The Grove, Watford …
Lee Westwood has returned competition admitting his Hazeltine disappointment in letting down long-time good friend Darren Clarke after the Englishman’s worst-ever Ryder Cup showing.
What should have been a joyful 10th straight European Team cap turned into a Hazetline horror show for Westwood who failed to score a point in three matches.
Westwood had played so poorly in being handed a second worst defeat in the opening Foursomes he had Clarke side-line him for the afternoon Fourballs.
And when asked on the eve of today’s (THUR) starting British Masters at The Grove club north of London, if he felt he had let Clarke down, Westwood admitted: “Yeah, a little bit. I was a captain’s pick and I would have liked to have performed well for him.
Lee Westwood admits his disappointment in letting down Darren Clarke at last fortnight’s Ryder Cup. (Photo – European Tour)
Lee Westwood admits his disappointment in letting down Darren Clarke at last fortnight’s Ryder Cup. (Photo – European Tour)
“But we sat down and chatted about it. He said, you know, what could I have done differently and he said, I thought did you it all you could, just one of them things.
“The American Team did to us what we have been doing to them the last 20 years.
“A lot of people have said to me, it’s a good result for the Ryder Cup and it keeps the interest in it but we had won it three times in a row, so sooner or later, you’re not going to keep winning The Ryder Cup.
“Sooner or later they are going to win one and it just happened to be under Darren’s watch.
“It’s unfortunate and there’s not a lot you can do about it, really. They had a strong team and I thought they got the setup spot on for their team when you look at it.”
And while Westwood quickly put his hands up asking Clarke to drop him from the Friday afternoon Fourballs, Westwood has returned this week and an event he won in 2007, clearly declaring his own captaincy intentions in four year’s time.
“I certainly would not want to be captain next time around, as that’s too soon for me, so I think 2020 is definitely on my radar,” said Westwood.
“After that, 2022, who knows. There are a lot of candidates for the captaincy but I’ll be putting my name in the ring for sure.
“It’s something I’d like to do as I’ve played in 10 Ryder Cup’s and witnessed 10 different forms of captaincy, so I’m pretty well qualified to be a captain I would have thought.
“I’ve played in a lot of teams and I’d like to maybe play again but if I can’t play again, I’d like to do the assistant captain’s role, what goes on behind the scenes, although I paid a lot of attention to what Darren (Clarke) and the assistant captains were doing.
“I don’t think you have to be an assistant captain but it probably helps. It’s another angle to see if from, more experience.
“And there won’t be any people that would have played under 10 different captains because there’s not many who have played 10 Ryder Cups.”
