It's got a smidgeon of the 'will they, won't they' storyline, borrowed from a soap opera, and this afternoon there was another plot twist as Europe's Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley suggested he might not pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in the Ryder Cup, which starts at Gleneagles on Friday.
The abbreviated back story is that McIlroy and McDowell were both once affiliated to Horizon Sports Management. McIlroy is currently suing the Dublin-based company and as part of those proceedings his legal team looked for discovery into, amongst other things, McDowell’s financial relationship with Horizon.
The two players have been at pains to publicly state, repeatedly, that their once close relationship has not been tarnished unduly – they did sit down in America and thrash out any misconceptions – and that they would be delighted to play together as a pairing again, as they have done on six occasions in the past.
When asked about the issue previously McGinley has studiously supported the players’ stance that all is well and while he once again reiterated that, he added the rider, for the first time, that he was considering not playing them as a pair.
“Yeah it’s (their relationship) not an issue and it’s not been an issue in terms of the Ryder Cup captaincy since these court proceedings started. Both of them have assured me that there are no issues, and that’s the way I have always seen it.
“Whether they come together or not is another story. Three or four months ago I had a very strong view that they would have been (a pairing) but the more I look at their statistics and the more I look at the different value I have with them, I think there may be a value in not doing it.
“But if they don’t do it (play together), it certainly won’t be because of any issues. As both have said there are no issues between them and both will be happy to play together, but it will be my decision ultimately.”
McGinley was asked to explain the criteria that he examined that potentially changed his mind about pairing the Northern Ireland golfers. He elaborated: "I have got lots of options with them. But if I don't decide to play them it will be for tactical reasons. It won't be for any other reasons. They have played six Ryder Cup matches and have only won two of them. It's not like these guys are written in stone.
“They are not a formidable Foursome (pairing), not a formidable Fourball pairing that’s unbeatable.” At this point McGinley rowed back a little, temporarily, when he suggested: “Having said that there is no reason why they wouldn’t play together. When I was captain of the Seve Trophy I had them paired together and they played well in that.
"So I've got lots of options with them but it doesn't have to be that they have to be together." Sitting alongside him on the dais in the media centre for the joints captains' press conference, Tom Watson, cut a slightly bemused figure, none the wiser, but in that regard he's certainly not alone.
