GOLF Ryder Cup 2006 Captaincy: Barring a late intervention of an exceptionally cruel golfing god, Ian Woosnam will celebrate his 47th birthday today by being named Europe's captain for the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club.
But in a break with precedent, Nick Faldo is likely to be earmarked as the man to lead the European squad for the 2008 contest to be staged in the United States.
The choice of Woosnam, who has appeared six times in the cup as a player and once, in 2002, as a vice-captain, was thought to have been rubber-stamped last night at a meeting of the tournament committee of the European Tour, comprising 14 players, after months of political manoeuvring and backroom lobbying more suited to the corridors of parliament than the fairways of the European Tour.
The decision, which will be announced in Dubai today, owes much to the Welshman's popularity among his fellow players and a feeling that he has earned his chance to lead Europe in the biennial match against the US. It will not come as a surprise to anyone, not least to the two other candidates whose hats were in the ring, Sandy Lyle and Faldo.
Of those, only Faldo was given serious consideration, but despite strong support among the younger generation of European players, who look up to him as a hero, he was rejected by a committee packed with players who remember him as a semi-detached and aloof contemporary.
Nevertheless, a feeling has grown that the Englishman has an undeniable claim on the captaincy, and giving him the role in 2008 is not only fair, it is also eminently sensible.
That feeling, which was voiced publicly yesterday by the former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallagher, is that Faldo would be better suited to leading the Europe team in the US, where the Englishman plies his trade as a television commentator.
"Nick had great success in America, is well known in America and by 2008 there will be different players in the frame, people like Luke Donald and Ian Poulter who looked up to Nick," Gallagher said.
Faldo last involvement in the match was to have a good luck letter to the 1999 team thrown in a dustbin by captain Mark James.
Four of the 2004 side are on the committee making the decision: Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez. So is the last captain Bernhard Langer and his assistants at Oakland Hills, Thomas Bjorn and Joakim Haeggman.
Andrew Coltart and vice-chairman Jean Van de Velde played in America in 1999, and the other members are all former tour winners: chairman Jamie Spence, Roger Chapman, Henrik Stenson, Mark Roe and Robert Lee, now best known as a television commentator.
Whether it is Woosnam or Faldo who takes over, Ireland's Ryder Cup will have two mighty personalities at its heart.
The Americans have named their man - and Tom Lehman has already made crystal clear how passionate he feels about the match. The world of sport saw it, of course, in Boston six years ago when Lehman, on his own admission, crossed the line between excitement and over-excitement.
But Lehman is still emphasising that emotion is a big part of what makes the Ryder Cup the huge event it is. In a recent PGA Tour magazine, he laid out just how he feels about the task ahead.
"I love team sports," said Lehman. "The shared experience for athlete and fan is one that we remember forever.
"I've enjoyed individual success. I've won PGA Tour tournaments and a major championship. I've been ranked number one in the world and been player of the year. I've won the Vardon Trophy (for low stroke average) and the money title.
"But my experiences as a member of the United States Ryder Cup team are without question the highlights of my career - specifically the 1999 comeback at Brookline. There is no emotion like one that comes from a heroic team effort."
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