Putting Tom Watson's Ryder Cup Interest Into Context...

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GolfDigest.com's Ron Sirak looks back at Tom Watson's captaincy after reports surfaced in which Watson did not emphatically shoot down speculation on a 2014 captaincy.

Sirak reminds the unusual decision to not sign a Sam Torrance dinner menu and Watson's lack of attendance at subsequent Ryder Cups, and, well, a 2014 captaincy is not happening even though Sirak thinks it would be a positive.

Sirak also says a decision on 2014 could be announced as soon as next week.

Monty To '14 Ryder Cup Selectors: Vote "for a player and not a fellow management client."

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In the highly politicized battle for the 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy, Bernie McGuire quotes Monty as suggesting some players--well, David Howell and Richard Finch--might vote for fellow ISM management stablemate Darren Clarke over former presumed favorite Paul McGinley.

Monty said: “Both Paul and Darren would be suitable. Let’s hope that when the vote is taken there are those in the room voting for a player and not a fellow management client."

McGinley Gets Another 2014 Ryder Cup Endorsement

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Karl MacGinty of the Irish Independent slips in some fun details about the cutthroat battled to be Europe's next Ryder Cup Captain while endorsing Paul McGinley for the 2014 job.

Meantime, reporters at last week's BMW Masters in Shanghai were advised before Clarke's pre-tournament press conference that he would not be taking any questions on the Ryder Cup captaincy. Wise move.

And the endorsement of McGinley...

The Ryder Cup is the financial powerhouse which drives European golf, so one understands why the Tour executives might consider it vital to have someone of Clarke's charisma to focus support in the run-up to a home match.

Yet the staggering atmosphere at Medinah showed how irresistible the Ryder Cup has become to the corporate sector and golf fans, making it utterly futile to waste one of the most naturally gifted team captains Europe is likely to produce.

Over the weekend, McGinley was endorsed by Luke Donald.

Darren Clarke On His Former Life Of Shopping Excess

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An excerpt from Darren Clarke's autobiography provides a glimpse into his life of excess, and a possible warning side for a clothes fetish that could prove ugly when he gets his way and becomes 2014 Ryder Cup captain.

One thing that has been a constant throughout my career and for most of my life is that when it comes to shopping and spending, I have few rivals. My excesses often have to be seen to be believed.

If I said I once bought 60 pairs of Calvin Klein underpants, would you believe me? Didn’t think so, but I did. Or 40 pairs of trousers on the same day from the same shop? Yes, I did. Or thirty belts? Yes, that’s me. I’ve had 15 Ferraris, three Lamborghinis and an assortment of Jags, Bentleys, Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches. The most cars I’ve ever had at once was seven and I’ll admit that was a little excessive. I’m more sensible now.

"That the European Tour could come to a decision less than two weeks after the Meltdown at Medinah is truly remarkable."

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Fantastically cranky stuff from Brian Keogh as he senses that Paul McGinley has been pushed aside for Lee Westwood's favorite public speaker Darren Clarke in the 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy stakes.

It’s a fait accompli anyway if you believe Her Majesty’s Press and one that will prove “popular with club golfers up and down the land, who identify with Clarke’s obvious struggles with his volcanic temperament on the course and his love of a pint off it.”

If that’s the case, so much for the transparency of the selection process, the opinion of the Tournament Players Committee and the general intelligence level of the sporting public, who have surely learned to see beyond the comic cut caricature of Clarke’s public persona.

Clarke, McGinley and captaincy candidates Thomas Bjorn and Miguel Angel Jimenez are also members of that august Committee alongside Colin Montgomerie, Felipe Aguilar, Paul Casey, Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño, Richard Finch, Joakim Haeggman, David Howell, Robert Karlsson, Barry Lane or Henrik Stenson.

Perhaps they’ve all agreed already that there really is just one man for the job given Clarke’s inexorable slide into irrelevance as a player since he captured the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George’s.

And...

It’s not that Clarke would be poor but is he really a better candidate for the job that McGinley who led two understrength GB&I teams to Seve Trophy victories and played a blinder as a vice-captain in 2010 and this year. It’s certainly debatable and that the European Tour could come to a decision less than two weeks after the Meltdown at Medinah is truly remarkable.

Bookies Drop Darren Clarke To Even Money!

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Paul Mahoney tweeted the new William Hill 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy odds and even better, Clarke Tweeted a Montyesque "the rumors are not entirely true but I really hope they are."

The decision will be made in January. Supposedly.

McGinley Quiet On Ryder Cup Captaincy: "It's best if I just step away now and let things evolve."

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For a long time the presumed favorite and still so with the bookies, Paul McGinley is going to go silent on the topic even as various well-known, full-bodied individuals plot their way to the job.

From an unbylined BBC report:

"My caddie is a wily old Scot and he has a great saying: 'whatever's for you, won't pass you by', so I'll just stand back and wait until January."