Far removed from the decision-making in Wentworth, Darren Clarke – in South Africa where he is competing in the Dimension Data pro-am on the Sunshine Tour – waited for the phone call.
If it seemed like an eternal wait, in the company of his wife Alison and son Tyrone, ultimately it was worth every second: the affirmation of his selection as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for next year’s match in Hazeltine heralds in a new dimension to his professional career.
This is what he wanted, and speaking shortly after his unanimous appointment by a five-man selection committee, Clarke provided clarity on what type of captain he will be.
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No, there won’t be any major changes to the template left by his predecessor Paul McGinley. Yes, he would bring his brand of emotion and passion to the task. “My job starts straightaway, so I’m going to try and figure out what’s required of me,” he said.
Golden era
In truth, he knows what lies ahead. As a five-time Ryder Cup player and twice as vice-captain, Clarke has enjoyed as much as anyone Europe’s golden era in the competition.
The task is to retain Europe’s winning formula, and to go to Hazeltine in search of a fourth successive win in the competition. For all of Europe’s dominance for the 30 years, that four-timer has remained out of bounds. “We are going for our fourth straight win, that hasn’t been done before. But with the players that we have at our disposal, I think it’s definitely an achievable feat.”
Clarke is the perfect fit to be a captain in America and it is a challenge he is keen to meet. “They are always up for it. The Americans are always going to be up for it and want to get it back home. Obviously, Hazeltine (in Minnesota) is going to be a fantastic venue and the home crowd support will be doing whatever they can to get it back again . . . . it will be difficult going to America, there’s no qualms about that. Medinah (in 2012) was very special, the way the guys performed on Sunday, doing what they did, coming back from where they did. I would expect a very, very stern test from America, as it always is.”
Whether or not that American resistance will factor Tiger Woods in any way remains to be seen as the former world number one recuperates from injury and dismal form. Clarke, though, would prefer if Woods was part of Team USA: "Tiger is still one of the biggest draws in the game of golf. He's a very special talent. And I, for one, being not only a friend of his, but I have a huge amount of respect for his golf game, would love to see him getting back to playing the sort of golf that he can play.
Stronger team
“I think Tiger Woods on the (American) team at Hazeltine would be a stronger team with him being on it. You want to go and compete against the strongest team possible, and a healthy Tiger Woods playing his best golf would certainly add to the whole event.”
As of now, Clarke's job is to assemble a team around him and a big part of that will be contacting past captains – among them McGinley, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal – to seek advice. His first instinct, though, was to indicate there would be no change to the number of 'wild card' picks – three – or to the number of vice-captains, five.
On a number of occasions, Clarke talked of how “stupid” it would be to change the template of past captains and especially that of McGinley’s captaincy in Gleneagles.
“You know how good a job that Paul did at Gleneagles and how successful that whole event was. I think it would be very silly to move away from that, it was so successful. The team bonding was unbelievable, and Paul’s role in that; it would be stupid of me to move away from that.”
As far as the captain’s picks were concerned, Clarke observed: “I wouldn’t foresee any reason why we would want to change them, because the system that we have in place is obviously a very successful one, so I think it would be foolish of me to ask for any changes.”
Of course, Clarke – as a player himself – has experienced many emotional occasions at the Ryder Cup.
Of the emotion of playing at The K Club in 2006 just weeks after the death to cancer of his first wife Heather, he remarked: “That’s been one of my most emotional experiences in the game, and just with it being the Ryder Cup, everything that goes along with it, it was a very special week for me.
“Emotion is part and parcel of the Ryder Cup. We’ve seen that from Seve (Ballesteros) and Jose Maria (Olazabal) when they were partners. It’s a massive part of it. I think the European team has been very successful capturing that emotion and using it for their benefit.”
Moving forward, getting the captaincy will affect how Clarke sets out his playing itinerary for the two seasons ahead, as he juggles time on the US Tour and the European Tour and also gets to know new, potential team players. “My own competitive instincts haven’t been too good of late, (being captain) might actually be a blessing in disguise in terms of my golf because it will take my mind away from practising too hard and I’ll have a lot of things to focus on. It may help me play a little bit better.”
