McGinley avoids the Ryder rush

Paul McGinley, for one, is staying away from all the hysteria that the start of any Ryder Cup campaign inevitably brings. He has decided not to play in the first counting event next week in Switzerland, but, even before that tournament takes place, the irresistible force will be underway.

Tomorrow, on the eve of the BMW International Open in Munich, the man to succeed Seve Ballesteros as captain of the European team for the defence of the trophy in Brookline next year will be announced. It would be a major surprise if anyone other than Mark James is given the job.

James, who has played in seven Ryder Cup campaigns, is chairman of the European Tour's tournament committee and is expected to be given the nod ahead of Sam Torrance, who believes he still has a role to play as a team member in the event. James's match record in the event is: played 24, won eight, lost 15, halved one. His personal highlight was a 4 and 3 win in the singles over Jeff Maggert in 1995 when Europe beat the United States at Oak Hill.

"What makes a good Ryder Cup captain is that he is popular and the players like him, so that when you speak to them they respect you and they are able to go out and do their best job for you," said Bernard Gallacher, who captained three successive teams from 1991-'95. "I'm sure they would do that for Mark because he has a lot of experience."

Apart from the expectation that James will be named as Ballesteros's successor, an even greater certainty tomorrow is the final confirmation that Ireland will play host to the Ryder Cup in 2005. This announcement was made at Valderrama last September, but Minister for Sport, Jim McDaid TD, will put pen to paper in Munich tomorrow with Ken Schofield, the chief executive of the PGA European Tour.

The United States has yet to name a venue for the event in 2003, and protocol decrees that Europe's venue for 2005 cannot be named before that announcement is made. There was a suggestion that the host club in Ireland would be known by the end of this year, but it may well be after next year's US Masters before the final decision is made known.

McGinley has decided to miss out on the European Masters in Crans sur Sierre next week - "I don't particularly like the course and it is only one week, there is a long way to go after that," he explained. The Dubliner will, however, head for the BMW Open in Munich, which starts on Thursday. He is part of a smaller Irish challenge than usual, numbering six players.

Darren Clarke, who was fourth in the Smurfit European Open, will seek to close the gap further on the absent Lee Westwood, and perhaps even overtake him, in Germany. Clarke and McGinley will be joined there by Philip Walton, Raymond Burns, Eamonn Darcy and Des Smyth.

Padraig Harrington has also decided to miss out on this week's tournament. "You have to take a week's rest somewhere and, when I made the decision to miss the BMW, I didn't know I wasn't going to play in the USPGA," said Harrington. However, he will return to competition the following week at the European Masters, the first qualifying tournament towards picking Europe's Ryder Cup team.

Another absentee from Germany will be Christy O'Connor Junior, who will return to the scene of one of his greatest golfing triumphs this week when he makes his debut in the PGA Seniors Championship at The Belfry, starting on Friday.

Meanwhile, Mark McCormack, the chief executive of IMG and chairman of the World Matchplay championship committee, has announced that Diners Club International will be presenting sponsor of the event at Wentworth on October 15th-18th. They succeed Toyota as sponsors of the competition which was inaugurated in 1964.

Vijay Singh, the recent winner of the US PGA, Mark O'Meara, the British Open and US Masters champion, and Tiger Woods are among those confirmed for the 12man invitational field. Singh is the holder of the title which carries a top prize of £170,000.

A week after claiming his first major title at the US PGA Championship, Vijay Singh won the Sprint International in Colorado by six points on Sunday to move to the top of the US PGA Tour money list.

Singh carded one eagle, five birdies and a bogey in a final-round six-under-par 66 worth 14 points under the modified Stableford scoring format used in this event at Castle Pines.

He finished with a total of 47 points, while Willie Wood and Phil Mickelson tied for second at 41 points.

Tiger Woods, who vaulted into contention with a third-round that included a hole-in-one, picked up just seven points on Sunday and finished fourth with 38 points.

Singh collected $360,000 for his seventh career PGA Tour victory, jumping from seventh to first on the money list with 1998 earnings of $1,694,253.

"Coming down the stretch you have to trust what you are doing and I credit the work I've put in," he said.

Richard Coughlan did not make it to the final two days.