McGinley resigns his Ryder role after snub

Paul McGinley's role as vice-captain designate for next year's Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Kentucky had about as short a life-span as a butterfly, writes Philip ReidGolf Correspondent.

Yesterday, just over four months after he accepted the post and just over a week after he was snubbed for a wild card pick for the Seve Trophy match, the Dubliner resigned the vice-captaincy position, informing Europe's captain Nick Faldo that he wanted to concentrate "100 per cent" on making the team as a player.

Those conspiracy theorists linking McGinley's absence from the Seve Trophy - which starts today at The Heritage - with his decision to stand down as vice-captain were, according to a statement issued by the player, some way off the mark.

"It was a great honour to be picked by Nick but, on reflection and after careful consideration, I feel it is in my best interest to concentrate on playing myself into the team which I said from the start was my first objective."

That's the official line. Privately, though, it is believed McGinley is not at all happy about being overlooked.

When asked if McGinley was "miffed" at failing to get a pick for The Heritage, Faldo, also the captain for the Britain and Ireland team for the fifth edition of the Seve Trophy, responded: "I wouldn't know that . . . from the conversations I've had with him, he badly wants to play (in the Ryder Cup) and to concentrate 100 per cent (on achieving that)."

In fact, Faldo, after deciding not to hand McGinley a selection to play on the Britain and Ireland team against continental Europe, did ask him if he wanted to attend the match, as he planned to have preliminary meetings vis à vis the Ryder Cup. McGinley declined, explaining that he would be practising for next week's Alfred Dunhill Links championship.

Faldo also invited McGinley to be present in Valhalla next month for Kentucky's "year to go" celebrations ahead of the Ryder Cup match in the bluegrass state. Again, McGinley declined because he is scheduled to be playing on the European Tour.

"As you know, from the start he was really concerned about the workload of being a vice-captain and he wanted to play. I asked him two weeks ago if he wanted to come to Valhalla with me and he said, 'no, I'm playing', so I think he felt disappointed at that.

"He would have loved to be there and involved in that capacity. I spoke to him last week and he said, 'you know, I've got a lot of events coming up'. I could sense the rumblings . . . that's his priority (to try to qualify) and I fully understand that," said Faldo.

McGinley confirmed Faldo's suspicions about his hesitancy of taking on the vice-captaincy yesterday morning, just before Faldo played in the pro-am for the Seve Trophy, when the Irishman contacted him and informed him of his decision to stand down.

It was not the start to his captaincy that he wanted. As Faldo wrung his hands at The Heritage responding to questions about McGinley's resignation, you got the impression he'd rather be facing a downhill, double-breaking 10-footer to win the Open.

McGinley had stated at the time of his appointment as vice-captain that his main objective was to make the team. Yesterday, Faldo claimed that he would love him to qualify.

"I've said all along, if he wants to play, great. He is a hell of a Ryder Cup player. The man holed a winning putt in the Ryder Cup and that's the sort of player I want on my team. And I said right from the start, if that's his priority and if anything changes, absolutely fine. So I'm more than comfortable with it."

Could Faldo envisage a situation whereby, if McGinley didn't make the team, that he would be re-appointed as a vice-captain? "I could do. You never know . . . I want to have four guys (assisting). I'm going to wait through the year to see what unfolds."

McGinley, who has slipped to 183rd in the latest world rankings, has played in the last three Ryder Cup matches, featuring on the winning team on each occasion.