Cape Town - Graeme McDowell believes that Padraig Harrington ticks all the boxes of a winning Ryder Cup captain.
Speaking after Europe lost the Ryder Cup to the USA for the first
since 2008, McDowell identified four potential successors to Darren
Clarke but earmarked Harrington as the best candidate of the lot.
When asked who he felt should captain Europe in Paris in two years'
time, McDowell told Sky Sports News HQ: "You've got to be looking at
Harrington, [Thomas] Bjorn, [Paul] Lawrie - who has thrown his hat into
the ring and has been given the resounding recommendation of Sam
Torrance - and probably [Miguel Ángel] Jimenez.
“I think Lee Westwood probably has one or two more Ryder Cups left in him, so I look at one of those other four guys.
"Harrington certainly has the right playing credentials. It would be
the third Irishman in a row, so if you guys are sick of having Irish
captains you might want to have a year off!”
McDowell added that whoever was fortunate enough to get the job need
not make drastic changes to the culture that exists with the European
team, explaining that this year’s team lost because USA were better and
not because of any systemic flaws in their approach.
"Our template on how to win Ryder Cups remains solid,” McDowell continued.
“They just ran into the better team last week and there was nothing they could do about it.
"You had a US team that was hungry, fired up on home soil, and the stars aligned, just one of those things."