit".
Langer was inspirational as a player at The Belfry, successfully teaming up with Colin Montgomerie on the first two days and then thrashing Hal Sutton in the singles.
Torrance also revealed he was happy to utilise the 45-year-old's experience to good effect when it came to team tactics.
"On 18 during the Saturday fourballs, when Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke were playing Scott Hoch and Jim Furyk, he came to me and gave me a great piece of advice," Torrance said.
"Darren was in the bunker, Furyk was in the first cut of rough. Bernhard said to me 'maybe Paul should hit first, before Darren'. I thought about it, agreed it was a good idea and walked over to Paul and said, 'If you don't mind, we'd like you to hit first'.
"And he hit a fantastic shot, 18 feet, pin high right. Then Furyk hit his only bad shot of the day and I think that was down to Paul putting the pressure on him first. That was Bernhard's decision.